Flying to Bangkok for nip-and-tuck surgery or an operation that can be done at a fraction of the cost back at home is becoming old hat. India, Malaysia and Singapore are also promoting so-called medical tourism.
Bangkok is in front in terms of patient numbers. Market leader Bumrungrad claims to be the world's busiest international hospital, with 400,000 foreign admissions last year.
Mind you, I'm not complaining about having high-quality medical care on my doorstep. When I got a fish bone stuck in my throat this year, Bumrungrad hospital did a fine job of removing the offending object. My private room was better than some hotels I've stayed in during my travels in Asia.
But a more tantalising glimpse of medical progress can be found across town at Bangkok Hospital's new heart centre. Not only do their American-educated cardiac surgeons have access to the latest technology and training, they offer something out of the ordinary: stem-cell therapy.
The procedure uses stem cells grown from samples of the patient's blood, which are processed at a laboratory in Israel and flown back to Bangkok. The cells are then injected into the patient's heart.
It is an experimental technique that is only performed in a few countries, and is usually offered to patients with severe heart failure, whose only alternative is a transplant.