Deepak Ohri - x Itdali ( I>D(> PS oNFWFUNWI p8C@ S?? H o H e H … · 2013-03-17 · x itdali ("...
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The Financial Express 8 l APRIL 15 l 2012 l F l O l O l T l L l O l O l S l E l Sharad Raghavan W HEN I told my friendsIwasgoingto Bangkok for a short businesstrip,Igotall kinds of crass and lewd jokes coming my way. But that was expected. Bangkok, and Thailand atlarge,hasareputationafterall,of be- ing home to a huge ‘massage’ industry and a deceptively large population of lady-boys. But jokes aside, Bangkok hasanextremelyattractiveelectronics market, and as a tech buff, I couldn’t wait to get there and start shopping for the latest technological marvels. So, it was with a light heart and a heavy wallet that I joined a group of journalists for our flight to Suvarnab- humi airport, Bangkok. A note here: I’m sure you’ve noticed how Hindi- sounding the name of the airport is. Well, don’t be surprised, it’s a trend you’ll see all over the place if you visit thecity.Afterall,92%of thepopulation isBuddhistandthere’sasizeablepopu- lation of Indian-origin people living there.Alright,sobacktotheflight.It’sa four-hourflightfromDelhitoBangkok, so I’d suggest taking a book along—the relatively low importance and popu- larity of the route means that only smaller planes frequent it, which means you’ll be lucky to get one with video screens behind every seat. Stepping out of the plane was an experience in itself. Going by just the climate, you could have stepped out into a bright Chennai day and you wouldn’t have noticed the difference. But I’m getting ahead of the story. I was warned in advance that immigra- tion lines in Bangkok are a night- mare, routinely taking two hours to get through. I don’t know if I was lucky, or if the stories are wild exag- gerations, but I got done in 10 minutes. And here comes note number two: with the climate in Bangkok usually very hot and humid, most buildings set their ACs to very low tempera- tures—be warned, you wouldn’t be the first person to catch a cold by just sitting in your hotel room. On our way to the hotel, we couldn’t helpbutnoticethemodernlookthecity has. Expressways, bridges and under- passes weaved over, under and beside each other to convey a feeling of con- crete fluidity I have only seen in the West. The newly-opened Suvarnabhu- mi Airport Rail Link, which our bus was speeding down, is a whopping 18.6 kilometres long! So, thanks to the new link road, we reached the centre of the city pretty quickly, only to be foiled by something uniquely Thai. The royal family was travelling on the very road we needed totaketogettoourhotel,andsoalltraf- fic was blocked on it, which meant our bus had to circle the block several times before it could take the right turn. Now, such blockages happen in Indiaaswell,thankstoourpoliticians. But their duration is usually short, the traffic police knowing full well that there’sjusttoomuchtrafficforthemto stop for too long. In Bangkok, however, the royal family is king (pardon the pun), and traffic will be stopped for as long as the security forces think it needs to be. Finally, we reached our ho- tel and crashed for the night. Or so the organisers thought. In fact, an intrepid bunch of journalists like us wasn’t going to waste our first night in a new city by just sitting in our hotel rooms. We went for a walk and were pleasantly surprised to find that the city stays awake till quite late. The streets were teeming with people, hanging around street corners talk- ing, or trying to sell all kinds of things to eat—ranging from simple satay, to snake’s blood (they’d actually kill a snake in front of you and drain its blood, if you so wished!). The first half of the next day was spent working, but the second half was spent on a cruise on the main river in Bangkok, the Chao Phraya. The river was as they are worldwide—largely clean, but with definite hints of garbage towards the banks. It’s the banks that really set the river apart, however. Dotted with impressive steel- and-glassbuildingandtraditionaltem- ples alike, the landscape is a stunning example of exactly what makes Bangkok so special. Even though most companies favour Bangkok for their company retreats or meetings, there is an ever-present tra- ditionality that melds the hard lines of modernity with a softer, older tone. It is perhaps a good time to get into the similarities between Bangkok and India’s major cities. I’ve already mentioned that the weather is like Chennai’s. But the overpowering feel of the city, its streets, the traffic, the people and the stray dogs (yes, they have them too!) is of a Mumbai-Delhi hybrid. Some roads are broken and pitted, people cross the roads wherev- er they want to, even when there is a zebra crossing nearby, beggars sit in corners and pickpockets loiter, ever alert for an easy lift. Finally, we come to shopping loca- tions.Unfortunately,itwasashorttrip, and so we didn’t have much time to shop. The best place to go, in that case, is the MBK mall. It has everything, from electronics to food courts and clothes stores, and little shops selling everything