Medical Tourism Not Yet Hurt by Thai Turmoil
This was the latest fatal incident in the capital, where 25 people were killed and more than 800 injured earlier this month when the military tried to force the Red Shirts - anti-government protesters who support deposed Prime Minister Thaksin – to end their demonstrations in the city. According to Bloomberg News, about 14,000 Red Shirts have rallied in the center of Bangkok, “where they set up showers next to the Four Seasons Hotel and slept under advertisements for Prada and Louis Vuitton.”You might think this would be huge turnoff for investors in Thailand’s hospitals, which count on patients coming from overseas - people who might stay at the Four Seasons, wear Prada clothes and carry Louis Vuitton bags - for an important part of their revenue. So far, though, investors are surprisingly sanguine about the impact of the unrest. Since the Red Shirt demonstrations started last month, the stock price of Bumrungrad Hospital, probably the premier destination in Thailand for international patients, is only down about 8 percent; meanwhile, Bangkok Chain Hospital is down just 1 percent and Bangkok Dusit Medical is actually up by 0.8 percent. (The benchmark Thai index is down 1.7 percent.)
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