Medical Bioethics and Medical Tourism in Thailand

Abstract

Medical tourism has been growing rapidly in Thailand attracting over one million overseas tourists annually. Medical tourists have been attracted to Thailand due to the high standard of health care, professionalism of physicians and dentists, and cheaper health care prices. Consequently, medical tourism is transforming the nature of health care delivery in Thailand due to the advent of joint hospital collaborations. The high investments associated with medical tourism and its impact on the Thai health care system has various medical bioethics implications. These include follow up care to patients, easy access to post care medications, and the issue of counterfeit drugs. Furthermore, the growth of medical tourism needs to be governed in such a way that it does not compromise the public health care system.