Beauty Obsession: Cosmetic Surgery Becomes Bt20-Billion Business

[webfact]

SPECIAL REPORT

Beauty obsession

Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation

As the stigma fades, cosmetic surgery becomes Bt20-billion business

BANGKOK: -- A drastic change in the public’s perception of cosmetic surgery over the past ten years has created a huge demand among Thai consumers, who contribute most of the Bt20 billion in income that surgery clinics enjoy each year.

Ten years ago, both surgeons and customers sneaked into backrooms in hospitals and beauty clinics for the operations. Now, clinics have mushroomed in all parts of the country as consumers welcome the idea of how a tiny appearance change can lead to greater beauty.

A recent survey shows that market value of the cosmetic surgery business has increased from Bt15 billion in 2010 to Bt20 billion in 2011. And this year, the value of this industry is expected to increase by another 20 percent.

Meanwhile, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce's Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting estimates that cosmetic surgery will be the most popular business among investors this year as more and more teenagers want to undergo the surgery.

Records from the Public Health Ministry's Health Service Support Department showed that the number of cosmetic surgery clinics registered with the department has increased from 317 clinics in 2004 to 350 this year.

" The world has changed," Dr Supot Sumritvanitcha, a director of Yanhee International Hospital, told The Nation in an exclusive interview.

" Every girl wants to be a super-star like Patchrapa Aum Chaichua who is being spotlighted everywhere," he added.

In the past, people would feel significantly bad and embarrassed if their friends or relatives had known they'd been to cosmetic surgery clinics. Thai society, at that time, had strong feelings against plastic or cosmetic surgery and stigmatised those people who'd had surgery as being unhappy with their genetic heritage.

" Sometimes, people would lie to their friends or relatives about travelling abroad for vacation for two weeks - but in fact, they went to Hong Kong or Japan to undergo cosmetic surgery. When they came home [they were] more beautiful," Supot said.

But now, appearance and personality have become more and more important for people to find opportunities and their dream job.

Some parents have taken their kids to undergo cosmetic surgery at the age of 15 to pave the way for their success or to enter the entertainment industry.

Nose and eyelid surgery is the most popular among teenagers. Supot said 500 teenagers aged over 18 had visited hospital every month to undergo nose surgery and about 450 patients had undergone eyelid surgery.

Not only the number of domestic patients had increased during the past few years, the number of foreign patients had increased as well.

According to the hospital's records, the number of foreign patients had increased from 25,611 cases in 2008 to 34,440 cases in 2010.

They are from many parts of the world such as US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

" For Western customers, many underwent nose and breast reduction surgery, and mid-facial lift," Supot said.

Yanhee Polyclinic was opened in 1984 in a 2-block 4-storey building near the Rama 6 Bridge in Bangkok to provide medical services including weight control, general medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, intensive care, and dialysis.

Following the rise inpatients, Yanhee had opened a 10-storey, 40- bed capacity hospital building on ten rai which became the Yanhee International Hospital in 1997.

Now the hospital has opened 36 treatment centres to provide general medicine and a wide range of cosmetic and plastic surgery services such as breast augmentation, facelift, tummy-tuck, liposuction, botox injection, dental whitening, facial treatment, and hair transplant.

The hospital recently opened a vaginal repair centre to restore the anatomic arrangement of structures surrounding the vaginal wall. This centre had attracted a lot of attention from customers aged between 18 and 60. At least five patients aged over 40 undergo vaginal repair surgery per day.

Supot expects the hospital will earn Bt3 million a month as revenue from this centre.

" We want to be an aesthetic institute which provides a one-stop shop for beauty," he said.

To prepare for the Asean Economic Community in 2015, Yanhee has invested over Bt1 billion to build two new buildings and purchase new medical devices.

The hospital has planned to increase its full-time surgeons from 130 to 150 and increase the part-time surgeons from 120 to 125.

