Thailand Medical Tourism and Travel Blog Finalist

We visited another dental clinic in Chiang Mai. The lead dentist of CM Dental Clinic is Dr. Laddawan Kittirungsi, a member of both the Thai Dental Association of Thailand and the German Society of Oral Implantology (DGOI), and a fellow of the International Congress of Oral Implants (ICOI).

The clinic provides a variety of dental services including dental implants and periodontal treatment, oral and maxillofacial surgey, and cosmetic dentistry among others.

For foreign clients, they offer multiple transfers from the airport to hotel, hotel to clinic, clinic to hotel or airport, and vice versa. Their reception area has amenities that include movies, hot and cold drinks as well as WiFi Internet.

CM Dental Clinic
617 Charoenmuang Road, Muang
Chiang Mai, 50000 Thailand
+66 53 266557
smilerus123@hotmail.com
www.cmdentalclinic.com

This photo was taken in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Can you guess the exact location? First two people to comment correctly will get something from Thailand. This is open to everyone in the Philippines since I’ll be mailing the gift from there. Good luck!

The Tourism Authority of Thailand organized an enchanting fluvial parade of lights along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok during the Loi Krathong. Here are photos of some of the decorated barges. Indeed, these barges added luster to the evening festivities of the Loi Krathong.

One of the highlights from yesterday was a visit to the Mae Sa Elephant Camp. We got to watch the elephants bathe followed by a talent show. Remember the elephants that paint?

Anyway, after the show, you can get up close and personal with the elephants. Bananas and sugar cane are available for sale for you to feed the elephants. You can also pat them and have a photo taken with them.

I guess the pictures speak for themselves. Just don’t forget to bring an extra shirt. We also got to ride an elephant after the show. More about Mae Sa Elephant Camp in a future post.

Many of my friends are asking me to post photos of my Colonial Suite Room at the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Mandarin Oriental Dhara Devi is no. 18 on Conde Nast Traveler’s list of Top 100 in the world.

The gargantuan resort was built in what used to be a rice field. But it feels like you are entering an ancient Thai city with temples, palaces and stately colonial buildings. Surprisingly, everything was built from scratch. But the attention to detail, authenticity of architectural design and the scale of the buildings are impeccable.

To preserve the character of the place, they kept patches of rice field within the resort where guests can even plant rice.

Anyway, here are photos of my room. Here is what you see when you enter the room. There’s a small room complete with guest toilet.

This is the living room which has a work desk and TV.

The main bedroom is very stately. And the bed was so comfortable, I slept soundly last night.

But the bathroom is definitely something. I think it’s as big as the bedroom itself complete with a walk-in closet and bathtub jacuzzi which I’m about to use in a while.

Both the bedroom and living room have exits to a porch where you could relax outdoors. It offers a view of the other grand buildings that comprise the Colonial Suite wing. And mind you, the resort also has close to a hundred villas of various sizes, mansions even.

Anyway, I’m off to the hotel spa now.

I’m finally in Chiang Mai to experience its medical tourism offer. We all know about its charming character and beautiful attractions. But few people know that many people, especially from Australia and Europe, actually fly to Chiang Mai to avail of the very affordable services offered by its medical, health and wellness facilities.

Our first stop on our list of medical facilities to visit was a trip to the dentist at the Dental 4 U Aesthetic Clinic. I was given a free consultation, oral prophylaxis or cleaning, and a dental x-ray just to see if there was anything wrong with my teeth.

Their dentists are quite young but well-trained. My dentist was Dr. Warut Muttarak, who received specialized training in UCLA for dental implants. In fact, dental implants are one of the expertise of the clinic.

Dr. Warut shared with me the state of the art equipment and processes in the clinic, from the newest technology in dental tools down to the meticulous sterilization process.

And you could feel that you were in good hands at the clinic.

Dental 4 U Aesthetic Clinic
382-394 Thapae Road
T. Changmoi, A. Muang
Chiang Mai 50300
info@chiangmaidental4you.com

I’ve always heard about the Loi Krathong ลอยกระทง ever since I joined the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program (SSEAYP) in 2002. The Thai delegates even taught us the Loi Krathong Song which I still remember. So when I found out that the day of our arrival was the Loi Krathong Festival, I was very excited.

Loi Krathong is a festival that is celebrated annually in Bangkok. It’s the Thai version of the festival of lights. Loi mean ‘to float’ while a krathong is the colorfully-decorated floral, candle and incense stick offering arranged on a banana tree trunk. During the festival, people let go of krathongs in bodies of water and make a wish. It is said that such practice originated from the tradition of paying respect to the water spirits.

After our sumptuous Thai dinner in an old mansion adaptively-reused as a restaurant (I’ll talk about that in another entry), we boarded a boat on the Chao Phraya River and proceeded to Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) to let go of our krathongs.

The night sky of Bangkok was like a sea of floating constellations as sky lanterns or khom loi โคมลอย were released in the air from different areas in Bangkok. The khom loi is more popular though in Chiang Mai where the northern Thai festival of Yi Peng ยี่เป็ง at the same time as Loi Krathong.

The Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest has officially begun. This morning, all twelve finalists met at the Hotel Windsor Suites for a briefing and drawing of lots. There were six different itineraries including two in Bangkok and one each in Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Koh Samui.

Having been to Bangkok several times and Pattaya during my first trip to Thailand in 1996, I was hoping to pick any of the three other destinations. And I got my wish because I will be flying to Chiang Mai!

The Chiang Mai itinerary looks very exciting. I’m looking forward to my stay at the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi which is ranked 18th in Conde Nast Traveler’s Top 100 properties in the world!

The past few weeks were very hectic. I had been traveling around the Philippines like crazy trying to complete my goal of visiting all its 79 provinces. And I finally achieved it over the weekend. So now it’s time for a change of environment. And so I look forward to my trip to Thailand next week.

But what excites me more is the fact that the trip will give us a chance to experience Thailand’s medical tourism offer. And that means a lot of rest & relaxation for me. Here I come again Bangkok!

This is your 1st post. Edit, modify or delete it. Then, start blogging!