Tummy tuck in Thailand

A tummy tuck in Thailand is sold as a package in Thai baht by hospitals in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya, and the price moves with the type of abdominoplasty: a mini tummy tuck below the navel, a full tummy tuck with repair of the separated abdominal muscles, an extended tummy tuck that carries the incision round the hips, or a fleur-de-lis tummy tuck with a vertical scar for skin left by major weight loss. The package covers the surgeon, the anaesthetist, the theatre, the nights in hospital, the drains and the check-ups until you are cleared to fly, and the stay is closer to two weeks than one.

A tummy tuck removes loose skin and fat from the lower abdomen and tightens the muscle wall beneath it; it is not a weight-loss operation, it leaves a long scar, and it is a bigger undertaking than liposuction, with a longer recovery and a higher risk of a clot on the flight home. This page explains what decides the price, what a package covers, how the types differ, how to check a surgeon and a hospital, what the two weeks in Thailand look like, when the operation may be funded at home instead, and what aftercare in Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom means, so the prices in the clinic listing below can be read properly.

• Compare the type of tummy tuck, not just the price

  Every clinic on this page shows its current price with a note of what it includes. A mini tummy tuck and an extended tummy tuck with muscle repair and liposuction are different operations with different scars and different stays.

• About two weeks in Thailand

  Drains come out, the wound is checked and the surgeon clears the flight; most patients fly in the second week, in a binder, walking every hour.

• Board, licence, accreditation

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

• Rule out the funded route first

  After major weight loss, or for a separated muscle wall after pregnancy, the operation is sometimes funded at home under strict criteria. Ask before you pay in Thailand.

The price is a package in Thai baht, and the type of abdominoplasty is the biggest thing inside it. 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 tummy tuck and a quote for an extended tummy tuck with muscle repair, liposuction and three nights in hospital are not the same operation.

• The type. A mini tummy tuck is a shorter operation with a shorter scar and no muscle repair; a full tummy tuck adds the muscle repair and moves the navel; an extended tummy tuck carries the incision round the hips to the back; a fleur-de-lis tummy tuck adds a vertical scar to remove skin left by major weight loss. Each step up adds theatre time and price.
• Muscle repair. Stitching the separated rectus muscles back together, the diastasis repair, adds time, adds to the pain afterwards and adds to the fee; it is the part that flattens a bulge no exercise has shifted.
• Liposuction in the same session. Flanks, back or thighs treated at the same time are priced per area on top of the tummy tuck, and lengthen the operation.
• Nights in hospital. Two or three nights are usual for a full or extended tummy tuck and are inside most packages; a mini tummy tuck may be one night.
• The surgeon and the hospital. A surgeon who does body contouring after major weight loss every week charges more than a general list, and a large Bangkok hospital with an international department charges more than a clinic; Phuket often sits between.
• Primary or revision. Correcting a previous tummy tuck, a high scar, a misplaced navel or dog-ears at the ends of the scar, is slower and priced accordingly.

The comparison most people want is not a table with two numbers, because the numbers do not cover the same things. A quote at home usually lists the surgeon, the anaesthetist and the hospital separately, with follow-up in the same rooms for as long as it takes and the complication managed by the person who operated. A Thai quote is a package in baht that covers the hospital side and stops when the plane takes off. And for some patients there is a third column: after significant weight loss, or for a separated muscle wall after pregnancy, abdominoplasty is sometimes funded under strict criteria, through Medicare items in Australia, through an exceptional funding request to the NHS in the United Kingdom, or through public prioritisation in New Zealand. That route has to be ruled out before Thailand makes sense.

To compare honestly, add to the Thai price the flights, two weeks of hotel, the cost of a companion, travel insurance that does not cover the operation itself, and a reserve for aftercare at home, then ask what a revision would cost, because a seroma, a slow wound or dog-ears at the ends of the scar are the things that bring tummy tuck patients back to a surgeon. The technique is the same in both places; what differs is who looks at the wound in week three, and how far away that person is.

Thailand licenses doctors and facilities separately. The surgeon should hold registration with the Medical Council of Thailand and the specialist qualification of the Thai Board of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, awarded 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 training in the specialty. A tummy tuck is not an operation for a doctor without that training, and it is worth asking how many abdominoplasties after major weight loss the surgeon does, because that is where the judgement lies.

The hospital needs a Ministry of Public Health licence for inpatient surgery under general anaesthesia, with a named anaesthetist, a recovery unit and a ward, and it needs a written protocol for preventing clots, which for a long abdominal operation means calf compression during surgery, early walking and often an injection afterwards. Private hospitals in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya commonly hold Hospital Accreditation from the Healthcare Accreditation Institute of Thailand, and several also hold accreditation from Joint Commission International. The question people type into search, which hospital in Thailand is right for a tummy tuck, is answered by these checks rather than by a ranking.

