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🇹🇭  Laser eye and lens surgery in Thailand

How to check the clinic and the surgeon in Thailand's own registers, the risks, and the days before you can fly home. We do not list or rank clinics.

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Not medical advice. Talk to your own doctor or dentist before you book. Laser surgery reshapes the front of the eye; lens surgery puts an artificial lens inside it. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes, but the eye needs checking within 24 to 48 hours and regularly for at least six months, which is the hard part abroad.

Check the clinic and the surgeon

Doctors

Medical Council of Thailand: check a doctor

Search a doctor's first name and surname, in Thai or in English: only doctors licensed to practise medicine are listed.

Dentists

Dental Council of Thailand

The council that licenses dentists. Ask the dentist for their licence number and check it with the council.

Clinics

Ministry of Public Health, Department of Health Service Support: licensed hospitals and clinics

The ministry's register of licensed health facilities. It did not open from outside Thailand when we checked: if it does not open for you, ask the clinic for its licence number and a copy of the licence.

The surgeon: Search the surgeon's name in the Medical Council's check (English names work). For a dentist, ask for the licence number and check it with the Dental Council.

The rules in Thailand

  • Only doctors licensed by the Medical Council of Thailand may practise medicine; the council's online check lists them.
  • The UK Foreign Office says private hospitals in Thailand are of a high standard but can be expensive, and that public hospitals and clinics do not always meet UK standards, particularly outside Bangkok; all hospitals require a guarantee of payment before treating patients.

The trip

  • One short trip, but you need check-ups for at least six months: arrange them with an optician or eye doctor at home before you go.
  • We found no official minimum before flying after laser or lens surgery. What matters is the check within 24 to 48 hours: stay at least until the surgeon has seen you, and plan the later check-ups at home.
  • First check: See the doctor within the first 24 to 48 hours: they remove the eye shield, test your vision and examine the eye.
  • A few days off work: Plan a few days off until burning, watering, blur and sensitivity to light settle. Non-contact sports after one to three days, as the doctor advises.
  • Make-up and creams: Up to two weeks before using lotions, creams or make-up around the eye.

Your dates in the recovery planner · The full cost of the trip

Red flags

  • Surgery booked without a thorough eye examination by the surgeon, or a decision pushed on the day.
  • A flight home before the check within 24 to 48 hours.
  • Promises of perfect vision without glasses; only a certain percentage of patients achieve it.

Ask the clinic

  1. Who examines my eyes, who operates, and what are their qualifications and registration?
  2. Which technique, which laser or lens, and why for my eyes?
  3. When is the check after surgery, and who sees me if something goes wrong once I am home?
  4. What happens, and who pays, if I need a second operation?

Back home

🇬🇧  If you live in United Kingdom

The NHS does not pay for private treatment you choose abroad, and your EHIC or GHIC does not cover planned treatment. Standard travel insurance does not normally cover you if you travelled for elective surgery: you may need specialist cover.

The NHS is not liable for negligence or failure of treatment abroad, and the Foreign Office cannot usually help: planned treatment is treated as a commercial arrangement. Plan your aftercare and how records will be shared before you go.

🇮🇪  If you live in Ireland

The HSE Cross Border Directive scheme only refunds planned care in another EU or EEA country that is publicly funded in Ireland, with a referral, up to what it would cost in the Irish public system; travel and accommodation are not refunded. So cosmetic treatments and hair transplants, which are not publicly funded in Ireland, are outside it.

Ask your GP before you go how follow-up would work once you are home, and check whether your travel insurance covers planned treatment and its complications: many policies exclude it.

🇫🇷  If you live in France

Purely aesthetic procedures are not reimbursed by the Assurance Maladie, in France or abroad, and neither is the follow-up care of such an operation. Planned care abroad is only reimbursed when it is reimbursable in France, sometimes with prior authorisation.

If a complication occurs, the care it needs is medical and is covered normally. A result you are unhappy with is not a complication: corrective work is at your cost.

🇺🇸  If you live in United States

Check whether your health plan covers anything abroad: most do not cover planned treatment, and Original Medicare generally does not pay for care outside the United States, with limited exceptions. Consider supplemental cover, including medical evacuation.

Seek care promptly if a complication develops, during travel or after you return, and bring your overseas records in English. Legal recourse abroad may be more limited than in the United States.

🇦🇺  If you live in Australia

Medicare doesn't cover you when you're overseas, reciprocal health care agreements only cover some situations, and basic travel insurance rarely covers medical tourism: get a specialised policy for your procedure, its complications and medical evacuation, and tell your insurers everything.

You, your family or your insurer pay for further care or an evacuation. Consular staff can contact your family and give lists of English-speaking hospitals and lawyers, but cannot pay bills or recommend surgeons. Smartraveller advises taking someone with you.

🇳🇿  If you live in New Zealand

Make sure your travel insurance covers complications and medical evacuation, and talk to your health practitioner in New Zealand about the procedure and its risks before you go.

Get copies of your surgical details before you leave: problems can appear once you are home, and your practitioner in New Zealand will need them. Check with a health practitioner before flying after surgery.

🇸🇦  If you live in Saudi Arabia

The Ministry of Health sends patients abroad at its expense only by royal order or by a decision of the High Medical Committee approved by the minister. Planned treatment you choose yourself, such as cosmetic surgery, is private and at your own cost.

For patients the ministry refers abroad, the Saudi health attaché in the country of treatment arranges the appointment and follows the patient; private patients are on their own. Talk to your doctor in Saudi Arabia before you go and bring your records home.

Official travel advice

Sources

More on laser eye and lens surgery abroad and on treatment in Thailand.