• ttb analytics estimates Thailand's aesthetic market at about 75 billion baht in 2025, growing 2.7% after 4% growth in 2024.
• KResearch put the cosmetic surgery and aesthetics market at about 75.2 billion baht in 2025, up 1.6%, and expects roughly 1.0% growth in 2026.
• The Klinique Medical Clinic (KLINIQ) had 82 branches at 31 December 2025 and 2025 revenue of 3,580 million baht, up from 3,009 million baht in 2024.
• KLINIQ's investor relations team told Kasikorn Securities that third-quarter 2026 cash sales were about 1,280 million baht, up 44%, a figure not yet reviewed.
• On 6 July 2026 police arrested two women in Bangkok and Samut Prakan for offering Botox and filler without medical licences.

Thailand's aesthetic and cosmetic surgery market was worth about 75 billion baht in 2025 and grew 2.7%, ttb analytics estimates, down from 4% in 2024. The Klinique Medical Clinic (KLINIQ), a clinic chain listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, grew far faster than that.

A slow market

The ttb analytics estimate puts 2025 revenue at 75,000 million baht, against 73,000 million baht in 2024. Its explanation is that working-age women, the core customer, are close to saturation. Men and people over 50 are the growth groups. ttb says customers over 50 spend up to twice as much per person as younger ones.

KResearch gives a similar size with a different method. Its September 2025 report, as relayed by Post Today, has the market at 75,200 million baht in 2025, up 1.6%, with about 1.0% growth expected in 2026.

Margins are thin. An earlier KResearch study from February 2025 found average net profit of 2.3% in 2021 to 2023, down from 2.7% before the pandemic, with more than 2,500 competitors. It also flagged a shortage of specialists: about 500 plastic surgery practitioners in Thailand, against 2,739 in South Korea.

One chain pulling ahead

KLINIQ operated 82 branches at the end of 2025: 46 The Klinique, 27 L.A.B.X, 5 L'Clinic, 2 spas, 1 acne clinic and 1 surgery centre. Its stock exchange filing shows 2025 revenue of 3,580 million baht, up about 19%, and net profit of 363.7 million baht, up from 322.2 million baht.

Momentum picked up in 2026. First-half revenue was 2,213 million baht, up 32.93%. Third-quarter cash sales were about 1,280 million baht, up 44%, with same-store sales up 29.2%, according to a Kasikorn Securities note dated 12 October 2026 and reported by MGR Online. Cash sales differ from accounting revenue and the quarter has not been reviewed. The shares closed at 32.25 baht that day, 50.7% above the end-2025 close.

The demand shift is away from surgery. KResearch, citing ISAPS data, says non-surgical procedures done by surgeons rose from 21% of the studied procedures in 2023 to 26% in 2024. KLINIQ's chief executive, Dr Apirut Thongwat, told MGR Online that growth should not be measured by new branches alone.

Enforcement is the other story

Regulators are chasing the cheaper end. On 6 July 2026 the Consumer Protection Police and the Department of Health Service Support raided two homes in Bueng Kum, Bangkok, and Samut Prakan. Khaosod English reported that the two women, aged 31 and 25, offered Botox and filler. One advertised packages from 790 to 4,990 baht on Facebook; the other charged 1,000 to 5,000 baht a treatment. Both were charged under the Hospital Act of 1998 for letting unlicensed people practise medicine.

In May 2026 the Food and Drug Administration and the Central Investigation Bureau seized more than 35,000 items worth over 22 million baht. Khaosod English said glutathione products had been registered as cosmetics, an easier route than drug approval, and then sold to clinics as injectables.

For a licensed clinic the message is about supply chains: check that anything injected is registered as a medicine or device, not a cosmetic. The next hard data point is KLINIQ's reviewed third-quarter accounts, which will show whether the 44% cash sales rise holds in the audited numbers.

