‘International Tourists’ Service Quality Perception And Behavioural Loyalty Toward Medical Tourism In Bangkok Metropolitan Area’

This research was done to find out that customer loyalty comes from treating your clients well.

God knows how much this boring and over intelligent use of English cost to do, but the findings were: Be nice to your customers and they will return, go figure!

If they’d have given me 50,000 USD (probably what this cost!) I would hang around clinics like BNH (where most of these respondents were from!?) and grab 400 foreigners to Thailand with bandages round their face and ask them what was important about their procedures.

The tourists were asked to rank several factors in order of what they thought was best amongst the categories:

Medical quality

Value of services

Safety and security

Location

International patient marketing

International patient management

Attention to needs of patient

Transparency

The results were after reading it several times and then converted it from pointless over use of big words and long sentences to something we can try to understand, Sorry to make this into an English lesson, but what on Earth does this mean?:

“Service quality has a positive relationship with value, satisfaction, and brand trust -which also has direct impact on medical tourists’ behavioral loyalty. In addition, value, satisfaction, and brand trust have an effect on the relationship between service quality and behavioral loyalty.”????

*yes spelling mistakes left in*

I think what they are trying to say is that Thailand does well in this market because the Thais are by nature a very hospitable nation, and people want to feel cared for when they are going under the knife. So by making the patient feel relaxed getting to know the staff and the Doctor and letting the patient know exactly what’s going to happen and how they will feel, giving full details about where they are going and what happens afterwards and after care is paramount to success in the field of Cosmetic surgery, and this is the most elementary form of brand building as clients rate the ‘care factor’ as high as the procedure itself, and will talk about it wherever they go to their peers.

Thai hospital care

It appears by this hugely researched and expensive article that many surgeons need to understand that bedside manner is as important as their scalpel skills!

Beauty ideals aren’t just for women: males have also been dictated standards of beauty throughout the ages. Today, it’s marketed in the form of hair transplant and pectoral implants; back through the centuries it was expressed mostly through art. Here are seven things you didn’t know about male beauty throughout the ages.

1.   Greeks liked their guys slim and young:

 Looking at Greek sculpture, it’s easy to extrapolate that Greeks liked their men young, lightly muscled and symmetrical. The ideal Greek male had a balanced body (equal development of upper and lower body), little fat and was young. Males would not do body building but rather stay fit through daily activities (walking, running, swimming, etc.). Warriors did not wear armor so there was no need for heavy muscles.

Ancient Greeks

2.   Medieval Knights Looked Like Fridges:

 Have you ever seen full medieval plate armor? It’s big and heavy, and only men with big, developed muscles could stand to wear it. They were especially strong in the shoulders and developed the kind of body that you see on club bouncers these days. The closest body today would be rugby players.

3.   In the Middle Ages It Was Cool to be Skinny and Sickly:

 For those who weren’t meant to fight the endless territorial wars of the Middle-Ages, the ideal of beauty was quite different: it was attractive to be a skinny, sickly-looking young man who could then aspire to heaven through earthly suffering. There were socio-economic reasons for that (malnourishment of the masses, for example), but the depictions of Christ as a very skinny, sick-looking man gives an idea of beauty for that period.

4.   Renaissance Men Didn’t Have Six-packs:

 While the Renaissance ideals of male beauty brought back the Greek model, they had still evolved somewhat. The males were allowed to be a bit more masculine, but muscle definition wasn’t essential here. That’s why you won’t see a six-pack on Michelangelo’s famous David sculpture.

Michelangelo's David

5.   In the 17^th Century It Was All About Clothes:

If there was ever a time when clothes mattered for men, it was in the 17^th century. Clothes were related to status, so the more expensive the materials and the more elaborate the styles, the more important you were. There were laws called “sumptuary laws” that banned certain colors and styles for people of the masses, reserving them for the nobility.

6.   In the 18^th Century Being Fat Was a Good Thing

 In a time where the mass of people could barely feed themselves, being a bit plump was a sign of prosperity. It was thus a good thing to have a few pounds extra. Clothing remained tied to status, but became a bit more practical with the rise of the middle merchant class.

7.   In the 19^th Century Men Wore Corsets

 Nope, it wasn’t only women who had to suffer them. Male waist corsets were popular with “dandies”, those men who lived off their estate money without needing to work. Having muscles meant you had to work for a living, so rich men would keep a thin and feminine body to emphasize their wealth.

