Bangkok -With a booming aesthetic treatment industry attracting younger and younger clients - and generating more and more complaints - Thailand has begun to bring the field under control.

The Medical Council of Thailand is working to frame regulations, with rules for the aesthetic surgery sector likely to be out in a couple of months.

The council has the power to regulate the profession but there are no regulations for aesthetic medicine and surgery.

While doctors cannot advertise themselves as experts in a field unless they are qualified in it, any licensed general practitioner can practise any kind of medicine, including those involving cosmetic surgery.

This state of affairs is set to change. Dr Somsak Lolekh, president of the Medical Council, told The Sunday Times that a committee is considering a tightening of regulations.

'We have had to set up the committee to look into regulations because there has been an increasing number of patients filing lawsuits against doctors - mostly over aesthetic treatments,' he said.

One issue that will come under scrutiny is the age of patients seeking treatment.

'We recently had a case of a 16- year-old who had liposuction treatment, and her mother filed a suit saying she had not signed any consent form,' Dr Somsak explained.

'The issue here is some patients may be too young to take the right decision and need guidance.'

The panel will also look into who should be allowed to practise cosmetic surgery and what sort of establishments should perform such procedures.

Committee members will also thrash out guidelines to help surgeons decide whether to perform a particular procedure.

Dr Somsak said he was unable to give the exact number of complaints. But he noted: 'It seems hard to make everybody happy in cosmetic surgery; many patients end up dissatisfied.'

The industry has boomed on the back of the growth of medical tourism, which is expected to bring in US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion) this year. There are about 40 clinics in Bangkok for cosmetic surgery alone, according to official figures. There are also 309 hospitals, of which around 100 have cosmetic surgery departments.

With its low costs compared to many Western countries, Thailand has become a magnet for foreigners seeking elective surgery such as facelifts that are not covered by insurance.

This story was first published in thesundaytimes on Apr 20, 2008.