TomA

iResidence Hotel is directly in front of the Chong Nonsi BTS station and in a fantastic part of town! You can book a room for under $40 on agoda.com (which is probably the best site for reservations regardless of hotel).

Good luck!

I'm actually surprised that people are asking why you are interested in India. I think that anytime ANYONE is in the US or UK and looking at India/Asia, the issue is the huge price difference. (Especially when the question was answered once in the thread already.)

Wow...price went up a bit. It was 70 when I was there.

LOL! Do you have some expertise behind that recommendation?

I've seen people asking about hair tattoos. I think ONLY a tattoo would be ridiculous looking.

However, I'm wondering if anyone has had any success with a tattoo as permanent shading after a transplant? (Sort of like permanent Dermmatch.) It would make things much cleaner and easier, and it's not that expensive.

FYI: You can fly from India to Thailand on Air Asia for virtually nothing. Change planes in KL and leave yourself a 3 hour time window, because AA doesn't transfer baggage.

Originally posted by GLH Formula # 9:

Originally posted by Reyes:

GLH,

 

Thanks for that link. His HT looks great. I'm happy that it all went well for him. I love the wedding pictures, too. So proud!

Yep nice couple, between the two of them they have plenty of hair to go around.

Are you talking about me? LOL... Ya between the TWO of us. But she got more than her share.

I think its meant to be a joke.

I'd go to Thailand to save $1000, so you can guess how I will reply. Feel free to check my blog to see my results. Also, you can get to Thailand more cheaply from SoCal, and it is a great vacation spot if you have the time.

I never heard of him, which means nothing except that I cannot respond to the question.... in case anyone was expecting me to.

For anyone considering a HT in Thailand, the dollar/baht exchange rate is VERY favorable right now. It hit 35:1 today for the first time in years!

And that's the international rate... you'll get an even better rate in Thailand.

For comparison, the international rate when I was there was 30:1.

vincehair:

I didn't do the crown this summer because of my engagement ceremony. I actually had an appointment, but Dr. Path advised me to cancel it because he said that it was too close to the ceremony and that I wouldn't look good enough at that point in time. He did say that I had plenty of donor hair left.

B-spot:

You're right I never take it personally and I have a lot of fun here. Hope you do as well...

I definitely see your point. You are correct to point out that if you DON'T care about visiting Thailand, have no other reason to go there, or can't leave work for a longer period of time, AND you have an EXCELLENT LOCAL DOC... then the financials become a lot more iffy. This is why I generally don't comment on threads when I feel that the poster is in this type of situation.

But I DO think that if you are already going to be in Thailand for some reason, OR if you live near Thailand (like Australia--where the person that initiated the thread is living), OR if you love travel and are trying to decide between a long vacation and a HT, then Thailand might be a GREAT option for you. In addition, if you really like to be babied (haha), you're going to love Thailand! As for me, my fiancee is Thai, I have an apartment in Bangkok, and my employer sends me to Asia once or twice a year for several months at a time. YMMV.

Finally, keep in mind that this argument assumes a LOCAL physician. A lot of people here are flying to Vancouver to visit H&W as well. A ticket to Vancouver from Florida can run nearly 40% the cost of a ticket to Bangkok and your hotels will be much more expensive in Vancouver. In that case the equation will tilt back a bit.

So bottom line, as B-Spot points out: Everyone should be sure to consider ALL of the costs before making a decision.

Tom

Hmmm, I'm not sure because I don't have my emails back that far. But you can ask him for a price list by emailing: path_hair@yahoo.com

I just remember that the price didn't go up drastically or anything.

Yes, $1250 seems like the correct price, maybe even a bit better than average. I am not 100% sure, because I always fly over from Hong Kong.

I can give you lots of ideas for traveling IN Thailand, though, if you give me an idea about when you will be there and what you want to do.

Tom

This case is EXACTLY why access to the US legal system is an overrated "benefit" of having surgery in the USA.

Originally posted by Yogi's Dad:

I have a Ph.D. in Marketing (which means very little here, except that I get my summers off )

Me too! I wonder if we know each other. This is really my pic... do you know me? PM me if you do!

Originally posted by vincehair:

Hey Tom,what i meant was that you and B Spot are both making good points and asking good questions

Oh, I know... no offense taken. I really meant that I am glad that you are getting something out of this thread. I don't think B and I would have much fun here if no one was reading this.

I lost one graft because I hit my head REALLY hard on a taxi door. Believe me... if you lose a graft, you'll know it because it bleeds A LOT.

bullitnut

Sigh....

good luck bullitnut.

Originally posted by vincehair:

This thread has went from good to great...

Glad you're enjoying it....

YAY... I always figured he belonged here.

I'm going to send him an email to congratulate him!

Originally posted by the B spot:

I'm not sure I want to debate the merits of malpractice suits Tom. They are a necessary evil and more meritorious than is believed.

 

My point is, you have recourse in our legal system, regardless of your examples, which do contain some validity.

 

However, a person should understand the type of legal might a corporation like Bosley or MHR wields before choosing them.

