CATEGORY 118 AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST REALITY BITES Smiling through your teeth A jaw-clenching ride through the Weird and Almost Sadistic inside story of the much touted Thailand dental tourism scene. Jade Richardson By Jade Richardson Everyone knows by now that the gloss has faded on the once famous ai Smile. Or do you have to actually go there to see for yourself what a country heavily invested in the honeytrap trade, legalized drug boom and red light meet market sexpat industry can become when left to bask in the Tik Tok sun for a decade or two? Cosmetic surgery is not booming in Southeast Asia. It practically IS Southeast Asia, and while Korea is probably the real epicenter of the contagion, ailand is having a pretty good bash at it. e long nursed intra-Asian race for whiter skin may be the germ that sprouted the Hydra of a nation avidly devouring nose jobs, boob jobs, lip jobs, eye jobs, butt jobs, genital jobs, injectables of every sort, full veneers, total dental restorations, braces and even adolescent facelifts – and ogging all this to foreigners as glamorous ‘rejuvenation holidays’. Ranking among sex tourism, marijuana tourism, ladyboy tourism and insect meat export, dental and facial medical tourism in ailand is raking in a fortune for the Siamese, estimated at $2.2 billion AUD in 2021. Aesthetic dentistry carries the bulk of that business. By 2025, university research showed the ai medical aesthetics industry was worth more than $3.3 billion, with heavy growth in tourists, foreign nationals, young people and LGBTQIA (not to be missed in a country openly maxing out the transgender market due to the overt sex trade and entertainment industry built around ‘ladyboys’) fueling a forecast surge toward an annual take of $10.6 billion by 2027, according to trade.gov, the USA o cial website on international markets. Yes. You read that right. An o cial ai report on the projected boom did look for any potential risks, and mentioned two: limited personnel, and increased competition. Which tells you what you need to know about the developing world’s medical tourism industry. What’s actually happening on the street and even in the upper class of clinics and surgeries should be a warning to everyone about how far and how distorted this whole thing can get. Over on a tiny nowhere ai island I had my rst encounter with a Sadistic dentist. I put it down to bad luck after a simple clean and checkup left me with bloody gums, splintering nerve pain and a very bad mood after a very nasty woman rampaged around with a weapon in my mouth at the Happy Tooth dental clinic. I had recovered from this event and been sent to the much loved and so-called upmarket ‘cultural’ hub of ailand, Chaing Mai, on assignment when I thought to myself, while strolling down the ratty streets of the prestigious Nimman district: “hmm, maybe it’s time to try tooth whitening, after all. Why not?” Why not indeed. Just at that very moment the beaming radiant white smile of some ai beauty dazzled me from the glassy front of a small o ce block and I was enchanted. Zoom whitening. Special price. Drop in now. Miss
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