Bumrungrad International Hospital (BH) has teamed up with real estate developers under a new business model to develop luxury wellness centres and catch the trend of wellness tourism.
Up to 33 of 66 villas will be first developed in Bang Kachao in Samut Prakan, which is known as a "green lung" for local residents and Bangkokians who can easily travel to the islet on the Chao Phraya River.
BH chief executive and pharmacist Artirat Charukitpipat said wellness tourism is becoming more popular and the government has made clear it will promote the trend in the post-Covid period.
"This will be our new business opportunity in the future because the pandemic has changed the hospital business in Thailand and overseas," she said.
The luxury wellness project is scheduled to be launched within this month.
BH wants to expand the project to serve foreign customers who want to use healthcare and wellness services in Thailand.
The country's high-quality services provided at more reasonable prices than competitors is the most important factor to attract tourists.
Thailand is well-known for its quality medical services and highly skilled hospital personnel. Among them is BH, Ms Artirat said.
BH is the first Thai hospital that has been granted a certificate for its high standards to deal with Covid-19 under the Global Health Accreditation.
Ms Artirat acknowledged that the highly contagious virus has affected her business, as foreign patients cannot travel to Thailand due to the lockdown measures, which also caused businesses to temporarily shut down.
Between 1.1 million and 1.2 million patients, including foreigners, visit the hospital annually. Foreign patients account for 66% of the total number, with Thais making up the rest.
BH expects that it can earn more revenue in the second half of this year due to more foreign patients.
In the third quarter, between 20 and 30 patients from Myanmar took chartered flights to seek treatment at the hospital.
BH reported that revenue in the second quarter stood at 6.6 billion baht with a profit of 809 million baht.
In 2019, BH posted 18.71 billion baht in revenue and made a profit of 3.74 billion baht.