Thailand Hair Transplant

[Dwayne95]

I am having my Hair Transplant done in Thailand, and at this stage I have two candidates: Dr Pong- the cheaper of the two options and at this stage looking to be my choice, and Dr. Damkerng Pathomvanich - more expensive but more experianced and from what I read well reviewed. Has anyone had any experience with these doctors or a great doctor in Thailand?

[the B spot]

Your setting yourself up for disaster mate.

 

At least Dr. Path has a couple of before and afters on the forums,his work looks solid.

 

However, you should want the best, not the cheapest or most convieniant.

 

Choosing a doctor based mostly on price is not the right approach.

 

Saving 1-2K for 3rd world medicine isn't my idea of a good approach, especially when Top North American Docs are very reasonably priced.

 

I know this isn't the opinion you want, but I hope this helps you out.

 

Take Care,

Jason

[Byehair]

Dwayne

 

Dr. Path has shown pretty decent results on this site and others.

Supposedly he trained under Dr. Wong and has been endorsed by Dr. Wong.

 

Why did you remove the first doctor's name in your post?

Be careful though, you are young, and your hairloss pattern is just beginning to develop.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Byehair,

 

I think you are confusing Dr. Pathomanovich with Dr. Nakatsui, who is a Coalition member.

 

If Dr. Pathomanovich has also been trained under Dr. Wong, I have no knowledge of this.

 

I did contact Dr. Pathomanovich back in March in order to learn more about his clinic but haven't heard back from him.

 

Dwayne95,

 

Research and surgeon selection is vital to ensure you get the most out of your hair transplant experience (assuming you are a candidate). Take your time, research this site, and select a surgeon based on a proven track record of consistent positive results.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Byehair]

Ahh Bill,

 

I am growing tired of teaching you my son! lol

 

Please read this thread. Dr. Path gets a glowing recommendation from Dr. Wong.

They did a presentation together where Dr. Path cut the strip and Dr. Wong made the incisions.

 

Dr. Path and Dr. Wong

[Dwayne95]

I'm not sure what happened to the first dr's name, but he is from www.thaihairclinic.com and his name is Dr. Suradej. I live in Australia by the way, and I don't have any Dr's recommended on this site that I can see. I have been suggested by Dr. Damkerng Pathomvanich that I will require 2000 grafts dense packing in one pass more or less depending on the new hair line I want. 2,000 grafts cost 164,000 Baht, and with the USD it is 1USD to 31 Baht. It's more than thaihairclinic for sure, but cheaper than the australian sales people ashleymartin etc we have available... thanks for your feedback though guys.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Byehair,

 

Hahaha....thank you Mr. Miagi sir!!!!

 

However, in reading the thread, Dr. Wong does give him a glowing review and mentions seeing him and his team go to work during a demonstration they did together, but nowhere did I see that he was trained by Dr. Wong. Therefore, we are both right

 

Bill

[Hair for Life]

Hi Dewayne,

 

can you tell us how old you are? and do you have any close up photos of your hair line you wish to have restored?

 

We ALL just want you to make the right decision, especially if you are going offshore

[Hair for Life]

$3,500 for 2000 grafts and a holiday at the same time sounds GREAT!! I see he has heaps of patient photos, always a good sign,

[Dwayne95]

Yeah I sure do. I have made a web blog thingy. If I can figure out how to link it to this thread I will, otherwise I am in the list and my name is Dwayne95. I'm also wondering if any of you think it is worth while taking propecia/ proscar when my hairline is receding from the temple region? I've read it has no effect. Just curious if you've seen results.

[Dwayne95]

And as for my age. I am 23.

[Guest josh - b]

dwayne,

 

I'm based in oz too. I've researched dr path heavily. I've spoken to a few patients of his i've found on the forums as well doctors i know he has worked with (including dr wong) and the feedback i've got is that he's a top class act.

 

There's a poster on here called tomA who's had a great result from dr path.

Here's a link to his blog

http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/home-page.asp?WebID=390

 

Dr suradej was trained by dr path but you won't find any patients of his on the forums.

If i was you my only consideration between the two would be dr path.

 

hope this helps

[vincehair]

23 is too young and Thailand doesn't sound like a good idea. Every balding man wants his hair back but don't rush!

[vincehair]

From Dr. Path's Website "Yes. We take great pride in our work and strive to ensure all our patients are completely satisfied with their hair transplant results. For all hair transplants performed at THT Center, we assure all patients that each grafted hair will grow in, provided the patient follows the pre and post-operative instructions, or we will replace any grafts that did not grow, "Free of Charge" on your next hair transplant session"

 

Hmmmmmmmmmm

[the B spot]

I say wait, do more research, save some additional money--- from your pics at the most you would need is 1500 grafts to boost density.

 

It is unlikly that at 23, with diffuse frontal thinning that most docs would attack your baldness with more grafts.

 

On a secondary note, you should think long and hard about signing up for a strip surgery at 23.

 

In my opinion, IF you qualify for a transplant at this time, you fit the criteria for an FUE patient. One of the main benefits for those with low loss doing an fue session is it tends to leave options for the future.

 

#1--should your loss excellerate and you cannot afford additional work, the liklihood of being able to simply cut your hair short is much greater with an fue transplant vs a strip session.

 

#2--should your loss excellerate and you need 3-4K of grafts, you can always opt for a strip surgery, if you desire.

 

#3--your really very very cognizant of the cost of doing a HT---which leads me to believe your making thise decision based primarily on cost...a huge mistake.

 

Choose a doctor who has a well established record of excellence b/c if your not happy you know the clinic WILL take care of you.

 

This really has nothing to do with Dr. Path--I think his work is solid--I just believe in your situation the overall plan and "fit" is wrong.

 

Jason

[vincehair]

I'm also very interested if anyone has dealt with Dr. Pong or Dr. Path??? Anyone here ever even been to Thailand?

[noobineub]

Hi guys, I'd just like to share my the experience I've had with Dr Path. I had my HT done around August last year, so it's been a full one year now and I've been able to better judge the results of my HT. Seems there isn't much info on Dr Path on this board so I'd just like to relate my personal experience with him. First, a little history...

 

I'm Asian and around 30 this year. Around 6 years ago, I started noticing that my temples started receding, for now it has stopped at a Norwood Stage 2. Judging by my family's history, that is as far as it will recede. However, it still bothered me so I started doing some research (that's how I found this invaluable site) and decided to go for HT. Also, I'm one of those guys who just didn't have a lot of sideburns. So those were the two things I wanted, a bit of fill up on my temples and sideburns. Like a lot of you, finance was a huge consideration from me as I simply could not afford to go to a top HT doc in the US. So after digging through this site, I settled on Dr Path.

 

I did the usual, sent him pics, got a quote and set a date for the operation. Dr Path requires a deposit to book a date with him, I paid $US1000 and the date was set. Originally when he saw my pics he said I'd only needed 1000 grafts but when I was actually there in the clinic doing a personal examination, the figure jumped up to 1600. I believe this was because the right side of my temple has a bit more receding than my left side on closer examination and was through no fault of his.

 

Of the experience itself, I'd say his staff was very friendly, a nice lady by the name of Christine who was a doctor from the Philippines who was training under Dr Path attended to me most of the time. For the first day, I went to the clinic to have a check, get briefed and to get the actual amount of grafts I'd actually need. Be aware that Dr Path does not accept credit cards, so I had to pay in cash. But that was a year ago, so he might now.

 

On the second day I went to the clinic. The clinic's a bit old but clean. I have to say though, I felt a bit rushed on this day during the process of determining the design of my temple hairline. Because it was my first time, i was a bit finicky with drawing on the lines on my head to show him where I wanted the grafts to be. They gave me an eyeliner pen I believe, to do this. But after I had a drawn a hairline I was happy with, they had to rub it off and the doctor redrew it with a needle dipped in some kind of blue ink. Which kind of defeated the purpose of me spending all that time drawing my hairline didn't it?

 

It just seemed that he was in a bit of as hurry to get it over with. The operation itself was good, not much pain and it took approx 5 hrs. I didn't get any massages or free meals though like the other guys who have gone to Dr Path. Perhaps because I was considered a 'small job' compared to his other clients. He did however give me a package price because he had under-estimated the amount of grafts I originally needed and I was a bit short of the full amount needed at that time, so he was good that way.

 

On the third day I went back for a shampoo and checkup session and that was it.

 

So one year has passed, as I'm Asian, when i was at the clinic, he told me 30 FU/sq density was enough (at least I think it was 30, I'm recalling from memory at this point, I also don't remember how big the coverage area was, somewhere around 15-19cm perhaps? I wish I had taken notes) and I would only need one pass.

 

Well, I'm still not satisfied with the density as it looks like half of what it should be. When I was at the clinic I told him I was worried the density wouldn't be enough so I told him that I would rather spend the money on all the grafts going to my temple as long as it was dense enough. I could live without sideburns but I had really wanted a good result for my temples. He reassured me however that 1600 would be dense enough to cover both my temples and sideburns, so I went with his recommendation

 

The other thing I'm not too happy with is the design of the hairline. If one looks closely the corner points of my temples aren't symmetrical, my right side is slightly higher than my left side. I put this down to Dr Path rushing me when during the design process like I mentioned earlier. And also because he basically redrew the design I had done earlier myself.

 

Also artistic wise, Dr Path didn't really randomize the edges of my hairline like I've seen other top docs do from pics, for that natural staggered effect? As it is, it's not too bad, but not too great either.

 

The last thing is, my donor scar isn't symmetrical as well. For some reason this is how he chose to cut my donor strip. My scar starts from around close to behind my left ear all the way to just the lower back of my head on the right side. Odd right? Not that it bothers me to much because it's all covered by hair anyways but I thought it was odd.

 

So, in conclusion I'd say technically, Dr Path is quite good but artistically, not that hot. Price wise, it's quite reasonable for the rest of us who can't afford the top docs in the US.

 

It looks like I'll have to go for a second HT to get the density I want and to slightly correct the symmetry of my hairline. Dr Pong looks like a good option. Anybody who's done work with him so far?

 

PS. My apologies for the overly long post, but I thought it'd be good to share my whole experience with Dr Path with others as it looks like there aren't too many posts bout him that others can glean from.

Edited May 11, 2012 by noobineub

[charlie_08]

Hey..

interesting

Do you have any pics of Your HT?

[Clive McQuire]

Dwayne

 

A hair transplant on the cheap in Thailand!!!

 

Sounds that a dream that would have me waking up in a sweat!!

 

Its your 23 year old head, think about this long and hard, your not buying a used car.

 

If money is a problem, save up and wait, then get yourself on a plane to a top doc in the states.

 

Clive.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Noobineub,

 

Given all the positive feedback I've seen on Dr. Pathomvanich on this and other forums over the years, and from the high esteemed Coalition member Dr. Jerry Wong, I'm surprised to hear that you aren't that satisfied.

 

Can you post some before/after pictures for us?

 

I'd also encourage you to express your concerns to Dr. Pathomvanich directly so he can address them with you.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[TomA]

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.)

[the B spot]

Tom--I think it is great that your happy with your results. I also think your a great fellow baldy that gives solid advice both here and elsewhere.

 

My only question to you is: What is your legal recourse should something go wrong? What if you are one of those "oops!" patients and the doctor refuses to own up?

 

At 2.00 per graft I'm thinking most fellows are going overseas simply b/c of price and have very little recourse should something go wrong.

 

I certainly think Dr. Path does good work, but the lack of protection from our legal system is too large a risk imo to save a couple of thousand dollars.

 

Additionally, while I can appreciate that there are several very nice hospitals in countries such as Thailand, the fact is as Americans we do not have to travel to go the best doctors--they are already here in the USA and Canada.

 

Take Care,

Jason

 

Please note: this is NOT a comment toward Dr. Path's work..this is my personal opinion for those thinking to leave this country for surgical work.

[Eman]

Great article I read in Men's Health magazine a while ago regarding "medical tourism". Posted it for you all.

 

Now I know most of you won't read it, but it may change the way some think about foreign doctors and hospitals. Still, caution is needed and make sure to do your research before leaving the country...but interesting article nonetheless.

 

http://www.patientsbeyondborders.com/downloads/Mens_Health_Oct08.pdf

[TomA]

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.

[TomA]

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.