Govt looks to goal of world-class health provider
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The government is aiming to develop Thailand into a world-class health provider by 2014, with total projected earnings of US$11.5 billion (Bt350 billion) over the five-year period that began in 2010.
The strategic plan will be a substantial upgrade of the successful project to establish Thailand as the “spa capital of Asia”, which was achieved in 2008. It will involve a holistic collection of curative medical treatments, preventive spa and wellness services, and sales of herbal products and other supplies for the global health and wellness industry.
Broken down further, the earnings projection is for medical treatments to generate $8 billion over the 2010-14 period, spa and wellness services $2.23 billion, and sales of products and supplies $1.3 billion.
According to Apichai Jearadisak, adviser to the Federation of Thai Spa Associations, Thailand already leads the regional spa market.
“With more than 1,200 registered spas, 400 of which are high-end luxury facilities, and all of them together employing some 25,000 professionally trained therapists, Thailand undoubtedly has a claim to call itself the ‘spa capital of Asia’.”
He said there were many factors that make a Thai spa experience unique, such as service-minded personnel, traditional Thai massages, spa therapies and recipes, high operational standards, and a broad range of multicultural spa concepts.
Apichai said Thai spas were working to upgrade the standards of their services and products, as well as the hygienic standards in the spas themselves. Efforts are also being made to improve the quality of their communications and marketing.