from spiders in amber to knives and samurai swords! On the last night, we did go to an adult show, I freely admit. This being a family publication, however, I will refrain from going into the details. I’ll letitgobysayingthatif you’reover18, and have an open mind for such things, do try to go for one of these shows. If nothing else, it’s something you will never, ever get to see in India. As holiday destinations go, Bangkok probably plays second fiddle to the nearby Pattaya city and its beaches. But if it’s a fun couple of days you’re looking for, Bangkok is a better choice than most. M Y LAST submission in this space prompted many comments and e-mails. Some of the responses were so in- sightful that gave me ideas for future columns. So, thank you. Though thereisonepointIshouldclarify.Ido not suggest that brands should al- ways go local or customise every- thing. But they must know their cus- tomers to succeed, and sometimes that means differentiated offerings in different markets. The key is not “local”, the key is “customer”. Knowledge of the customer is critical while entering the luxury market and there are some firms committed to doing it properly. Giv- en my business, I tend to focus on fine dining, wine and spirits and travel. These luxuries are, by defini- tion, not necessities. However, my recent experiences with the Indian health care system had me thinking about “luxury necessities”. A hospi- tal is a necessity. Globally, some groups are successfully making them luxurious. Unfortunately, the offerings in India are lagging. A luxury hospital is not about hav- ing a coffee shop and staff trained in the luxury hotel industry. Luxury is about service and the quality of the product. In a hospital, the products are doctors and the care and out- comes they provide. India has the world’s best doctors. However, there is a disconnect between the doctor and patient in India. This is known because of my experiences concern- ing four friends and relatives. Three are cancer patients and one suffers from kidney disease. Between these cases, I have had experiences with severalso-called“tophospitals”inIn- dia. They were all poorly managed, rushed, and frustrating. The doctors’ examinations were perfunctory and yet the patients were told such con- vincingnarrativesabouttheirfuture that they thought they should simply head to the grave. This was with top doctors, they seemed to care more about the high profile, reputation-en- hancing patients rather than provid- ing proper care to their patients. One of my relatives went to three of the best hospitals in India. All of them informed him that chemother- apy would not treat his cancer. This was after the briefest of examina- tions!Thissamerelativewhowasgiv- en such a bad prognosis in India went to see doctors in Bangkok and Ameri- ca. He was treated very differently there. The American hospital ad- vised chemotherapy and it was a suc- cess;hehadafullrecovery.Of course, not all outcomes are so fortunate and my point is not to criticise any doc- tor’sjudgment.Again,Indiandoctors are world-class. The problem is one of process and approach. Due to budget concerns, doctors spend little time with each guest and hope to make up with quantity what they lack in qual- ity. Especially the expensive private hospitals should realise they could make more money with better advice and more time per patient. The best hospitals in Asia are in- vesting in technology, patient rela- tions, and more efficient adminis- tration. The focus should be on the customer: patient consultation should come first and support staff should make sure doctors spend time examining and treating pa- tients, not doing administrative pa- perwork. When hospitals bring in- ternational branding to India, along with the best practices, they will win. If they get the regional adapta- tions right for different parts of In- dia, they will win big. Medical tourism is poised to be a major growth industry and India deserves a huge share of that market. I hope we make ourselves ready to provide a patient experience that matches the training of our physicians. Deepak Ohri is CEO of lebua Hotels & Resorts. He can be reached at [email protected] Indian hospitals have world class doctors but need to focus more on the patient than other services When luxury is a necessity Wat Arun, Bangkok Golden Buddha statue at Wat Traimit (Above) A traditional Thai dance being performed on stage; (left) a floating market in Bangkok Blitzing through Bangkok Even a quick trip to the Thai capital is time enough to explore the city’s dual faces of tradition and modernity, plus its famed seamy underbelly DEEPAK OHRI DEELUXÉ DOTTED WITH IMPRESSIVE STEEL AND GLASS BUILDING AND TRADITIONAL TEMPLES ALIKE, THE LANDSCAPE IS A STUNNING EXAMPLE OF EXACTLY WHAT MAKES BANGKOK SO SPECIAL MEDICAL TOURISM IS POISED TO BE A MAJOR GROWTH INDUSTRY AND INDIA DESERVES A HUGE SHARE OF THAT MARKET. I HOPE WE MAKE OURSELVES READY TO PROVIDE A PATIENT EXPERIENCE THAT MATCHES THE TRAINING OF OUR PHYSICIANS
Transcript of Deepak Ohri - x Itdali ( I>D(> PS oNFWFUNWI p8C@ S?? H o H e H … · 2013-03-17 · x itdali ("...
