Facelift in Thailand

A facelift in Thailand is priced by what the surgeon actually does: a mini facelift that tightens the jowls through short scars, a SMAS facelift that lifts the deeper layer of the cheek and neck, or a deep plane facelift that releases and repositions that layer as one piece, each often combined with a neck lift, eyelid surgery or fat transfer. Hospitals in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya sell these as packages in Thai baht that cover the surgeon, the anaesthetist, the theatre, a night or two in hospital and the visits until the stitches are out.

What decides whether the trip works is less the technique than the timing and the aftercare: a facelift patient needs about two weeks in Thailand before flying, someone to help for the first days, and a doctor at home who will look at the face afterwards. This page explains what moves the price, what a package covers, how the mini, SMAS and deep plane operations differ, how to check a surgeon, what the recovery looks like week by week and what an honest comparison with surgery at home involves, so the prices in the clinic listing below can be read properly.

• Compare what a quote covers

  Every clinic on this page shows its current price with a note of what it includes. A mini facelift under sedation and a deep plane facelift with a neck lift are different operations, and the note tells you which one is being priced.

• Board, licence, accreditation

  Thai Board of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery for the surgeon, a Ministry of Public Health licence for the facility, and hospital accreditation you can verify.

• About two weeks before you fly

  Stitches come out around the end of the first week, and most surgeons want to see the face again before clearing a long flight. Plan the stay around that, not around a holiday.

• Ask for faces like yours

  Thai surgeons operate mostly on Asian faces, which age differently from thin-skinned Western faces. Ask for healed results at a year on patients of your age and skin type.

The price is a package in Thai baht, and it moves mainly with the operation being priced. Each clinic on this page shows its current price with a note of what it covers, and that is the figure to compare, because a quote for a mini facelift under sedation and a quote for a deep plane facelift with a neck lift under general anaesthesia are not quotes for the same thing.

• Mini, SMAS or deep plane. A mini facelift is the shortest operation with the smallest scars. A SMAS facelift takes longer and treats the neck as well as the cheek. A deep plane facelift is the longest and the most demanding, and fewer surgeons do it routinely, so it is priced highest.
• What is combined with it. A neck lift, upper or lower eyelid surgery, a brow lift or fat transfer each add theatre time and a fee, and most international patients combine at least one of them.
• Anaesthetic and nights. General anaesthesia with a night or two in hospital costs more than sedation with same-day discharge; for a SMAS or deep plane facelift the former is the usual and safer arrangement.
• Hospital or clinic, and which city. A large Bangkok hospital with an international department charges more than a clinic; Phuket often sits between the two.
• Primary or revision. A second facelift, or the correction of a pulled look, a displaced hairline or an earlobe deformity from a previous operation, costs more than a first lift.
• The surgeon. Surgeons who trained abroad and who do deep plane and revision work charge more, and for those operations that is usually money well spent.

The comparison most Australian, New Zealand and British patients want is not a table of two numbers, because the numbers do not cover the same things. A quote at home is usually the surgeon's fee plus separate charges for the anaesthetist and the hospital, with follow-up in the same rooms for as long as it takes. A Thai quote is one package in baht that covers the hospital side and ends when you fly.

To compare them honestly, add to the Thai figure the flights, about two weeks of hotel, a companion's costs, travel insurance that will not cover the surgery itself and a reserve for aftercare at home. Add nothing to the figure at home, but ask what a revision would cost, because that is the number that matters if a result needs correcting later. The technique on offer is the same in both places; what differs is who looks after the face in the weeks when things can go wrong, and how far away they are.

Thailand licenses doctors and facilities separately. The surgeon should hold a licence from the Medical Council of Thailand and the Thai Board of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the specialist qualification issued through the Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand; membership of the Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons of Thailand or the Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons of Thailand is a further sign of a surgeon trained in the specialty. It is the counterpart of checking a specialist plastic surgeon's registration with AHPRA or the GMC.

The facility should hold a Ministry of Public Health licence for surgery under general anaesthesia. Private hospitals in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya commonly carry Hospital Accreditation from Thailand's Healthcare Accreditation Institute, and several also hold Joint Commission International accreditation. A full facelift with a neck lift is hours of surgery on an older patient; it belongs in a hospital with a physician anaesthetist, a recovery unit and a ward, not in a clinic licensed for local anaesthetic procedures.

• Ask for the surgeon's full name and licence number and look them up in the Medical Council of Thailand register before paying anything.
• Ask how many facelifts the surgeon does in a year, and how many on Western faces. Thin skin, sun damage and heavy jowls behave differently from the faces most Thai surgeons see every day.
• Ask for healed photographs at a year, from the front, both sides and with the chin up, on patients of your age, and look at the ears and hairline as closely as the jawline.
• Ask which technique is proposed for your face and why, and be wary of a surgeon who offers every technique on a menu without examining you.
• Ask who gives the anaesthetic and where you sleep the first night. A named physician anaesthetist and a ward bed, not sedation and a taxi to the hotel.
• Ask what happens if you need a revision or if a haematoma needs draining, who does it, what it costs and whether the surgeon's fee is waived.

1. 1

   Online consultation with photographs

   Front, both sides and the neck with the chin up, in daylight and without make-up, with your age, medications, blood pressure history and whether you smoke. The surgeon should reply with a technique and a reason for it, not only a price.
2. 2

   Arrival and assessment

   A day or two before surgery: examination, blood tests, an ECG, the anaesthetic assessment and a review of every medication, including aspirin, fish oil and herbal supplements, which must have been stopped in advance. This is where the plan and the price are confirmed.
3. 3

   The operation and the first night

   A mini facelift may be done under sedation; a SMAS or deep plane facelift with a neck lift is hours of surgery under general anaesthesia. You wake with a head dressing and sometimes drains, and spend a night or two in hospital.
4. 4

   The first week

   Swelling and bruising peak in the first days and then fade. Sleep propped up, keep the head still, no bending or lifting, no alcohol, and keep blood pressure controlled. Drains come out within days and stitches around the end of the week.
5. 5

   The second week

   Most bruising has faded, the face still looks swollen and tight, numbness of the cheeks and ears is normal. The surgeon checks the scars and the hairline and, if healing is on track, clears you to fly.
6. 6

   Home and the months after

   Swelling settles over months, scars fade over a year, and the result is judged then. Send photographs at the agreed points and see a doctor at home the same day for sudden swelling on one side, fever, spreading redness or weakness of part of the face.

• Anyone who cannot stay about two weeks after surgery or who has no one to help in the first days.
• Smokers who will not stop well before surgery, because the skin behind the ears depends on a blood supply that smoking closes down.
• Anyone with uncontrolled blood pressure, a bleeding disorder, or blood thinners that cannot be paused, because bleeding under the skin is the complication that matters most after a facelift.
• Anyone with heart, lung or clotting conditions that have not been assessed by a doctor at home before a long flight and hours of general anaesthesia.
• Anyone expecting a facelift to change skin quality, the eyes or the forehead. Those need other procedures, and a surgeon who promises one operation for everything is not the one to choose.
• Anyone under pressure from someone else to have it done, or chasing a photograph rather than a version of their own face.

• Medical Council of Thailand, register of licensed physicians.
• Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand, Thai Board of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
• Healthcare Accreditation Institute of Thailand, hospital accreditation standards; Joint Commission International, accredited organisations in Thailand.
• Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, facelift patient information and guidance on cosmetic surgery overseas.
• British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, facelift patient information.
• American Society of Plastic Surgeons, facelift surgery: techniques, risks and recovery.
• International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, guidance for patients travelling for surgery.