Dr Laorwong (Absolute Hair Clinic) - Review and Tips - March 2024 - FUE 4120 grafts

[EasyRoader]

It’s 15 days since I had my hair transplant with Dr Laorwong at Absolute Hair Clinic in Bangkok, Thailand. I wanted to share my experience and some tips for those making the journey in the future. A warning that this is a long post 😊

 TL; DR This guy is an awesome professional and takes a lot of care in his work. The location is clean, and the staff were all nice and friendly. Very highly recommended.

Thank you to this forum

I want to thank everyone on this forum for all the very useful information, but especially @Gatsby for his comments which steered me away from getting it done locally in Australia and @HatMaster and @A_4_Archan for their detailed descriptions of their experiences with Dr Laorwong. I had re-read their posts so many times that it almost felt familiar when I was over there and going through the process.

I'll try to avoid repeating what they've covered in their threads, which are linked below, but I'll try to add a few things from my experience that will hopefully help others in the future.

Hatmaster's thread

A_4_Archan's thread

My situation

I had pretty much given up on my hair after three rounds of alopecia (one over most of my body) combined with normal male pattern hair loss. Many years ago, I had tried Rogaine for a while and Propecia but neither seemed to do much.

I had seen the "yeah yeah" ads on Australian TV for years (pardon the pun) but had heard that their ad was mis-representative e.g. <insert famous Australia cricket spin bowler> and co actually had glued-on hair pieces, rather than the implied regrown hair.

I didn't even realise that hair transplants were a thing until early last year, I mean FUE-type hair transplants, I vaguely knew of those hair plug transplants.

Once I found out about hair transplants, I spent a lot of time reading forums like this one. I'd hate to think how many times I must had re-read certain posts.

Choosing Dr Laorwong

I honestly couldn't find any recommendations for Dr's in Australia. Maybe there are some out there. Maybe more importantly, I also couldn’t find any examples of people flying from overseas to specific Australian clinics for hair transplants. But there were endless reviews of people going overseas to specific clinics. So, Australia was out.

I'm not Richie Rich so won’t be rubbing shoulders with the Hollywood stars at the clinics that they do to.

I didn't want to go to Turkey. There were some amazingly cheap deals, but there are also so many crappy hair mills over there that I couldn’t be bothered spending the time to sort through them.

I do remember reading one post of someone who went to Turkey and said that the first time they thought they may have made a mistake was when they went for their pre-op, turned into the street their “clinic” was on, and that the street was packed different hair “clinics”, many with people standing out front beckoning him to come inside. And yes, his result was terrible.

But there are good clinics in Turkey, and if you’re really tight on money, and not as lazy as me -willing to sift through all the options and reviews, then you might be able to find someone good.

So, for me it narrowed it down to South East Asia/India. Like I said I was lazy and quite quickly put Dr Laorwong at the top of my short list due to the number and quality of reviews.

Then I freaked out that I hadn’t done enough research and spent God know how long researching other options.

I did come across one from India, the name escapes me, that looked really good. But the more I read it seemed like they were getting amazing reviews about 5 years ago, but more recent reviews were far less positive. It seemed that perhaps the Dr got a bit greedy and started doing multiple procedures in parallel each day, with technicians doing most of the work and the DR themselves being less and less involved in the hands-on work.

This is a very long-winded way of saying that make sure the reviews you are basing your decision on are relatively recent. Things can change over time.

I considered a couple of other places in India, but they were more expensive, and I couldn't see that they did better work.

So, I ended up back to where I was a month or so earlier, with Dr Laorwong at #1.

I didn't have much contact with Dr Laorwong prior to the procedure. I know that some had in-depth conversations and consultations with him. I just emailed him some pictures, and he replied with his opinion, options, costs etc.

I decided to go ahead, and then it was a bit of back and forwards trying to find an available date as they would fill up very quickly. I would ask him about dates in a certain month, he would respond with which dates were available, I would choose a date and then inevitably find out it was booked. So, it took a few rounds of emails to settle on a date. This was around September/October last year and he was becoming increasingly popular. I believe the wait time now is 6 months?

Brisbane to Singapore to Bangkok

My adventure started off with a 2 hour delays in my Qantas flight to Singapore. I was flying from Brisbane airport and if this happens to you then there are plenty of nice and quiet spots with plenty of power points and comfy chairs, towards by the higher-numbered departure gates.

