Thailand now ready to share tech know-how with world

Thailand is now ready to “share” with other countries its various forms of technological know-how, derived from being among the leading medical tourism destinations worldwide.

The readiness, according to Thailand Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCEL/recently renamed through a royal decree as the Technology Innovation for Life Sciences)-Board chairman Dr. Prasit Watanapa, is the outcome of the nearly 20-year practical and meticulous amalgamation of the domestic and international patients’ data, with the “sagacity of relevant physicians,” taught and trained to stay on course, by way of the Hippocratic Oath (the tenacity to defeat self-aggrandizement vis-à-vis sensible patient care), and the resultant unwavering invention of medical instruments and precise Artificial Intelligence-based information, surrounding, among others, breast cancer, prostate cancer and brain lesions.

Add to the readiness formula, the “trust” from medical tourists – on their own or with their families and/or caregivers – primarily for dental care, orthopaedics, cardiovascular diseases, aesthetics improvement, and normal medical consultations.

Watanapa shared data from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, as well as from Thailand and Middle East media outlets, showing that out of the 32.97 million international tourists that visited Thailand in 2025, the “highest spenders,” accumulating as much as 8,800 Thai Baht (Dhs1,040.49) per person per day tourism receipts, were the Emiratis.

Of the 32.97 million, 580,000 were medical tourists that contributed 116 billion Thai Baht (Dhs13.74 billion) to the economy.

“I do believe sagacity brings innovation. Sometimes doctors struggle in treating patients. In those struggles, doctors themselves have to find out the solutions to whatever they discover from their research or patient care,” said Watanapa.

He pointed to the reality of the global dearth of “pathologists” and other health professionals, central to expert diagnostics interpretations, for the correct holistic disease and/or injury cure and management.

Watanapa was the head of the delegation, composed of TCEL-Board of Directors member Prof. Dr. Sukit Limpijumnong, National Innovation Agency executive director Dr. Krithpaka Boonfueng, Private Hospital Association-Board of Directors member Asst. Prof. Korpong Rookapan, Thai Food and Drug Association-In Vitro Diagnostics Medical Device Group head Tanapon Wangkaew, and Informa Markets-ASEAN Regional Portfolio director Rungphech Chitanuwat, at the just-concluded “World Health Expo 2026,” known in the past 50 years as “Arab Health.”

They presented “Thailand: The Next Global Medical Innovation & Healthcare Market Potential” from the Alif Multipurpose Hall of the Dubai Expo City.

On the sidelines from where he volunteered that “a guy already asked me about bringing to the UAE the Thailand healthcare system, and I said, ‘why not,’” Watanapa was asked of his being a surgeon-researcher-academician and eventually a policymaker.

“I really enjoy treating a patient. You can operate on him. But that is only one single person. When you move up to the policymaking-level, you can treat thousands of people.”

Watanapa’s role in steering Thailand’s current global readiness to collaborate and partner with governments and private institutions in the areas of education, research and development, and technological know-how transfer began “18 years ago.”

It was at the 1889-established Mahidol University where he climbed up to become among the top officials and until two years back was the dean of its Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, the oldest medical school in Thailand, responsible for future highly-professional and ethically-imbued physicians.

A five-country research that included India, Malaysia and Singapore, whereby Watanapa used the then available appropriate pre-AI calculations and methodology, led to among others, having “all hospitals” across Thailand amply certified by international bodies.

Thereafter, “we collected the data from all our patients; their feedback, the data on how many of them came back. By these data, we can say that people trust the Thailand healthcare system,” said Watanapa.

He continued: “From these, we decided to move forward towards innovation instead of only concentrating on developing our healthcare system. We have been creating medical gadgets. We use AI which proves to be a powerful precise tool in analyses. We test. We make sure these work before we share. We can now share. We also have been in talks with our neighbours in Southeast Asia.”