Cosmetic Surgery At Yanhee International Hospital Thailand

[heather1]

Can anybody help me!!!!!!!! I am considering having cosmetic surgery in Thailand at the Yanhee International hospital......does anybody have any experiences or know about the hospital!!!!!! as it is daunting going abroad and not knowing what you are going into.

many thanks

heather

[Sheryl]

Yanhee is a solid hospital with good standard of care. No problem there.

The real issue is selection of surgeon as you cannot go just by hospital; in any hospital the competency of individual surgeons will vary. Also, some have greater expertise is certain procedures than in others.

If you do a search in this forum you will find numerous threads discussing the pros and cons of various p;lastic surgeons (including some at Yanhee) with reports from members who used them

[heather1]

Yanhee is a solid hospital with good standard of care. No problem there.

The real issue is selection of surgeon as you cannot go just by hospital; in any hospital the competency of individual surgeons will vary. Also, some have greater expertise is certain procedures than in others.

If you do a search in this forum you will find numerous threads discussing the pros and cons of various p;lastic surgeons (including some at Yanhee) with reports from members who used them

Thank you ...will have a look and see what I can find

Regards

Heather

[tappange]

Hullo Heather,

I write because a friend of mine recently returned with bad results and a bad experience.

Obviously for privacy reasons I can't say too much but I'm sure I can put her in touch with you if you want.

[Comehome]

This is the second time someone is writing something ....less fortunate about Yanhee.

I was there a month ago to remove a mole and everything seemed ok then.

Was thinking about going there again but now i dont know.

Tappange, PM coming up.

[BrownEyeGirl]

Hullo Heather,

I write because a friend of mine recently returned with bad results and a bad experience.

Obviously for privacy reasons I can't say too much but I'm sure I can put her in touch with you if you want.

I also sent you a pm. I am planning on eyelid surgery (upper and lower) in early October at Yanhee with Dr. Thawatchai Boonpadhanapong. I haven't seen any information about him other than the surgeon description on Destination Beauty's website. I am in the process of finding other doctors with which to consult. However, I will only be in Thailand for 2 weeks and need to plan in advance of my trip. Thank you for any advice on which surgeons to seek or avoid.

Heather,

What did you decide to do about your surgery?

[tappange]

Hi Heather - here is the feedback from my friend....

Hi

My advice - don't do it!!!!

Thailand is cheap for a reason.

I will give you some of the feedback of what happened to me but there is so much more to the story that would take forever to email.

The nurses and doctors speak very little Englilsh - this is a fact regardless of what you've been told. If there are complications they don't understand. I couldn't even order a cup of tea - they couldn't understand me - seriously.

I gave them written notification and discussed with the doctor my allergy to morpheine and regardless of this they gave it to me during my eye surgery which I was meant to be awake for. I subsequently had such a bad reaction, I was hallucinating, had severe heart palpitations, could not breath and had vomiting. I was calling out my distress during this time, the doctor ignored me. I could also feel the pain of him cutting a lasering my eyes and the smell of my flesh burning.

The room was poorly lit, small and dirty with holes in the ceiling and dust blowing through. Hardly hygenic for surgery.

I also had a mid face lift and could not see anything but blurry shapes for 4 days after. Nearly 4 months on I still have facial swelling, my eyes are red and the incision marks are obvious and uneven. I can't open my eyes fully (I look stoned all the time now) and the doctor actually burnt my eyeball which has resulted in permanent blurry vision in the right eye. The scarring behind my ears and back of my neck is red, inflamed and sore still. I have random sutures poke through the skin on my face and around my neck. They are prickly and it still hurts to lie on my side. I can't turn my head properly from side to side as the sutures are too tight and I can feel them tearing underneath.

Instead of the expected 2 weeks off, I had to have 9 weeks off work and still cannot wear my hair up at all due to the scarring.

The level of care over there is questionable to say the least. I researched these procedures, the doctors and the hospital before hand and even went through an agent who recommended Dr Thawatchai. It is run like a business, not a hospital and they churn out as many people as possible in a day.

The after care in hospital was lame. I had to change my own dressings and make my own bed. I couldn't read or watch TV - the only channels are Thai - no English at all - because of my eye problems. The nurses couldn't understand anything I wanted at all and the doctors just kept saying "you'll be right".

As I said, I have just skimmed over some of the issues and feel it only right that people understand the inherent and serious risks involved in having surgery overseas.

