Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest.

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Mike

When I opened my in-box yesterday I found  an email about a contest for blog owners called Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest. At first I actually though it was some sort of scam or philshing type mail however a bit of research has now led me to believe it is genuine and worth sharing with you Thailand bloggers.

The contest is being run on behalf of the Tourist Authority of Thailand to promote medical tourism to Thailand with a top prize worth $13,000 ($10,000 cash).

“The Medical Blog Contest, organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, is aimed at promoting medical tourism within the Kingdom. The competition is open to each individual blogger who has acceptable experience in writing tourism, medical or medical tourism related blogs.”

The competition has various stages which start by completing the application form and entering your blog which then appears on the entrants page. The closing date for the initial entry is 31st October 2010.

All the relevant information can be found by visiting the web link to Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest-see above. Note that there are two menus in the header section of the site and you need to read both to get all the information you will need.  Check the rules because it mentions that your sites PR and unique hits on the post are taken into account when selecting the final 12 contestants.

Personally I think I might give it a shot, well I have too now anyway,  since Duen asked me about it when she saw me reading the information and nearly fell off her chair when I told her about the prizes. Mind you I think she is thinking more about body enhancements than the money :-)

Maybe I will see you at the final?

Related posts:

  1. Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest-Finalist
  2. Thailand Medical Tourism Blog Contest-The Experience
  3. Thailand Medical Blog Contest Winners
  4. Medical Tourism Thailand-A Matter of Ethics?
  5. How to Plan a Medical Tourism Trip to Thailand
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  • http://paulgarrigan.com/ Paul Garrigan

    It does sound intersting alright Mike; if you’re not in you can’t win as they say. There are probably those that would question the wisdom of you promoting it on your blog – you are likely to just attract more competition :-) I’ve never really considered entering competitions before, and I’ll probably end up giving it a miss ; so many options and so little time. I wish you the best of luck though Mike. The one thing for sure is that they should get some great entries – there are a lot of great Thai based bloggers.

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Hi Paul, being a nice bloke I thought I would tell you all about it :-) I am sure there will be plenty of competition, but I guess it might be a bit of fun and since they publish the entries with a link back to your site it can’t be bad.

      BTW I have been invited to write some stuff for a travel book…….things are looking up.

      • http://paulgarrigan.com/ Paul Garrigan

        Hi Mike, I think that is great news about the travel book – who knows where that could lead. I think there are just so many opportunities these days. As the Beatles once said ‘ it’s getting better all the time’.

        • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

          Paul yes it is a very small beginning, but I am pleased.

  • http://thailandlandofsmiles.com Talen

    Mike, medical tourism is big and even if you don’t win the prize there are lots of searches on Thailand’s medical tourism so it’s always good for the blog and if they give you a back link even better.

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Talen one of the reasons I put the notice up was so that guys like you, Martyn and Rick to name but a few could publicise your stuff which deserves a wider audience and I am sure no one would turn down a shot at $10,000. I hope you dip your bread as we say in the UK.

      • http://thailandlandofsmiles.com Talen

        Mike, while I would love the money I don’t feel real comfortable with medical tourism…I think it’s a scary business that people jump too quickly into. I think anyone that really needs to have a procedure done should consult a local doctor who has their best interest at heart and will be around for the long haul when it comes to post operative care.

        That being said I do think it’s worthwhile to have dentistry done in Thailand as the dentists I have seen have been on par with American dentists and the cost is a third.

        • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

          Talen as they say in Thailand up to you, we’re all different. A question though, if you had a life threatening condition and surgery in the USA was not possible(because of cost) would you opt in to be a medical tourist to Thailand if the surgery was available at less cost?

          • http://thailandlandofsmiles.com Talen

            That’s a tough call Mike, even though the cost might be cheaper in Thailand there are still the associated costs of travel, accommodation and the like. The vast majority of medical tourism has nothing to do with life threatening illness though it’s more tummy tucks, boob jobs, and orthodontics.

            Not to mention that several people have died in the past few years in Thailand after having such procedures done.

          • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

            Talen I realise it all adds up and I can only truly speak for the UK and the NHS waiting time which might tempt people here. I would like to see the nationalities of those using the facilities here, perhaps its not just Westerners?

  • http://tambon.blogspot.com/ MaewNam

    Seems like TAT finally has noticed the opportunities of Web2.0. I only hope they will not just concentrate on those big money topics – apart from medical tourism also golf and spa seem to be popular topics for TAT, as they believe these attracts those tourists who bring loads of money to the country. But somehow I think that most of the bloggers, wikipedia authors, twitter users, facebook addicts are a different group of tourists, especially those who actually create quality contents which TAT should link to from their website. All their listings of attractions is just so short one hardly knows if it worth to visit or not, but a personal blog posting from someone who actually went there is worth much more.

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Andy I think you sum up TAT perfectly. I have never for the life of me understood their reluctance to publicise some of the excellent stuff folk write about Thailand, some of your Unseen Thailand stuff is a perfect example.

      I fancy part of the problem is thinking outside the box, something in my opinion that Thais are not so good at.

  • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

    Boonie, you don’t actually have to blog about the medical tourism aspect but as they say in Thailand, “up to you.”

  • Lloyd

    I think thus just highlights the lack of knowledge and understanding within TAT. Asking a bunch of mostly unskilled people to write about and promote something as complex as medical tourism is just plain ignorant of the target market and of the dangers in promoting something without the proper knowledge or training.

    Whoevere is advising TAT on social media and marketing needs a good foot in the backside

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Lloyd I fancy TAT like to do there own thing. I am also fairly sure they try to target the top end of the market.

      • Lloyd

        I think if they did the research they would find out that the people who travel to countries like Thailand for medical procedures are nothing like travellers at the ‘Top End’ of the market.

        Whilst they are probably not like your average Pattaya minger they are more likely to be a budget traveller who is travelling on budget or packaged airlines, staying at packaged hotel or budget chain.

        • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

          Lloyd I’m not sure what a Pattaya minger is, but I think the last part of your comment is not totally true.

          Personally my first trip to Thailand was a package, with Kuoni in fact. I flew with Thai International and stayed at two four star hotels in Bangkok and Cha-am. I was not however a medical tourist so perhaps they are different.

    • http://www.jonathan-russell.com/ Jon

      I’m with Lloyd, this is a ridiculous idea.

      Medical tourism isn’t something people do on a whim, though the Thai blogosphere is a vibrant place most people would research the topic in more detail using reputed sources.

      The TAT is clueless, having “successfully” (to be debated) used blogs for a previous campaign they are using the same tactic for a completely different project.

      • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

        Jon interesting observations. I never did find out how the last blog based promotion went. Do you know, I think it was called Thailand Explorer.

        Whether we like it or not, I guess its up to the punters many of whom are already drawn to Thailand for medical tourism.

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  • http://www.thaisabai.org Martyn

    Mike congratulations on being asked to submit some ‘stuff’ for a travel book, I hope you will be taking up the opportunity.

    As far as promoting medical tourism in Thailand via a blog post goes then I really don’t know my arse from my elbow or better put my shovel from my scalpel. I think I’ll leave that one to the more natural writers like yourself and others. Besides the criteria for winning would appear more to be about getting the most hits than actual content.

    Good luck with the travel book and the competition.

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Martyn I have two articles accepted so far and have two more to do. The downside is I get paid in kind, I get 6 copies of the book ($20 each) and links.I may well use a copy of the work as a prize in a future competition.I think the hits bit of the contest comes in after selection of the finalists, I figure you have to be in it to win it, the best blog also attracts $3000.

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