I had heard of  a  Thai traditional massage a long time before I actually came to live in Thailand.  Mind you if you mentioned the topic in the UK you usually got a few knowing looks that perhaps suggested that it was something that was found in the back streets of Bangkok and had little to do with a traditional way of healing.

Mind you even today there are plenty of places in Thailand that you can visit that perhaps give some credence to the knowing looks you might get back home. Take a trip down some of the small soi’s off Sukhumvit in Bangkok  and you will see what I mean. You don’t have to look to hard to  find adverts  that include words like “soapy massage” or “Thai oil massage,” outside dimly lit establishments that have little or no connection with a true Thai traditional massage.

So what is a true Thai massage?  Well in Thai it is called “nuat phaen boran,” which translates to something like ancient massage.  Moreover traditional Thai massage employs a technique that is  definitely not erotic since it is based on pressure and stretching. It also doesn’t involve soap or oil under normal circumstances and it certainly isn’t delivered by some scantily clad Thai lady.

No a true Thai massage is based on Ayurvedic practice and Yoga imported from India and complimented by Chinese medicine many years ago. Thai massage, can be both therapeutic and relaxing. The masseur or masseuse leans into the client’s body applying firm rhythmic pressure using hands and often arms locked at the elbow. Legs and feet are also used in several positions during massage, but no oils are applied.

A normal traditional Thai massage lasts around two hours and can be quite intense, including pulling fingers and toes and cracking the knuckles.  Also don’t be surprised if your masseur or masseuse actually walks on your back or bends you into different positions during the session that usually starts at the feet and finishes at the head.

So while  Thai traditional message is a global brand for Thailand it is also not for the faint hearted and people with pre-existing complaints like arthritis should certainly explain this to the masseur or masseuse before a session or perhaps opt for something slightly more gentle like a Swedish massage.

Thailand Trivia File: Since today is New Year’s Day its a good time to say Happy New Year in Thai to your friends in Thailand.

Sweeten up your skin in 2011 by using a Devarana Spa scrub cake. The highly popular Devarana Spa which I previously reviewed in ” Heaven’s Door in Bangkok,” has a special body scrub promotion running throughout 2011.  The promotion uses four different body scrub cakes, which actually look good enough to eat and are made from fresh ingredients that are designed to gently exfoliate your skin to restore its natural smooth and radiant glow.

This 2011, let Devarana Spa transform your ordinary body scrub ritual into a stress-free moment of pure and sweet indulgence with its tempting assortment of four luscious Scrub Cakes for skin exfoliation – Carrot & Orange Scrub Cake, Butterfly Pea & Coconut Scrub Cake, Green Tea & Red Bean Scrub Cake, Pumpkin & Bale Fruit Scrub Cake; each of these wonderful scrubs is available for each season throughout the year.

During January through to March you can enjoy Carrot and Orange scrub cake, while April to June features Butterfly Pea and Coconut scrub cake. This is followed by Green Tea and Red Bean scrub cake during July to September and you can finish the year by experiencing the hydrating Pumpkin and Bael fruit scrub cake. Which also makes them sound good enough to eat too!

Details of this special Sweeten Up Your Skin in 2011 promotion which is available at all the branches of the Devarana Spa in Thailand and the Philippines is as follows:

Validity: 1 January – 31 December 2011

Venue: Thailand and Philippines

Price (Thailand): THB 2,100++ (60 mins. each)
OR purchase four vouchers of any scrub cakes (45 mins. each) for THB 8,400 net and receive two vouchers of 60-minute Swedish Massage with our compliments (valued at THB 2,200++ each)

Price (Manila): PHP 2,800++ (60 mins. each)
OR purchase four vouchers of any scrub cakes (45 mins. each) for PHP 11,000 net and receive two vouchers of 60-minute Swedish Massage with our compliments (valued at PHP 2,800++ each)

For more information, please contact:
> Devarana Spa at Dusit Thani Bangkok Tel: +66 (0) 2636 3596
> Devarana Spa at Dusit Thani Pattaya Tel: +66 (0) 3837 1044
> Devarana Spa at Dusit Thani Hua Hin Tel: +66 (0) 3244 2494
> Devarana Spa at dusitD2 chiang mai Tel: +66 (0) 5325 2511
> Devarana Spa at Dusit Thani Manila Tel: +63 (2) 818 7081

Central Telephone: +66 (0) 2636 3596
Central Email: info@devaranaspa.com
Website: http://www.devaranaspa.com

Thailand Trivia File: Check out what I did in Thailand in 2010.