Also don't be fooled when they tell you that you can have a holiday at the same time - you will not be allowed to go out in the sun or get hot or sweaty because of the swelling. I was there for 12 days in total and spent all of it either in the hospital or in my hotel room. My face was so disfigured I couldn't go anywhere. I was distraught and distressed and had no help at all.

Pay the extra and stay in Australia.

Best Wishes

Kia

[BrownEyeGirl]

Hi Heather - here is the feedback from my friend....

Hi

My advice - don't do it!!!!

Thailand is cheap for a reason.

I will give you some of the feedback of what happened to me but there is so much more to the story that would take forever to email.

The nurses and doctors speak very little Englilsh - this is a fact regardless of what you've been told. If there are complications they don't understand. I couldn't even order a cup of tea - they couldn't understand me - seriously.

I gave them written notification and discussed with the doctor my allergy to morpheine and regardless of this they gave it to me during my eye surgery which I was meant to be awake for. I subsequently had such a bad reaction, I was hallucinating, had severe heart palpitations, could not breath and had vomiting. I was calling out my distress during this time, the doctor ignored me. I could also feel the pain of him cutting a lasering my eyes and the smell of my flesh burning.

The room was poorly lit, small and dirty with holes in the ceiling and dust blowing through. Hardly hygenic for surgery.

I also had a mid face lift and could not see anything but blurry shapes for 4 days after. Nearly 4 months on I still have facial swelling, my eyes are red and the incision marks are obvious and uneven. I can't open my eyes fully (I look stoned all the time now) and the doctor actually burnt my eyeball which has resulted in permanent blurry vision in the right eye. The scarring behind my ears and back of my neck is red, inflamed and sore still. I have random sutures poke through the skin on my face and around my neck. They are prickly and it still hurts to lie on my side. I can't turn my head properly from side to side as the sutures are too tight and I can feel them tearing underneath.

Instead of the expected 2 weeks off, I had to have 9 weeks off work and still cannot wear my hair up at all due to the scarring.

The level of care over there is questionable to say the least. I researched these procedures, the doctors and the hospital before hand and even went through an agent who recommended Dr Thawatchai. It is run like a business, not a hospital and they churn out as many people as possible in a day.

The after care in hospital was lame. I had to change my own dressings and make my own bed. I couldn't read or watch TV - the only channels are Thai - no English at all - because of my eye problems. The nurses couldn't understand anything I wanted at all and the doctors just kept saying "you'll be right".

As I said, I have just skimmed over some of the issues and feel it only right that people understand the inherent and serious risks involved in having surgery overseas.

Also don't be fooled when they tell you that you can have a holiday at the same time - you will not be allowed to go out in the sun or get hot or sweaty because of the swelling. I was there for 12 days in total and spent all of it either in the hospital or in my hotel room. My face was so disfigured I couldn't go anywhere. I was distraught and distressed and had no help at all.

Pay the extra and stay in Australia.

Best Wishes

Kia

Thank you for posting this!

I am so sorry this happened to your friend.

I cancelled my appointment with Dr. Thawatchai at Yanhee Hospital. I've contacted Bumrungrad International, but have not received a reply yet. I also requested an appointment with Dr. Preecha at Preecha Aesthetic Institute. My mother can speak Thai and will translate if needed. The owner of a local Thai restaurant in the States recently came back from Thailand. She had her eyes done at a clinic in NonThaburi. It's only been 3 weeks since her surgery and she looks great. I think she paid $600 total. Her experience was very different from your friend's experience. She had to wait for hours before for an appointment. I'm not sure if she scheduled one in advance though. She told me the actual surgery was less than 30 minutes, and was not painful. Her eyes do look great! My concern is that her eyes were the typical Asian eyes. Very pretty but did not have a noticeable crease. My eyes are larger and look more Western. I'm wondering how much experience they have with larger creased eyes. Especially after hearing Dr. Thawatchai's comments when he reviewed my online pictures. Dr. Thawatchai did not think I had excess skin or fat. If he saw what I looked 10 years ago, he wouldn't say that at all.

[BrownEyeGirl]

Will your friend, Kia, be getting reconstructive surgery to fix the problems she's having with the results from her surgery. If not and if she wants something that isn't invasive, she may want to find an experienced massage therapist who specializes in Cross Fiber Friction or is Pfrimmer trained to help release the scar tissue. It works better and faster when gentle treatment is started at the sub-acute stage. However, she may still find some relief from the pulling even if started later.

[fishtard]

Hullo Heather,

I write because a friend of mine recently returned with bad results and a bad experience.

Obviously for privacy reasons I can't say too much but I'm sure I can put her in touch with you if you want.