Singapore airport was madness with a 1 hour to make my connecting flight Jetstar flight. Qantas really should have booked us on another flight. I get to get the bus to terminal 4 and then run to the gate. The guy sitting next to me had to do the same and he was on his asthma puffer throughout the flight.

If you should find yourself in a similar situation, my tip is that as soon as you get off the bus at terminal 4 for the Jetstar flight, go through the security bag check to the right, and then straight ahead and up the escalator. The departure gates are all up there.

I wasted time going out to the screens to find the departure gate number, but then being unable to find any direction to the gate or any map of the airport.

Avoid Jail - Thailand Law and Prescription Medication

Thailand has some pretty strict laws on bringing in medicines, even if they are prescribed to you in your home country. My GP did a check and found that one of my prescriptions could have landed me in jail!

If in doubt then you check out your medications on this Thai government website. Click on the Check The Drug link. You can put in multiple medications and then at the end print out a confirmation letter.

Arriving in Thailand

No bags, which probably wasn’t surprising given the short turnaround. There were a number of other Brisbane->Singapore->Bangkok passengers who also didn’t get their baggage.

If this happens to you then go to the baggage counter. There’s just one baggage counter and not a specific Jetstar or Qanats counter.

The counter staff are quite happy to let you stand there while they do nothing, so don’t be afraid to be proactive in getting them to deal with your situation. I eventually filled out a form and they were quite helpful once you got their attention.

I made a rookie mistake and had packed all my medication and toiletries in my check-in baggage. Make sure to pack any regular medication in your carry-on!

In you need to get some cash (Thai Baht), there are plenty of ATM's once you've cleared customs and gone into the public meeting areas. Don’t think that you have to use the rip-off money exchanges inside the airport.

Accommodation

I stayed at the White Ivory B&B. Overall I was happy staying there.

Yes, there are stairs and no lift, so if you have any mobility issues then be aware.

I did find it a bit noisy but I’m quite sensitive to noise.

Staff were all friendly and happy to help.

The TV had only one English language channel TV which was somewhat ironically French TV. Possibly I could have plugged in a Chromecast or firestick into the TV if I had bought one with me.

Internet was free and generally fine.

Breakfast was a 1 minute walk at the sister B&B around the corner. Food was good with local and western options.

The hair clinic about 10 minute walk from the White Ivory, although this time seemed to get shorter on the following days.

 

I think if/when I go back again for another transplant, I might stay somewhere else because I'm quite sensitive to noise, missed not having Netflix and because of the stairs (more on that later). But I wouldn’t specifically tell someone not to stay there.

Convenience stores

Seven-Elevens and similar convenience stores are everywhere. The nearest one to the White Ivory was a 1 minute walk. Strangely I found that the two nearest 7 eleven's differed slightly in their stock I found lactose-free yoghurt in one but not the other. If you are lactose-intolerance, soy milk is easy to come buy but check with the meals because there seems to be a lot more dairy products being used than the last time I visited Thailand. Might just be my imagination.

Food delivery

As others have said, Grab app is the way to go. You can order all sorts of western food you might be used to - MacDonalds, KFC, Subway etc plus a million different local options. I thought the food overall was cheap. Grad app is like Uber Eats, so you get notified when the rider is near and then go a meet inside or outside the lobby.

Pre-op

Pre-op was easy and as others have described. I was impressed by how much time Dr Laorwong spent working out the hairline, drawing lines and taking measurements etc.

One tip is that you are expected to take off your shoes just inside the entrance and change into some rubber sandals that are stored in a wooden cabinet. It's a cultural thing.

Absolute Hair Clinic

I had read some comments about the standard of the premises, and I have to disagree. I consider that they are definitely on a par to similar medical practices in Australia. The surrounding neighbourhoods might not be, but this is Thailand. Remember this is not a hospital where they're doing open heart surgery, so set your expectations appropriately.

Procedure
I slept through pretty much the whole procedure. Maybe it was the combination of jet lag, general lack of sleep and lack of coffee. I was fading in and out for the last few hours but when the DR said it was over I thought it must have been only about 3 or 4pm.
Lunch break was around 1pm. Everyone seemed to have gone with Chicken Pad Thai so I couldn't break with tradition, and it was great.

Finished up about 7pm or 8pm and then walked home. 

Post-procedure

I did feel a little out of it walking home and noticed that that my balance seemed off and this continued for several days.  I don’t know how common this is, but it did make it slow going walking up and down the stairs at the White Ivory.

Definitely stay quite close to the clinic or get a Grab cab back to your accommodation. I'm glad that I didn't have any long travel afterwards and especially not on the train system.

I stayed on for another 4 days and went back every day for washing and laser treatment. The staff were always friendly and professional.

On the last day I got a years’ worth of finasteride and minoxidil tablets from the clinic. You might not need to do this, but I’ve heard that getting these tablets in some countries can be tricky. It may have been cheaper to get a prescription from Dr Laorwong and then go to a local Bangkok pharmacy.

Sleeping

For both on the plane and for sleeping upright in bed, a good neck pillow is gold. I got this one, which was a little pricey but did and awesome job and I'm so glad a bought it, especially for the flight home when you really need to protect you transplanted hair. The one I got could be hooked over the planes set head-rest and really kept my head in place well.

Pain

I always considered that I was fairly sensitive to pain but I'm rethinking that now as the pain levels for me throughout the whole things were almost a non-event.

When they began the procedure, I didn't really feel the injections in my head. I felt someone start massaging my legs, as I had read in other people's posts, so I knew what was coming. I could feel slight scratchy sensations, but it felt like they were extracting hairs. I was still waiting for the injection pain. Anyways I didn’t stay awake much longer after that.

There was some vague pain in the following days, but you have plenty of pain killers to take care of that. They even gave me some heavy-duty pain-killers but I didn't end up using them.

Sightseeing

I didn't do any. I just slept, read and worked form the room. I had been to Bangkok before, so I had already seen most of the sites. If I had felt up to it, which I didn’t, I would have taken a cab to ICONSIAM and maybe take in a movie and do some shopping.

Heat

Thailand is hot all year round, but this time of year is especially hot. The temperatures in early March were mid-high 30's but the "feels like" temperature was hitting the 43-45 mark at times. April will be hotter still.

I thought I was drinking lots of fluids but looking back the heat did seem to knock me around a little.

If you are sensitive to heat, or not used to it, then you're probably better off going in the off-season when it's relatively cooler and more bearable.

Flying back to Australia

My Jetstar flight was delayed by 4 hours, and I ended up being re-routed through Melbourne meaning that I ended up arriving home about 8 hours later than initially planned

Thailand airport if quite busy but you can find some quieter areas with power points, but you might need to go down the escalators that the departure gates are on.

Being home

It was a bit weird being home. I slept a lot for the first two days.

I had some anxiety about washing my transplanted hair. Am I doing it right? Too hard, too soft? Is my hair crusting enough?

I then made the mistake of going to YouTube.

It’s not that there weren’t any videos. Quite the opposite actually. There are many videos talking about post-op care including washing and scab removal.

But they did not all say the same thing!

Some talked about the magical day 11, some had a sort of foam they applied every day and left in for 45 minutes, and some even took a straight device (I think one guy used the flat side of a kitchen knife) and scraped the crust off on a certain day.

What I hadn’t realised that that each Dr has their own protocol, and these can differ quite a lot. A number of places don’t get you back for subsequent washes so some of the videos are of people doing washes on day 2 or 3.

Also, different Dr’s prescribe different pills, lotions, shampoos etc.

Don't do what I did, or you’ll do your head in. Stick to what your Dr tells you and follow the instructions you were given. Trust the process. If in doubt, then contact your Dr.

Itching

I have to say that I wasn’t prepared for the itching. It can get pretty bad at times, bad in that you need to resist scratching it. For me this was mainly in the donor area at the back. I found that aloe vera gel helped, but I still have an annoying level of itching at this stage. Everyone is different though.

Other People’s opinions

Yes, I was worried about people’s opinions, and would I have to wear a bandana everywhere? I did wear the clinic-provided one on the flight home and the only person who seemed to notice it was a guy on the plane who was wearing a similar but different bandana. I don’t think it was from a hair transplant. He did say something to me at one point, but I couldn't understand the language, so maybe he thought I was part of his religion or gang or something?

I was nervous about going out and doing Zoom calls for the first few days, but then I kind of forgot about it and starting going out to the shops, visiting the physio and doing work Zoom calls. Not one person said a thing. People either didn't notice or didn't care. Either way is good for me.

  

I hope this rambling helps someone on their journey. Hit me up with a private message for any specific questions you have.

