Avoid Thailand Plastic Surgery Price Horror Stories!
Part 1: Deposits, Fees & Other Traps You Should Know About
“Janice” — we won’t use her real name — came to us asking for an opinion from a top plastic surgeon and we were happy to help. Thing is, during our extensive phone calls and emails she sent us the quote from a major plastic surgery holiday agent suggesting another surgeon and explained that she had paid them a large deposit.
She really wanted to go with the surgeon she had found and was ready to Book Direct through renuval, but she hated the idea of losing her money with the agent who took it — and the other company’s salesperson was being very aggressive in trying to hold her to her choice using the deposit she paid them.
This sort of financial blackmail happens all the time and it really steams us, because this is about people’s health.
If you had been Janice, what would you do? Risk your health over $1,000? You might answer, “Of course not!” but what if you couldn’t afford to give up that $1,000 and still make your trip? You might feel just like Janice.
Surgery is complex already, it doesn’t have to be tricky, it shouldn’t be tricky and it isn’t tricky with renuval— and that’s what we’re here to talk about today so that you don’t end up in the same completely unnecessary trap that Janice, through no fault of her own, ended up in.
Who Took Janice’s Money?
Dating back about 15 years, Australians, New Zealanders and many other people have come in larger and larger numbers to Thailand for plastic surgery. This isn’t news, and you may have come yourself, or had a friend come.
Because choosing a destination, hospital, and, most importantly, a surgeon, is a bit difficult if you aren’t an expert, don’t speak the language and don’t live here, “agents” popped up to “help.”
The agents are a much bigger world than most people know. You’ve probably heard and seen the army of MediHoliCosiBumsGetaDaysCation agents, but here are a few facts that might surprise you:
- Plastic surgery agents represent a tiny fraction of foreign clients coming for care in Thailand.
- The major agents are governments, insurers, political actors and other people in countries around the world.
- While there are good hospitals and doctors in many places, by far the largest medical community in the country is in Bangkok.
- renuval assists clients from 30+ countries in 5 languages at about 30 partners in 3 countries with cases ranging from ingrown toenails (ouch!) up to complex, long-term cancer care.
As you can imagine, with 60+ JCI Accredited facilities in Thailand and clients coming from all over, there’s a huge medical community that is spread all over the place — which means if you’re just seeing a couple of surgeon names or a couple of hospital names, someone’s not showing you the full range of options.
In fact, it’s common for agents to work with a very small number of surgeons and doctors, whether that’s good for you or not, for reasons we’re happy to discuss.
Another thing that’s common across most plastic surgery agents is that they take your money at some point. At renuval, we do not touch our clients’ money, ever, for medical care, and we consider this a point of pride.
Why?
Paying money to an agent is completely unnecessary — and it’s harmful to your ability to stay in control of your decisions. We get clients all the time who paid a deposit to someone else and aren’t happy with their agent, their surgeon or something else, but feel very vulnerable because they already gave their money to an agent and don’t want to lose it.
Imagine being in that situation — stuck deciding between your health, your gut feeling and your money. Thousands of people have been, more will be and it absolutely does not need to happen.
So, to understand and avoid these tricks and traps, we’re going to blather on a bit about your options and how things work. Some of this may not sound right, we know, but it is :)
Deposits
Let’s run through some things that could surprise you:
- Deposits are not required to confirm an appointment with a doctor, clinic or hospital like PPSI in Phuket or Samitivej Chinatown in Bangkok.
- Deposits are not required to receive an evaluation by surgeons like Dr. Narupon, Dr. Witoon, Dr. Boonchai, Dr. Rushapol, Dr. Poonpissamai, Dr. Chartchai or any of the other surgeons we assist our clients with.
- Deposits in no way influence hospital decisions or bookings. If you Book Direct through renuval with Dr. Rushapol at PPSI or Dr. Narupon at Samitivej Chinatown or Dr. Pichit, your booking is made and confirmed on your word and ours, backed up by proof of travel itineraries and, sometimes, a photo of your passport info page. Your proof of travel and identity is your deposit.
- People who pay deposits do not receive preferential treatment at these facilities, places like PPSI or Samitivej Sukhumvit or Samitivej Chinatown.
We have had one smaller partner experiment with deposits directly to their PayPal account in the past, but our relationship with them is very strong and we work very closely with them, their surgeons and our clients, so renuval clients did not have to pay deposits.
So, did someone tell you that deposits are required or necessary or in any way helpful? We ask because someone is telling everyone this and we wonder who it is.
Of course, people who have already paid a deposit and had been told it was necessary would have no way of knowing, we totally understand. Normal patients don’t run agencies and work with hospitals, so they wouldn’t get it from there, which means it must be coming from the agents themselves.
Now that you know deposits are just made up to part you with your money and lock in your decision and that they’re not required by hospitals, clinics or doctors, you’ll be able to tell who you can trust by whether they’re taking your money.
Naturally, we can’t say that there’s no hospital or clinic or surgeon in Thailand who requires deposits prior to meeting them in person, there might be, but we can say categorically that none of the major international institutions or plastic surgeons that we know of require deposits before meeting in person.
That means that, as it should be, once you arrive at the hospital your financial relationship to the hospital is entirely with them. You meet the doctors, you discuss your treatment, you pay the fees directly.
And speaking of fees…
Booking Fees, Evaluation Fees & Other Nonsense
Once you meet the surgeon or register at PPSI or are in the process of receiving medical care, you understandably have to pay fees — we all know this and expect it, but it’s worth pointing out that these are legitimate fees charged by the institutions and doctors.
On the other hand, here are some fees you should never pay:
- Booking Fees: That money goes into the pocket of your agent, not direct to the hospital. You can Book Direct with renuval for free all over Thailand, so why do people pay someone to do the same thing? The only reason is because they’ve been sold a line that they have to — and we sympathize. So many people selling so many things, it’s hard to know what’s true!
- Evaluation Fees: The worst of all the fees, because it’s representing that access to the surgeon’s opinion costs money — or, worse, that the agent is charging you for medical advice on behalf of a surgeon. In other words, through very careful marketing language, it’s implied that the doctor charges this fee or that to get that recommendation, or to get favorable treatment, you need to pay this fee.
This is 100% BS with every doctor we know of, but just to name a few in no particular order: Dr. Sanguan, Dr. Piyapas, Dr. Rushapol. Dr. Witoon, Dr. Veerawat, Dr. Narupon, Dr. Boonchai, Dr. Visnu, Dr. Thanakom, Dr. Poonsak, Dr. Jib, Dr. Parinya, Dr. Pichit, Dr. Seree, Dr. Montien, Dr. Chartchai, Dr. Poonpissamai, Dr. Theera, Dr. Worapong… the list gets really long and covers every single surgeon we assist clients with, which is the vast majority you’ve ever heard of and some very good surgeons you may not know about yet.
Sure, they charge a fee for consultation, but that’s in-person at the time, not now when you’re booking. Importantly, though, they don’t charge anything to receive a recommendation based on your evaluation and in no way does paying this fee affect speed, quality or outcome.
Again, maybe you’ve heard from someone who looks and sounds like a neighbor or a friend that, no, booking fees secure your spot or evaluation fees expedite your evaluation — tell them to show you that direct from a doctor, surgeon or hospital and then send it to us if you’re still not sure.
We know the doctors, surgeons and hospitals, we’ll take a look for you, contact them and verify things for you. However, in the situations we’ve named, and many others we’ve seen, this is simply marketing BS.
When it comes to plastic surgery, our partner hospitals and surgeons do not charge booking fees or evaluation fees and that means that if you pay that fee it’s certainly not going directly to them. Where does it go and what good does it do?
A question worth asking for sure…
Next time, we’ll talk about how prices really work, show you real bills and price lists and help you avoid overpaying for surgery :)
Speaking of which, if you’re looking for information, prices, schedules, lifetime support — and if you want to Book Direct and avoid all this nonsense, reach us at info@renuval.com or on facebook or at https://renuval.com and let us help you at no cost to you!
