“We had many requests for this type of treatment recently, so that we went out and designed a 6 days package at a resonable price. We sought the opinion of many of our returning clients and we believe that now we have a pretty good package. With a price of  US 2,400 you get a whole lot of more services and treatment than a comparable offer in the US or Europe” says Philip Ganz, Director at Medithai.

The package was launched on January 1st 2012 and will be available for at least 6 months. “After 6 months we will see whether we need to do some readjustments. Again, we will seek the feedback of our clients.” states Ganz.

For more information please visit http://medithai.net/promotions/anti-ageing-wellness-treatment

Everyone in Thailand is expecting a sort of high noon with different opinions going around. Hardliners say that the red shirt blockade should be wiped out, no matter if it will cost human lives. Others, more moderate argue that even with the blockage gone, the problem will still be there. This was yesterday.

Recent news however, bring a glimpse of hope. Thailand’s army and anti-government protesters made tentative peace overtures Friday, seeking to avoid a looming crackdown and a repeat of clashes that left 25 people dead earlier this month. Suddenly, the leaders of the “red shirts” give a signal that they are ready to negotiate. The conditions for a withdrawal are admittedly still too ambitious and certainly are unacceptable for the Abhisit government.

The Thai army is also against a use of violence. The army chief said that the use of force was no solution to Thailand’s crisis, which pits the red-shirted demonstrators against a government they condemn as illegitimate and undemocratic.

“The use of force will not end the current problems and would have many repercussions,” army chief General Anupong Paojinda told a meeting of top brass, according to deputy spokesman Colonel Sirichan Ngathong.

“The best thing is to create understanding among the people. The army’s job now is to take care of the people, and not allow Thais to attack each other.”

Anupong told AFP on Thursday that he aimed to end the standoff without further bloodshed, saying authorities “can uphold the law with no people dead or injured.”

His comments, which contrasted with warnings earlier this week that security forces were ready to use live ammunition if needed, came amid high tensions in the capital, which is under a state of emergency.

However, time can be a challenge. The leaders of the “yellow shirts” had warned the government earlier this week, that if the situation continued to be unresolved, they would step in and fight the “red shirts”. This ultimatum expires in 36 hours.

The “100,000 Smiles in Laguna Phuket” promotion is being run in co-operation with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), which will help to market the initiative.

TAT Governor Phornsiri Manoharn and Laguna Phuket Managing Director Michael Ayling announced details of the giveaway at a press conference at TAT headquarters in Bangkok on Wednesday.

The promotion represents a fightback for Laguna Phuket in the face of a tougher economic climate.

TAT governor Ms Phornsiri Manoharn said, “In these challenging times everyone in Thailand’s tourism industry must work hard together and help each other to restore our declining tourism numbers. We really hope that this promotion brings 100,000 smiling faces to visit Thailand.”

From March 1 to 31, customers booking at the Banyan Tree Phuket, Sheraton Grande Laguna, Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, Laguna Beach Resort, Laguna Phuket Holiday Residences or Laguna Holiday Club Phuket Resort for stays from March 15 to December 15 will receive one complimentary night’s stay on a consecutive night.

A minimum of two paid nights are required for bookings at the Sheraton Grande Laguna during April, July, August, October, November and December.

The Allamanda Laguna Phuket resort is not participating in the promotion.

For more details visit http://www.lagunaphuket.com/100,000-smiles orhttp://www.tourismthailand.org/thailandsuperdeal or http://www.medithai.net.

USD 1 = THB 34

The promotions are for valid for all Bangkok Smile Dental Clinic branches in Bangkok and Phuket. For enquiries please contact nurse@medithai.net .

This move is another indicator that Hospitals and Clinics are trying to win back the patients which were lost during the Bangkok Airports closure in December 2008.

Bangkok Hospital recently added several new massage services to their Healthy and Beauty offering. Patients can now access several spa-type treatments in-room at Bangkok Hospital, including:
• Full body Thai massages
• Hour-long foot massages
• Therapeutic Western style massages
• Manicures and pedicures
• Hair styling services

A one hour Thai body massage costs 350THB, or around US$10 at current exchange rates. A one hour therapeutic massage, administered by a qualified physical therapist, costs 600THB or US$17 at current rates for outpatients, and 1000THB or around US$28 for in room service. Manicures and pedicures cost 100 baht in-salon, or 200 baht in-room; these costs equate to around US$2.80 or US$5.70 at current exchange rates.

