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 $12,000 as opposed to the $100,000 (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.
by Radha Kishan
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