Medical tourism refers to leisure travel which incorporates health-related activities into the service, e.g., health checks, conventional medical treatments and other alternative medical programs.

Thailand is one of a few Asian countries being recognized as a medical tourism venue by international visitors including visitors from Europe, the USA, the Middle East and Asia. This reputation can be attributed to many favorable factors, including affordable medical bills and treatment standards that are on a par with those in Europe, the USA and Australia, as well as having a shorter outpatient waiting list.

Based on the statistics on foreign patients at Thai private hospitals, preliminary estimates on the size of this market are that 60% of them are expatriates working in Thailand and the rest are foreign tourists coming here for the specific purpose of medical treatments.

In 2001, the number of foreign patients at local private hospitals totaled 550,161 and rose to 1,249,984 in 2005. This represents an annual increase of 24 percent on average over the years 2001-2005. With this trend and other favorable factors for a growing number of foreign patients at leading private hospitals, KASIKORN RESEARCH CENTER (K Research)  forecasts that the number of expatriates residing here and foreign visitors using medical services at local private hospitals are likely to grow 12 percent and 10 percent respectively, to around 1.4 million and 1.54 million cases in 2006 and 2007.  From the forecast total number of 1.54 million foreign national cases treated in Thai hospitals, it is projected that 616,000 cases will be foreign visitors who come here to specifically to get medical treatments at Thai private hospitals.

The medical tourism market of Thailand is trending toward substantial growth and although it faces intensifying competition from neighboring countries in Asia, i.e., Singapore, Malaysia and India. The gentle and mild nature of Thais in service work has created a favorable impression with visitors.

In addition, Thai private hospitals have become proficient in specialized medical services at international standards, while medical service charges in Thailand are half those found in Singapore. Moreover, Thailand also has tourism potential with a wide variety of pleasant tourism venues in all regions, and readiness in tourism-support services.