The Opportunities and Challenges for Thailand in Becoming the Medical Tourism Hub of the ASEAN Region
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Published:
Jul 19, 2019
Keywords:
Opportunities Challenges Medical Tourism ASEAN
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Abstract
The increasing growth of medical tourism has led the industry to become a global economic phenomenon. Many countries in Southeast Asia, including Thailand's neighbouring countries of Malaysia and Singapore, are seeking to compete in the medical tourism business due to the immense economic benefits that can be created. Thailand holds numerous competitive advantages over rival destinations, but it is widely believed that for Thailand to become a leading medical tourism hub in the ASEAN region, the country needs to strengthen and boost its operations and marketing in order to attract significantly more medical tourists, and ultimately gain a larger share of the developing medical tourism market. This article presents an analysis of the opportunities and challenges that ill arise in developing Thailand as a leading medical tourism destination in the ASEAN region.
Factors generating competitive advantages for Thailand are price benefits, medical expertise, a range of tourism products, Thai-style hospitality, a well-established infrastructure and government support in marketing, which provide great opportunities for Thailand. However, there are several challenges facing Thailand, including the risk of medical malpractice, the shortage of physicians and medical staff, insufficient government involvement and cultural and language barriers.
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How to Cite
Pattharapinyophong, W. (2019). The Opportunities and Challenges for Thailand in Becoming the Medical Tourism Hub of the ASEAN Region. Journal of Management Sciences Suratthani Rajabhat University, 6(1), 1–16. Retrieved from https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/msj/article/view/204141
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Academic Article
References
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Pocock, N. and Phua, K.H. (2011) Medical tourism and Policy Implications for Health Systems: A conceptual framework from a comparative study of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.Retrieved June 19, 2017. From https://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1744-8603-7-12.
Reddy, S. G., York, V. K., & Brannon, L. A. (2010). Travel for Treatment: Students’ perspective on medical tourism. International Journal of Tourism Research, 12(5), 510 - 522.
Rerkrujipimol, J. and Assenov, I. (2008). Medical Tourism in Thailand and Its Marketing Strategies. Retrieved June 19, 2017. From https://www.Conference. phuket.psu.ac.th/…/.
Smith, P. C., &Forgione, D. A. (2007). Global Outsourcing of Healthcare: A medical tourism decision model. Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research, 9(3), 19 - 30.
Thailand Board of Investment. (2016). Thailand’s Medical Hub. Retrieved June 19, 2017. From https://www.boi.go.th/upload/content/BOI-brochure%202016-medical-20160524_24249.pdf.
TunyapornLaosophapirom. (2017). Medical Tourism: The Opportunity of Thailand in ASEAN. Retrieved November 27, 2017. From https://www.scbeic.com/th/detail/product/3526.
WanwisaNgamsangchaikit. (2017). Shifts in Medical Tourism. Retrieved November 24, 2017. From https://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2017/08/shifts-in-medical-tourism/.
Wong, K. M., Velasamy, P., & Arshad, T. N. T. (2014). Medical tourism destination SWOT analysis: A case study of Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and India. SHS Web of ConferencesEDP Sciences, 12, 1037.
World Health Organization. (2017). Global Health Observatory (GHO) Data. Retrieved November 24, 2017. From https://www.who.int/gho/health_workforce/physicians_ density /en/.
ASEAN Secretariate. (2009). ASEAN Economic Community. Retrieved July 28, 2017. From https://www.aseansec.org/18757.htm.
ASIA Tech Research. (2017). ASEAN Medical Tourism. Retrieved June 15, 2017. From https://www.asiatechresearch.com/infographic-asean-medical-tourism/.
Bangkok Dusit Medical Services. (2016). Patient Services. Retrieved June 15, 2017. From https://www.bdms.co.th/patient-services.
Ben-Natan, M., Ben-Sefer, E., &Ehrenfeld, M. (2009). Medical Tourism: A new role for nursing?.OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 14(3).
Bies, W., &Zacharia, L. (2007). Medical tourism: Outsourcing surgery. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 46(7), 1144 - 1159.
Bookman, Milica Z. and Bookman, Karla R. (2007). Medical Tourism in Developing Countries. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bumrungrad International Hospital. (2016). Hospital services and facilities. Retrieved June 19, 2017. From https://www.bumrungrad.com/en/patient-services/services-and-facilities.
Burkett, L. (2007). Medical tourism: concerns, benefits, and the American legal perspective. The Journal of Legal Medicine, 28(2), 223 - 245.
Chee, Leng. H. (2010). Medical tourism and the state in Malaysia and Singapore. Global Social Policy, 10(3), 336 - 357.
Connell, J. (2006). Medical tourism: Sea, sun, sand and… surgery. Tourism Management, 27(6), 1093 - 1100.
Connell, J. (2011). Medical tourism. Oxfordshire: CABI. Connell, J. (2013). Contemporary medical tourism: Conceptualisation, Culture and Commodification.Tourism Management, 34, 1 - 13.
Cortez, N. (2012). Into the Void: The Legal Ambiguities of an Unregulated Medical Tourism. Hodges, J. R., Turner, L., & Kimball, A. M. (Eds.), Risks and Challenges in Medical Tourism: Understanding the global market for health services, Oxford. ABC-CLIO.
