Most medical device manufacturers appoint a local company as their distributor to market their products. Working with a local agent or distributor is the best way to enter the medical device market in Thailand. Consider the following, Registration of the medical device has to be done in person. Thai is the official language for the registration process. Volume of sales is dependent on the development of consistent, long-term interpersonal relationship with physicians.
Doctors primarily make the purchasing decision.
One exception to this is when the purchasing decision is made by a managing director of private hospitals, who is usually also a physician. Brand image and the recommendation of physician are two equally important factors considered by the patient. The cardiac specialist' s recommendation has a significant impact on the patient' s purchasing decision for cardiovascular devices. In the accident-related product subsector, Orthopedic specialists recommend and make the purchasing decision. As a result, most distributors market their products through physicians.