Overview
The Thai government oversees healthcare and medical services, with universal
healthcare provided through three programs that cover its entire population of legal
residents. The private healthcare sector is also big in Thailand, with many new hospitals
and medical facilities taking advantage of the economic conditions and the weak
currency to attract medical tourists. Thailand’s medical tourism program is one that
makes a good case for quantity over quality.
Bangkok’s Bumrungrad International Hospital currently enjoying the largest volume of international patients in Asia was the first Asian hospital to meet the requirements for Joint Commission International Accreditation in 2002 and the first Asian hospital to receive Global Healthcare Accreditation in 2016; now, Thailand has more than a dozen JCI hospitals. Recent data highlights Thailand as a top destination in medical tourism in terms of raw volume, regularly pulling in more than one million annual visitors. The sector has developed a particularly good reputation for gender reassignment surgeries and brings hundreds of thousands of patients from Asia alone.
Predictably, Thailand scores highly in the MTI in dimensions directly related to tourism. It ranks fifth overall in raw tourism, trailing only Japan, Singapore, Israel, and Dubai. Its cheap costs earned it a No. 5 ranking in the Medical Tourism dimension and a No. 2 spot among Asian destinations, trailing only India. Its scores in medical dimensions were above average – it ranked 14th in both Reputation and Quality of Care. Thailand is in a much better position than many countries in the MTI, including some at the very top of the index, because it already has an established patient flow.
*Based on the 2020 – 2021 Global MTI (Medical Tourism Index) Report published by the Medical Tourism Association.*
Bangkok’s Bumrungrad International Hospital currently enjoying the largest volume of international patients in Asia was the first Asian hospital to meet the requirements for Joint Commission International Accreditation in 2002 and the first Asian hospital to receive Global Healthcare Accreditation in 2016; now, Thailand has more than a dozen JCI hospitals. Recent data highlights Thailand as a top destination in medical tourism in terms of raw volume, regularly pulling in more than one million annual visitors. The sector has developed a particularly good reputation for gender reassignment surgeries and brings hundreds of thousands of patients from Asia alone.
Predictably, Thailand scores highly in the MTI in dimensions directly related to tourism. It ranks fifth overall in raw tourism, trailing only Japan, Singapore, Israel, and Dubai. Its cheap costs earned it a No. 5 ranking in the Medical Tourism dimension and a No. 2 spot among Asian destinations, trailing only India. Its scores in medical dimensions were above average – it ranked 14th in both Reputation and Quality of Care. Thailand is in a much better position than many countries in the MTI, including some at the very top of the index, because it already has an established patient flow.
*Based on the 2020 – 2021 Global MTI (Medical Tourism Index) Report published by the Medical Tourism Association.*