It will increase the number of professional nurses from 500 to 700 and import nurses from the Philippines to work as assistants as they can communicate well in English with foreign patients.

Apart from Yanhee International Hospital, the Wuttisak Clinic group also plans to join in the competition by increasing its skincare clinics in local and foreign markets.

The company now has 109 skincare clinics across the country with more planned. The company will also expand into Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia.

At least 20 skincare clinics are marked for Vietnam next year, with four clinics located in Cambodia and four more to be set up in Laos, he added.

" We know everyone wants to be more beautiful so we'll change the public perception of beauty. We'll help people think [it's] doctors who make them more beautiful and not a cosmetic product," Wuttisak Clinic's chief executive officer Nakorn Kornherun said.

Because of the rising demand in skincare treatment, the company has employed 200 general physicians to provide for customers nationwide and send others to work in neighbouring countries.

The company has invested in building its brand in the region to win over their local markets. It has spent Bt600,000 to Bt700,000 a month to rent the most famous building in Vietnam located near the Louis Vuitton shop, and about Bt80 million to renovate the building.

" We want to be the number-one player of this business in this region. It would waste our time, if we could not be the number one," he added.

-- The Nation 2012-08-20

[webfact]

SPECIAL REPORT

16 operations in three years

Pongphon Sarnsamak,

Suriyan Panyawai

The Nation

Chiang Mai boy told doctors he wanted nose like singer 'Dome'

BANGKOK: -- Inspired by heartthrob singer and model Pakorn "Dome" Lum, a 18-year-old Chiang Mai boy spent over Bt250,000 on more than 16 operations over the past three years to make his face look like a star.

"I just wanted to be accepted by other people," Apirak, not his real name, said yesterday.

Three years ago, he was told that he was not handsome and not good looking. At the time, he thought that if he had a gleaming pretty face, he would be respected by other people.

He started earning money by repairing computers and designing websites when he was 15 and studying at Mathayom 3. When he had saved up enough, he decided to go to a cosmetic clinic for a nose job.

He gave a picture of 'Dome', the famous and sexy singer, to the surgeons and told them that he wanted to have a nose like Dome's. But the physicians told him that they couldn't comply because the structure of his nose was different.

But he was satisfied with the result and continued to undergo surgery to reduce a large chin and "fix" his eyelids and lips. He had dermal filler injected to enhance his cheeks and botox to change the shape of his face. He also injected glutathione to brighten his skin.

However, when he had the nose job at the start, doctors at the clinic did not ask him anything about his age or personal information before he went under the scalpel.

"I just paid them and then I could receive such treatments. I also didn't ask permission from my parents," he said.

Now, he has a handsome face and has gained a following among netizens. Some of his fans posted comments on his Facebook page that he is so cute. He was invited several times by TV shows to reveal his story to the public.

"I'm now happy with my face and appearance. The only thing that I must do is protect my face," he said.

Apirak is among hundreds of teenagers who want to improve their looks. A survey by Chulalongkorn University polled 635 students in eight universities about cosmetic surgery. Some 73 students admitted that they had undergone plastic surgery.

Wanrisa Nemiraj, whose story was reported in a local paper, also had cosmetic surgery to make her face more attractive. She had treatment several times for her eyelids and nose.

She wanted to look more beautiful after her boyfriend dumped her. But now, men turn their heads when they see her. She has been asked by advertising agencies to represent many products. She has also appeared in many music videos and magazines.

After becoming a celebrity, Wanrisa opened her own beauty design centre to provide cosmetic treatment for those who want to become more glamorous like her.