Sources

• ttb analytics: Thai beauty market 2025
• KResearch: Cosmetic surgery and aesthetic medicine, February 2025
• Post Today: เทรนด์หัตถการมาแรง ดัน THE KLINIQUE ยอดขาย Q3 พุ่ง 44%
• MGR Online: Beauty Shift, THE KLINIQUE GROUP
• Stock Exchange of Thailand: KLINIQ listed company snapshot, year-end 2025
• Khaosod English: Two fake beauty doctors arrested in Bangkok raids
• Khaosod English: Police seize illegal whitening serums worth 22 million baht

• Siriraj Hospital said in August 2026 that its AI chest X-ray reader is in use at more than 610 public health hospitals, after the National Health Security Office board approved it as a benefit in April 2026.
• In February 2026 Siriraj put the count at more than 145 Ministry of Public Health hospitals and more than 500,000 patient cases.
• The National Health Security Office plans AI-assisted chest X-ray screening at 167 hospitals in fiscal 2025, 445 in fiscal 2026 and 887 in fiscal 2027.
• Ramathibodi Hospital's RAMAAI tool detects up to 16 conditions on chest X-rays and was running in 8 public hospitals in April 2026, with 10 more due by June.
• Thailand has about 2,000 radiologists who screen more than 30 million X-rays a year, according to Microsoft's account of the RAMAAI project.
• Bumrungrad International Hospital announced in July 2022 that it uses Lunit AI for chest X-rays and mammograms, covering more than 100,000 images a year.

Siriraj Hospital says its artificial intelligence chest X-ray reader has now been used on more than 500,000 patient cases and handed over to more than 145 Ministry of Public Health hospitals, with a target of 450 in 2026, The Nation reported in February 2026. It is the largest of several Thai-built tools that are moving from pilots into routine use.

The rollout has since run well past that target. In August 2026 Siriraj said the reader was in use at more than 610 public health hospitals nationwide, after the National Health Security Office board approved it as a covered benefit in April 2026, Thai Post reported.

Why chest X-rays

There are too few radiologists. Microsoft, writing about Ramathibodi Hospital's tool in April 2026, says about 2,000 radiologists read more than 30 million X-rays a year, roughly 15,000 each. A Ramathibodi thoracic radiologist, Dr Narissara Chobarun, told Microsoft a radiologist often reviews 60 to 200 chest X-rays a day. Microsoft adds that caseloads can pass 300 a day in busier hospitals.

The stakes are highest for lung cancer. It is Thailand's second biggest cause of cancer deaths, with 17,222 new cases a year, and more than 60% are found at stage 4, The Nation reported from the HealthTech Summit at Techsauce Global Summit 2025. Survival is 62% when found early and 4% at stage 4.

Two Thai tools

Siriraj's reader was developed by its radiology department, starting during the Covid-19 pandemic, and The Nation's lung screening report names Perceptra as its development partner. The Royal College of Radiologists of Thailand certified accuracy above 95%, and the hospital says it returns a result in under 10 seconds. Next, Siriraj plans AI for brain CT scans and for mammography.

Ramathibodi's RAMAAI runs on Microsoft Azure, screens for up to 16 conditions including lung nodules, pneumonia and COPD, and has a tuberculosis module. It was in 8 public hospitals in Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Chonburi, Lampang and Chiang Rai, serving about 2,000 medical staff, and had processed more than 500,000 images. Ten more hospitals were due by June 2026. The Department of Medical Services plans to pilot it across its own hospitals.

The accuracy claims come from the developers and the college's certification, not from an independent trial.

Who pays

Payment is what makes a national rollout possible. The National Health Security Office, which runs the 30 baht scheme, plans AI-assisted chest X-ray screening at 167 hospitals in fiscal 2025 for 55 million baht a year, 445 hospitals in fiscal 2026 for 135 million baht a year, and 887 hospitals in fiscal 2027 for 225 million baht a year, according to the board decision as reported by Matichon. A peer-reviewed review of radiology AI notes that before this, hospitals received no specific reimbursement for AI-assisted imaging.

The hospital's own validation still matters. Passakorn Wanchaijiraboon, deputy director of Phrapokklao Hospital, told the summit that hospitals should test AI on their own data because performance varies by setting.

Private hospitals

Private groups started earlier. Bumrungrad announced in July 2022 that it uses Lunit INSIGHT CXR for chest X-rays and INSIGHT MMG for mammograms, delivered by Fujifilm Thailand on Microsoft Azure, covering more than 100,000 images a year. BDMS lists "Smart Healthcare", which combines AI with its data systems, as one of four priorities for 2026 in its annual filing, though it names no specific tool there.

Next to watch: whether the National Health Security Office funds the third phase, 887 hospitals, in fiscal 2027, and whether Ramathibodi's RAMAAI reaches the 18 hospitals implied by its eight plus ten more.

