Phuket Clinic Guide

How we verify a clinic licence in Phuket

Updated 7 October 2026

Every provider on Phuket Clinic Guide carries one of three licence statuses. A clinic licence is checked against the DHSS register when the publisher runs a register check or the provider submits licence evidence, and the date of each check is shown beside the status. "Not yet verified" also covers every provider whose licence has not been checked yet. No status is a guarantee.

The three statuses

  • Verified — clinic found in the DHSS register of licensed private clinics with a matching name, address and valid licence status, licence documents available, and the responsible doctor's Medical Council licence valid; or a public hospital exempt from private licensing, part of an established hospital or clinic group, or confirmed by the operator. The provider page names the basis under "Basis".
  • Not yet verified — listed from open data; no clinic licence has been confirmed yet. This includes every provider whose licence has not been checked.
  • Possibly unlicensed — medical procedures offered with no clinic licence found in the DHSS register, or an authority has reported or acted against the provider for operating without the required licence, confirmed by a second independent source, published only after the publisher's review, with a legal notice and a right of reply.

Who requires medical licensing in Thailand

Under Thailand's Sanatorium Act B.E. 2541 (1998), as amended by the Sanatorium Act (No. 4) B.E. 2559 (2016), every private clinic or hospital is a "sanatorium" (สถานพยาบาล), and the term includes vehicles used for treatment. No one may run one without a licence to operate it, and no one may manage one without a licence to manage it. The manager must be a licensed practitioner who can supervise the clinic closely; for a medical clinic this is a doctor. Licences are issued under the authority of the Director-General of the Department of Health Service Support (DHSS), Ministry of Public Health; in Phuket, applications and inspections are handled by the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (DHSS licensing procedure, 2024). Running a clinic without a licence can lead to up to five years' imprisonment, a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both. Public hospitals and other state health facilities are exempt from private licensing.

Aesthetic medicine is provided in clinics licensed as a medical clinic (คลินิกเวชกรรม) or a specialised medical clinic (คลินิกเวชกรรมเฉพาะทาง), or in hospitals (DHSS). A licensed clinic must display its name, details of the practitioners who work there, and its fees and patients' rights, and it needs official approval before advertising.

Under the Medical Profession Act B.E. 2525 (1982), the practice of medicine includes injecting medicines or substances and inserting any object into the body for beautification, and only doctors licensed by the Medical Council of Thailand may practise it. Foreign doctors need the same Thai licence, which requires passing the Medical Council's examinations, with limited exceptions approved by the Medical Council. Registered nurses may give medicines, including injections and intravenous infusions, only as set out in a doctor's treatment plan, or for primary care and first aid (Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council Regulation, 2021).

Procedures that require a licensed clinic and a licensed doctor. Phuket Clinic Guide treats the following as medical procedures. They must be performed by a doctor licensed by the Medical Council of Thailand, or, for IV drips, by a registered nurse following a doctor's treatment plan, and only inside a licensed clinic or hospital:

  • Injectables: botulinum toxin ("Botox"), dermal fillers, skin boosters, collagen stimulators, PRP and other injected products. The Department of Health Service Support and the government have stated that Botox and filler injections must be given by a licensed doctor in a licensed clinic (Thai PBS, Hfocus)
  • IV drips and infusions, including NAD+ and vitamin drips. A registered nurse may give the drip, but only on a doctor's treatment plan, and the medicine must be registered with the Thai FDA. A product registered as a cosmetic may not be injected (Thai FDA)
  • Lasers, including laser hair removal. In April 2024 police, in a joint operation with the Department of Health Service Support, stated that laser treatments must be performed by a licensed doctor (Amarin TV)
  • HIFU, RF microneedling, deep microneedling, thread lifts, and medium and deep chemical peels. The Thai FDA says HIFU machines need the expertise of a specialist doctor (Thai FDA); for the other procedures in this item, the classification is Phuket Clinic Guide's own
  • Stem cell, cell and exosome-based treatments. The Medical Council of Thailand recognises stem cell treatment as standard care only for certain blood disorders and eye conditions, and treats other uses as research that needs ethics-committee approval (CIM Journal, October 2024; Bangkok Biz News, June 2025). In December 2025 it set standards for cell therapy in blood disorders (Medical Council Announcement 116/2568)
  • Oxygen and blood-based therapies: hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), ozone therapy and extracorporeal blood oxygenation and ozonation (EBOO)

Treatments that non-medical providers may offer. Spas and massage businesses are licensed as health establishments under the Health Establishments Act B.E. 2559 (2016) (Royal Gazette vol. 133, part 30 kor, 31 March 2016) and may offer massage, spa treatments and standard facials. The Department of Health Service Support has said spas, beauty-massage businesses and beauty salons may not give Botox, filler or vitamin C injections (DHSS). A provider that also offers any procedure in the list above needs a clinic licence and a licensed doctor for that procedure.