It seems that some childless couples in Bangkok seek an alternative fertility treatment that does not involve the IVF procedures that are available in many of the cities top international hospitals. Instead they head for a little know Bangkok fertility shrine called Chao Mae Tuptim which research leads me to believe is dedicated to a Chinese deity of the same name.

So why exactly would folk visit a shrine to a Chinese deity if they wanted to have children and why is the shrine surrounded by lingam (phallic) offerings?

Well information about Chao Mae Tuptim is limited and even at the shrine an information board is not really helpful since it indicates that the origins of the shrine are uncertain but suggests that it probably started out as a spirit house that was erected before the nearby Swissotel(Nai Lert Bangkok Hotel) was built on Wireless Road. It also seems that Chao Mae Tuptim is not a goddess directly associated with fertility in fact it seems more likely that she was associated with the sea and fishing.

So how did her shrine become surrounded by phallic symbols, which incidentally are mostly made of wood and painted red?  One can but speculate here but it seems likely that at some point in the history of the shrine that a worshipper asked the goddess to help her get pregnant and when this happened she returned to the shrine to make an offering. Given that the roots of Buddhism are closely intertwined with Hinduism where the phallus plays an important role one could further speculate that the offering the devotee made was indeed a phallic symbol.

Over time word would no doubt have spread about the powers of the shrine and other devotees have left the large collection of  lingam that now fill the site.

Of course this is but one suggestion and I am sure there are many others.

You won’t find directions to the shrine of Chao Mae Tuptim in your average guide book and its certainly not advertised locally.  However if you would like to visit the shrine it is possible by entering through the Nai Lert Bangkok Hotel  grounds off Wireless Road, although it is not encouraged by the hotel management, it is possible if you speak nicely to the security officers. There is also said to be a way of accessing the site from the rear of the hotel.

In my opinion this little known Bangkok fertility shrine is certainly worth a visit if you fancy seeing something a little bizarre. Of course if you want to get pregnant then perhaps if you believe in these sort of things a visit might be worth your while as an alternative fertility treatment.

Thailand Trivia File:  A high percentage of Thailand’s population is ethnic Chinese so it is common to find Chinese temples and shrines around the country. Khuan Yin is another Chinese deity associated with  fertility.

Snoring and sleep apnea(apnoea)are conditions that can not only cause you and your loved ones a sleepless night, but in some circumstances they can also be life threatening.

So as someone who has always snored I was particularly interested to find out about the conditions when I visited the Yanhee Hospital in Bangkok, on the familiarisation trip that was part of the Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest. The Yanhee has a special programme to help sufferers of snoring and sleep apnea and even boasts a sleep laboratory where patients are monitored during sleep.

While snoring is very common in the general population obstructive sleep apnea is not. Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition where an obstruction is caused to the normal breathing process during sleep which in turn causes the person to wake, sometimes choking and gasping for air. Obstructive sleep apnea can be a serious problem and may well be associated with such disorders as hypertension(high blood pressure) and hypoxia(lack of oxygen to the brain).

There are many probable causes of snoring including, obesity, facial anatomy, ageing, gender( men tend to snore more than women), hereditary, congestion, drinking alcohol and smoking. So for example if you are an overweight male who smokes and drinks a lot there is a good chance you will snore excessively. But what exactly is excessive snoring?

Some good indicators that you snore excessively include feedback from your family, feeling sleepy during the day, having a headache on waking in the morning and feeling depressed, irritable with a loss of or lower libido. Waking suddenly with a choking sensation and just even waking suddenly can also indicate excessive snoring or indeed obstructive sleep apnea.

Initially people who snore excessively can try a few home remedies like losing excessive weight, lying on the side when sleeping and avoiding excessive alcohol. But if the symptoms persist then perhaps its time to consult a specialist who might well recommend that you undergo a diagnostic procedure in a sleep laboratory. Here  the patient is physically observed while sleeping  and subjected to tests that can include an electrocardiogram, air flow tests, pulse rate and muscle activity observations.

Should excessive(and dangerous) snoring or sleep apnea be diagnosed there are several treatment options both surgical and non-surgical available. Radio frequency treatment can be used to tighten the muscles and tissues around the soft palate so the vibrations associated with snoring are lessened. Surgical procedures on the other hand can include laser treatment and something called the pillar procedure where an implant is inserted into the soft palate. Finally a continuous positive airway pressure(CPAP) treatment might be recommended, where the patient wears an oxygen mask while sleeping.