I also sent you a pm. I am planning on eyelid surgery (upper and lower) in early October at Yanhee with Dr. Thawatchai Boonpadhanapong. I haven't seen any information about him other than the surgeon description on Destination Beauty's website. I am in the process of finding other doctors with which to consult. However, I will only be in Thailand for 2 weeks and need to plan in advance of my trip. Thank you for any advice on which surgeons to seek or avoid.

Heather,

What did you decide to do about your surgery?

hi when will you be in bangkok?

i will be there 1 oct, do you want to go for surgery together?

[camerata]

I gave them written notification and discussed with the doctor my allergy to morphine and regardless of this they gave it to me during my eye surgery which I was meant to be awake for. I subsequently had such a bad reaction, I was hallucinating, had severe heart palpitations, could not breath and had vomiting. I was calling out my distress during this time, the doctor ignored me. I could also feel the pain of him cutting a lasering my eyes and the smell of my flesh burning.

Vomiting is extremely dangerous after an eye operation. It's probably a good idea to ask in advance how they would handle such a situation. I had the bags removed under my eyes at Bumrungrad. They injected me with a local anesthetic and put metal cups over my eyes. I could hear and smell flesh burning but there was no pain.

I was told to be very careful for at least 3 days - no exercise, no straining, and sleep on your back. Because if blood starts leaking near your eye it can lead to blindness fairly quickly. The surgeon gave me her pager number and prescribed valium because I am a restless sleeper and normally sleep on my stomach. The "bruised feeling" under my eyes subsided after a few days and I had no problems. You may pay more at Bumrungrad but in my experience the care was good.

[draftvader]

Not directly related to cosmetic surgery, but general use. Our house has around 20 expats living in it and Yanhee is our nearest "General Hospital". Both myself and my partner are first aiders and have noticed that the first aid care at Yanhee is amateur and thoughtless. I know that you are thinking that you are only interested in cosmetic surgery, but you also have to think about the "what if" situation. I wouldn't fancy the end results if there was a mistake as they don't seem to have a plan for anything. 2 examples.

1) I am asthmatic and have used Beclomethasone for 20 years as my preventative. I had problems finding any in Bangkok so I visited Yanhee. I asked if they had any in stock and the interpreter confirmed they did. So, I registered, made an appointment with the doc and went to visit him. He prescribed me Beclomethasone after a brief conversation about Asthma management (the right thing to do) and sent me to the Pharmacy who then told me that they DIDN'T have any Beclomethasone. Now, I accept that communication isn't the Thai forte, but in a hospital a breakdown in communication COULD be fatal. Also, why all the girl's on rollerskates in the day and age of computers and networking? Surely this isn't a great system. They are private and require no patient record sharing with any other hospital, so why use paper?

2) A friend of ours has a baby (now 13 months, then 9 months). One day in Tesco they were eating their soup when their other child (6) ran off from the table and distracted them. Within seconds the baby has reached up (that grabbing everything stage) and pulled the boiling soup down from the table onto herself. Immediately they did the right thing and stripped the baby and got her under a cold tap in the toilets. 10 minutes later they return home, flustered. We took their 6 year old and packed them off up to Yanhee with a cold towel compress for the worst wounds. They returned 2 hours later to tell me that Yanhee (a cosmetic surgery unit...commonly utilised for burns victims) had applied a cream. ANY first aiders knows that you should apply NOTHING that will insulate a burn. The first, and most important, part of burns treatment is to draw the heat OUT of the wound to lessen cell damage. Normally this should involve CONSTANT cool (not cold) water being poured over the wound (for 1st or 2nd degree anyway). To place a cream on a burn is to seal the heat in, a little like putting tinfoil on your chicken when roasting. When they went back the next day they burst the baby's blisters. Again, the conventional advice is to LEAVE the bodies defences to do their own thing. The blister is a beautiful isolation tank for skin reproduction, on a 9 month old baby there is a STRONG chance the the skin will heal without scarring as they are still growing and are dedicating all their nourishment into this process. To burst the blister served no purpose. They then, again, applied a cream to the wound.

We do have other stories, but these demonstrate their lack of ability to deal with BASIC healthcare. The 1st example is dealing with simple administration and communication. The 2nd example demonstrates the lack of basic routine that can be learnt on a 1 day first aid course in the 1st world.

Good luck with your search.

[OldenAtwoody]

Can anybody help me!!!!!!!! I am considering having cosmetic surgery in Thailand at the Yanhee International hospital......does anybody have any experiences or know about the hospital!!!!!! as it is daunting going abroad and not knowing what you are going into.

many thanks

heather

We like Bumrungrad.

