Thailand plans international medical tourism complex

[webfact]

 

By  IMTJ Team

 

The island of Phuket’s administration is waiting for Thailand’s Public Health Ministry to approve a THB343 million (US$11 million) budget, to prepare for the construction of an international medical tourism complex at Vachira Phuket Hospital.

 

The Thai government’s medical tourism board has approved the proposal. A further TBH1.4 billion (US$44 million) will be needed for the construction of the complex and its supporting facilities, and the cost will be covered by a joint investment between the government and the private sector. It is hoped the medical tourism and health services complex will be a part of the province’s tourism appeal.

 

The aim is that the medical tourism complex will initially attract around 50,000 tourists in 2023, with the number projected to double within a year and possibly reach one million in 2026. The complex is expected to generate THB2.5 billion (US$79 million) in its first year after opening, and THB50 billion (US$1.6 billion) in 2026.

 

Full story: https://www.laingbuissonnews.com/imtj/news-imtj/thailand-plans-international-medical-tourism-complex/

 

-- © Copyright Laing Buisson 2021-04-15

 

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[RichardColeman]

6 minutes ago, webfact said:

The aim is that the medical tourism complex will initially attract around 50,000 tourists in 2023

As we are only 20 months or so away from that date and Thailand is in the middle of a new covid wave and the is in world a lockdown pandemic AND they have not even built it yet, 2023 seems total nonsense. 

[Excel]

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

As we are only 20 months or so away from that date and Thailand is in the middle of a new covid wave and the is in world a lockdown pandemic AND they have not even built it yet, 2023 seems total nonsense. 

But the point is of the 343 million allocated budget then by 2023 30% will have already been creamed off and distributed to the Phuket "beneficiaries" , which was properly the intended reasoning initially. 

[bluesofa]

 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

to prepare for the construction of an international medical tourism complex at Vachira Phuket Hospital.

Surely a hospital is the ideal place for anyone with a complex.

[DrDave]

The aim is that the medical tourism complex will initially attract around 50,000 tourists in 2023...

 

I doubt that the complex would be complete any time in 2023 even if they started construction today.

[Scottie12]

Yaaawn, here we go again. Will this be before or after Phuket becomes the IT hub of Asia ?

[grandpa]

Invest the money in resolving the current Covid-19 pandemic!  Just imagine how many vaccines and other medical products this money could buy!

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, bluesofa said:

 

Surely a hospital is the ideal place for anyone with a complex.

Get your coat.????

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

As we are only 20 months or so away from that date and Thailand is in the middle of a new covid wave and the is in world a lockdown pandemic AND they have not even built it yet, 2023 seems total nonsense. 

 

Another example of lack of future thinking/planning. No anticipation of where something could lead or how circumstances could change.

 

I see this all the time lecturing Thai masters business students. 'What if a certain circumstance develops', 'what if our marketing plan doesn't work', 'anticipation', 'plan B'. 

 

Reality is that none of the above is mentioned at all in primary or secondary education in Thailand.

 

Many times I've had European exchange students in my classes, mostly from Germany. 

 

I've often asked 'give me an example of a realistic/specific what if'. All the German arms go up instantly and I give them 20 seconds each to share their example. And they give great examples.

 

The Thai students sit there with blank/shocked looks on their faces.

 

I've also had Thai students say 'this is not fair, you didn't teach up any of these examples'. My response is 'I want you to analyse and think and develop answers/examples'.

 

Continued response 'not fair'. 

 

I ask, 'when your working do you think every problem/circumstance in business will be covered in my examples given to you?'  The quick response is YES.

[asiasurfer]

Of course. A hospital for "well-heeled" foreigners to be basked up. Hey, may I make a recommendation: Build the planned Space Hub next to it. Maybe some rich foreigners wanna be shot to the moon as well... ????

[Cake Monster]

5 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

As we are only 20 months or so away from that date and Thailand is in the middle of a new covid wave and the is in world a lockdown pandemic AND they have not even built it yet, 2023 seems total nonsense. 