-- The Nation 2012-08-20

[zakk9]

... in a country where 2,000 lack electricity and education is less than adequate for anybody except those with money to spend on private schools, this is what is on people's minds

[jaltsc]

The growing popularity of cosmetic surgery is a gauge of the lack of self esteem within a culture. In the west, the media and cosmetic surgery industry have convinced people (mainly females) that they can feel better about themselves and become attractive to the opposite sex if they alter their appearance. In Thailand there has always been a vocal bias against westerners and western culture. However, deep within, it now appears that they envy westerners, and the proof is that they spend a lot of money to reconstruct their appearance to look like farangs. However, their Caucasian looking eyes, small narrow noses, Frankenstein-like white skin and larger breasts only seem to impress themselves. I know of no western man among my friends who finds any of these changes attractive or an improvement over the natural beauty of the traditional looks of the Thai woman.

[tomross46]

This needs to be regulated. The government needs to set up an organization to control this induster, if not the money will go into the hands of the doctors, and hospitals. DPM Chalerm should be incharge of this governmental organization to ensure the money goes to the correct people in the government.

[aussiebebe]

I just read the words 'colon vaginoplasty' and learnt something new. Seriously? I had to google that for confirmation. So basically, if you go with a ladyboy who's had the snip, you still end up to your nuts in guts.

[maidu]

If the big Meteor off Kintara Roo hadn't hit 60 million years ago. The 'intelligent species' ruling and destroying the world would look like large lizards instead of hairless apes. .....and they'd probably be spending their dino-dollars doing the same types of ridiculous things to shape their bodies and faces to look like 'Lady Dina' or whatever happened to be the icon of their culture.

great graphic (Aphrodite?) btw !

[maidu]

I just read the words 'colon vaginoplasty' and learnt something new. Seriously? I had to google that for confirmation. So basically, if you go with a ladyboy who's had the snip, you still end up to your nuts in guts.

.....or packing poop. Take your pick.

[Thaddeus]

great graphic (Aphrodite?) btw !

Venus De Milo.

[maidu]

I know hill tribe guys heading families who rarely have 20 baht in their respective pockets. They don't need 'mandible angle reduction' for 75,000 baht, they need some rice for their families, for 35 baht.

[bendejo]

Ever seen a Thai woman with a Michael Jackson nose? Almost as ugly as eye jobs.

[submaniac]

Chiang Mai boy told doctors he wanted nose like singer 'Dome'

BANGKOK: -- Inspired by heartthrob singer and model Pakorn "Dome" Lum, a 18-year-old Chiang Mai boy spent over Bt250,000 on more than 16 operations over the past three years to make his face look like a star.

Here's the picture from the Nation.

Well I guess for 250,000 baht it worked.

[h90]

I know hill tribe guys heading families who rarely have 20 baht in their respective pockets. They don't need 'mandible angle reduction' for 75,000 baht, they need some rice for their families, for 35 baht.

And I know some who got money and their wish list is:

tuned motorbike

smartphone

car

And I can't rank it:

white skin, long nose, enlarged breasts........

[me313]

He also improved his hairstyle, which, if he had done this before a lot of money could have been saved in trying to make his face re-arranged!

If people want to sculpt their faces artistically to fit an image of what they want to be, why not?

[cup-O-coffee]

A good topic. There is nothing wrong with altering things if it makes one happy. It is one's life to live, and if it is within their means to do so without harming others, then go for it, I say.

[NowImEasy]

This needs to be regulated. The government needs to set up an organization to control this induster, if not the money will go into the hands of the doctors, and hospitals. DPM Chalerm should be incharge of this governmental organization to ensure the money goes to the correct people in the government.

Comrade, the bourgeois doctors and hospital owners don't deserve to earn money. You are right. The benevolent government should take the profits, because these people did not earn it. It was because of the government that the doctors were educated and the evil capitalists who build hospitals should be taxed at 100% for the benefit of the poor. NOT

[JulesMad]

Too bad they can not do BRAIN enlargement, or just a simple BRAIN utilization operations...

[Payboy]

Too bad they can not do BRAIN enlargement, or just a simple BRAIN utilization operations...

Would work like a barber shop in an Amish community.

