Abstract:
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This research aims 1) to analyze the implementation of a health tourism
promoting policy in Thai traditional medicine promoting hospitals, 2) to evaluate the
efficiency and effectiveness of a health tourism logistic management process in Thai
traditional medicine promoting hospitals, and 3) to create a model of the health
tourism logistic management in Thai traditional medicine promoting hospitals with a
combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods.
According to the findings, most of the health tourism tourists who use the
services in Thai traditional medicine promoting hospitals are female aged between 41-50,
married, hold a bachelor degree, and work as governmental officers/governmental
staff with a salary of 15.001-25,000 Baht. For most of them, using the service in Thai
traditional medicine promoting hospitals is their first time, and their main purpose is
to receive Thai massage service. Regarding the health tourism promoting policy
implementation in Thai traditional medicine promoting hospitals, it is found that the
policy used for the implementation in the hospitals is clear and in accordance with the
economic and social condition as well as the tourists’ value. Resources for the
implementation include a location, budget, personnel as well as material, equipment,
and tools are sufficiently allocated. Technology is applied to support the process. An
organization structure is well-arranged to suit the policy implementation while the
implementing operators are greatly knowledgeable and skilled. They communicate
with each other and with the tourists appropriately and clearly. However, there are
some problems such as a delay of budget disbursement due to governmental processes
and high maintenance costs for some equipment.
According to an evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of the health
tourism logistic management process in Thai traditional medicine promoting
hospitals, it is found that, for physical flow management, the hospitals provide service
areas to the tourists properly despite of a limited resting area. For information flow
management, the hospitals provide directional signs around the hospitals for the
tourists’ convenient accessibility, but they are still far and few between. Storing,
forwarding, and linking data is mainly based on a document system. For financial
flow management, only one payment channel is available, but it does not affect the
speed of the service. For service process flow management, the hospitals have
systematic service processes and practices from the first to last process; however,
there is no service before the tourists leave. For service quality, the hospitals have
service quality management to facilitate the tourists along with the use of innovation
and technology in the service and personnel training about service mind and empathy
towards the tourists.
According to hypothesis testing, it is discovered that health tourism promoting
policy implementation factors including the policy’s clarity, resources, and
implementing operators have an influence on the health tourism logistic management
process in Thai traditional medicine promoting hospitals. Moreover, the result shows
that the tourists with different ages lead to a difference in an evaluation of the
efficiency and effectiveness of the health tourism logistic management process in
Thai traditional medicine promoting hospitals, whereas their different service
experience leads to a difference in an efficiency evaluation of the health tourism
logistic management process in Thai traditional medicine promoting hospitals. Also,
the efficiency and effectiveness of the health tourism logistic management process in
Thai traditional medicine promoting hospitals associate with each other and are in the
same direction.
A model of the health tourism logistic management in Thai traditional
medicine promoting hospitals consists of minor processes underlying the physical
flow management, information flow management, financial flow management,
service process flow management, and service quality according to a service line from
the tourists entering the hospital until leaving.
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