Foreigners Seek Surgery In Thailand Despite Possible Dangers

[george]

Foreigners seek surgery in Thailand despite possible dangers

BANGKOK: -- Sitting cross-legged on his hospital bed at Yanhee Hospital in Bangkok, South African Neil Van Der Merwe unwraps a layer of bandages to reveal a six-inch tube inserted into the inner part of his forearm.

The contraption is being used to grow a penis, the final step in his transformation from woman to man.

“I wanted to do this a long time ago,” says the 35-year-old, who sports a thin goatee and has lived as a man for five years.

Van Der Merwe is one of a growing number of foreigners heading to Thailand for sex changes and other surgery, enticed by the kingdom’s reputation for low cost but high quality medical treatment.

The plastic tube is used to stretch the skin on his inner forearm, so new skin will grow. After six months, the skin will be removed and shaped into a penis.

“The service is remarkable,” says Van Der Merwe, a designer for a newspaper who says he wants to get married and have children. “You get spoiled here.”

But in a few days, armed with a kit of supplies, Van Der Merwe will have to go back to South Africa and take care of himself, before returning in six months for his final surgery.

While he insists he is not worried, doctors warn that as more people travel abroad for medical care, they must be aware of possible dangers.

“One disadvantage of having surgery abroad is follow-up,” says Somsak Lolekha, president of Thailand’s medical council.

He says that while the surgery may initially look good, complications can arise when the patient returns home, and with the operating hospital hundreds or sometimes thousands of miles (kilometres) away, patients could be at risk.

Somsak urges doctors to tell patients about both the advantages and disadvantages of heading abroad for treatment.

“A lot of times they say the advantages but don’t mention the side effects and adverse reactions that might occur after surgery,” he tells AFP.

But these concerns have not stopped millions of foreigners flocking to Thailand for medical procedures, making the kingdom a center for medical tourism.

Last year, 1.28 million international patients visited Thailand and the number is expected to increase by 10 percent in 2006, according to Thailand tourism agency figures.

The kingdom boasts 33 internationally-accredited hospitals including plastic surgery specialist Yanhee Hospital, the most famous clinic for sex change operations.

And while Bangkok has long been known as a center for male-to-female operations, Yanhee has seen a sharp rise in the number of women wanting to become men.

So far this year, they have done 75 female-to-male operations compared with 47 male-to-female.

But patients like Van Der Merwe make up just a small percentage of the people coming to Bangkok for plastic surgery, most of whom are hankering after a new nose, larger breasts or less cellulite.

Of Yanhee’s cosmetic surgery patients, 30 percent are international, with most coming from other parts of Asia, followed by Western Europeans, Americans and Middle Easterners.

The hospital has translators for 10 different languages to help the more than 2,000 international patients who have come to Yanhee for plastic surgery so far this year.

“The result is good and it is a very cheap price when compared to home,” says Greechart Pornsinsirirak, head of plastic surgery at Yanhee, as he finishes up a nose implant on an Asian woman and walks across the hall to remove the Adam’s apple of a man from New Zealand.

The hospital is partnered with travel agencies in the US and Europe that help patients with flights, accommodation and transfers in addition to the surgical procedure.

Breast enlargements at Yanhee cost 2,200 US dollars. Phalloplasty — the procedure that constructs a penis from a skin graft, takes about four to eight hours, and requires a two-week stay at the clinic — costs 5,500 dollars.

Doctors say similar procedures in the US cost five to 10 times as much.

“For our patients, nearly 100 percent say the service is very good when they compare it with their country,” boasts Greechart, as nurses decked out in tight uniforms, short skirts and high heels totter by.

As well as the hospital’s quirks — which include staff on rollerblades zipping through the hospital delivering records — patients enjoy all the luxuries of a five-star hotel, including top quality cuisine.

“After all the food, I need liposuction,” Van Der Merwe says, only half-joking.

With an expected 20 percent rise in revenues and patients per year, Yanhee is expanding with a new 15-storey building. This expansion will mean more room for patients like Norwegian Helge Jan, 58, who is recovering from a facelift.

Although his bandaged face is swollen and bruised, Jan manages a smile when talking about his reasons for coming to Thailand for surgery.

“It is very expensive in Norway and I don’t think they are as good in Norway as they are in Thailand,” he says. “The treatment here is 10 times better than in Norway. This is like a seven-star hotel.”

--Reuters 2006-11-15

[astral]

...Van Der Merwe, a designer for a newspaper who says he wants to get married and have children....

Married maybe, but there is no chance of children of his own.........