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