So if you snore excessively and are driving your loved ones crazy perhaps its time to see the doctor, lets face it apart from making everyone around you happy it might just save your life too if you are indeed suffering from obstructive sleep apnea.

Thailand Trivia File: Although Thailand has a Madame Tussauds waxworks museum in Bangkok the Thais have invented a very life-like way of producing human images using a fibre glass compound more suited to the climate.  You can see some excellent examples of this work at the Thai Human Imagery Museum.

Planning and executing the familiarisation trip that was part of the Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest required an awful lot of effort by the organisers who needed to find travel, transportation and logistics solutions from suppliers in Thailand in order to service the requirements of the competition.

While I have written a fair bit about the medical tourism sites, cultural attractions and accommodation visited during the trip I would like to focus this article on the sponsors who provided the vital logistical support that enabled the contestants to gather in Bangkok and move around to their various locations in a safe and timely manner.

Since all the contestants bar myself where actually transported to Bangkok by air it is perhaps appropriate to start by mentioning Thai  Airways International who provided nearly all the flights used for this purpose as well as domestic flights to some locations. Thai Airways International is Thailand’s national flag carrying airline that serves over 70 destinations around the globe. The Thai orchid is the symbol associated with marketing this airline, hence the different classes of travel are denoted by the term Royal Orchid and the frequent flyer programme is known as Royal Orchid Plus. Thai  Airways International are also a member of the Star Alliance group of airlines. The airline also has an  in-flight magazine named “Sawasdee.”  While the motto “smooth as silk,” reflects a high quality of service and also Thailand’s position as a leading silk producer.

With all the contestants safely delivered to Bangkok it was then the job of Thai Rent a Car and their drivers to ensure that everyone was in the right place at the right time.  No easy task, particularly in Bangkok with its horrendous traffic problems. On my itinerary in Bangkok we used a comfortable air-conditioned mini-van to move around with an experienced and safe driver who somehow always got us to our destination in time.  In fact besides standard car rentals the company also specialise in providing vehicles with drivers at very reasonable rates. There are also several promotions on the companies web site that currently feature a one way rental offer.

Having a good vehicle and driver was great but without the sponsorship of PTT the major supplier of fuel in Thailand we would not have got very far. PTT were formerly known as the Petroleum Authority of Thailand and if you drive on Thailand’s extensive and modern road network you will find PTT service stations at regular intervals.  In fact the quality of their service areas certainly makes long distance driving a pleasure here, they are staffed by friendly helpful company operatives who still remember exactly what the term service means. However PTT is not just about service stations as the company also has an extensive range of other affiliate industries under their control including offshore gas production facilities and a network of LPG terminals throughout the country.

Sadly Thailand has a very high level of road traffic accidents  that result in fatalities so even though it is still relatively safe driving around it is important that residents and tourists alike have relevant insurance, both personal and accident. During our familiarisation trip the organisers ensured that we were indeed well insured in the unlikely event that we had an accident or became ill. For this purposes they used the Travel Guard insurance facilities provided by Chartis Insurance( Thailand) who are part of a  leading worldwide insurance group Chartis Inc.

While this article is about the sponsors who provided vital travel, transportation and logistics solutions during the familiarisation trip that was part of the Thailand Medical Blog Contest I would also recommend you consider using their services if you are planning to come to Thailand on holiday. Like me and my fellow contestants I am sure you won’t be disappointed.

Thailand Trivia File: If you do not have your own transport  or rental vehicle in Thailand did you know that one of the quickest and most cost effective ways of travelling  around the country is by using a private van service. Most major cities and towns are connected.

For some people seeking medical treatment abroad can be a challenging process particularly if they are not well travelled.  Such travellers will often look to a medical tourism facilitator or medical tourism travel agent to help them complete their travel and treatment arrangements.

So what exactly is a medical tourism facilitator and what service should they provide? Well in the main they should operate pretty much like a reputable  travel agency does, sorting out visa’s, checking passports, booking flights, arranging hotels transportation and even side tours. However they should also serve as the link between the patient and the overseas medical provider they wish to use. So the facilitator’s needs to provide a package that effectively incorporates all travel  arrangements, the medical treatment you are seeking, and essential guidance about the process as a bare minimum in the service they are offering.