Sources

• Thai Post: Siriraj AI chest X-ray system in use at more than 610 hospitals (18 Aug 2026)
• The Nation: Siriraj's AI reads chest X-rays with 95% accuracy
• The Nation: AI lung cancer screening, health innovation for all
• Microsoft Source Asia: With RAMAAI, Thailand's radiologists get AI assistance
• Matichon: NHSO board backs AI reading of X-ray films, pilot at 167 public hospitals
• PMC: Access and reimbursement for artificial intelligence in radiology, a Thailand perspective
• Hospital Management: Bumrungrad Hospital Lunit AI-based cancer screening
• BDMS: Management discussion and analysis, full year 2025

• Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BDMS) reported 2025 operating income of 113,206 million baht, up 4%, and net profit of 15,848 million baht, down 1%.
• Foreign patient revenue at BDMS grew 5% in 2025, or about 11% excluding Cambodian patients, while Thai patient revenue grew 3%.
• In the second quarter of 2026, BDMS revenue from Cambodian patients fell 67% and from Middle East patients fell 24% compared with a year earlier.
• BDMS net profit for the first half of 2026 was 7,306 million baht, down 7%, and its occupancy rate in the second quarter was 55% against 61% a year earlier.
• BDMS is building WellEra, a 29 billion baht wellness and residence project in Bangkok's Lumpini district, due to finish in 2030.

Bangkok Dusit Medical Services earned 15,848 million baht in 2025, about 1% less than in 2024, and then earned 7% less again in the first half of 2026. The company, Thailand's largest private hospital operator with 60 hospitals, points mainly to two groups of foreign patients who stopped travelling, though its filing also notes some Thai patients deferring non-urgent procedures.

What the 2025 numbers show

Operating income rose 4% to 113,206 million baht in 2025, according to the company's management discussion for the full year. Revenue from Thai patients grew 3%. Revenue from foreign patients grew 5%.

The split between the two has not moved: 72% Thai, 28% foreign, in both 2024 and 2025.

The foreign figure hides a sharp contrast. BDMS says Cambodian patients fell from about 3% of hospital revenue in 2024 to about 2% in 2025, after the Thai-Cambodian border conflict began in mid-2025. Without Cambodia, foreign patient revenue would have grown about 11%. Qatari patients rose 36%, Myanmar patients 31% and American patients 19%.

Profit grew slower than revenue for three reasons the filing names. Depreciation rose because two new hospitals and two bed expansions opened in 2025. Tax privileges from investment promotion measures shrank. And floods in Hat Yai in November 2025 shut Bangkok Hospital Hat Yai, a 193-bed hospital, for about three weeks. Adjusted for one-off items, 2025 net profit was 16,187 million baht, up 2%.

The first half of 2026

The Middle East conflict that began in March 2026 added a second drag. In the first quarter, revenue was flat at 28,554 million baht and net profit fell 7% to 4,058 million baht, as The Nation reported.

The second quarter was softer. According to BDMS's second-quarter 2026 filing, operating income rose 1% to 27,514 million baht while net profit fell 7% to 3,248 million baht. Foreign patient revenue fell 2%. Cambodian revenue was down 67% and Middle East revenue down 24%.

Strip out those two markets and foreign revenue grew 10%, led by Myanmar (up 42%), the United States (23%) and Australia (17%). That is why management calls the base resilient. The cost is visible in occupancy: 55% in the second quarter, against 61% a year earlier, with fewer inpatients from both Thai and foreign groups.

For the six months, net profit was 7,306 million baht. The company says it has seen signs of recovery in both Thai and Middle East patient revenue since the start of the second quarter.

Still building

BDMS is adding beds while occupancy is low. It has about 9,300 structural beds and plans around 9,600 by 2027. Bangkok Hospital Hua Hin opened a 50-bed building in July 2026, taking it to 114 beds, and Bangkok Hospital Surat reached 151 beds in June.

The larger bet is WellEra, launched in the second quarter: a 29 billion baht project of about 170,000 square metres in Lumpini, with a wellness clinic, a retreat, retail and residences developed with Capella. Construction is under way and completion is set for 2030. Proton therapy, which BDMS says will be a first for a Thai private hospital, is expected to start in 2029.

The next test is the third-quarter report. BDMS had published its third-quarter 2025 results by 13 November 2025, so a mid-November date is likely. The figure to watch is Middle East revenue. InnovestX put it at about 4% of BDMS revenue in January 2026, a small base, yet it fell by a quarter in the second quarter.

