Samitivej Hospital Group has set aside a budget of 1.5 billion baht to improve service quality and buy new medical equipment to facilitate new patients.
The budget excludes new merger and acquisition plans in the near future, said Chairat Panthuraamphorn, managing director and chief executive of Samitivej Hospital and BNH Hospital.
"Foreign patients are increasing every year because of the country's economic expansion and Thailand is a destination for healthcare tourism in Southeast Asia," he said.
As healthcare becomes more competitive globally, hospitals and wellness centres are trying to improve their service quality and adopt new technologies, said Dr Chairat.
Many are creating network partnerships with overseas hospitals to better serve patient demand.
"Hospitals and wellness centres want to be partners with global healthcare leaders and institutes to provide high-quality medical services for patients," he said.
"In 2019, there are many movements in the global healthcare sector in terms of mergers, takeovers and investment plans."
In a related development, Samitivej launched a new service for Japanese expats. The new facility is located opposite Samitivej Sukhumvit in Bangkok.
Samitivej spent 900 million baht for this new service and facility to serve Japanese in Thailand, with a capacity of 30 beds.
"We are following Japan's medical and healthcare standards to help Japanese feel as if they are receiving care in their home country," said Dr Chairat.
Samitivej has an agreement with Japan's Sano Hospital to support this new business.
Sano specialises in gastrointestinal endoscopy for advanced diagnosis and therapeutic treatment through endoscopy, which helps in early cancer detection.
Samitivej is also collaborating with Takatsuki General Hospital, which focuses on advanced medical treatment for newborn babies and patients with food allergies.
Thais account for 60% of Samitivej's patients and foreigners the rest.
Of the foreign patients, Japanese constitute the largest portion. Samitivej has roughly 140,000 Japanese visits per year and 200 newborn babies per year.
Other large foreign patient groups are American and British.
Samitivej Hospital Group has a total capacity of 1,500 beds at eight hospitals: Samitivej Sukhumvit, Samitivej Srinakarin, Samitivej Sriracha, Samitivej Chonburi, Samitivej Thonburi, Samitivej Chinatown, Samitivej Children Hospital and BNH Hospital.
Samitivej Hospital and BNH Hospital are part of Bangkok Dusit Medical Services, the largest medical group in Thailand, operating six major hospital groups: Bangkok Hospital, Samitivej Hospital, BNH Hospital, Phyathai Hospital, Paolo Hospital and The Royal Hospital.
In 2018, Samitivej Hospital Group had total revenue of 19-20 billion baht.
Dr Chairat said Samitivej plans to expand investment in Samitivej Sriracha and Samitivej Chonburi, which are located in the Eastern Economic Corridor, to serve Japanese expats and families.
Both hospitals have a total capacity of 300 beds, and Samitivej plans to raise the number to 500 beds.