Economic and Business Intelligence Center, Siam Commercial Bank. (2012). Business Opportunities for Services Sector Under The AEC. Retrieved May 15, 2013. From www.scb.co.th/eic/en/scb_eic_ insight.shtml.
Forgione, D. A., & Smith, P. C. (2006). Medical Tourism and Its Impact on the US Health Care System. Journal of Health Care Finance, 34(1), 27 - 35.
Garcia - Altés, A. (2005). The development of health tourism services. Annals of Tourism Research, 32(1), 262 - 266.
Gray, H.H and Poland, S.C. (2008). Medical Tourism: Crossing Borders to Access Health Care. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, 18(2), 93 - 201.
Hazarika, I. (2009). Medical Tourism: its potential impact on the health workforce and health systems in India. Health Policy and Planning, 1 - 4.
Healthcare Accreditation Institute. (2016). Accredited Hospitals. Retrieved June 15, 2017. From https://www.ha.or.th/TH/.
Henderson, J.C. (2004) Paradigm Shifts: National Tourism Organisations and Education and Healthcare Tourism: The case of Singapore. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 5(2), 170 - 180.
Horowitz, M. D., Rosensweig, J. A., & Jones, C. A. (2007). Medical Tourism: Globalization of the healthcare marketplace. MedGenMed, 9(4), 33.
Johnston, R., Crooks, V. A., Snyder, J., & Kingsbury, P. (2010). What is Known about the Effects of Medical Tourism in Destination and Departure Countries? A scoping review. International Journal for Equity in Health, 9(1), 24.
Joint Commission International. (2016). JCI-accredited organizations. Retrieved June 15, 2017. From https://www.jointcommissioninternational.org/about-jci/jci-accredited-organizations/?c=Thailandanda=Hospital%20Program.
Leahy, A.L. (2008). Medical Tourism: The Impact of Travel to Foreign Countries for Healthcare. The Surgeon, 6(5), 260 - 261.
Lunt, N., & Carrera, P. (2010). Medical Tourism: Assessing the evidence on treatment abroad. Maturitas, 66(1), 27 - 32.
MarketWise. (2010). A Research Project on Increasing Market Potential for Medical Tourists. Retrieved January 12, 2014. From https://www.etatjournal.com/upload/358/03_Health_Wellness _tourism.pdf.
Medical Tourism Association. (2016). Compare Prices. Retrieved June 19, 2017. From https://medicaltourism.com/Forms/price-comparison.aspx.
Medical Tourism Index. (2017). Medical Tourism Industry Valued at $100B; Poised for 25%Year-Over-Year Growth by 2025. Retrieved June 16, 2017. From www.medicaltourismindex.com/2016-medical-tourism-industry-valuation/.
NaRanong, A. &NaRanong, V. (2011) The Effects of Medical Tourism: Thailand’s experience. Bulletin of The World Health Organization. Retrieved June 15, 2017. From https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/5/09-072249/en/index.html.
Noree, T., Hanefeld, J., & Smith, R. (2016). Medical Tourism in Thailand: a cross-sectional study.Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 94(1), 30 - 36.
Patients Beyond Borders. (2017). Bumrungrad International Hospital. RetrievedJune 23, 2017. From https://patientsbeyondborders.com/hospital/bumrungrad-international-hospital.
Pocock, N. and Phua, K.H. (2011) Medical tourism and Policy Implications for Health Systems: A conceptual framework from a comparative study of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.Retrieved June 19, 2017. From https://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1744-8603-7-12.
Reddy, S. G., York, V. K., & Brannon, L. A. (2010). Travel for Treatment: Students’ perspective on medical tourism. International Journal of Tourism Research, 12(5), 510 - 522.
Rerkrujipimol, J. and Assenov, I. (2008). Medical Tourism in Thailand and Its Marketing Strategies. Retrieved June 19, 2017. From https://www.Conference. phuket.psu.ac.th/…/.
Smith, P. C., &Forgione, D. A. (2007). Global Outsourcing of Healthcare: A medical tourism decision model. Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research, 9(3), 19 - 30.
Thailand Board of Investment. (2016). Thailand’s Medical Hub. Retrieved June 19, 2017. From https://www.boi.go.th/upload/content/BOI-brochure%202016-medical-20160524_24249.pdf.
TunyapornLaosophapirom. (2017). Medical Tourism: The Opportunity of Thailand in ASEAN. Retrieved November 27, 2017. From https://www.scbeic.com/th/detail/product/3526.
WanwisaNgamsangchaikit. (2017). Shifts in Medical Tourism. Retrieved November 24, 2017. From https://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2017/08/shifts-in-medical-tourism/.
Wong, K. M., Velasamy, P., & Arshad, T. N. T. (2014). Medical tourism destination SWOT analysis: A case study of Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and India. SHS Web of ConferencesEDP Sciences, 12, 1037.
World Health Organization. (2017). Global Health Observatory (GHO) Data. Retrieved November 24, 2017. From https://www.who.int/gho/health_workforce/physicians_ density /en/.