Sources

• BDMS: Management discussion and analysis, full year 2025
• BDMS: Management discussion and analysis, second quarter 2026
• The Nation via Asia News Network: Q1 2026 headwinds drag on Thai private hospital revenues, profits
• Kaohoon International: BDMS delivers stable growth in 3Q25, 13 November 2025
• InnovestX: Healthcare sector note, 13 January 2026

• Foreign patients were 67.1% of Bumrungrad's revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025, with foreign revenue of 4.4 billion baht up 5% and Thai patient revenue of 2.1 billion baht down 6%.
• Bumrungrad's revenue from Cambodian patients fell 78% in the first quarter of 2026, while Qatar rose 28.7% and Myanmar 15.1%.
• KResearch forecast in November 2025 that the number of foreign patients in Thailand would grow 0.4% in 2026 and related revenue 3.7%.
• The Tourism Authority of Thailand put 2025 health tourism at about 125 billion baht from about 580,000 medical tourists.
• A Public Health Ministry survey of 32 hospitals found they billed foreign patients 16.957 billion baht in 2024 and collected 9.935 billion baht.

Foreign patients made up 67.1% of Bumrungrad International Hospital's revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from 64.5% a year earlier, according to a DBS Research note. Thai patients, meanwhile, spent 6% less. At Bumrungrad, the patient mix is moving further from home.

The picture across the sector is less tidy. Which nationalities come, and which have stopped, now matters more than the headline patient count.

Who is growing

Myanmar is the steadiest riser. At Bumrungrad, Myanmar patient numbers grew 25.5% in the fourth quarter of 2025, and Myanmar revenue grew 15.1% in the first quarter of 2026. At BDMS, Myanmar patients rose 31% in 2025 and 42% in the second quarter of 2026, per the group's filing.

Qatar and the other Gulf states are strong at Bumrungrad. DBS reports Qatar up 28.7% and the UAE up 24.9% in the first quarter of 2026, with total Middle East revenue up 21.3%, from its April 2026 note. Bangladesh grew 25%.

American patients are the other steady group at BDMS, up 19% in 2025 and 23% in the second quarter of 2026.

Who dropped

Cambodia fell off the map after the border conflict began in mid-2025. Bumrungrad's Cambodian revenue was down 78% in the first quarter of 2026. BDMS reported a 67% fall in the second quarter. Bangkok Chain Hospital listed border closures among the reasons its revenue stalled, while its first-quarter 2026 profit dropped 16.7%, The Nation reported.

The Gulf is the swing factor. At BDMS, Middle East revenue fell 24% in the second quarter of 2026 after the Middle East conflict that started in March, because patients postponed travel. At Bumrungrad it still grew 7.1% in the same quarter, according to an Investing.com summary of the company slides. The two carry very different exposure: DBS puts the Middle East at 22% of Bumrungrad's first-quarter 2026 revenue, while InnovestX put it at about 4% of BDMS revenue in January 2026.

Smaller groups show the same split. Praram 9 Hospital grew foreign patient revenue 9.5% in the first quarter of 2026, to 26% of hospital operations revenue, on demand from the Middle East and Myanmar.

The size of the market

The Tourism Authority of Thailand estimated that health tourism brought in about 125 billion baht in 2025 from about 580,000 medical tourists, The Nation reported in October 2025. A narrower measure, a 2024 survey cited by the Public Health Ministry, put private hospital revenue from foreign patients at about 50 billion baht, The Nation reported.

Growth is expected to be slow. KResearch said in November 2025 that foreign patient numbers would rise 0.4% in 2026 and revenue 3.7%, citing a shrinking core market and tougher competition.

Unpaid bills

Hospitals also carry a collection problem. A survey of 32 hospitals found they billed foreign patients 16.957 billion baht in 2024 and collected 9.935 billion baht, about 59 baht for every 100 billed. The Public Health Minister, Pattana Promphat, backs a proposed 450 baht fee on foreign tourists if part of it funds insurance, according to The Nation on 7 October 2026. The plan has not taken effect.

Two things to watch: Bumrungrad guides third-quarter 2026 revenue growth at plus or minus 3%, and the tourist fee decision is still open.

