Bangkok (dpa) - Fahad Albusaidi had never heard of Bumrungrad
Hospital until he arrived in Bangkok from Oman, accompanying his
mother who was booked for treatment.
"If you speak to anyone in Arabic and say Bumrungrad, they will
not get it," said Albusaidi, while waiting for his mother to receive
a check-up. "But if you say American Hospital, they will know
exactly."
Bumrungrad Hospital started promoting itself as a medical tourism
destination in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, when many
wealthy Thais lost their fortunes and could no longer afford the
American-run establishment's costly services.
In 2002, it became the first hospital in Asia to win accreditation
from the Joint Commission International, an arm of the organization
that reviews and accredits US hospitals.
There are more than 30 Thai hospitals with accreditation now, with
dozens more in India, Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore.
Bumrungrad's marketing director Kenneth Mays is not overly worried
about the new competition.
"You learn a lot in 15 years of serving millions of international
patients," Mays said. "Countries like Korea get excited over 1,000 to
2,000 international patients a year. We see that many in a few days."
Last year, about 2.4 million foreigners came to Thailand for
health services, including treatment at the numerous spas, earning
the country an estimated 14 billion baht (466 million dollars),
according to the Tourism Ministry.
Thailand has succeeded in medical tourism for many of the same
reasons it has succeeded in mass tourism: good service, cheap prices
and up-to-date facilities.
"The main reason these people are coming to Thailand is because of
the service levels Thailand is able to provide," said Ralf Krewer,
international marketing manager of the Bangkok Hospital group. "And
they like it here because they can live a bit freer."
The Middle East has always been the country's main market for
medical tourism.
Malaysia's recent entry into the medical tourism market has not
yet lured Middle Eastern patients away from Thailand, Thai hospital
officials say.
"Malaysia has entered the market very strongly but they have had
limited success in the Middle East," Krewer said. "What is seen
negatively is that it is a Muslim country, believe it or not."
Thailand's appeal as a fun place to spend time in extends to the
medical tourism market too, he speculated.
With the proliferation of world-class medical facilities in Asia,
there has been some market segmentation in recent years.
"Indonesia has 900,000 people a year who leave for health care,
mostly to Singapore and Malaysia," Bumrungrad's marketing director
Mays said.
Singapore has its niche in specialist treatment and proximity to
Indonesia and Malaysia.
"I always bring my family to Singapore for any medical concerns,"
said Matthew Turret, a Kuala Lumpur-based investment banker. "The
facilities there are top of the line and it's just a few minutes away
from Malaysia."
Thailand benefits from its proximity to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar
and Vietnam, four countries with still rudimentary medical
facilities.
"We have a good opportunity across our borders, because the
higher-end people in these countries come to Thailand for their
medical treatment," said Wilaiwan Tawittsiri, deputy governor of the
Tourism Authority of Thailand.
The second-largest overseas market at Bumrungrad is Myanmar, where
medical facilities are notoriously poor.
Two other growing markets for Thailand's competitive hospitals are
China and Russia, the source of 2.7 million and 1.3 million tourists,
respectively, last year.
Marketing schemes area being fine-tuned to make sure the visiting
tourists don't miss Thailand's medical attractions.
"The Chinese are interested in anti-ageing, stem-cell treatment
and fertility therapy," Wilaiwan said. "The Russian market is very
interested in weight-loss."
Copyright 2013 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH