Dr. Chayakorn Phannikul

Dr. Chayakorn Phannikul (Thai: ชญากร พันธ์นิกุล) is a male otolaryngologist, the formal name for an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon. He appears in the doctor directory of Meko International Hospital in Bangkok. The nose is the thread running through everything published about him: his profile lists a fellowship in rhinology, and the hospital's directory card gives open rhinoplasty (เสริมจมูกแบบเปิด) as his area of expertise.

On ThaiCosmeticSurgery.com he is filed under facial plastic surgery (ENT). That heading is simply our grouping for surgeons whose specialist training is in ENT rather than in plastic and reconstructive surgery. The Meko profile states an ENT board qualification and a rhinology fellowship; nowhere does it use the words plastic surgeon for him, so we avoid them too. For someone planning nasal surgery the difference is mostly one of training route, since the nose and airway are core ENT territory, but it is a fact worth knowing when you set several surgeons side by side.

His only documented workplace is Meko International Hospital. The facility's own pages are inconsistent about what it calls itself: the site refers to Meko as a clinic, while the contact page for the Vibhavadi Rangsit Road branch carries the hospital name. Our facility research found no published bed count, ward or international patient desk, so we stop short of calling it a full inpatient hospital. The research found no other hospital or university post for Dr. Chayakorn.

The one procedure area we connect to him is rhinoplasty. Anyone wondering if he suits their nose can send a request for a consultation with Dr. Chayakorn Phannikul, and our patient team relays the enquiry to Meko and reports back. Our provider research methodology page sets out where our facts come from.

All of the qualifications below come from Dr. Chayakorn's own page on the Meko website. The licence can be looked up on the Medical Council of Thailand's public register at checkmd.tmc.or.th, and our patient team can help you confirm it before you travel. Please read the list as the hospital's published statement.

The profile gives three milestones:

• M.D., Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, 2012. This is his basic medical degree.
• Diplomate, Thai Board of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, 2018. This is the specialist qualification that places him in ENT.
• Clinical and Research Fellowship, Division of Rhinology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, South Korea, 2020.

Taken in order, they describe medical school, then specialist ENT training in Thailand, then a further placement abroad devoted to the nose and sinuses (rhinology). A fellowship of this kind combines patient care with research. In general terms, it points to extra exposure to nasal anatomy and airflow problems, which matters because a rhinoplasty changes how a nose looks while it still has to work as a breathing passage. The profile does not describe what his fellowship involved day to day, so we cannot say which techniques he learned there.

The page also names a professional body, which it describes as a royal college for ENT surgeons in the head and neck field. It is printed on the hospital page and nowhere else we looked, and no membership list we read includes him, so it should not be taken as a checked credential. The profile additionally shows a Medical Council licence number. If independent confirmation matters to you, our patient team can request it for you before any deposit or flight booking.

Our research file records a single current role: ENT surgeon at Meko International Hospital in Bangkok. No start date is given, and the pages we read name no earlier hospital or university appointment, so we cannot sketch a career history beyond the education dates above. We also found no statement of how many years he has operated or how many nasal operations he has performed, and we do not offer an estimate.

The Meko profile does list some professional activity. We repeat it as published:

• An invited-speaker entry at the 2023 International Congress of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Head and Neck Surgery, held in Korea.
• An invited-speaker entry at ASEANRhino 2024 in Singapore.
• The 8th TACS Teaching Program, "Update Silicone Rhinoplasty", in 2022. The profile does not say what part he played, so we do not say that he taught on it.
• A 2023 paper, "Medial nasal bone trimming for managing the deviated and or wind bony vault in Asians", in the Journal of Cosmetic Medicine. A PubMed author search found no usable record, so the citation is taken from the Meko profile alone and we have no link to the paper or its abstract.

The topics are consistent: rhinology meetings, a course on silicone rhinoplasty and a paper on the bony part of the nose in Asian patients. That matches the focus the hospital gives him. It is worth keeping in perspective, though. Speaking invitations and a journal paper show that a surgeon takes part in the professional conversation about a subject. They tell you nothing about how any individual patient's operation will turn out, and they are not a substitute for asking about his own caseload and complication handling at your consultation.

### Open rhinoplasty (documented)

Rhinoplasty is the one procedure we link to Dr. Chayakorn, and the link rests on three items in the Meko material. His directory card names open rhinoplasty as his expertise, his profile lists a rhinology fellowship, and his listed paper deals with nasal bone trimming. Separately, Meko has a nose-surgery service page that includes rhinoplasty among the facility's services.

In general, an open rhinoplasty is performed via one short cut over the columella (the skin strip dividing the two nostrils), which lets the skin be folded forward and exposes the cartilage and bone beneath. Our rhinoplasty guide says the scar is fine and usually fades well, and sets it against the closed approach, where every incision is hidden inside the nostrils and which suits some reduction cases. Which route is better for you depends on your nose and on what you want changed, and only the operating surgeon can decide that after examining you. We found nothing on how often Dr. Chayakorn uses each approach, so that is a question for him.

