Nurlita no longer feels comfortable with her looks. At 36, she is worried by the wrinkles appearing on her face and around her eyes. “Tell me, what woman doesn’t want to look beautiful? Now, maybe only cosmetic surgery can help me solve the problem,” said Nurlita, who is the marketing manager of a garment company.
Today, many things can be done to improve one’s looks, from a facelift to botox and various other procedures that make one’s face younger with a short recovery time. The cost is also affordable to many. Facelifts and other such surgeries are not only done domestically, but also abroad, which means that one can go on a tour and have one’s face done at the same time.
Some Bangkok hospitals and beauty clinics already advertise here. They provide a wide range of services, such as tightening the facial skin, hair removal, face mark reduction, breast implants, tummy tucks and even sex changes.
Going abroad for a tour and cosmetic surgery is becoming popular, with Thailand being one of the most popular destinations for medical tours. Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Group and Bumrungrad Hospital, both located in Bangkok, are just two examples of the Thai hospitals that attract foreign tourists wanting cosmetic procedures. Every year, more than 364,000 patients from 150 countries go to Thailand on medical tours.
Singapore is probably the best prepared Asia Pacific country to tackle medical tours. What makes Singapore one of the leading medical centers in the world is its state-of-the-art facilities, professional doctors and sophisticated diagnostic equipment. Besides its world-class facilities, Singapore’s clean environment also lends patients a sense of well-being that encourages a speedy recovery.
AsiaMedic Limited in Singapore is just one example of a leading one-stop healthcare provider that serves both local and foreign patients. It focuses on early prevention and detection of various diseases through sophisticated technology in its wide-ranging specialized clinics, such as AsiaMedic PET/CT Centre, Aesthetic Medical Centre, AsiaMedic Eye Centre, Orchard Imaging Centre and Wellness Assessment Centre.
Meanwhile, Excellence Healthcare is a multi-discipline American-style clinic that offers various medical services, such as general checkup, cardiology, oncology, Lasik and presbyopia surgery, aesthetic and plastic surgery, dental care and orthodontics, and obstetrics and gynecology.
Other medical centers in Singapore include eMenders Medical Specialist Group, Island Orthopaedi-c Group, Pacific Healthcare, Specialist Dental Group (Henry Lee Dental Surgery), Surgeons International Holdings Pte Ltd, The Lasik Surgery Clinic, and many more. In 2000, the World Health O-rganization (WHO) ranked Singapore’s healthcare system No. 6 in the world. Apart from this recognition, 13 of Singapore’s hospitals and health centers have been accredited by the International Joint Commission.
Meanwhile, Malaysia has also emerged as a destination for medical tourism. One of its targets is Indonesian patients for both health and beauty services. So, don’t be surprised to see advertisements in local media promoting cosmetic procedures in, say, Penang, Malaysia.
The surgeries offered include liposuction, blepharoplasty (double eyelid surgery), nose implants, breast enlargement, facelifts, etc. The hospitals provide not only medical services but also accommodation at a four- or five-star hotel, airport transfer and local transportation for shopping and sightseeing.