Check the Dr.'s CV.

Ours interned in the US, verified through Google searches. We've used him twice now, great guy. (Name available through private e-mail.)

Quality, not price, should be the overwhelming driver of your purchasing decision.

[OldenAtwoody]

Hi Heather - here is the feedback from my friend....

Hi

My advice - don't do it!!!!

Thailand is cheap for a reason.

I will give you some of the feedback of what happened to me but there is so much more to the story that would take forever to email.

The nurses and doctors speak very little Englilsh - this is a fact regardless of what you've been told. If there are complications they don't understand. I couldn't even order a cup of tea - they couldn't understand me - seriously.

I gave them written notification and discussed with the doctor my allergy to morpheine and regardless of this they gave it to me during my eye surgery which I was meant to be awake for. I subsequently had such a bad reaction, I was hallucinating, had severe heart palpitations, could not breath and had vomiting. I was calling out my distress during this time, the doctor ignored me. I could also feel the pain of him cutting a lasering my eyes and the smell of my flesh burning.

The room was poorly lit, small and dirty with holes in the ceiling and dust blowing through. Hardly hygenic for surgery.

I also had a mid face lift and could not see anything but blurry shapes for 4 days after. Nearly 4 months on I still have facial swelling, my eyes are red and the incision marks are obvious and uneven. I can't open my eyes fully (I look stoned all the time now) and the doctor actually burnt my eyeball which has resulted in permanent blurry vision in the right eye. The scarring behind my ears and back of my neck is red, inflamed and sore still. I have random sutures poke through the skin on my face and around my neck. They are prickly and it still hurts to lie on my side. I can't turn my head properly from side to side as the sutures are too tight and I can feel them tearing underneath.

Instead of the expected 2 weeks off, I had to have 9 weeks off work and still cannot wear my hair up at all due to the scarring.

The level of care over there is questionable to say the least. I researched these procedures, the doctors and the hospital before hand and even went through an agent who recommended Dr Thawatchai. It is run like a business, not a hospital and they churn out as many people as possible in a day.

The after care in hospital was lame. I had to change my own dressings and make my own bed. I couldn't read or watch TV - the only channels are Thai - no English at all - because of my eye problems. The nurses couldn't understand anything I wanted at all and the doctors just kept saying "you'll be right".

As I said, I have just skimmed over some of the issues and feel it only right that people understand the inherent and serious risks involved in having surgery overseas.

Also don't be fooled when they tell you that you can have a holiday at the same time - you will not be allowed to go out in the sun or get hot or sweaty because of the swelling. I was there for 12 days in total and spent all of it either in the hospital or in my hotel room. My face was so disfigured I couldn't go anywhere. I was distraught and distressed and had no help at all.

Pay the extra and stay in Australia.

Best Wishes

Kia

‘Cheap’ seems to be the operative word here.

Reading the above - what logic is there in not visiting a hospital FIRST, and interviewing the Doctor? We did. We made a separate trip to Thailand in order to assess the facility and talk to the Doctor first. What price safety? Health?

I’ll bet your friend wishes now that she had.

Look, the highest prices in Thailand are 1/3 the cost of the US or UK. Using the cheapest local price is like asking your neighbor to do it in his garage with whatever handtools are lying around..

How much more of a discount (or risk) does one want?

Sigh – some people are just not very good shoppers.

bumrungrad_com

Safe, clean, English-speaking, certified, they specialize in medical tourism.

Edited September 7, 2009 by OldenAtwoody

[rachels]

Great Stories, Yanhee is just way too busy and therefore the service suffers. Cosmetic tourism companies all use Yanhee and as a result the doctors are too busy and that leaves room for error. The doctors are trained but they dont speak enough english so its left up to the phillipino nurses ( smart choice ) and cheap too.

[jackoneilone]

this is just getting ridiculous. lets all just bash the whole hospital and all their surgeons due to the unverified unknown stories of a few.

Its a fact of life that ALL HOSPITALS have good and bad doctors. Its also a fact that death and complications can and do occur. Its also a fact that the best of doctors can screw up and sometimes miss things too. All surgeries carry the chances of risk and complications.

Be informed. Be realistic. Research and decide carefully. And understand that cosmetic/plastic surgery is STILL surgery and things can go wrong. Infact you could die from a simple liposuction procedure due to a blood clot. If you cant accept and appreciate that and take responsibility for your health and well being, then you shouldnt be thinking of surgery.