 

Additionally, we are speaking mostly about individual cosmetic clinics, not hospitals and at top clinics the sterility (just like everything else) is unsurpassed. These clinics also understand the potential liability if malpractice is proved and many choose to reach a settlement before court.

 

I understand your point and I commend you for offering excellent insight into doing surgery overseas cheaply.

 

It is my opinion that spending 7000 for 3300 grafts, but having to travel to Thailand is akin to making a deal with a top clinic for 3000+ grafts for 9000-10K through various means.

 

I happen to disagree on a couple of points, and simply offering the potential uninformed reader a different perspective.

 

I don't know if there is a "right or wrong" answer to this, but our different perspectives.

 

Glad to see your happy from one bald brother to another.

 

Jason

Well, we do disagree somewhat, but we are not as far apart as one might think. OK a few points of clarification here that don't need an individual response:

1. Travel distance... the guy that started this thread is from Australia and for him, Thailand is MUCH closer and cheaper which was part of the reason I disagreed with you. Someone in the USA with a recommended surgeon in his town might need to rework the financial model. But for him, Thailand is a lot cheaper both for travel AND for surgery cost.

2. You phrase it as "having to travel to Thailand", while others may phrase it as "getting to travel to Thailand." Some people like to combine their surgery with a vacation (or with visiting their fiancee, whatever the case may be). I'm not big on travel to Canada, for example, but Thailand is another story. And my employer sends me to Asia FREE every year... again some things depend on the person.

3. You referred to third world medical care. That's just not the case with the clinics we are discussing in Thailand. You make it sound like people will be going to Cambodia for surgery. Now THAT I would not recommend. But Thailand? Please.

4. If you don't mind paying a bit more (hundreds, not thousands), but still much less than North American costs, Dr. Path will do your surgery at Bumrungrad. That's where he did my consultation, but I decided I was completely comfortable with his clinic.

5. If you do the surgery at Bumrungrad and something goes wrong that is the hospital's fault, Bumrungrad will fly you back AT THEIR EXPENSE to correct the problem.

6. Service levels are MUCH MUCH MUCH higher in Thailand. (I'm speaking generally, and a specific clinic may, of course, vary.) I also had eye surgery there... in all cases I was treated like royalty.

7. The people working on you in Thailand, in general, will be more experienced. For example: Your "star" physician will do many of the things in Thailand that an assistant physician would do here. An assistant physician in Thailand will do what a nurse or technician might do here. An RN will do what a LPN would do here... etc.

8. Which recommended physician in North America will do 3300 grafts for $9000? You might help a lot of people if you can be more specific...

BTW... I said in my first post in this thread: "I'm not speaking specifically about members here, either." By that I meant that I was not intending my response as a direct attack on you, but rather an attack on the incorrect notion that most Americans have that surgery is far safer here than it is in other places. It is simply not correct to say that... in fact, in many cases the reverse is true. Personally I'd rather have a lower RISK of infection at Bunrungrad, than a higher risk at Tampa General plus some remote possibility of winning a malpractice case in the US court system.

EVERYONE should read the excellent Men's Health article posted by Eman, above. It does a good job of shattering the myth that the United States has the best health care system in the world.

Jason, can you tell me what your legal recourse in the USA is when you are unhappy with your results?

Say you go to Bosley and you end up with doll hair. Or you go to a private surgeon and end up with an ugly scar. Try asking some guys here what their LEGAL recourse was.

It's nothing Jason.

Do you know how hard it is to win a malpractice case? You are only going to have a legal recourse on a hair surgery if they chop off an ear or graft pubic hair onto your scalp. (Ha, and maybe not even then.)

Infection rates? (You have no legal recourse if you get an infection... that's considered to be a normal risk of surgery.) Guess what? Lower in Thailand.

You REALLY need to look into this more. Frankly this site is a FAR better protection than the US legal system which is pretty close to useless in hair transplant cases.

For the guy that asked about Dr. Path and Thailand:

I have lived in Bangkok; I have a Thai fiancee; and I had a hair transplant from Dr. Path, so I can answer just about anything you like regarding Thailand.

For everyone else:

Anyone that believes that medical care in Bangkok is anything like "third world" conditions has almost certainly never been there and therefore probably should not be making such uninformed statements. Honestly, I'm a bit tired of dealing with such ethnocentric comments from my fellow Americans. (And I'm not speaking specifically about members here, either.)

Many wealthy individuals from around the world that could easily afford medical care ANYWHERE choose to get that care in Thailand due to a combination of both excellent quality AND high service. Please don't make silly statements to the contrary unless you have actually visited places like Bumrungrad or BNH Hospitals in Bangkok. Thai boutique hospitals are almost like 5 star hotels, folks.

Bumrungrad Hospital

BNH Hospital

(My fiancee works for a stem cell banking company that works with these and many other hospitals in Thailand and I have spent a lot of time at work with her. Fascinating business.)

You can get a great doc in Bangkok for just a bit more than $2 per graft... something like $2.10.