Now I wonder if today’s male ideals will be characterized by the hair replacement surgery and the obsession with the gym? Are we going back to the burly knight?

Im so Gay

botox

1. Wrinkles

This is our first because it’s also the most popular use for botox. Botox quickly smoothes out wrinkles and makes you look younger and peppier. It’s especially effective on frown and laugh lines, but can also be used for crow’s feet.

2. Crossed eyes

Botox was first tested as a treatment for strabismus, or “crossed eyes”. This specific use can only be prescribed and practiced by a dermatologist, but you if you suffer from crossed eyes or lazy eye, botox is a good alternative to surgery.

3. Excessive sweating

Because botox blocks nerve signals from reaching muscles, it can also do so with glands. Botox has recently been used to temporarily reduce excessive sweating at the armpits, hands and feet.

4. Lips

Just a little botox can do a great deal to improve your smile. An injection under the bottom lip will puff it out slightly, and an injection at the corners of the mouth will turn your smile up instantly.

5. Chronic migraine headaches

Doctors don’t really know why this works, but botox seems to be effective against chronic migraine headaches. Injections are made to the forehead, the brow, the back and the sides of the head.

6. Bladder control

If you suffer from incontinence caused by a spastic bladder, botox can help relieve your symptoms and reduce incontinence. It relaxes the muscles around the bladder to help you live a more normal life.

7. Eye twitches and facial spasms

Some people with eye twitches rely on botox to relieve them of these symptoms. Botox injections can temporarily help reduce the symptoms of eye twitch and facial spams.

8. Muscle spasms

Botox works the same way on bigger muscles in the body as in the facial muscles, relieving spams and pain. It can’t be used in major muscles like the thigh, but still is effective in the hands and fingers, for example.

9. Saggy breasts

Botox can be used as an alternative to breast lift for women with smaller chests. The effect is subtle but aesthetically pleasing.

10. Face sculpting

Some plastic surgeons specialize in botox face sculpting: they can use botox to turn up your nose, lift your eyebrows, and enlarge your eyes and adding volume in strategic places.

These are only a few examples of current uses of botox; doctors and patients find more and more ways to use it every year. It’s a great dermal filler but it can also be useful for many ailments and pains. Remember that botox is temporary and treatments need to be repeated every few months.

Far be it from me to comment I am just a middle aged chap but I see all shapes and  sizes and I think I speak for most sane men, that every woman is beautiful in their own way (Ladies someone will find your parts as daft as you think they look incredibly desirable honest!!). Anyway you did not read this blog to get me going, read on… what are the common procedures?

“Aesthetic Vaginal Surgery,” “Cosmetic Vaginal Surgery,” or “vaginoplasty,” resurfaces and tightens the tissues to reclaim the youthful appearance and function of the vulvar and vaginal area.

Yeah ok you want to look like a teenager, up to you I still prefer a woman!

LABIOPLASTY is labial reduction. There is a very wide range of normality for women’s labia. Women seek consultation for possible revision in the size of their labia for two reasons: medical and aesthetic or both.

OK I understand if you struggle to ride a bike or feel uncomfortable sitting down, but does anyone out there have model labia??

VAGINOPLASTY:

The specialized surgical tightening and rejuvenation of the vagina, perineum (vaginal opening) and supporting muscles is called vaginoplasty. Woman, with grown up children who enjoy a healthy sexual life feel more comfortable after this procedure and in particular the tightening the pelvic floor muscles. Two common practices Laser or radiofrequency (Wave tightening) both procedures tighten the surface of the skin around the vagina and supporting tissue.

OK this one is fine speaking from a purely selfish male prospective!

PERINEOPLASTY

A plastic surgery procedure to remove the scarred or lax opening, repair and elevate the perineum and bring the stretched levator muscles closer together is called perineoplasty. Perineoplasty may be performed for hymenal reconstruction or for an open, uncomfortable vagina. Perineoplasty is frequently combined with a vaginoplasty.

All these processes are becoming more popular, but concerns of operations being performed for purely cosmetic reasons are being aired. In the report they studied 33 women who had asked for Labia reduction treatment and were sent from their GP. The average age of the group was 23 All the woman were examined by a leading Gynaecologist whom could find nothing abnormal in their genetalia with average width size Labia Minor at 24-26 mms.

3 women out of the 33  were offered surgery to make them symmetrical around 40% of the woman who were initially refused surgery sought a second opinion. And 11% of the woman got their second chance not for labia reduction but for psychological assessment!