### Breathing and the bony vault

Two threads in his documented background deserve a patient's attention. The first is the airway. A rhinology fellowship suggests that breathing forms part of how he approaches the nose. If you have a blocked side, a deviated septum or a history of injury, say so at the start, because the shape and the airflow are normally planned together. Straightening the septum at the same time as reshaping the nose is generally called septorhinoplasty. Whether Dr. Chayakorn offers it as a service is not stated in any source we read, but his ENT and rhinology training makes it a reasonable thing to raise.

The second thread is the bony vault, the hard upper part of the nose that carries the bridge. His 2023 paper is about trimming the medial nasal bone to deal with a deviated or wide bony vault in Asians. We say nothing about the method or its outcomes. The title does suggest an interest in crooked or broad bridges, which may matter if your concern sits at the top of the nose rather than at the tip.

### What we do not attribute to him

No source we read ties Dr. Chayakorn to revision rhinoplasty, implant-based augmentation, nostril reduction, eyelid surgery, facial feminisation or any other operation. Meko as a whole offers a wide menu of face and body procedures, but a facility's list of services does not reveal which surgeon performs which. If you want something beyond a first-time nasal operation, ask directly instead of assuming.

The guidance below follows our general rhinoplasty page and is arranged around what is known of Dr. Chayakorn's training and listed expertise. It is not a description of how he conducts appointments, which no source documents. Whether a nose is suitable for surgery, and what can be achieved, can only be judged after examination.

Begin with what you want and how you breathe. Goals usually fall into two camps. Reduction covers lowering a hump, slimming the bridge or refining the tip, while augmentation covers building a low bridge or pushing the tip forward. The techniques, materials and risks differ between the two. Tell the surgeon which you have in mind, and describe your breathing as well: a side that blocks, past injuries, sinus trouble, earlier nasal surgery. Because he trained in ENT, expect the functional history to be part of the conversation.

Questions worth putting to him

• Which approach, open or closed, would you plan for my nose, and what reasons lie behind that?
• Does my septum or bony vault need work, and how would that change the operation and my recovery?
• If extra support is needed, would you borrow my own cartilage, or place an implant? Either way, what does the choice mean for infection risk, texture and durability?
• What are the risks specific to my nose, including breathing difficulty and the chance that I would want a second operation?
• For how many days should I stay near the clinic, and who examines me before my flight?
• Whom do I contact if something worries me once I am back home, and how quickly will someone answer?

Treat a photo-based plan as provisional. Many Thai hospitals offer a first opinion from pictures. In general, the plan is confirmed only after an in-person assessment of skin thickness, the septum and the internal nasal valves, and sometimes with pre-operative tests.

Raise the undocumented points. The public sources do not give Dr. Chayakorn's operating volume, the anaesthesia arrangements for his cases or his fees. These are all fair questions. Asking our patient team to get written answers before you travel is sensible.

Bring pictures of noses you like and some you dislike. A responsible surgeon will tell you honestly how far your own anatomy allows the result to go, and may suggest less than you hoped for.

Meko International Hospital stands at number 41 on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road (Chom Phon sub-district, Chatuchak), and its official contact page shows it open every day from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. The group also has a branch, Meko Clinic Rama 2, at 500 Rama 2 Road in Bang Mot, which opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 8 p.m. Which of the two sites Dr. Chayakorn works from is not stated on his page; get the address confirmed in writing before you set out. For the wider picture of staying in the capital, see our page on Bangkok.

Meko's published pages, as far as our research reached, mention no international patient desk, no languages, no hospital accreditation and no airport-transfer or interpreter service. The facility's website is written mainly in Thai, and Dr. Chayakorn's profile names no languages. We therefore cannot promise English-language care. If Thai is not your language, settle in advance how conversation will work: whether the surgeon himself speaks English, and whether a coordinator or interpreter will be with you at the consultation and on the day of the operation.

In general, a nose operation asks for more of your time than the hours on the operating table. Our rhinoplasty page describes a typical Thailand trip of 7–10 days, which allows the splint to come off and a healing check to take place. Office work often restarts after 1–2 weeks, and swelling mostly settles over 2–3 weeks, although the tip can continue to change for a year or longer. Keep your return flight flexible, choose lodging within easy reach of the clinic and, if you can, bring someone with you. These figures describe the typical case only; your own surgeon sets the date you may fly.

A remote review is only as good as the material behind it. Following our rhinoplasty guide, a typical package contains:

• Photographs: full face from the front, both profiles and the view from below, taken in even daylight or neutral light, without filters and with hair pulled back. A smiling picture helps if your smile alters the nose.
• Your aims: a few sentences in your own words, plus optional reference images of results you admire.
• Nasal history: earlier operations, fractures or knocks, with what was done, where and when. Include operative notes if you hold them.
• Breathing and sinuses: which side blocks, snoring or disturbed sleep, hay fever or other allergies, sinus infections, sprays or other treatments, and any scan or previous ENT letter.
• General health: other medical conditions, past anaesthetic problems, allergies, regular medicines and supplements, particularly blood thinners, and any smoking or nicotine use.
• Logistics: possible travel dates, nationality, your preferred language and whether someone will accompany you.

Please do not stop or change any medicine on your own initiative; the surgeon will advise on that. If you are unsure which photographs or papers to send, ask our patient team and they will guide you.