In health care sectors and tourism of Thailand, medical tourism is a ever growing concept. According to an investigation the country had earned a revenue of 36.4 billion baht in the year 2006. The investigators told that one Bangkok hospital took in 150,000 treatment seekers from abroad in the year 2005. Certainly it makes a country rich when it earns revenue from people outside their own country. So every country try their best to provide with world class facilities while treating foreign people.
India and Thailand are the two nations which are well known for their awesome hospitality while treating people from abroad. Thailand is a country of peace and provide everything from organ transplants to cardiac surgery at a price much lower than the US or Europe and they do this in a safe and clean environment. People from western countries dont get much care when they are admitted to local hospitals while foreigners getting treatment from Thailand hospitals get more personalized and higher level of nursing. One may say this is quite natural as when you get more money, you care more. Treating patients from abroad fetch more money to Thailand government than the local community of Thailand. As a result medical tourism facilites are growing to proffessional level in Thailand. Infact all developing countires would like this medical tourism concept.
According to one patient who went for a coronary artery bypass surgery in Bumrungrad International hospital in Bangkok(Thailand), it just cost him ,000 as opposed to the 0,000 (68,000 euros) he estimated the operation would have cost him at home. Some other Asians also think that hosiptals are also a popular destinations for them. A group of Hospitals in Thailand better known as ‘Phyathai Hospitals Group’ has staff comprising of medical experts in 23 languages other than the English speaking medical staff that caters to medical tourists. One of the Bangkok Hospital has a Japanese wing also. In 2006 When Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala needed medical care, he went to Bangkok.
There is another very popular Thai hospital known by the name Bumrungrad International. In 2005 this hospital was awarded and accredited for ensuring an international standard of medical services. Most of the doctors and medical staff in this hospital have got the training from UK, Europe and the US and many Thai physicians hold US or UK professional certification. Perhaps the most advanced and internationalized of Thailand’s private hospital. Coming here can seem like a visit to a five star hotel and the United Nations all in one. Although comparatively expensive for Thais, the hospital gets many foreign visitors in search of high quality health care at reasonable
cost as a part of their medical tourism.
Today several Thai hospitals have relationships with educational facilities in the US and UK (for example, Sheffield Hallam University has links with Bangkok}. The US Consular information sheet gives the Thai health care system high marks for quality, particularly facilities in Bangkok, although the World Health Organization ranks the Thai healthcare system at number 47, which is below the USA’s ranking at 37 and the United Kingdom’s ranking at 18. The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office web site states “There are excellent international hospitals in Bangkok but they can be expensive”.
While a very small percentage of Thai are internationally accredited, there are a growing number of hospitals with Joint Commission accreditation. Again, international hospital accreditation may be one way for hospitals to demonstrate their worth, and increasingly Thai hospitals competing for business in this sector may need to expand their international accreditation, including looking towards other international healthcare accreditation schemes sourced outwith of the US, to augment their appeal if they are to remain competitive.
Radha Kishan is currently advertising for a medical tourism site.
