According to reports from Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), 1.6 million American tourists, with more than US$6 billion in their pockets, will travel to Thailand for medical treatment. Report Singapore based commercial Real Estate company, Castlewood Group. Treatments range from hip replacement surgery and infertility treatment to cosmetic procedures such as breast augmentation and cosmetic dentistry, all of which offer huge savings on the cost of the same treatments in the US.
Hospitals in Phuket are now offering more medical and spa treatments as the Thai government seeks to boost medical tourism revenues to 100 billion baht by year 2015. The great savings to be made are of course the main draw for this type of tourist, but the high success rates and low incidences of complications as well as the idea of a 2 week recuperation on a Thai beach is also very appealing.
Thailand is already Asia’s leading medical tourism destination and as a result is booming, with the number of medical tourists increasing gradually since 2000. Health care centre’s in Thailand tend to be hi-tech, modern and safe and diagnosis and treatment is carried out by a fully licensed, experienced medical doctor offering the quality of patient care you can expect anywhere in the world. Private hospitals have driven the Medical tourism industry and there are now over 400 hospitals offering healthcare services.
Leading Medical Tourism Hospitals
Bangkok Hospital Group – Offers special services for overseas patients with 15 hospitals all over Thailand, multilingual interpreters are employed here.
Bumrungrad International – Attracts more foreign patients than any other hospital worldwide, offering excellent facilities for medical tourists.
Samitivej Hospitals – Equipped with advanced medical equipment competitive to North American and European leading hospitals, offering world class healthcare.
Tourists seeking medical treatments in Phuket can also look forward to staying at the 8over8 luxury hotel which is scheduled to open by the end of 2012.
The 8over8 Hotel, set close to Bang Tao Beach and Laguna Resort, will have 173 suites.
“Phuket can give tourists much more than just a holiday. Tourists can come for medical treatments or rejuvenate at a spa. The 8over8 hotel will be a great place to relax and enjoy the environment of Phuket. It will be a place where every type of tourist, whether business, medical or leisure, we can provide the service they need” commented Chris Comer, Managing Director of Castlewood Group, a commercial property developer based in Singapore.
