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Medical tourism combines treatment
with advantages of visiting Thailand
Dr. Iain Corness provides the
PCEC with information about medical tourism to Thailand; noting that
although there are many statistics bandied about, they are at best guesses
since no one is separating out the medical tourists from the expats or the
people on holiday.
One of the advantages of coming to Thailand for medical
care is that one can combine treatment with tourism. This was the topic of
Dr. Iain Corness, consultant with Bangkok Hospital Pattaya (BHP), to the
Pattaya City Expats Club (PCEC) at their Sunday, July 20, meeting. Dr. Iain
is a qualified medical doctor who has designed and raced cars, and has been
a professional photographer, maitre d’ in his own Thai restaurant, and
author of the bestselling books “Farang, Thailand Through the Eyes of an
Ex-pat” and “Farang, the Sequel.” He also writes the Pattaya Mail’s medical,
racing and dining out columns.
He began by saying that medical tourism refers to patients travelling to
another country to get medial care, rather than have treatment in their own
country - not to be confused with people on an overseas holiday needing
treatment at their destination; or expats spending part or all of the year
in a foreign country and in need of treatment.
 Pattaya
Mail’s Peter Malhotra advises PCEC members and guests that the next issue of
the Pattaya Mail will be celebrating their 21st anniversary.
And therein is the rub in terms of trying to get an accurate count of the
numbers of medical tourists - because no one is separating out the medical
tourists from the expats or the people on holiday. Thailand and other
countries publicise numbers for medical tourists, but they are just guesses,
Dr. Iain explained. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) reported that in
2013, the number of medical tourists increased by almost 10%. And it
foresees annual growth of more than 10% a year over the next five years.
Others have predicted a 16% annual growth rate. But one could pick any
number!
Although there is no real handle on the exact number of medical tourists,
Dr. Iain said we know that they are going up. A survey of 3,000 Americans
predicted that outbound medical tourism will experience explosive growth in
the coming years. The reasons include the following: Health care costs in
the U.S. are increasing at a rate of 8% a year; the safety and quality of
care in many offshore settings has improved; customers are willing to travel
to obtain care that is less costly and safe; and offshore facilities usually
have shorter waiting periods.
PCEC member Roger Fox keeps
an eye out for ocean cruises that may interest Pattaya Expats. Here he
describes an upcoming cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong that currently has
space available at a very reasonable cost.
The most common procedures sought by medial tourists are cosmetic, dental,
orthopaedic, cardiovascular and, perhaps surprisingly, renal dialysis. For
people needing dialysis three times a week, travel was almost unthinkable.
However, if coming to Thailand, it is possible to hop on a plane, go
directly to a hospital equipped for dialysis, receive treatment and then
play tourist between treatments. Dr. Iain mentioned that arrangements for
dialysis are usually made before the patient departs so that they are
expected and treatment requirements are known - also, in the case of BHP,
they can arrange transportation direct from the airport to the hospital if
needed.
For Americans, cosmetic surgery is the biggest growth area for medical
travel. Cancer treatment and infertility treatment are two other areas
expected to grow significantly.
The TAT has a five-year strategy to establish Thailand as a leading world
medical hub. Thailand has 33 “world class” spas and 26 JCI-certified
hospitals. (JCI = Joint Commission International.) It also has Thai
traditional medicine. The TAT plan covers seven S’s: Safety, Savings,
Service, Staff, Sun, Sea and Sand. To which, Dr Iain jokingly noted one
could add an eighth “S” for Soi 6 in Pattaya (i.e. the joys thereof).
Bangkok Hospital Pattaya is accredited by JCI. Dr. Iain said that the
quality of health care at the main international hospitals in Thailand,
including Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, is better in most instances than what is
available in Australia or the U.K.
He mentioned that the medical tourists at BHP are mainly Russians, followed
by Britons, Australians and Americans. Further, about 50% of the Russians
and the Australians request cosmetic surgery whereas the proportion coming
for cosmetic surgery from the U.K. and the U.S. are about half that.
It is estimated that in 2010, six million Americans travelled abroad for
medical care. This has worried the U.S. medical establishment, Dr. Iain
revealed, so they are looking at ways to discourage such travel, including
possibly having U.S. heath insurers decide not to cover services provided
offshore. In Asia, three countries in particular compete with Thailand for
medical tourism: India, Singapore and Philippines, largely because English
is well-established in these countries as a major language.
