Imagine an ultramodern hospital where you can book same-day appointments with internationally accredited physicians. Picture waiting areas staffed with smiling orderlies dispensing free cold towels and drinking water. Think you're dreaming? You're not. Welcome to Bangkok, where top-tier hospitals offer state of the art services for a fraction of what you would pay in Western Europe, Australia or the USA.

Thailand is now Asia's undisputed leader in the rapidly growing medical tourism industry. Many Thai-born physicians who have trained and practiced abroad for years are now returning home to cash in on the country's healthcare boom.

The people fueling the boom hail mainly from developed countries where waiting times for major procedures have become unacceptably long. Others are fleeing from nations where rising healthcare costs make it a bargain to travel half way across the world for treatment. Popular procedures run the gamut from face lifts, breast enhancements and liposuction to organ transplants, multi-valve heart bypasses, back surgeries and hip replacements.

If you're only in town for a short time, don't despair. Complete medical check-up packages, dental procedures and minimally invasive beauty procedures like botox injections and laser skin resurfacing can be scheduled with virtually no lead time. If you're considering undergoing a more complicated surgical procedure requiring recovery time, it would behoove you to see a doctor while you're in town to determine if your physical condition makes you a suitable candidate forthe procedure. If all goes well, you can plan to return for your surserv at a later date. Pre-approval largely eliminates the risk faced by those who travel long distances only to find they are medically ineligible.

CAVEAT EMPTOR
We leave it up to our readers to pick a hospital and a physician based on their own careful research. While by no means an exhaustive list, each of the hospitals listed on the following page has given special attention to training staff and providing facilities specifically geared toward an international clientele. Each also maintains a comprehensive English language website detailing clinical specialties, services and prices. Some even offer discounts to international patients. All medical procedures carry somerisks. The more litigiousamong us should takeinto account thatcomplications resultingfrom proceduresperformed in Thailandmight not be coveredby insurance, andcompensation via malpractice lawsuitsmay not be adequate in certain cases.