Of all the reasons given, sexual enhancement and confidence was the top reason!

Sorry to stick my meddlesome awe in, but what ever happened to dress nice, eat well, make him laugh, and good conversation and a bottle of wine?  Do you think we men are just perfect we have no hang ups? The ‘acceptance’ of each other is what carves a good relationship!?

The participants were then asked how long they have felt uncomfortable with the ‘look’ of their Vaginas; 81% knew exactly when:

5 said it was around 10 years old!???

30% said 11-15

5 said they were between 16-20 years old,

Only 3 woman noticed some ageing of their ‘parts’ when they were 30 plus. Many added that images in pornographic material and the news, had led them to feel inadequate and they wanted to know what procedures are available.

Leading people in woman’s health have become increasingly concerned at this attitude especially when many are pre-pubescent and they have not had any time for their bodies to grow first.

Prices in Thailand vary for the procedures with;

• Labia Majora reduction             $3500
• G spot Augmentation (WTF!!) $1400
• Hymenoplasty                             $  700
• Labia Majora lipofilling               $1400
• Labia Major reconstruction       $2600
• Labia Lift                                      $1500

Thailand a behemoth in the cosmetic tourism industry has seen considerable growth of late, as prices in Thailand are very good compared to say the U.S. Hospitals like Bumrungrad have been at the forefront of attracting tourists advertising the beaches and wonderful hospitality as a peripheral add on for after procedure rest and recouperation. Many leading hospitals are raising their medical standards, hiring internationally qualified doctors and investing in state-of-the-art medical equipments. They are also working to transform their facilities into more friendly and attractive places.

Around 15% of all surgeries performed were breast augmentations. Breast Augmentation in Thailand will save on average fifty per cent against western cosmetic surgery costs which includes travel and hotel expense.

Thai transgenders or Khatoeys as they are locally known who are considered to be as beautiful as any real woman in the West and they know a thing about breasts more than any chap I have known. Purely in the interest of science, <honest> when ever I am invited to touch a pair, Kathoeys want as many second opinions as they can, after all their purchase has given them much power and self confidence, I usually accept, and I really can’t see what  the difference between a woman with them or a Kathoey with them, they feel the same to me, all plastic and well, like a Barbie toy,  But as any woman will tell you they are not for the man, they are for the woman??

Pattaya Ladyboy

Many Kathoeys now have natural breasts, you can see no scars and they are a welcome side effect of the hormones, but I am told many get injections into their chests to make the tissue grow, sadly I see many with very nice pert breasts  albeit small, but they are intent on getting those plastic balloons. Girls if you are 5 ft or less you won’t look great with a 44 DD I promise you! The Kathoeys won’t pay more than 30,000 THB for a pair, but I often wonder where they get the money from and with all the expensive make up and dresses they purchase week in week out, and I hardly ever see any of them in full time employment unless of course you visit Nana Plaza and it may shock you but these Kathoeys are pulling in as many men as the world famous beautiful Thai ladies, so your bloke has come home from a stag weekend in Thailand and when he looks you in the eye and says he has not been with any woman he is telling the truth!!

huge breasts

Facelift gone wrong

During 2010 around 13.1 million plastic surgery procedures were performed, TCS sources found that facelifts and rhinoplasty (Nose Jobs) and other invasive surgery procedures were up.   Facelifts were up 9% in 2010, while thigh-lifts were up 8% and breast augmentation surgery rose by 2%.

The price for a surgical Facelift cuts in at around $6,000 to $25,000. depending on where you have it done, and the experience and skill of the surgeon.  There is a lot involved, Anesthetics, hospital stays, and post care, your surgeon gets just a cut of the money (excuse the pun).

The Gruesome facts

During your sleep your surgeon will make a surgical cut in your hairline, down past the front of your ears and then up into the hairline again behind the ears. Cuts may also be made under your chin if you want to lift a droopy chin

Your skin is carefully split from the underlying tissues. Your Physician  will then remove or reposition the excess fat, or tighten the muscles or surrounding tissues in your face. they will finally lift your skin, pull it back and trim off any excess. ….Sounds like they are baking a cake! (Ed)

Your skin is then stitched back to the line where the cut was initially made.

Afterwards, your face is swathed in bandages. Depending on the exact procedure, these may run under your chin, around your ears and/or over your head. They are usually taken off after a day or two, before you go home.

