Investors target healthcare

Investors target healthcare

Demographics, family culture at play

An artist's rendition of Thonburi Health Village on Pracha Uthit Soi 60/1.
An artist's rendition of Thonburi Health Village on Pracha Uthit Soi 60/1.

Longer life expectancy and changes in centuries-old extended family culture are making the healthcare industry a magnet for investors looking for business opportunities.

A third factor fuelling the growth of the industry is increasing public health concerns amid the Covid-19 pandemic, said Tanatip Suppradit, vice-chairman and chief executive of Thonburi Healthcare Group Plc (THG).

"People are living longer today. This causes healthcare businesses, notably hospitals, to adjust their business models to match people's lifestyles," he said.

This new trend has attracted investors from other industries who see new opportunities in the healthcare sector. They want to operate businesses that provide care for the elderly as that segment grows in Thailand and other countries.

Dr Tanatip said current social conditions do not encourage young people to take care of elders in their families. Many people do not live in extended families as their ancestors did.

THG is developing facilities to serve elderly people.

The company's Jin Wellbeing County Rangsit in Pathum Thani, which houses a seven-storey residential building with 494 units, is adding facilities to create lively lifestyles for elderly residents, including organic fruit and vegetable farming.

Thonburi Health Village in Bangkok's Pracha Uthit area is a nursing home for the elderly and sanitarium and bed-bound patients.

Privately run Thainakarin Hospital (TNH) plans to spend 3 billion baht building its second hospital in the Bang Na area this year, aiming to cash in on healthcare trends.

The spread of the pandemic, a greying population and the growth of the wellness business are providing both opportunities and challenges for hospitals.

These three factors encouraged TNH to invest in a new hospital to serve local and foreign patients in eastern Bangkok and the provinces, said chief executive Thiti Sihanatkathakul.

TNH operates a 190-bed hospital in Bang Na.

The growing healthcare industry is also causing concern that this emergence will put entrepreneurs under intense competition.

"Businesses may end up waging a price war," said Dr Tanatip.

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