Sources

• DBS Research: Bumrungrad Hospital 4Q25 note, 19 February 2026
• DBS Research: Bumrungrad Hospital 1Q26 note, 30 April 2026
• BDMS: Management discussion and analysis, second quarter 2026
• Investing.com: Bumrungrad Q2 2026 slides
• The Nation via Asia News Network: Q1 2026 headwinds drag on Thai private hospital revenues
• The Nation: TAT promotes medical tourism to Middle Eastern travelers
• The Nation: Health ministry outlines medical hub plan at WTO
• KResearch: Thai tourism outlook press release, 21 November 2025
• The Nation: Health economy tipped as Thailand's next growth engine
• InnovestX: Healthcare sector note, 13 January 2026
• The Nation: Health ministry backs THB450 tourist fee

• The Public Health Ministry's Medical Investment Hub plan targets more than 68 billion baht of new investment, including more than 37 billion baht in drug, vaccine and health product manufacturing.
• The ministry and MSD (Thailand) signed a memorandum, reported on 10 September 2026, that anticipates more than 2,500 million baht of clinical research investment by 2027.
• Krungsri Research counted 14 approved pharmaceutical investment projects worth 2.68 billion baht in the first nine months of 2025, including a 192.5 million baht active ingredient plant, the first such investment in six years.
• Thailand imported 103.2 billion baht of pharmaceuticals in 2025 and exported 16.6 billion baht, according to Krungsri Research.
• In 2025 the BOI received applications for 101 medical projects, devices and healthcare services together, worth 28,883 million baht.

Thailand's Public Health Ministry wants more than 68 billion baht of new investment in medical services, research and manufacturing, and in September 2026 it signed the first agreement under the plan, with MSD (Thailand). The numbers show how far manufacturing has to go.

The plan

The Medical Investment Hub strategy has three pillars, The Nation reported citing Bangkokbiznews: a service hub, a research and development hub, and a product and health manufacturing hub. Targets are more than 25 billion baht for services, more than 5 billion baht for research and more than 37 billion baht for manufacturing. The ministry says the plan should add at least 0.5% to GDP, worth over 100 billion baht.

The lever is what the ministry calls an offset policy: talks with 10 global drugmakers, including AstraZeneca, Novartis, MSD, Sandoz, GSK, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, Takeda and Pfizer, on investing in Thailand. Public Health Minister Pattana Promphat said the aim is the lowest possible medicine prices with fast-track procedures for companies that invest. The Board of Investment will consider incentives alongside the finance minister's investment subcommittee.

The first deal

The MSD agreement, reported by ThaiPR on 10 September 2026, covers wider access to HPV and PCV vaccines, clinical research capacity in ministry research units, and an exploration of voluntary licensing of an HIV prevention drug to domestic makers. It expects more than 2,500 million baht of investment by 2027. Each project still needs a feasibility study and approval, and the Food and Drug Administration discussed faster approval of clinical trials.

The baseline

Krungsri Research's June 2026 pharmaceuticals outlook shows a large market that depends on imports. Domestic sales grew 4.4% in 2025. Krungsri, citing Fitch Solutions projections, puts generic prescription drugs at 108 billion baht and patented drugs at 73 billion baht; over-the-counter drugs reached 41 billion baht. Imports were 103.2 billion baht, up 3.4%. Exports were 16.6 billion baht, down 3.7%.

Thailand imports about 90% of the ingredients used in domestic drug production, Krungsri says, and more than 80% of its medicines overall by one cited estimate. Of about 144 factories certified for good manufacturing practice, only 9 can make active pharmaceutical ingredients.

What is being approved

Pharmaceutical investment is rising from a small base. Krungsri counts 14 approved projects worth 2.68 billion baht in the first nine months of 2025, up 43.4%. Finished drugs took 65% of the value, biotech and biopharma 27.8%, and one active ingredient plant worth 192.5 million baht was the first in six years.

Devices are harder to read. The BOI's 2025 totals, reported by The Nation, list 101 medical projects worth 28,883 million baht, but that groups devices with healthcare services and counts applications, not approvals. The BOI's November 2025 review says it promotes research and production of Class II and III medical devices.

Risks

Krungsri lists the threats: cheap imports from China and India, price controls on essential medicines, a shortage of biologics talent, and dependence on imported ingredients. The first agreement concerns research and vaccines, not active ingredient plants.

Next to watch: whether the other nine drugmakers sign, and what the BOI offers. The ministry presented the plan at a World Trade Organization forum in Geneva on 16 September 2026, The Nation reported.

