Dr. Surawej Numhom

Dr. Surawej Numhom (Thai: สุรเวช น้ำหอม) is a plastic surgeon in Bangkok who holds two current, documented posts. The surgery department at Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University's teaching hospital on Rama VI Road, names him on its staff page as อ.นพ.สุรเวช น้ำหอม and gives his position as หัวหน้าสาขาวิชา: head of the department's plastic and maxillofacial surgery division. Separately, Praram 9 Hospital, also in Bangkok, lists him in its English-language doctor directory under the Skin and Plastic Surgery department, with plastic surgery given as his field.

One role is an academic leadership post inside a university hospital; the other is a clinical listing at a different hospital. Which of the two you approach affects practical matters such as clinic times, how appointments are arranged and what help exists for visitors from abroad, so this profile treats the two settings separately.

The division he leads. Ramathibodi's plastic and maxillofacial surgery division dates its patient care to 1969 (B.E. 2512), when the hospital's Department of Surgery first opened. Its history page names a broad spread of work, which we group here by area: the face and skull (craniofacial surgery, cleft lip and palate repair, maxillofacial surgery, facial palsy surgery and bone distraction), tumours and vessels (head and neck tumours, vascular and lymphatic malformations), hand surgery, microsurgery, burns, breast reconstruction and cosmetic surgery. Alongside these it operates a Burn Unit and a Cleft Clinic that brings dental, speech, ear and surgical care into one multidisciplinary service.

That list describes what the division as a whole provides. It is not a record of operations Dr. Numhom carries out himself, and this page does not treat it as his personal list.

His documented focus. Neither official source attaches a subspecialty or a procedure list to his name. The special-interest field on the Ramathibodi staff page is empty, and the interest and association fields on his Praram 9 profile are empty. His training record includes microsurgery and craniofacial surgery (set out below), but training shows where a surgeon learned rather than which operations they offer patients today. If you are considering a particular operation, ask us to check with the hospital whether it is something he takes on, before any travel plans are made.

As published by his two hospitals, Dr. Numhom's education runs from a Thai medical degree, through surgical and plastic surgery training in Thailand, to further study in Taiwan and the United States. Entries with a year, in date order:

• 1994: Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Chulalongkorn University's medical faculty, Thailand. The Ramathibodi page records the same degree in Thai as พ.บ.
• 1998: Surgery, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand.
• 2000: Plastic Surgery, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University.
• 2002: Microsurgery, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University.
• 2007: Craniofacial Surgery, Chang Gung Craniofacial Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

Three more credentials appear on the Ramathibodi staff page with no year attached:

• PSF International Scholar, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, USA.
• Certificate of Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Trauma and Burns, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
• ว.ว. ศัลยศาสตร์ตกแต่ง แพทยสภา, his board qualification in plastic surgery, awarded by the Thai Medical Council (written แพทยสภา on the page).

How we record these entries. The Praram 9 profile gives the 1998 to 2007 items as plain year-and-subject lines. It does not describe any of them as a residency or a fellowship, so we use the neutral word training rather than guess at the type of programme. The University of Washington item is different: the Ramathibodi page itself calls it a research fellowship certificate, so we repeat that wording.

What we could not confirm. 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. Nor could we open the membership rosters of ThPRS or ThSAPS, the two Thai plastic surgery societies, so no society membership appears on this page. That is a gap in what we were able to check, not evidence either way about membership. A PubMed author search under Numhom S returned no results at the time, so no publications are linked here.

Two current posts are documented. Neither source gives a start date for them or lists any earlier appointments.

Head of division, Ramathibodi Hospital. Dr. Numhom leads the plastic and maxillofacial surgery division within Ramathibodi's Department of Surgery. According to the division's own pages, division surgeons cover surgical outpatients daily and take emergency cases around the clock, and three residents a year are currently being prepared there for the Thai plastic surgery board. The unit therefore combines patient care with specialist teaching, which is worth keeping in mind when you ask who will be involved in your care (see the consultation questions below).

Plastic surgeon, Praram 9 Hospital. On Praram 9 Hospital's website he appears among the doctors of the Skin and Plastic Surgery department. His profile there sets out his education but leaves the interest and association fields blank, so it adds no detail about the operations he offers.

Years of experience. Because neither hospital says when he took up either post, we do not give a number of years in practice. His published training dates run from his 1994 medical degree to 2007. You are welcome to ask the hospital how long he has held his current roles and how often he performs the procedure you have in mind; our patient team can pass that question on.

Because no procedure list is published for Dr. Numhom, the first task of any consultation request is to establish fit: is the operation you are thinking about one he personally performs, and at which of his two hospitals? Our patient team asks this on your behalf before anything is arranged, but it is also worth raising with him face to face.

In general, patients commonly find it useful to cover the following points with any plastic surgeon:

• Scope and experience. Ask whether your procedure is part of his regular work and how he usually approaches it. A training history is background; the answer that matters concerns the specific operation you want.
• Where the surgery would take place. Ask which hospital would host the operation, the tests beforehand and the follow-up visits, and whether the hospital where you are seen for consultation is the same one where you would be operated on.
• Who is in the operating room. Ramathibodi is a university hospital whose plastic surgery division trains residents. Where trainees are part of a surgical team, patients are generally entitled to know which steps the named surgeon handles personally and which doctor checks on them in the days after surgery.
• Suitability. Whether an operation is right for you depends on an individual assessment of your health, anatomy, medicines, smoking status and goals. No result can be promised in advance, and a surgeon may advise against an operation or suggest a different approach.
• Risks and recovery. Every operation carries risks, including bleeding, infection, poor scarring, reactions to anaesthesia and results that differ from what you hoped for. Ask which risks matter most for your procedure and your health, what the usual recovery stages are, and which warning signs should prompt you to seek help.
• Follow-up if you live abroad. Ask what length of stay in Bangkok he would advise after the operation, which check-ups happen after you fly home and who handles them, and whom to call if something worries you later.
• Costs and what they include. Ask for a written estimate that separates the surgeon's fee, hospital and anaesthesia charges, tests and medicines, and explains the policy on any revision surgery.

Writing your questions down before the appointment helps, as does bringing a companion if you can. If English is not your first language, or you are unsure whether the consultation will be held in English, tell us beforehand so the hospital can be asked about language support.

Practical arrangements differ between his two Bangkok hospitals, so it helps to decide early which one you would prefer.

[Ramathibodi Hospital](/hospital/ramathibodi-hospital/) , the main campus hospital for Ramathibodi's medical faculty within Mahidol University, has its address at 270 Rama VI Road, Ratchatewi, Bangkok 10400. When we reviewed its official website we found no service set up for international patients. Its International Relations Section handles academic matters such as inbound electives and scholarships, and the Ramathibodi Health Space pages describe health service centres away from the hospital rather than a programme for patients travelling from abroad.

The plastic surgery outpatient timetable on the Ramathibodi site lists in-hours morning clinics (9:00 to 12:00) and afternoon clinics (13:00 to 16:00), out-of-hours evening clinics (17:00 to 20:00), Premium Clinic sessions and Cleft Clinic sessions. That page carries an update date of 15 February 2022 and does not show clearly which weekday each session runs or which surgeon covers it, so treat it as a rough guide and let our patient team confirm current arrangements.

[Praram 9 Hospital](/hospital/praram-9-hospital/) publishes an English-language profile for Dr. Numhom in its doctor directory, under Skin and Plastic Surgery. Its services for overseas visitors have not yet been verified by us, so they are not described here.

In general, anyone travelling to Bangkok for surgery should settle a few points before booking flights: whether a first consultation can be held by video or must be in person, whether an interpreter will be available, which tests are needed before surgery and when, how many days or weeks to stay near the hospital afterwards, and which doctor oversees your recovery after you return home. Our patient team can gather those answers from whichever hospital you choose.

We cannot offer a procedure-specific checklist for Dr. Numhom, because his hospitals do not publish the operations he performs. The list below is general preparation that helps any plastic surgery team judge whether an in-person consultation makes sense. The hospital may ask for more once it has reviewed your request.

• Your goal in a sentence or two. Say what bothers you or what you hope to achieve, and whether this would be a first operation, a revision of earlier surgery or a reconstructive need.
• Medical history. Current and past illnesses, especially heart or lung conditions, diabetes, bleeding or clotting problems, or a history of heavy scarring.
• Medicines and supplements. Include blood thinners, hormones and herbal products, with doses.
• Allergies, including any reaction to anaesthesia, antibiotics, latex or wound dressings.
• Previous surgery. Dates, the names of the operations and, if you have them, operation notes or discharge summaries, particularly for earlier work on the same area.
• Smoking and vaping. In general, nicotine affects healing and can change a surgeon's advice, so say whether you smoke or vape.
• Photos, if you are comfortable sharing them. Clear, well-lit pictures of the area concerned, taken against a plain background from the front, from each side and at a three-quarter view, with no filters or editing. Photos help the surgeon judge whether an in-person assessment is worthwhile but cannot replace one.
• Travel details. Your preferred hospital, your possible travel window, the length of stay you could manage in Bangkok, and whether you need language support.

Our patient team passes this information to the hospital you choose so it can be reviewed together with your request.