The Financial Express8 l APRIL 15 l 2012
l F l O l O l T l L l O l O l S l E l
SharadRaghavan
WHEN I told myfriendsIwasgoingtoBangkok for a shortbusinesstrip,Igotallkinds of crass and
lewd jokes coming my way. But thatwas expected. Bangkok, and Thailandatlarge,hasareputationafterall,of be-ing home to a huge ‘massage’ industryand a deceptively large population oflady-boys. But jokes aside, Bangkokhasanextremelyattractiveelectronicsmarket, and as a tech buff, I couldn’twaittogetthereandstartshoppingforthelatesttechnologicalmarvels.
So, it was with a light heart and aheavy wallet that I joined a group ofjournalists for our flight to Suvarnab-humi airport, Bangkok. A note here:I’m sure you’ve noticed how Hindi-sounding the name of the airport is.Well, don’t be surprised, it’s a trendyou’ll see all over the place if you visitthecity.Afterall,92%of thepopulationisBuddhistandthere’sasizeablepopu-lation of Indian-origin people living
there.Alright,sobacktotheflight.It’safour-hourflightfromDelhitoBangkok,soI’dsuggesttakingabookalong—therelatively low importance and popu-larity of the route means that onlysmaller planes frequent it, whichmeans you’ll be lucky to get one withvideoscreensbehindeveryseat.
Stepping out of the plane was anexperience in itself. Going by just theclimate, you could have stepped outinto a bright Chennai day and youwouldn’t have noticed the difference.But I’m getting ahead of the story. Iwaswarnedinadvancethatimmigra-tion lines in Bangkok are a night-mare, routinely taking two hours toget through. I don’t know if I waslucky, or if the stories are wild exag-gerations,butIgotdonein10minutes.And here comes note number two:with the climate in Bangkok usuallyvery hot and humid, most buildingsset their ACs to very low tempera-tures—be warned, you wouldn’t bethe first person to catch a cold by justsitting in your hotel room.
Onourwaytothehotel,wecouldn’t
helpbutnoticethemodernlookthecityhas. Expressways, bridges and under-passes weaved over, under and besideeach other to convey a feeling of con-crete fluidity I have only seen in theWest. The newly-opened Suvarnabhu-mi Airport Rail Link, which our buswasspeedingdown,isawhopping18.6kilometreslong!
So, thanks to the new link road, wereached the centre of the city prettyquickly, only to be foiled by somethinguniquely Thai. The royal family wastravelling on the very road we neededtotaketogettoourhotel,andsoalltraf-ficwasblockedonit,whichmeantour
bus had to circle the block severaltimes before it could take the rightturn. Now, such blockages happen inIndiaaswell,thankstoourpoliticians.Buttheirdurationisusuallyshort,thetraffic police knowing full well thatthere’sjusttoomuchtrafficforthemtostopfortoolong.InBangkok,however,the royal family is king (pardon thepun), and traffic will be stopped for aslong as the security forces think itneedstobe.Finally,wereachedourho-telandcrashedforthenight.
Or so the organisers thought. Infact, an intrepid bunch of journalistslike us wasn’t going to waste our firstnight in a new city by just sitting inour hotel rooms. We went for a walkand were pleasantly surprised to findthatthecitystaysawaketillquitelate.Thestreetswereteemingwithpeople,hanging around street corners talk-ing,ortryingtosellallkindsof thingsto eat—ranging from simple satay, tosnake’s blood (they’d actually kill asnake in front of you and drain itsblood, if you so wished!).
The first half of the next day wasspentworking,butthesecondhalf wasspent on a cruise on the main river inBangkok, the Chao Phraya. The riverwas as they are worldwide—largelyclean, but with definite hints ofgarbage towards the banks. It’s thebanks that really set the river apart,however.Dottedwithimpressivesteel-and-glassbuildingandtraditionaltem-ples alike, the landscape is a stunningexample of exactlywhat makesBangkok sospecial.Even
though most companies favourBangkokfortheircompanyretreatsormeetings, there is an ever-present tra-ditionality that melds the hard lines ofmodernitywithasofter,oldertone.
