CISW press conference at Bangkok Intercontinental Hotel has gathered Thailand’s health and wellness achiever in one big event on November 1st. Even each of them did not get enough time to tell their full stories, but it’s enough to see why many of them are the leading companies, medical professors and researchers that have proven records.
After the conference ended (1 November 2023), the chairman of CISW Holding Group (CHG), Mr. Jacky Ong told “Kaohoon” about his company stories. He said CISW initials stand for Commercial, Investment, Services and Worldwide. He strategized his company as a platform that helps develop Thai business and connect to global customers, as the wellness mega trend is growing.
The chairman explained that there’s a huge opportunity for Thailand’s medical tourism and wellness industry as they target luxury customers, expecting a daily spending over $3,000. The goal of wellness is to increase people’s healthspan and prevent illness before it happens, instead of extending lifespan and cure the illness as most hospitals do.
The wellness theme can include telemedicine, health apps, health coaching, health insurance, spa, real estate, hotel, cafe, restaurant and other alternative medicine or treatments like medical cannabis. The all above wellness industries are estimated around 100 billion dollars in valuation worldwide.
When asked about his future plan, the chairman said as for now, CHG will hold as many gatherings as possible. He said it’s not just only about connecting investors, businesses and customers, but to globally raise awareness about the wellness industry and further spread medical knowledge from CISW partners research as well.
He said the company committed about $1.35 million on the gatherings and festivals from 2023 to 2024, as last year Cannabis festival alone generated around $13.5 million and 300 exhibitors. Furthermore, CHG usually seeded the business that they helped develop around 5% of their total shares as well.
The chairman is also planning to list CHG to the public in five years, as he expects his company and its subsidiary to double or triple the current value from $50 million to $100 or $150 million during the said period. He cited there’s still a large sum of investment from both private sector and government in which one of the businesses he knows got over 50% reimbursements of the investment.
After that, one of the CISW partner, B-healthy Asia’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Ms. Paparorn Promlerd Nielsen and Chief Technology and Innovation Officer (CTIO), Mr. Cluaus F. Nielsen told “Kaohoon” about their stories that their company is developing a platform to connect Thai wellness business to global customers.
They explained that Thailand has a unique position as the oriental medicine attracts wellness customers globally. They mentioned acoustic and other therapies that could be facilitated outside hospitals, like in hotels for example. The CTIO also shared his personal story that he got into this business because his home country medicine couldn’t detect his illness. But he was saved by Thai alternatives before he even understood it, and now he wants to share Thai alternatives to the world.
The CTIO showcased his all-in-one app where the customer could buy wellness packages from any provider in Thailand. The customer will gain free access to a health monitor, which can securely import user health data from other sources like Apple Health or can be manually input.
The application also acts as a telemedicine that helps the user connect with a health coach or doctors. It can also enable patients to admit to the virtual ward from home instead of physical admission at the hospital. In addition, the app also has an AI health advisor that can speak multiple languages as well.
When asked about B-Healthy future plans, the COO and the CTIO explained that currently, their company is only founded for a few years and still in the cash-burning phase, just like Grab, FoodPanda or other startups at the beginning. However, they said the company made around $0.13 million last year. It’d take another 5 to 7 years to list B-Healthy to the public, according to the executives.
They added that their next phase is similar to the Starbuck franchise as they plan to grow organically. They said B-Healthy’s business model is proven but it’ll need another few years as their app is starting to build up big health data and attract insurance business.
The COO and the CTIO explained that the health insurance company has the same incentive alignment as their company. The more healthspan their customers have, the more profit for them. But the current laws and regulations only allow a limited insurance policy that could cover the wellness services.
They added that apart from marketing and IT consulting business, B-Healthy also need to build and expand their Academic arm to tackle the above limitation. They view that it could be changed if more people have a better understanding of wellness.