Medical tourism facilitators come in various different guises ranging from a dedicated travel agent skilled at organising the logistics of travel right up to provider groups that have affiliations with medical providers in the patients home country. Over the last few years, thousands of these companies have appeared, particularly on the Internet,  most sporting names that are easily associated with health tourism and travel. In effect these facilitators or agents act as a co-ordinator between the foreign medical facilities and the patient.

Given the large amount of  providers you might well be forgiven for thinking  that using a medical tourism facilitator is the only way of obtaining treatment in a foreign country. Well of course its not since in a country like Thailand for example,  you can easily go direct to the health service provider and make your own arrangements. Booking flights and arranging accommodation is also easy to do yourself  with many providers more than happy to arrange ground transport facilities.

It is perhaps therefore worth spending a moment or two considering the pros and cons of using a medical tourism facilitator.

The advantages of using a medical tourism facilitator would seem to be as follows:

• They are convenient, a medical supermarket of sorts,  where you can find out all that you need to know about such things as  providers, treatments and costs under one roof.  Many facilitators also provide price comparisons between different countries and even providers within a country. They also take care of the logistics of such things as travel arrangements, accommodation and transport.

• Many facilitators have established relationships with international providers. Therefore they are able to provide feedback from former patients about their experiences.

• Medical tourism facilitators speak your own language, they are usually located in your own country too,  which makes dealing with things like time zone differences and language barriers unnecessary. Discussing procedures and travel arrangements are also made easier.

Here are some apparent disadvantages of using a medical tourism facilitator:

• The quality of service offered by different medical tourism facilitators can vary considerably, since most are accessed through the Internet it is difficult to determine this before you become engaged in the process given that it is very easy to put together a professional looking web site.

• Many medical tourism facilitators are in effect agents for certain hospitals and destinations. You may therefore be directed to services and facilities that are not necessarily best for your particular needs.

• Clearly the work a facilitator does is not provided free and it may well be that you have to pay for their services in one way or another. While the hospital may pay the facilitator a commission it is unlikely that this fee will come from the providers bottom line.

• Communicating with overseas medical facilities can be difficult even if they speak your native language, using a third party could add to the problem where a miscommunication might be detrimental to the patient.

Given the above information and the huge amount of medical tourism facilitators available  it seems to me that effectively choosing a suitable provider is not easy. I would also question whether it is really necessary even for the complete novice when visiting a country like Thailand,   given the excellent international liaison departments at the hospitals and clinics I visited during my familiarisation trip on the Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest.  Departments that in my experience are more than capable of providing the patient with all the necessary help in arranging their medical tourism trip.

Another Bangkok hotel, Park Plaza,  was my final destination on the last evening of my familiarisation trip that was part of the Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest. Once again I did not arrive until very late in the evening for check-in feeling somewhat jaded after spending well over an hour in a mini-bus en-route from the Kinnaree Gourmet Restaurant.

After a speedy check-in at the modern and functional  reception area  my room proved to be another oasis of calm not far from Asoke on the busy Sukhumvit Road. The room was tastefully furnished  and decorated with a large bathroom that  I was pleased to find also had a rain shower,  something I had become accustomed too during my week in some of Bangkok’s best hotels.

A comfortable bed, well stocked mini-bar and all the trimmings you would expect from a high end hotel were present.

My only slight disappoint was that the room was none smoking, although the hotel does cater for smokers, but my late check-in to an otherwise full hotel meant the friendly reception staff were unable to satisfy my request to move rooms.  However I soon found out that my room was located two floors below the roof level which has a special area reserved for smokers.

I decided to take a look at the roof area before I retired. I found that it has a small but well equipped gymnasium and an outdoor swimming pool. It also affords superb views over Bangkok and this should be a must visit part of the hotel, particularly after dark when the views are even more spectacular.

I had a really good sleep at the Park Plaza, partly because of the quiet ambience of the place but also I am sure, because I knew I didn’t have an early start the next day.

When I did wake a leisurely breakfast taken in the tastefully furnished CO2 restaurant proved to be an enjoyable eating experience with a good range of choice and the option of made to order dishes to suit your taste.

The hotel would also make an ideal base for a business traveller since The Park Plaza is located in the Bangkok Central Business District (CBD), near the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre. The hotel is within walking distance of Sukhumvit subway station and Asoke Skytrain station.

I would certainly recommend the Park Plaza if you are looking for a conveniently located hotel in Bangkok. It has a good range of facilities, is comfortable and affordable with special promotions currently starting at just 2500 Baht for four star luxury!