Some concerns have been raised about medical tourism. One is that care
coordination for patients returning home is often lacking. Dr. Iain
explained that domestic providers are often hesitant to take on complicated
and open cases from unknown providers - let alone from foreign ones. A
second concern is liability, medical tourism may save patients money, but
the patients face increased risks. If anything were to go wrong in a foreign
country, the patient has to work through the host country’s legal system,
which can be difficult.
If you want to know more about medical tourism at BHP, contact Wan in the
International Marketing Department. Call +66 38259999 from abroad or dial
1719 locally. Enquiries can also be made through the BHP website: www.
bangkokpattayahospital.com/en.
After Dr. Iain’s informative talk, Master of Ceremonies Richard Silverberg
brought everyone up to date on upcoming events and called on Roy Albiston to
conduct the always informative Open Forum where questions are asked and
answered about Expat living in Thailand, especially Pattaya.
For more information on the PCEC’s many activities, visit their website at
www.pcecclub.org.
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Pattaya City Expats Club members wish PM happy 21st anniversary
Several PCEC members hold up the
current issue of Pattaya Mail as they congratulate Peter Malhotra and the
Pattaya Mail staff on their upcoming 21st anniversary.
To Pratheep Malhotra and all the Pattaya Mail Staff,
The Pattaya City Expat Club congratulates the Pattaya Mail on its 21st
Anniversary.
The Pattaya Mail was an early supporter of the Pattaya City Expats Club. Over
the 13 years of the Club’s existence the Pattaya Mail has printed a half page
review of the Club’s Sunday meetings every week. The editor, Peter Malhotra, in
support of the PCEC has spoken at the Club and contributed his and his staff’s
advice to improve the operation of the of the club’s public communications.
PCEC member Richard Silverberg
congratulates Pattaya Mail for its 21st anniversaries and said that Pattaya Mail
is a quality media who provides helpful information every week to PCEC members
and expatriates of all nationalities who live in Pattaya. He was very impressed
and grateful to have known stories happing in town through Pattaya Mail.
Having that support from the Pattaya Mail has significantly improved the club’s
ability to attract new members, enabling it to expand and broaden its service to
its members and the community.
So the Pattaya City Expats Club’s congratulations to the Pattaya Mail and its
Editor are real and sincere.
The PCEC extends its Best Wishes to the Pattaya Mail on its anniversary, and
it’s request for a continuation of the excellent and responsible journalism
which characterises the Pattaya Mail.
From the Board of the Pattaya Expats Club and all its members.
Wilson Fletcher congratulates
Pattaya Mail on our 21stAniversary and wishes us to be with Pattaya expats for a
long time.
PCEC member Gary Hacker said that
he has been reading Pattaya Mail newspaper every week since he came to live in
Pattaya and said that Pattaya Mail is the best media for expats living in town
and he wishes Pattaya Mail to be with Pattaya City forever.
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Memorable Wines at the Havana Bar, Holiday Inn Pattaya
Bantawat Kerkpittaya, manager of
Wine Dee Dee Pattaya, presents the introductory wines.
Colin Kaye
Pattaya wine-lovers recently enjoyed a pleasant evening at
the Havana Bar which is part of the relatively new Holiday Inn in North Pattaya.
The high-ceilinged and theatrically-lit Havana Bar is a lively place indeed,
decked out with Cuban memorabilia like photos of cigar-making and old American
cars. There’s even a photo of Ernest Hemmingway, who in 1940 bought a house
outside Havana where he lived for twenty years. There’s also a picture of Sir
Winston Churchill, which I assumed was an allusion to Churchill’s passion for
Cuban cigars. However, it turned out that Winston Churchill visited Cuba after
the Second World War when he stayed in the famous Hotel Nacional in
Havana. The hotel still has a “Churchill Bar” named in his honour. Surprisingly,
Churchill first visited Cuba in 1895 when he was in his early twenties, acting
as a military observer during the Spanish-Cuban war. Not many people know that.
Juthamard Boonchinwudtikun (3rd
right), Public Relations Executive of the Holiday Inn Pattaya, poses for a photo
with the guests.
