Just got a mail from an old friend, Caelen, who’s got a new start-up going with
an interesting angle. Caelen and his (now-) wife, Barbara, spent a while
travelling around Asia around the same time as
we did. As I noted
back in 2003, one thing he tried
out, which I found particularly intriguing at the time, was to have some minor
surgery in
Bangkok:
This may seem foolish at first, but despite being in the heart of South East
Asia, in what is generally thought to be a developing country, the Thai medical
system is unbelievably good. Not only is it the medical hub for expatriates
throughout the region, but tens of thousands fly here each year to have
elective surgery, from laser eye treatments to boob jobs and face lifts. There
are lots of reasons why they come to Bangkok but invariably quality of surgery
and care comes top of the list. Simply put, medical care in Thailand is amongst
the best in the word, available at a fraction of the cost.
The Thai government sees health care as the next logical step in its
hospitality industry. As holiday makers in Thailand reach saturation point,
growth has to come from other sectors and international healthcare has many of
the same requirements as the tourism industry: good flight connections,
plentiful accommodation and above all staff that are understanding and
friendly. Gleaming hospitals, which could be mistaken for 5 star hotels, not
only have rooms with all amenities but also have suites, restaurants, shops and
cinemas. Menus from the finest restaurants in town are placed in the best
rooms. Going to hospital doesn’t mean you have to stop having fun – this is
Bangkok after all. This is a long way from the cold greasy egg served by the
kitchen’s ‘Miserable Person of the Year’ award winner we get at home.
Back in 2002, this was pretty unprecedented — of course, nowadays, the concept
is a lot more widely practiced,
what with healthcare costs rising in the US and waiting lists rising in the UK.
I can vouch that the quality of care in Bangkok was fantastic, by all accounts;
fastidiously clean and professional. (I never did it myself, but many people
I knew at the time took advantage of the opportunity, rather than risk something
flaring up in the less, er, reliable settings of Luang Prabang or Phnom Penh.)
Anyway, turns out Caelen has come up with a new site that is related to this —
Reva Health Network. He says, ‘basically,
we are a medical tourism search engine where consumers can find and compare
hospitals and clinics from around the world. We cover everything although the
bulk of our business is currently in dental.’
If you’re looking for some work done, it might be worth taking a look;
it’s at revahealthnetwork.com.
Update 2010-08-16: They’ve moved! The new URL is http://www.whatclinic.com , which makes much more sense really. Apparently they’re getting 500,000 visitors a month, and proxy though 800 phone calls a day to clinics. Cool — sounds like it’s going well…
A few weeks ago, I was in Tesco Clearwater when I spotted something I wasn’t expecting; a tray of fruit labelled “Mangosteen“.
