Thai plastic surgeons cut a niche for themselves<\/p>\n
By Mick Elmore<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (DPA): Thai doctors are cutting their way into the
\nworld's lucrative plastic surgery market, attracting foreigners
\nwith their high standards and low prices for body reconstruction
\nand sex change operations.<\/p>\n
About half of the patients of private plastic surgery clinics
\nare foreigners, said Doctor Preecha Tiewtranon, one of Bangkok's
\nmost renowned plastic surgeons.<\/p>\n
\"We have a lot of foreigners coming here. The numbers from
\nEurope started growing about five years ago. And America. In the
\npast two years they've been coming from Japan,\" said Preecha, of
\nChulalongkorn University Hospital.<\/p>\n
Fifty percent of Preecha's patients are Thais, 20 percent from
\nneighboring countries, including China, and 30 percent from
\nEurope and America. Simple nose corrections and enlargement of
\nthe eyes are the most common requests from Asians.<\/p>\n
The operations take less than an hour and cost US$400 for the
\neyes and $600 for the nose. Breast enlargements are the second
\nmost popular surgery for Asians. Many European women come for
\nbreast alterations, too.<\/p>\n
\"The majority (of Europeans) come here for the breasts. I
\nthink it is mostly because of the price. It takes one day and
\ncosts $2,400. In Europe it is between $5,000 and $6,000,\" Preecha
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
A growing number of men are choosing Thailand for sex change
\noperations and in recent years so have men from Japan where the
\nsurgery is illegal, he said.<\/p>\n
Called sex reassignment surgery (SRS) the procedure is
\nactually three operations that can be done at the same time
\ntaking three to four hours and costing $6,000.<\/p>\n
\"The operation is cheaper here. Much, much cheaper. Every week
\nI think we have one or so. Ninety per cent are men who want to
\nbecome women,\" Preecha said.<\/p>\n
Preecha performed his first SRS in 1980 and of the 500 or so
\nhe has performed since, only 15 have been women wanting to be
\nmen. That procedure is much more complicated and he will only
\nperform it on Thai women because it requires four separate
\noperations and a lengthy recovery period.<\/p>\n
\"It costs a lot more, too, more than $10,000,\" Doctor Preecha
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The origin of Thai plastic surgery dates back to the Vietnam
\nWar when the United States was short of doctors and many Thais
\nwere sent to America for training, said Doctor Surasak
\nMuangsombut of Siriraj Hospital.<\/p>\n
\"There were 12 plastic surgeons in Thailand in 1971. Then in
\n1980 we established the residency training program in plastic
\nsurgery. Today there are 150,\" said Surasak, who was trained in
\nAmerica.<\/p>\n
Dr. Surasak points out that many plastic surgeons do
\n\"reconstruction surgery\" and are not involved in lucrative
\n\"cosmetic surgery\". Others are assigned to provincial hospitals
\nwhere plastic surgery is only a small part of their work.<\/p>\n
\"Plastic surgery does not only concern beauty. Some people
\nthink we are unnecessary, that we just want money,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Correcting deformities such as hair lips is common work for
\nplastic surgeons as is skin reconstruction for burn victims, he
\nsaid. But Thailand's semi-subsidized government hospitals are
\nprimarily for Thais, and doctors don't get wealthy from their
\nsurgery.<\/p>\n
\"We ask the patient to pay what they can afford. To make a
\ncontribution. But it doesn't cover costs. It is good for the
\npatient but bad for the government,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Thailand's plastic surgery standards are high, but the country
\npossibly leads the world in the unique specialization of penis
\nreattachments.<\/p>\n
\"My team is 100 percent successful with 30 penis reattachments
\nsince 1977,\" he said.<\/p>\n
At least two of his patients have fathered children after the
\noperations, Surasak said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Preecha predicted that the number of foreign patients
\ncoming to Thailand will continue to increase as the word gets
\nout, especially those seeking sex change operations.<\/p>\n
\"It will keep increasing. Japanese just started coming. I have
\ndone about 20 recently. And as it gets better understood more
\npeople are coming,\" he said.<\/p>",
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