Park Plaza Sukhumvit Bangkok

I wonder have you heard the English idiom “beauty is  more than skin deep?’ Well it means that despite a persons looks it does not necessarily mean they are a nice person, in other words it says nothing of their inner beauty or personality. Now I mention this idiom in the context of why people seem to be obsessed with changing their appearance, take skin tone for example.

Having a white skin seems to be obsession for many people living in Asia, while a lot of us from the West  appear to be obsessed with  doing the exact opposite by darkening our skins through exposure to the sun. Two apparently opposing obsessions,  but I wonder if the underlying reasoning behind them is the same.

Ask any Westerner why they like to get a sun tan on holiday and I would guess that they would probably say that it makes them feel good. If they were really candid they might even add that its somewhat of a status symbol, perhaps indicating that the tanned person is also affluent and well able to afford expensive holidays to the tropics in the dead of a Northern Hemisphere winter.

Now ask an Asian person why they want to whiten their skin and I fancy the answers will not be a hundred miles apart. However I might also add another thought here gained from my experience of living in Thailand. Let me explain.

I well remember when my home was being built here in Thailand, the workers many of whom were women where clad from head to foot in dark clothing  including a hood with only slits for the eyes  as they toiled away in the  bright sunlight. Now I assumed that this was to protect the skin from sunlight and to minimise the risk of skin cancer. Since I reasoned that exposure to the tropical sun in this part of the world can be dangerous and a common sense approach certainly  involves the use of sunscreen and sensible exposure times. So perhaps the Thai women working on the building site were just taking sensible precautions to avoid over exposure?

Well having lived here a few years now  it has become obvious to me  that the elaborate attempts at sun protection I  continue to see are  evidence not just of common sense but in fact they also demonstrate the importance of skin colour in the Thai culture.

Now  despite my better understanding of Thai society I can’t even attempt to provide an answer as to why a white face  seems more important  than a dark one.  However one possible answer that I have heard mentioned is that dark skin is indicative of an outdoor labouring background with a lower social standing,  while a white skin or a whiter skin suggests a higher status.

Now given the almost God like status afforded some Thai TV soap stars, who inevitably have a fair skin, it might be that there is some credence in this argument. Given that in the same social dramas the hoi polloi, farmers, village people and servants are usually played by actor with a darker skin tone.

Whatever the reason behind this apparent Thai obsession for a whiter skin tone it is certainly big business for cosmetic companies. Take a look at the terrestrial Thai TV channels to see what I mean since every other advert seems to promote a product for lightening the skin.

A lot are marketed by international cosmetic companies with such compelling names as “White Perfect” or  “White Radiance,” although there are many other from less reputable companies.  Since a lot of these products are beyond the means of many working class Thais it is perhaps not surprising that back yard pharmacies have sprung up producing counterfeit or look alike products that can be quite harmful to the skin. Why, only last year I read an article in the Nation(Thai English language newspaper) about the use of a cancer drug for skin whitening. The drug was actually designed for treating Leukaemia and a side effect can be the lightening of the skin pigment.

“Khun Panya wanted to be beautiful – and that meant having white skin. To fulfil her dream she applied lightening creams, on her face, throat and arms. But the aggressive cosmetics ruined her skin and disfigured her face.”
“Khun Panya comes from a small town about a two-hour drive from Bangkok. Because she could not afford the expensive creams made by established cosmetics manufacturers, she bought her product at one of the local open-air markets…..”

Of course here in Thailand there are alternatives to using under the counter products, in fact many licensed and properly operated clinics offer treatments that are safe and effective at producing the desired results for those seeking a fairer, lighter skin tone. Unfortunately many of these establishments are also outside the means of the very people who would like to access their services.

As I said at the beginning of this article obsessions about skin colour are not limited to Asia and its the same with the white skin obsession,  this is not confined to Thailand since it is wide spread in Asia. Take a look round in a country like the Philippines for example and you will see what I mean. Do a little research on the subject  and you will also find plenty of other places on the Asian continent where the quest for a white skin is high on peoples list of  priorities.

Which leads me to conclude that social status is the driving force behind these obsessions, be they in the West or in Asia.  Perhaps now is a good time  to remember what I said earlier i.e. that to many people beauty is more than skin deep.

Thailand Trivia File: Wish someone a Happy New Year in Thai.

Today I would like to pause for a moment from writing about medical tourism in Thailand to offer  Christmas greetings to all those involved in organising and running the familiarisation trip that was part of the Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest.