Even more so when you consider that the Indian Health Sector is taking a huge slice of the Medical Tourist market.

Better service, cheaper prices, and faster and better treatment have been cited by many who have used the services in India.

[bluesofa]

29 minutes ago, asiasurfer said:

Of course. A hospital for "well-heeled" foreigners to be basked up. Hey, may I make a recommendation: Build the planned Space Hub next to it. Maybe some rich foreigners wanna be shot to the moon as well... ????

Are the RTP running the space hub?

[Captor]

2 hours ago, grandpa said:

Invest the money in resolving the current Covid-19 pandemic!  Just imagine how many vaccines and other medical products this money could buy!

Or food for the poor people.

[suzannegoh]

With a budget of $11M?  That's enough to buy about ten MRI machines.

[Excel]

2 hours ago, Captor said:

Or food for the poor people.

Well certainly that will be the last thing on the mind of those people

[suzannegoh]

6 hours ago, DrDave said:

The aim is that the medical tourism complex will initially attract around 50,000 tourists in 2023...

 

I doubt that the complex would be complete any time in 2023 even if they started construction today.

Even if they did build it that rapidly, the budget suggests a small scale project, not something that would attract tens of thousands of patients. These guys with their $11M budget for a "medical complex" are going to be competing with places i the west that spend more than that on a single machine.

[madmitch]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

The aim is that the medical tourism complex will initially attract around 50,000 tourists in 2023, with the number projected to double within a year and possibly reach one million in 2026. The complex is expected to generate THB2.5 billion (US$79 million) in its first year after opening, and THB50 billion (US$1.6 billion) in 2026.

Have they borrowed the TAT statistical boffins?

 

 

[DrDave]

6 hours ago, suzannegoh said:

Even if they did build it that rapidly, the budget suggests a small scale project, not something that would attract tens of thousands of patients. These guys with their $11M budget for a "medical complex" are going to be competing with places i the west that spend more than that on a single machine.

To be fair, the $11M is the cost to "prepare for construction" (probably the customary studies, land acquisition and lining the pockets of local influential people). The total budget is projected to be $44M, which I agree doesn't come close to being able to compete with Western medical centers on that scale.

[suzannegoh]

26 minutes ago, DrDave said:

To be fair, the $11M is the cost to "prepare for construction" (probably the customary studies, land acquisition and lining the pockets of local influential people). The total budget is projected to be $44M, which I agree doesn't come close to being able to compete with Western medical centers on that scale.

It still doesn’t add up.  To put the costs in context, consider that in 2014 Bangkok Hospital budgeted 6 billion baht (US$190M) for an expansion of their facilities.  The expansion involved adding 4 new buildings with a total of 200 beds.  So it doesn’t add up that this $11M investment is going to allow them to “attract around 50,000 tourists in 2023, with the number projected to double within a year and possibly reach one million in 2026”.

 

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30243514

Edited April 15, 2021 by suzannegoh

[Albert Zweistein]

13 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

Even more so when you consider that the Indian Health Sector is taking a huge slice of the Medical Tourist market.

Better service, cheaper prices, and faster and better treatment have been cited by many who have used the services in India.

And they speak English. And tasty spicy food too.

[ericthai]

13 hours ago, suzannegoh said:

Even if they did build it that rapidly, the budget suggests a small scale project, not something that would attract tens of thousands of patients. These guys with their $11M budget for a "medical complex" are going to be competing with places i the west that spend more than that on a single machine.

I think you missed this part

"A further TBH1.4 billion (US$44 million) will be needed for the construction of the complex and its supporting facilities, and the cost will be covered by a joint investment between the government and the private sector."

[suzannegoh]

1 hour ago, ericthai said:

I think you missed this part

"A further TBH1.4 billion (US$44 million) will be needed for the construction of the complex and its supporting facilities, and the cost will be covered by a joint investment between the government and the private sector."

Yes, I missed that.  But how much do you think that it typically costs to build a modern hospital?  One thing that's for sure is that $44M isn't going to put them on the level of the Mayo Clinic.