Traveling to Thailand for Medical Tourism

Medical treatments in the United States can be notoriously expensive. Medical Tourism is the name coined by travel agencies and popular culture to refer to the practice of traveling outside of one’s own country for the purposes of receiving cheaper, and sometimes better, medical treatments. Thailand is one of the most popular destinations for medical tourism in Asia, and the industry is a rapidly growing segment of the eastern nation’s tourism and health-care sectors. A single Bangkok hospital received over 150,000 foreigners seeking special medical treatments in 2005. Medical tourism was purported to have earned Thailand an estimated 36.4 billion baht in 2006.

Medical tourists traveling to Thailand can find a wide range of treatments available. Everything from cosmetic surgery, dental work and orthopedic treatments to organ transplants and cardiac surgeries. But people also go there for spa and physical therapy treatments. The costs of such medical treatments in Thailand are drastically lower than in the United States or Europe. A coronary bypass surgery that would normally cost around $100,000 (USD) in the United States, for example, costs only $12,000 (USD) in a Thailand hospital. Also, Thai hospitals and clinics also tend to be much more comfortable and have a much higher level of nursing and patient care than western hospitals.

Aside from westerners, Thailand hospitals also cater to other wealthy Asians. Hospitals in Bangkok have Japanese sections, for example, and interpreters at Phyathai Hospitals Group speak over 22 languages, in addition to the English-speaking medical staff.

Physicians in Thailand tend to be very highly trained, many of them having degrees from U.S. or U.K. schools. Most of the doctors and medical staff at the Bumrungard International Hospital in Thailand, for example, were educated in the United States or Europe. The Thai health care system was recently ranked high by the U.S. Consular information sheet.

Travel agencies offering medical tourism packages to Thailand will often include hotel, transportation to and from the airport as well as a variety of options that include, day trips, guided tours, spa treatments and nighttime entertainment.

To learn more about Thailand hospitals, medical travel and health tourism please visit http://www.wellnesstravel.com.

Ryan Frank is a 23 year old blogger and writer living in San Diego, CA.