The three white wines and the four reds were from Australia,
Italy and Chile, imported by Wine Dee Dee and served by attentive and charming
bar staff. The wines were matched with an array of international cheeses and
delightful canapés created by the Holiday Inn chefs. The evening kicked off with
a Stonefish Sparkling Brut Cuvée, a fresh sparkler from Australia’s Hunter
Valley. You may be familiar with the range of Stonefish wines, a company
established fourteen years ago by Peter Papanikitas and which includes Shell Bay
wines under its umbrella.
The second wine was the Hugo Casanova Linaje Sauvignon
Blanc 2012 from Chile’s Maule Valley. This company consistently produces high
quality wines. And incidentally, the Spanish word linaje simply means
“varietal”. Their medium-bodied Sauvignon had an aroma of grassy fresh
fruit, white peaches, pineapples and hints of minerals and herbs. The final
white wine was the Shell Bay Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc 2012 with aromas of
lemon, melon, pineapple and with a soft and creamy mouth-feel.
The first red was the easy-drinking Hugo Casanova Linaje
Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 which had lovely aromas of strawberry, blackberry and
plum. It was a medium-bodied dry wine with plenty of fruit, a touch of smokiness
and a good tannic framework. This was followed by the Shell Bay,
Shiraz-Cabernet 2011 and despite being nearly 14% alcohol content, the wine was
soft and supple with rich fruit and toasty hints of oak, well-balanced and with
a decent dash of tannin.
At wine tastings, the best wines are usually served last, so
as not to upstage the cheaper offerings. This was certainly the case at the
Havana Bar and the two final reds were, to my taste at least, the finest and
most elegant wines of the evening. The first was a splendid ruby-red
Montepulciano D’Abruzzo 2011 from Italy’s Adriatic coast. This wine was made by
the old-established Sensi Company and has a delicate aroma of violets and
spices, light in texture and beautifully balanced with a hint of firm tannins.
Finally, the Stonefish Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, which
at four years old is outstanding. It’s a classic Ozzie Cabernet with a rich,
fragrant bouquet of blackberry, plum and a pleasing earthiness. The taste is
splendidly rounded, rich and full, with typical flavours of blackcurrant and
berries. Despite the high alcohol content of 14% this was an exceptional and
perfectly balanced wine.
Holiday Inn’s Public Relations Executive, Juthamard
Boonchinwudtikun told me that this is the second wine tasting of the year. The
next one will be in October and as usual, the price will be very reasonable. The
evening will probably have a Halloween theme, so get your broomstick ready.
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Fun, not first place, made priority at ‘Cycling for Harmony’ race
Wattana Withayakul from Region 3’s
Office of the Chief Justice announces the start of the ‘Bicycle for Fun with
Pattaya Courthouse’ event.
Jetsada Homklin
The focus was on fun and togetherness, rather than winning times and trophies,
at the Pattaya Court’s “Cycling for Harmony” event.
About 500 riders, including a number of local officials, turned out July 20 for
the two-race affair, with hardcore cyclists taking a 50-kilometer trek through
the area, and less-serious “VIPs” going just 15 kilometers.
Competition was not taken too seriously, though, as both first- and last-place
finishers were treated as winners and awarded medals. There also were lucky
draws for an audio system, bags, hats, umbrellas and vouchers, many of which
were awarded as expressions of gratitude.
The court’s Mediation Club joined with Pattaya City Hall, the Tourism Authority
of Thailand, Pattaya Business & Tourism Association and Pattaya Cycling Club for
the event, which was aimed at promoting the courthouse’s lawsuit-mediation
project and highlight eco-tourism in Pattaya.
Over 50 bicyclists crowd the
starting line.
Wattana Withayakul of Region 3’s Office of the Chief Justice
welcomed Chief Justice Apichart Thepnoo, Banglamung District Chief Sakchai
Taengho, former MPs, and other community leaders to the rally.
The main course took cyclists from the Pattaya Court, out to Siam Country Club,
past Thammasart University, out to Huay Yai, past the Attorney’s Office to
Jomtien Second Road, and back to the courthouse.
The shorter VIP route also started at the Pattaya Court, but headed out along
Jomtien Second Road up to Sukhumvit Road, made a U-turn and returned to the
courthouse via the same route, although riders made a stop at Soi Jomtien Palm
Beach to play two games on the beach.
Dusit Thani Pattaya GM Chatchawal
Supachayanont (left) presents a lucky draw prize to one of the many lucky
winners.
During this fun day, all
participants are winners!
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