SpaFinder has named the blending of medical treatment with spas and tourism as third in its list of Top Ten Spa Trends to Watch in 2009. President of SpaTrends, Susie Ellis, notes that “for 2009, whether it’s … the rise of wellness tourism or diagnostics—there’s never been more breeding going on in the spa Petri dish”. This increasing combination of medical and spa services is the report’s flagship prediction, and appears third in the list of top ten trends.

Bangkok Hospital fits neatly into the report’s forecasts. SpaFinder advises to “watch for the line between spas, medical spas and hospitals to become ever more creatively blended”, and Bangkok Hospital has been leading the trend.

Chris Sharasuvana, the hospital’s e-marketing manager, believes that the spa offering is an important part of the hospital’s services. “It not only helps differentiate us from Western hospitals and draw first-time patients to Bangkok Hospital, these services play an important part in the speed of recovery, positivity and mental resilience of our patients”, Mr Sharasuvana noted. “We couldn’t do without them”, he added.

About Bangkok Hospital Medical Center:

Bangkok Hospital Medical Center (BMC) is one of the most technologically sophisticated hospitals in the world today. Located in Bangkok, Thailand, BMC is an expansive state-of-the-art medical campus providing comprehensive medical care through multidisciplinary teams of highly trained specialists. With its four hospitals and broad range of specialized clinics, BMC is equipped with all of the diagnostic and treatment facilities not generally available at local hospitals. The center has received Joint Commission International accreditation and is known throughout the world for delivering world-class, award-winning healthcare.

“This is the first time the airline offers such extra lower airfare,” Chris Chantalitanon, director area for Thailand, Indochina and Myanmar , said Wednesday.

This drastic measure is to counter the drop of passengers due to the global economic slowdown as well as the negative effect to Thai tourism caused by the closure of the Bangkok Airports in December.

The price cut is welcomed by the Thai tourism industry, especially by the key players of the leasure and medical tourism.

Participating in this campaign are the leading Thai Spas such as Spa Cenvaree, Imperial Spa, S Medical Spa, Tria Integrative Wellness Spa, JW’s Health & Spa Club, Banyan Tree Spa and others.

The vouchers can be downloaded on the official website of the the Thai Spa Association. http://www.thaispaassociation.com/TSPA/voucher.php

As travellers become more discriminating, they will continue to seek out hotels and resorts that offer a complete array of amenities. Medical spas, medical travel and rehabilitation at desirable destinations will play a large role in the new generation of spa resorts. “In Dubai alone, there are at least 120 spas, health clubs and clinics offering wellness services. By 2015, the United Arab Emirates could be amongst the top spa destinations in the world with an estimated 200 hotels offering world-class facilities,” said Mark Wynne Smith.
Stakeholders must ensure that the medical travel industry offers accessible, affordable and high-quality care to cement the reputation of this fledgling sector and allow the travelling public to make informed choices about their medical care. There is enormous potential for partnerships between hotel chains, property developers, airlines, insurance companies and financial institutions. “These partnerships are vital as medical travellers need the security and peace of mind provided by purchasing an all-inclusive package for their trip,” said Wynne Smith.

“Medical Tourism has the potential to become a significant tourism segment with investment opportunities ranging from large scale hotel developments adjacent to city hospitals or specialist offerings with some minor modifications to existing product. In either scenario, the amount of incremental capital expenditure will depend on the size and opportunity within the market and should be a key consideration for any investor,” concludes Mark Wynne Smith.

Compared to health spending in other industrialized countries, the U.S. ranks dead last.  At $6,700 per person, Americans spend two times the average.  This money might be worth it if we were healthier.

But the dirty little secret is that Americans’ health falls squarely in the middle of the pack compared to countries like Canada, the UK, and France.  U.S. life expectancy is lower, infant mortality higher, and recovery rates from typical medical procedures are surprisingly average.

What’s more, no other country asks corporations to provide health insurance for most of its population.  If health-care were like any other service, these corporations would revolt against its inefficiency.

If the same service cost less in another country, managers would face enormous pressures to consider off-shoring.  Now, health-care seems trickier since you can’t import it like oil.  However, Americans and American companies are still finding creative ways to lower costs.

