Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the spread of other viruses, including Monkeypox and Laywi, people's lifestyles have changed. Their focus has shifted to living a healthy lifestyle. Now people invest more to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy.
The quest of living a balanced lifestyle in indeed is more complex. People -- according to various research -- look to balance eight aspects: physical, spiritual, social, emotional, intellectual, occupational, financial and environmental.
The global wellness economy is emerging as a new business trend. In 2020, the Global Wellness Institute reported that the global wellness economy was worth US$4.4 trillion (157 trillion baht).
Business activities and revenue come from 11 types: wellness real estate, physical activity, healthy eating, nutrition & weight loss, mental wellness, workplace wellness, public health, preventive & personalised medicine, traditional & complementary medicine, personal care & beauty, wellness tourism, spas and finally thermal/mineral springs.
The region is becoming a red hot zone for the hopeful wellness market, valued at $1.5 trillion. Thailand grew to the ninth position and the third in Southeast Asia.
Thailand has been pushing and driving itself to be an international health centre since 2004 under the medical hub policy.
Last year, Thailand was ranked fifth out of 195 countries in the Global Health Security Index (GHS) and first in Asia, by Johns Hopkins University, USA, for its epidemic readiness assessment.
Moreover, the country has earned the fifth rank in the world for the medical tourism industry by the Medical Tourism Association's appraisal.
In its January issue, Krungthai Compass analysed six key factors that make Thailand competitive in this area. These six factors are: 1) Competence of medical personnel in various fields including specialised treatment; 2) Having 60 JCI (Joint Commission International) accredited hospitals, the fourth-highest number in the world; 3) Reasonable medical expenses, which are cheaper than other countries in the same region and the leading countries like the United States; 4) Low cost of living, affordable for long-term recuperation or convalescence care; 5) Government support, direct and indirect, for medical tourism; and 6) Readiness in infrastructure, facilities and transportation that covers all routes.
According to the Krungthai Compass business analysis, the global medical tourism market would fully recover next year and continuously expand.
Demand for medical and health services will continue to rise thanks to the ageing society in many countries as well as the additional focus on preventative care and treatment of non-communicable diseases, which is time consuming and costly.
Now, Thailand is regarded as one of the most important destinations in the Asia-Pacific region for medical tourism.
Despite the country being in a good position, we must better understand the needs of medical tourism customers. This type of tourism is linked to many businesses in the supply chain that can be categorised into three groups.
The main group is medical service providers. The second is the supporting group, which includes travel and transportation service providers who are also responsible for trip planning. The final group includes medical businesses, accreditation and supervision agencies for medical personnel, and organisations that promote medical conferences and seminars, as well as educational institutions that produce medical personnel.
Another asset of Thailand is our medical education institutes, such as Mahidol University, which has been producing quality health personnel in the region.
The medical and public health education has been continuously diversified and expanded to include other sciences. The example is the Doctor of Philosophy Program in Health and Sustainable Development initiated by the Asean Institute for Health Development and other six faculties/institutes of Mahidol University.
This programme details five areas: public health, environment and resources, veterinary, tropical disease clinic and demographics. Mahidol University has also established academic partnerships with James Cook University, Australia.
That said, Thailand has created innovations that support advancements and greater sustainability in the wellness healthcare sector, in line with the needs of medical tourism clients.
The key to the wellness economy's success is a whole society approach, which needs collaboration across all sectors, including public policy support for investment, research, development, and medical innovation, as well as private investment for growth and integration.
Associate Prof Dr Phudit Tejativaddhana, MD Director of Asean Institute for Health Development, Mahidol University.