They will be a few days of Drainage and tubes will suck out any excess blood, usually behind your ears, for a day or two afterwards. These allow blood and fluids to drain away.

OK you can look back now

Non surgical alternatives include: Amway’s renewing peel, the price difference between surgical Facelifts is a winning feature at around 112 USD!

Since its launch in November last year, the Artistry Intensive Skincare Renewing Peel has been winning acclaim and the product is kit bag essential for renowned International make-up artist and Intensive Skincare Ambassador Ashley Ward.

The product now a firm favorite with the likes of actress Jamie Winstone, TV and radio presenter Lauren Laverne, singer, actress Pamela Anderson and model Helena Christensen. and Melanie Blatt

Product fan Melanie Blatt says, “I was so impressed with this product when Ashley used it on me. You can instantly see and feel a difference in your skin. It feels super smooth and looks more radiant after one use. I’ve now been using it for a few weeks, and my skin has never looked so healthy. I am hooked!”

renewing peel

Philippines Medical tourism

Well heeled Middle Eastern visitors are spending more in the Philippines year on year these are medical tourists. Middle East clients include corporate buyers; large corporations are behind a lot of the spending some Petroleum giants are sending many of their staff for treatment. These Arabians come with partners and stay at good hotels and shop till they drop, making them perfect visitors. Much of the tourism started from eye surgery visits and then the Arabs started coming back due to the state of the art hospitals in the Philippines.

With a huge population in Indonesia and Micronesia including Guam and New Guinea are huge markets also, these people see the Philippines as a modern country to get treatment they can not get in their home countries and the US in Guam find the prices attractive. Again price attracts the Japanese, the Australians and Koreans. Like Thailand and Singapore whom already have a good share of the market and beaches to sleep it off on Philippine businessmen are looking to take a slice of the pie… The DoT estimates that 100,000 medical tourists visited the Philippines in 2009, spending an average 2000 USD. The DOT target for the Philippine Medical Tourism Program is 200,000 medical tourists a year by 2015.The main attraction for tourists from the United States, Japan, Korea and the Middle East is cosmetic surgery.

Philippines beauty

To put cosmetic tourism in perspective, visitors arriving in the Philippines in 2010 reached 3.52 million surpassing the target of 3.3 million earlier set by the DOT. Visitors from East Asia accounted for 44.4% of the total visitor count in 2010 with Korea having the biggest share at 21% or 740,622 arrivals. This market grew by a hefty 48.7% against its 2009 volume of 497,936 arrivals, regaining its number one position among the major source markets. The USA ranked as the second main source market with 600,165 visitors for a share of 17% of total tourist traffic. Taiwan and Japan, which in the past years posted declines in arrivals, have rebounded with double-digit growth of 39.2% and 10.3%, respectively. Arrivals from China and Hong Kong posted 20.9% and 8.9% increases; this market is anticipated to pose continued growth as the DOT undertakes aggressive marketing and promotions to regain and re-establish confidence in the Philippines as a safe and secure tourist destination. Visitors from Australia recorded an all time high of 147,469 arrivals during the year, making it the fifth source market with 11.4% growth rate and one of the fastest growing. This market is expected to increase as JetStar Air commences flights between Darwin and Clark in 2011.Most European markets recorded double digit gain in 2010 with the Russian Federation growing faster at 33.6% followed by the Scandinavian countries (12%), France (11%), United Kingdom (6.5%), and Germany (5%). For the Middle East region, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia remained the key source markets as visitor arrivals grew by 21.4% and 16.3%. In addition, arrivals from Qatar and Bahrain exhibited significant growth at 15.2% and 10.6%.

The Shanghai Medical Tourism Products & Promotion Platform (SHMTPPP) is a Government scheme to promote China as a world class cosmetic tourism centre. Their objective is for China to compete with established medical powerhouses such as India, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Many of these countries are already very popular destinations for medical tourism.

With China soon to take on the US head to head as the world’s largest economy, and has bullishly invested where many critics thought they would not. So it must follow that China will become a Medical destination powerhouse soon

China Health Expediture

But China has many challenges to overcome first, ailing bureaucracy, and very few with language skills. A Government spokesman for the scheme told us: “Foreign patients are interested in coming to China, but they do not know who to get in touch with as there are no readily available numbers or names to contact. The coordination of diverging interests is difficult. How do we bring all parties – hospitals, travel agents, airlines, trade offices, translators, and official bodies together? The answer is the establishment of SHMTPPP as a sole point of contact for foreign patients and as a promotional tool for medical tourism to China, specifically Shanghai.”

