Jindarat Ongvarasopone, assistant public relations director at BNH, said her hospital was in discussions with inbound tour operators and hotels to attract foreign clients. The hospital has designed a special programme aimed mainly at business travellers who come to Bangkok for meetings. The only problem in dealing with tour operators is commissions. We can't pay commissions because it's against the ethics of the profession. It has set up an international department to oversee the campaign, headed by Prof Narong Nimsakul.
Japan has the world's highest proportion of elderly people, and most have high spending power.
Therefore, they are looking to go to countries that are less expensive. Many are repeat visitors, and most come when it is winter in Japan, from October to March. Piyavate Hospital has outlined health tour packages in collaboration with four resorts in the provinces that also want to attract more Japanese travellers. Cosmetic surgery and sex change operations are other specialties of the hospital. Sex change surgery is banned in Japan, and the procedure in Thailand is three to four times cheaper than in the United States, Prof Narong said.