Thanks again to all those who have taken the time to share their journeys and happy growing to all!

 

Edited March 23 by EasyRoader
Update forum member @ tags.

[Hairwolf]

Pictures? I went to Laorwong also btw and I had the same disorientation after leaving the clinic- took me a while before I found the hotel again lol. I stayed at the Ex capital just down the street from Ivory. 

 

[follically challenged]

lol a long review but then no pictures at all...? c'mon man, play the game...😅

[Jamos1982]

Good read but some pics would also be great 😊

[A_4_Archan]

Thanks for the appreciation brother and eagerly waiting to see the pictures ...

[EasyRoader]

There are loads of recent examples of Dr Laorwong's work. My post was really just about paying it forward to help ease the path for future travelers.

I didn't take many photo's but here are some that show the process.

 

1. Before leaving Australia.

 

2. Before surgery

 

3. Day 15 post surgery

[EasyRoader]

11 hours ago, A_4_Archan said:

Thanks for the appreciation brother and eagerly waiting to see the pictures ...

You're welcome bro. Your post was the one that first put me on to Dr Laorwong, I must have re-read you post 20 times

[rja]

Nice write-up, mate!

Did you achieve full coverage with this procedure or are you planning to go back again for a second round? 

 

[EasyRoader]

4 hours ago, rja said:

Nice write-up, mate!

Did you achieve full coverage with this procedure or are you planning to go back again for a second round? 

 

No, not full coverage. I'm looking at going back some time next year.

In my case, the rounds of alopecia have left some non-typical balding areas on the back of my head, so they'll need addressing.

As for the crown, there will still be some work needed, there but I won't know how much until I've seen how the new transplanted hair grows, and what sort of effect taking fin + min tablets has. Remember that I haven't taken either of these in the last decade, so I cautiously optimistic.

Dr Laorwong said I've got around 1500-2000 more grafts available, which may or may not be enough. So time will tell.

I talked with him about taking hairs from other parts of the body, as I have all this hair "going to waste"  on other parts of my body. He said that can be problems using hair from certain areas on the crown, such as chest hair, as they may grow differently from other hairs and probably go curly at some length, which would not give a good look. But the whole area of using hair from other parts of my body is something that I haven't researched seriously yet.

He mentioned that generally the next best source for head hair was from the beard.  Beard hair is different from scalp hair, and I'm one of those people that has a mutation in the MC1R gene, meaning that the colour of the hair on my beard, is a different colour than the hair on my scalp. In my case my beard is multi-coloured, so I'm not sure if that will be a possible source or not.

When I consult with Dr Laorwong next year, I'm expecting that I'll be going into a lot more detail than I did this time, and look at several different options.

[rja]

1 hour ago, EasyRoader said:

No, not full coverage. I'm looking at going back some time next year.

In my case, the rounds of alopecia have left some non-typical balding areas on the back of my head, so they'll need addressing.

As for the crown, there will still be some work needed, there but I won't know how much until I've seen how the new transplanted hair grows, and what sort of effect taking fin + min tablets has. Remember that I haven't taken either of these in the last decade, so I cautiously optimistic.

Dr Laorwong said I've got around 1500-2000 more grafts available, which may or may not be enough. So time will tell.

I talked with him about taking hairs from other parts of the body, as I have all this hair "going to waste"  on other parts of my body. He said that can be problems using hair from certain areas on the crown, such as chest hair, as they may grow differently from other hairs and probably go curly at some length, which would not give a good look. But the whole area of using hair from other parts of my body is something that I haven't researched seriously yet.

He mentioned that generally the next best source for head hair was from the beard.  Beard hair is different from scalp hair, and I'm one of those people that has a mutation in the MC1R gene, meaning that the colour of the hair on my beard, is a different colour than the hair on my scalp. In my case my beard is multi-coloured, so I'm not sure if that will be a possible source or not.

When I consult with Dr Laorwong next year, I'm expecting that I'll be going into a lot more detail than I did this time, and look at several different options.

Interesting what Laorwong said about chest hair - I have enough of it and would rather have that hair growing on my head. In my case, my hair is wavey and even curls at the edges when grown longer, so I would have no issue with the chest hair behaving similarly. Hell, I wouldn't care even if it grew straight while the rest remained wavey. I think of it as a problem I'd like to have

I was under the impression he only uses beard as a secondary source and so never actually discussed this with him. I'll see what he says when I see him.