• Ask for the surgeon's full name and licence number and check both against the Medical Council of Thailand register before paying anything.
• Ask what the hospital does to prevent clots, in writing: compression during surgery, walking on the first day, whether an anticoagulant injection is given and for how long, and what they advise for the flight.
• Ask for healed photographs at six months or a year, front and side, of patients with your amount of loose skin, and look at the height of the scar and the shape of the navel rather than the flatness.
• Ask who gives the anaesthetic and how many nights you stay. A named anaesthetist and two or three nights on a ward for a full or extended tummy tuck; a hospital that discharges the next day is cutting the wrong corner.
• Ask about weight and smoking limits. Reputable hospitals defer patients above a certain body mass index, ask for a stable weight for months, and refuse smokers who have not stopped, because nicotine is the main reason wound edges die.
• Ask what happens if a seroma forms or the wound opens, who treats it, what it costs, and whether the fee is waived for a revision.

1. 1

   Online consultation with photographs

   Front, both sides and back, standing, plus a photograph bending forward to show how much skin hangs, with height, weight, weight history, pregnancies and any hernia. The surgeon should reply with a type of tummy tuck, whether muscle repair is needed, whether liposuction is advised, the number of nights and the reasoning, not only a price.
2. 2

   Arrival and examination

   Two or three days before surgery: examination standing and lying down, a check for muscle separation and hernia, marking, blood tests, the anaesthetic interview and a frank word about the scar. This is where the type of tummy tuck and the price are confirmed.
3. 3

   The operation

   General anaesthesia, several hours depending on the type. The skin is lifted, the muscles are repaired, the excess is removed, the navel is brought out through a new opening, drains are placed and the binder goes on in theatre. You wake in a bent position and stay two or three nights.
4. 4

   The first days

   Drains, a binder, walking bent forward from the first day, pain that is controlled with medication and worst when the muscles have been repaired. Calf compression and clot-prevention injections in hospital. You move to a hotel near the hospital once the drains are out or nearly out.
5. 5

   Check-ups and clearance to fly

   Drains removed, the wound checked, fluid collections looked for, stitches or glue reviewed. Most patients are cleared to fly in the second week, in the binder and compression stockings. A seroma or a slow wound means staying longer, which is why the return flight should be changeable.
6. 6

   At home and the long tail

   Standing upright over the second and third weeks, desk work from the third or fourth week, lifting and exercise later. Swelling settles over months, the scar is red for a year before it fades, and numbness above the scar takes months to return. Send photographs at the agreed points and see a doctor the same day for fever, spreading redness, a wound that opens, a swelling that grows, or pain or swelling in a calf.

The flight itself is rarely the problem once you are cleared; the problems are the ones that declare themselves later. A seroma can form in the weeks after surgery, a wound can open at the ends of the scar after you land, a clot can form in the days around a long flight, and the shape is not judged until the swelling has gone. An emergency, an infection, a clot or a fluid collection is treated at home under Medicare, the NHS or the public system in New Zealand, as it would be for any patient. What nobody funds is the correction of a cosmetic result, and routine follow-up of an operation done abroad is not something a public clinic owes you; expect to pay a private surgeon for wound reviews, and expect some to decline.

Decide before you leave which doctor will see you after you land: a plastic surgeon for the wound and the shape, a general practitioner for fever, infection or calf pain. Take the operation report in English, naming the type of tummy tuck, whether the muscles were repaired, whether liposuction was done and what clot prevention was given. If you are in the group who might qualify for funded surgery at home, get that answer before you book, not after.

1. Reach a stable weight, stop smoking and rule out the funded route at home before you spend anything.
2. Compare the clinics on this page by what the price includes and which type of tummy tuck it is for, and shortlist two or three.
3. Send each the same photographs and history and judge the replies by whether they name a type, a view on muscle repair, the number of nights, a surgeon and a written inclusions list.
4. Check the surgeon and the hospital against the Medical Council of Thailand register and the accreditation lists before paying a deposit, and ask for the clot-prevention protocol in writing.
5. Book changeable flights for about two weeks, a companion for the first days, a hotel near the hospital with a lift, and stop smoking and blood-thinning medication as instructed.
6. Take the operation report home and book the first wound review at home before you take off.

If you are weighing Thailand against Turkey, the tummy tuck in Turkey page describes a market built for European patients with short flights. The tummy tuck abroad page compares countries, and the plastic surgery in Thailand section lists the operations commonly combined with a tummy tuck, including a breast lift and a Brazilian butt lift.