SHMTPPP body has set up offices in US and Indonesia, hoping to attract people of Chinese descent to Shanghai. In the Los Angeles area there are a million Chinese people alone.  In total, there are 40 million people from China spread across the globe. This demographic has huge potential as the Chinese people should have at least the affection for their own country. Also adding to this the cost of training the Chinese on home soil to speak effectively in this field and safely to other nationalities would mean huge costs to the Government, although many schemes are in place to educate the Chinese in new languages to engage the world on the main business front, this demographic of Chinese are already around the world so why not start with them.

SHMTPPP facilitates all the logistics of getting a tourist from the plane to the Hotel, to the Hospital, and back to the Hotel with English speaking guides on 24 hour stand by. They have spared no expense in dealing with all the major Hospitals and should be a tourist’s first call when viewing China as a Medical tourist destination.

Chinese Surgeons

China may lack the beaches of Thailand, however they are on a par for costs they are slightly more expensive than Singapore and with Heart Bypass surgery 40% cheaper than that of the states, it could just compete.  It will however take time to get a foothold in this market a challenge the SHMTPPP knows all too well and on the whole the cultural and language challenges will be the largest to overcome,  as Doctors will have to learn how to treat a tourist slightly different from a patient.

But all things considered when the Chinese set a goal they usually achieve it, as they are a tenacious people and their goal of becoming a serious competitor by 2013 isn’t as ludicrous as it first sounds considering the cash they have right now, so the established giants should not rest on their laurels as there is a new kid on the block!

TLC an R&B trio who had a score of hits in the nineties summed it up beautifully in thier song unpretty here are the lyrics.

(dallas austin and tionne “t-boz” watkins)
1999 cyptron music/emi blackwood music (bmi) and grung girl music (ascap)
(appears on “unpretty” import single)

Left eye:
Find the reflection you see to be so damn unpretty
Find the reflection you see to be so damn unpretty

T-boz:
I wish I could tie you up in my shoes
Make you feel unpretty too
I was told I was beautiful
But what does that mean to you
Look into the mirror who’s inside there
The one with the long hair
Same old me again today (yeah)

Chilli:
My outsides look cool
My insides are blue
Everytime I think I’m through
It’s because of you
I’ve tried different ways
But it’s all the same
At the end of the day
I have myself to blame
I’m just trippin’

Chorus:
T-boz & chilli:
You can buy your hair if it won’t grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the make-up that mac can make
But if you can’t look inside you
Find out who am i, too
Be in a position to make me feel so damn unpretty

Left eye:
Find the reflection you see to be so damn unpretty

T-boz & chilli:
Never insecure until I met you
Now I’m in stupid
I used to be so cute to me
Just a little bit skinny
Why do I look to all these things
To keep you happy
Maybe get rid of you
And then I’ll get back to me (hey)

Chilli:
My outsides look cool
My insides are blue
Everytime I think I’m through
It’s because of you
I’ve tried different ways
But it’s all the same
At the end of the day
I have myself to blame
I can’t believe I’m trippin’

Chorus

Chorus

Left eye:
As I reflect back on what I’ve used and abused
And detect that I need some clues to get through
To those that accused me of never being true
I’ll lose if I play into this game and never know the rules
So how do I bring out the me nobody sees
The forest for the trees, how ’bout the woman behind the weave
The light from within this life is the only real remedy
Or find the reflection you see to be so damn unpretty

'unpretty' by TLC

RIP lisa left eye lopes April 25 2002

dental fillings

Adding to this the most expensive dental amalgam filling price in the world at around 150 pounds (approx 7000 THB) compared to say Hungary which charged 8 Euros (approx 300 THB). Spaniards pay 125 Euros for a filling and Italians 135 Euros whereas Germans paid around 50 Euros and on the beach in Thailand…15 USD (approx 450 THB) not surprising why around 770,000 people who traveled abroad from Britain for various medical treatments, of that number around 45% of them decided to look elsewhere for dental care and would add a visit to the dentist to their holiday Itinerary.

So widespread is the challenge of the NHS dentist that the UK government initiated this research and its findings to examine the options of actually sending Brits abroad to say Hungary and the home country covering the cost of travel, as they open more trade borders of the 27 member states.

Dental work abroad