Equipment and products. Medicines such as botulinum toxin must be registered with the Thai Food and Drug Administration under the Drug Act B.E. 2510 (1967). Fillers, lasers, HIFU and other energy-based machines are medical devices under the Medical Device Act B.E. 2551 (2008), as amended in 2019. Selling unregistered medicines or unlicensed devices is an offence, and clinics must buy from licensed distributors (Thai FDA, May 2026). Registration can be checked on the Thai FDA product search. Unregistered products cannot be shown to be safe.

Treatment away from the clinic. The Department of Health Service Support has said that aesthetic injections given outside licensed premises are unlawful. Public guidance does not set out clearly when a licensed clinic may send staff to a villa or hotel, for example for an IV drip. Phuket Clinic Guide lists a mobile provider as "Verified" only when the licensed clinic behind it is confirmed.

Where the licence status applies. The licence status and badge apply to providers that offer procedures requiring medical licensing and qualified medical staff. They describe whether a licensed clinic could be confirmed for those procedures. They are not a rating of non-medical services such as facials.

What we check

  1. Clinic licence. The clinic's trading name, licence number and address are searched in the DHSS register of licensed private clinics, which shows each clinic's name, address, licence type, licensed manager, practitioners and licence status. A match on name and address with a valid licence status, plus a sighted licence to operate (form ส.พ.7) and licence to manage (form ส.พ.19), is required for "Verified".
  2. Responsible doctor. The licensed manager's name is checked on the Medical Council of Thailand register. Where a provider says nurses give IV drips or injections, their names can be checked on the Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council register. The date of the check is shown on the provider page.
  3. Documents supplied by providers. Providers may send their DHSS licence number, photos of both clinic licences and the responsible doctor's Medical Council licence number to providers@baliclinicguide.com. Documents are checked within ten working days and the status is updated with the date of the check.

Check a clinic yourself

Before any injectable, IV drip or other medical procedure:

  1. Look at the clinic. A licensed clinic must display its licence to operate and its licence to manage, a sign showing the clinic's name and licence number, and the name, photo and licence number of each doctor. The doctor treating you should match the photo (DHSS).
  2. Search the clinic. Enter the clinic's name or licence number at hosp.hss.moph.go.th. If nothing is found, or the licence has expired or been revoked, the clinic may not be licensed (Medical Council Secretary-General, April 2026).
  3. Search the doctor. Enter the doctor's first name and surname, in Thai or English, at checkmd.tmc.or.th.
  4. Check the product. Ask to see the box. It should have a Thai label and a Thai FDA registration number, which you can check on the Thai FDA product search or through Line @FDAThai (Thai FDA).

To report a clinic or practitioner you believe is unlicensed, call the Department of Health Service Support on 1426 or the Thai FDA on 1556, or contact the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office. Consumer complaints can also go to the Office of the Consumer Protection Board on 1166, and tourists can call the Tourist Police on 1155.

Re-checks

Every confirmed licence is re-checked at least every 90 days. The next check date is shown in the "Record" panel of each provider page. Ratings are refreshed nightly and shown with the date they were observed.

Possibly unlicensed providers

A "Possibly unlicensed" status is published only when two conditions are both met: the publisher has set the publication flag on the record, and the provider's identifier is listed in the publication allowlist. Every such record carries this notice:

Licence status reflects the public records available to Phuket Clinic Guide on the date shown. 'Possibly unlicensed' means that no clinic licence for this trading name or address was found in the Department of Health Service Support (DHSS) register of licensed private clinics, or that an authority has reported or acted against it for operating without the required licence. It is a statement about public records and official reports, not a legal finding. Providers can submit evidence at any time; corrections are published within ten working days.

Right of reply and corrections

Any provider can reply to its listing or submit evidence at any time by writing to providers@baliclinicguide.com. Corrections are published within ten working days of receipt. The change and its date are recorded on the provider page.

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