Sources

• The Nation: Thailand targets over 68bn baht in medical investment
• ThaiPR.net: MoPH and MSD push the Medical Investment Hub
• Post Today: MoPH and MSD sign the first global drugmaker agreement under the Medical Investment Hub
• Krungsri Research: Industry Outlook 2026 to 2028, Pharmaceuticals
• The Nation: Data centres drive BOI surge as 2025 investment value hits Bt1.876trn
• BOI: Thailand Investment Review, Issue 5/2025
• The Nation: Health ministry outlines medical hub plan at WTO

• Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports counted 92,813 wellness tourism businesses in 2025 earning about 670 billion baht, of which 220 billion baht went to 28,203 direct service providers.
• The Global Wellness Institute valued Thailand's wellness economy at 42.7 billion US dollars in 2024, up 10.1%, and wellness tourism spending at 14 billion US dollars, up 36.4%.
• The Thai Spa Association says about 80% of spa customers are foreign and about 20% Thai, with a typical Thai spa charging 200 to 300 baht an hour.
• The Thai Spa Association wants Thailand to move from ninth to the top five wellness economies in Asia Pacific by 2030.
• The Public Health Ministry told a World Trade Organization forum on 16 September 2026 that Thailand has more than 17,000 Thai massage, spa and wellness establishments.

Thailand's wellness tourism chain counted 92,813 businesses in 2025 and earned an estimated 670 billion baht, according to Ministry of Tourism and Sports data reported by The Nation in October 2025. The spa owners at the centre of that chain had a harder year than the total suggests.

Where the money goes

The ministry splits the 670 billion baht in two. Direct providers, meaning hospitals, clinics, spas and wellness centres, number 28,203 and earn about 220 billion baht. Indirect businesses such as retail, transport and tour services number 64,610 and earn about 450 billion baht.

Among direct providers, hospitals are the top earners, followed by pharmacies, cosmetics and drug makers, tour operators and spas, the Thai Spa Association told The Nation. The ministry expects hotels and resorts, restaurants, hospital activities, air transport and cosmetic manufacturing to grow fastest in 2026.

A hard year for spas

Revenue dipped in the second and third quarters of 2025, when negative coverage kept tourists away, said the association's president, Sunai Wachirawarakarn. He expected a recovery from the fourth quarter of 2025 into early 2026, according to a Nation report republished by Asia News Network. Operators held on.

Even when tourist numbers declined, the number of business operators did not decrease.

New investment paused. About 80% of spa customers are foreign and 20% Thai, and the top three source markets are Malaysia, China and Singapore. A typical Thai spa session costs 200 to 300 baht an hour, which limits what operators can earn per customer.

Demand is recovering slowly. KResearch forecast in November 2025 that international arrivals would reach 34.1 million in 2026, up 4% after a 7% fall in 2025, its release said.

What the global numbers say

The Global Wellness Institute's February 2026 release looks better. Thailand's wellness economy reached 42.7 billion US dollars in 2024, up 10.1% from 2023, making it the 24th largest in the world and ninth in Asia Pacific. Wellness tourism spending rose 36.4% to 14 billion US dollars, ranking 15th globally. Spas grew 18%.

The Institute's figures cover 2024 and use a broader definition than the ministry's, so the two should not be added together.

Plans and a missing measure

The Thai Spa Association has a five-year plan to lift Thailand from ninth to the top five wellness economies in Asia Pacific by 2030, starting in 2026 with partnerships with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, according to Spa Business.

On the government side, the Public Health Ministry presented its medical hub plan at a World Trade Organization forum in Geneva on 16 September 2026, with a target of at least 0.5% of GDP, and cited more than 17,000 Thai massage, spa and wellness establishments, The Nation reported. Hospitals are building their own: BDMS is developing WellEra, a 29 billion baht wellness and residence project in Lumpini due in 2030, its second-quarter 2026 filing says.

One thing no source measures is how much traditional Thai massage gained from its 2019 UNESCO listing. UNESCO describes it as a non-medicinal manual therapy. We found no study that separates a UNESCO effect from the wider recovery after Covid.

Dates to watch: the first Thailand Spa and Wellbeing Awards on 29 October 2026, and the Global Wellness Summit at Angsana Laguna Phuket on 10 to 13 November 2026.

Sources

• The Nation: Wellness economy in Thailand tops 670 billion baht
• The Nation via Asia News Network: Wellness economy in Thailand
• Global Wellness Institute: Thailand wellness data release, 26 February 2026
• Spa Business: Thai Spa Association strategy to top five in Asia Pacific by 2030
• The Nation: Health ministry outlines medical hub plan at WTO
• KResearch: Thai tourism outlook press release, 21 November 2025
• BDMS: Management discussion and analysis, second quarter 2026
• UNESCO: Nuad Thai, traditional Thai massage