In August 2006, Carl Garrett, a mill worker from North Carolina, agreed to be sent to India for operations on his gall bladder and shoulder.  The trip would save his employer $50,000.

Instead borrowing $20,000 for his surgery in America, Garrett would receive $10,000 of the savings, along with a tour of the Taj Mahal and 24-hour private nursing during his recovery.  His trip was stopped by the United Steelworkers union, which feared the program would lead to a two-tiered health system for executives versus employees.

While this highly publicized scheme was halted, the grassroots movement toward medical off-shoring is growing.  An estimated 750,000 Americans traveled in 2007 for “medical tourism” – coupling visits to exotic locations with lower-cost plastic surgery and dentistry.

Some travelers seek more serious operations like heart stents and hip replacements.  An estimated 100 foreign hospitals have been approved by the organization that also accredits U.S. hospitals.  Many of these “destination hospitals” have Western-trained doctors and boast state-of-the-art facilities.

Medical tourism and off-shoring address, in a backhanded way, the supply side of the health-care equation: U.S. health-care providers, such as doctors, hospitals, insurers and drug companies, offer services at too high a cost.  However, most health-care reforms focus on the demand side, increasing co-pays and using cost-shifting to make people more selective in their health-care consumption.

The demand siders’ approach carries a certain logic: If you don’t pay for that extra test or elective procedure because insurance covers it, why not get it?   Yet no other country relies on demand to control costs – and none spends as much to make their people just as healthy as Americans.

U.S. corporations have certainly taken note.  Mercer Health & Benefits has studied off-shoring for three Fortune 500 companies.  United Group Programs in Florida, which insures small businesses, offered to send patients to Thailand for medical care.  Both Blue Shield and Health Net of California now offer lower-priced insurance that allows members to seek care in Mexico.

Corporate wellness programs are another innovative approach to control costs.  Beacon Mutual Insurance of Rhode Island distributes monthly health magazines to employees, offers one-on-one nutrition counseling, and intranet updates with monthly themes.

Compared to companies covered by the same insurer, Beacon Mutual saved 13.6 percent on outpatient care, 13.3 percent on inpatient care, 12.8 percent on diagnostics, 4.2 percent on prescription drugs, and 1.7 percent on surgical procedures.  The company attributed half these savings – roughly $300 per person per year – to its wellness regime.

More than 120 companies drew praise in 2007 from the Wellness Council, a non-profit focused on workplace wellness.  The innovators ranged from small companies to behemoths like Merrill Lynch and IBM, whose programs have saved millions of dollars per year.

At a recent CEO Forum, Obama’s new Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel challenged companies to support health reform.  But Obama risks falling behind these same CEOs unless he learns from their successes.

The President must also look at other supply side reforms – or else Americans’ health-care, like the toys we buy for Christmas, will increasingly be stamped “made in China.”

However, the impact on the country’s medical tourism industry so far is considered minor when compared with the damage to the hospitality industry overall.

Losses of 140 billion baht so far have been estimated in the tourism industry.

Curtis Schroeder, Bumrungrad Hospital’s chief executive, said BH had received a few cancellations and some patients had rescheduled their visits. However, he said that the losses would not be significant for the hospital obtained 60% of its business from Thais, 20% from expats and the other 20% from foreigners.

”It is too early to tell the impact as [the airport closures] started only last week,”said Mr Schroeder.

He said that if the closure was prolonged, it would have a negative effect and people would think twice about coming to Thailand, including for leisure.

For patients and their families who could not leave Thailand as scheduled, he said the hospital had provided lower-cost accommodation at its Bumrungrad Residence. It will also arrange transport to U-Tapao airport in Chon Buri for those who need to leave. Special notifications have been posted for relatives at www.bumrungrad.com.

Generally, the last quarter of the year is less busy for hospitals treating foreigners than the third quarter, analysts say. Many patients from Middle East normally coming to Thailand for medical treatment in the third quarter before Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month.

While medical service in Thailand was excellent and much cheaper than in Middle Eastern citizens’ home countries, political uncertainty might drive them to rival countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and India, an analyst said.

The analyst said there could also be some impact on SET-listed Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BGH), the country’s largest hospital operator, as it obtains 35% of its patients from abroad.