Edited August 20, 2012 by Payboy

[h90]

Too bad they can not do BRAIN enlargement, or just a simple BRAIN utilization operations...

lobotomy might be offered together with osmetic surgery

[lungmi]

I know hill tribe guys heading families who rarely have 20 baht in their respective pockets. They don't need 'mandible angle reduction' for 75,000 baht, they need some rice for their families, for 35 baht.

I agree. My Hilltribe friends, most Hmong and Karen, have the inside beauty of being proud to be Hmong or Karen.

[Payboy]

Too bad they can not do BRAIN enlargement, or just a simple BRAIN utilization operations...

lobotomy might be offered together with osmetic surgery

Immigration dept is in charge of that.

[dcutman]

This needs to be regulated. The government needs to set up an organization to control this induster, if not the money will go into the hands of the doctors, and hospitals. DPM Chalerm should be incharge of this governmental organization to ensure the money goes to the correct people in the government.

Dont worry, if there is money to made it will be Edited August 20, 2012 by dcutman

[Ferangled]

Interesting to note that if the topic was cosmetic surgery to enable gender change it would be acceptable but as this is seen as purely vain attempts to improve ones looks it's frowned upon...

Horses for courses, if it makes you feel better and improves your life, if only in your head, what the hell has it got to do with anyone else? Surely most of this comes from a low self esteem and personally I'm not one to bash people that are already down... Not my own cup of tea but hey, if it floats your boat and doesn't hurt others then go for it.

Have to agree that there should be more regulations and perhaps a "waiting period" - let's face it, as evidenced by many a Hollywood star, the effects aren't always that positive in improving ones appearance, unless you dig the embalmed corpse look...

[bigbamboo]

If the big Meteor off Kintara Roo hadn't hit 60 million years ago. The 'intelligent species' ruling and destroying the world would look like large lizards instead of hairless apes. .....and they'd probably be spending their dino-dollars doing the same types of ridiculous things to shape their bodies and faces to look like 'Lady Dina' or whatever happened to be the icon of their culture.

great graphic (Aphrodite?) btw !

No. More likely the dolphins would be the planet's intelligent life form and would have adapted to dry land so they take their break from the daily grind of fishing and playing in the sea to relaxing on the beach every once in a while.

And not a jet ski in sight.

[SuneeTH]

Operation on private parts is also popular in Thailand.

Many Thai female go for enlargement.

Many Thai male go for reduction.

[HardenedSoul]

Chiang Mai boy told doctors he wanted nose like singer 'Dome'

BANGKOK: -- Inspired by heartthrob singer and model Pakorn "Dome" Lum, a 18-year-old Chiang Mai boy spent over Bt250,000 on more than 16 operations over the past three years to make his face look like a star.

Here's the picture from the Nation.

Well I guess for 250,000 baht it worked.

Considering this is the bloke he was trying to look like, the first thing he should've done was to adjust his hairline. Having said that, he's not done too shabbily for 250K. Would've cost a LOT more than that in the West

[freedom4life]

Chiang Mai boy told doctors he wanted nose like singer 'Dome'

BANGKOK: -- Inspired by heartthrob singer and model Pakorn "Dome" Lum, a 18-year-old Chiang Mai boy spent over Bt250,000 on more than 16 operations over the past three years to make his face look like a star.

Here's the picture from the Nation.

Well I guess for 250,000 baht it worked.

freak...

[kiniyow]

I rather be ugly with money in my pocket then sexy and broke....

[stefb1964]

A good old-fashion bar brawl might have a similar effect at a much lower cost, but he might just be still to young for that...

Idiocy rules everywhere. Other people in his own country barely have enough money to feed their families and this one wastes money. Some parents really have no sense for reality, whether it's Thailand or the rest of the world.

[HardenedSoul]

Other people in his own country barely have enough money to feed their families and this one wastes money. Some parents really have no sense for reality, whether it's Thailand or the rest of the world.

Hang on a sec. Lemme see if I've got your take on this straight. You're slating him because some of his countrymen are skint and he went out and did what he wanted to with his money ??!!