Hi all,

My brother had a gastric band fitted around ten years ago. It has done nothing but cause him problems. He has lost a lot of weight, without assistance from the band. The band is still causing health issues. He has been to a couple of Specialists who have recommended he have it removed. With the highest level of cover here, he will still be around $8k out of pocket. Not to mention the twelve months he will have to wait to have it removed. Does anyone have any details on anywhere in Thailand that will do this-costs etc? Thanks

I have no idea of the cost but who would do it would be surgeons who specialize in bariatric surgery (i.e. placement of bands and the like to begin with).

I would expect the cost of removal to be similar to the cost of band placement but minus the cost of the device itself, i.e. just the surgical costs.

As a rough guess I would say around 170,000 baht, i.e. USD $5,000, but this is just a guess. Better to email the various hospitals and ask them: Bumrungrad, Bangkok Hospital, BNH Hospital, Vejthani Hospital, Phyathai Hospitals etc. I am not sure if there are surgeons at Bangkok Christian Hospital who do this, but if there are, that would be less expensive than the others mentioned.

Thanks so much for this Sheryl-will pass it on.