There were many people involved in making the event a huge success.

Often the  people who organise such events are lost in the background beavering away to make things on the ground work effectively. The sheer logistics of moving twelve people from around the globe to Bangkok, getting them to the right place at the right time is only half the story. Keeping them happy, providing informative and exciting events and making sure everyone was safe and well were also considerations that went into the planning of the trip.

To do this required a tremendous effort by the organisers, Born Distinction, along with the army of sponsors and other people such as the Thai liaison guides and our driver who somehow, despite the Bangkok traffic, made everything run like clockwork.

So to everyone concerned in the event be they finalists, organisers or sponsors and particularly to my guides Kew and Mickey can I  just say Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Plus a big thank you for making my stay so pleasant.

Thailand Trivia File: Thais do not normally wish each other a Merry Christmas in Thai since they are a Buddhist country. However many Thai people have adopted certain aspects of Christmas.

Anyone who knows Thailand will be familiar with the  way the Thai people use the word ” hub,”  for example plans to make “Thailand a medical tourism hub.” Its part of the national character I guess, wanting to do things well and being recognised as a centre(hub) of excellence.  Well I certainly can’t argue the fact that Thailand is indeed a centre of excellence when it comes to medical tourism since I have had the opportunity to experience some medical facilities during the familiarisation trip that was part of the Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest.

The way medical tourism is integrated into tourism in general is certainly not by chance, in fact its clear government policy as is the aim to make Thailand a medical tourism hub.

….there are two bodies responsible: an ad hoc committee appointed by the prime minister to develop Thailand into an international medical hub and the Public Health Ministry’s international health care committee under the Health Service Support Department….

Indeed the the first phase of this policy is due to end this year with plans for phase II to run from 2011-2014.  A policy that  has seen Thailand earn some 62 Million Baht in 2009 from international patients arriving in the country for treatment. With 1.36 million patients arriving in 2008(latest figures) 20% of whom were European.

All this sounds very rosy for the country and its economy, which continues to expand at a steady rate with a very low level of debt compared to GDP and judged in isolation would certainly seem to reinforce the view that plans to make Thailand a medical tourism hub should forge ahead.

However just like the medication we sometimes have to take it would perhaps be worth spending a moment considering the side effects that are likely to affect Thailand and its people if the plan to develop the countries medical tourism status continues unabated.

A major concern expressed in some quarters is that Thailand does not have the basic medical infrastructure in place to compete effectively as a hub for medical tourism. This may well be true if you consider that  Thailand does not have a primary health care system of its own, like that operated in the UK for example.  There are few general practitioners operating in the country that sees specialism as the way forward. So if you go to see a doctor in Thailand chances are he will be a specialist who may not specialise in your complaint. Secondly there is a ratio of  three doctors per 10,000 people in Thailand which does not compare favourably with Japan 21/10,000 and Malaysia 17/10,000, while in Europe the UK has 21+/10,000.

Since salaries in Thailand are lower than in the West and some other Asian countries it surely follows that doctors will be attracted to the private sector that services international medical tourists, where salaries are higher, rather than staying in the state run health care service. Equally they might also be attracted to working overseas themselves.

So while the foreign exchange earned through medical tourism is certainly beneficial to Thailand,  it is questionable whether even more development of the services offered to foreigners,  is in fact good for the country and its people if  they(the services) continues to drain the limited resources the country has when it comes to trained,  available,  medical personnel.

Kanikar Kittivejjakul of the Consumers Foundation believes the medical hub policy is a good one but is concerned about how to address the imbalance between earning foreign exchange and the deteriorating gap in medical services. For the past four to five years, more and more medical doctors from the public system have moved to private hospitals that cater to foreign patients, thus widening the gap between treatment for the rich and the poor.

So where do I stand on the issue of  further developing Thailand as a medical tourism hub?  Well as someone who has experienced what Thailand has to offer to medical tourists, lives in the country and has a Thai partner,  my feelings are mixed. I do  believe that the product Thailand offers is first rate, that the country is already rightfully near the top of the league when it comes to medical tourism. What I personally would like to see in the future is better access to the excellent facilities for ordinary Thai people perhaps starting with the development of an effective primary health care system.

Sources:

Bangkok Post

Thailand Trivia File: Did you know that the Singha is a mythical lion from Thai Buddhism? it is also the name of a popular Thai beer. Which  Singha do you prefer Mythical Lion or Beer?