It is perhaps a good time to get intothe similarities between Bangkokand India’s major cities. I’ve alreadymentioned that the weather is likeChennai’s. But the overpowering feelof the city, its streets, the traffic, thepeople and the stray dogs (yes, theyhave them too!) is of a Mumbai-Delhihybrid. Some roads are broken andpitted,peoplecrosstheroadswherev-er they want to, even when there is azebra crossing nearby, beggars sit incorners and pickpockets loiter, everalert for an easy lift.
Finally, we come to shopping loca-tions.Unfortunately,itwasashorttrip,and so we didn’t have much time toshop. The best place to go, in that case,is the MBK mall. It has everything,from electronics to food courts andclothes stores, and little shops sellingeverything from spiders in amber toknivesandsamuraiswords!
On the last night, we did go to anadult show, I freely admit. This beinga family publication, however, I willrefrainfromgoingintothedetails.I’llletitgobysayingthatif you’reover18,and have an open mind for suchthings, do try to go for one of theseshows. If nothing else, it’s somethingyou will never, ever get to see in India.
As holiday destinations go,Bangkokprobablyplayssecondfiddleto the nearby Pattaya city and itsbeaches. But if it’s a fun couple ofdays you’re looking for, Bangkok is abetter choice than most.
MYLASTsubmissioninthisspace prompted manycomments and e-mails.
Some of the responses were so in-sightfulthatgavemeideasforfuturecolumns. So, thank you. ThoughthereisonepointIshouldclarify.Idonot suggest that brands should al-ways go local or customise every-thing.Buttheymustknowtheircus-tomers to succeed, and sometimesthat means differentiated offeringsin different markets. The key is not“local”, the key is “customer”.
Knowledge of the customer iscritical while entering the luxurymarket and there are some firmscommitted to doing it properly. Giv-en my business, I tend to focus onfine dining, wine and spirits andtravel.Theseluxuriesare,bydefini-tion, not necessities. However, my
recent experiences with the Indianhealth care system had me thinkingabout“luxurynecessities”.Ahospi-tal is a necessity. Globally, somegroups are successfully makingthem luxurious. Unfortunately, theofferings in India are lagging.
Aluxuryhospitalisnotabouthav-ing a coffee shop and staff trained inthe luxury hotel industry. Luxury isabout service and the quality of theproduct. In a hospital, the productsare doctors and the care and out-comes they provide. India has theworld’s best doctors. However, thereis a disconnect between the doctorand patient in India. This is knownbecause of my experiences concern-ing four friends and relatives. Threeare cancer patients and one suffersfrom kidney disease. Between thesecases, I have had experiences with
severalso-called“tophospitals”inIn-dia. They were all poorly managed,rushed,andfrustrating.Thedoctors’examinations were perfunctory andyet the patients were told such con-vincingnarrativesabouttheirfuture
thattheythoughttheyshouldsimplyhead to the grave. This was with topdoctors, they seemed to care moreaboutthehighprofile,reputation-en-hancing patients rather than provid-ingpropercaretotheirpatients.
One of my relatives went to threeof the best hospitals in India. All ofthem informed him that chemother-apy would not treat his cancer. Thiswas after the briefest of examina-tions!Thissamerelativewhowasgiv-ensuchabadprognosisinIndiawenttoseedoctorsinBangkokandAmeri-ca. He was treated very differentlythere. The American hospital ad-visedchemotherapyanditwasasuc-cess;hehadafullrecovery.Of course,notalloutcomesaresofortunateandmy point is not to criticise any doc-tor’sjudgment.Again,Indiandoctorsareworld-class.Theproblemisoneofprocess and approach. Due to budgetconcerns, doctors spend little timewith each guest and hope to make upwithquantitywhattheylackinqual-ity. Especially the expensive private
hospitals should realise they couldmakemoremoneywithbetteradviceandmoretimeperpatient.
The best hospitals in Asia are in-vesting in technology, patient rela-tions, and more efficient adminis-tration. The focus should be on thecustomer: patient consultationshould come first and support staffshould make sure doctors spendtime examining and treating pa-tients, not doing administrative pa-perwork. When hospitals bring in-ternationalbrandingtoIndia,alongwith the best practices, they willwin. If they get the regional adapta-tions right for different parts of In-dia, they will win big. Medicaltourism is poised to be a majorgrowth industry and India deservesa huge share of that market. I hopewe make ourselves ready to providea patient experience that matchesthe training of our physicians.
DeepakOhriisCEOof lebuaHotels&Resorts.Hecanbereachedat
Indian hospitals haveworld class doctors
but need to focusmore on the patientthan other services
When luxury is a necessity
Wat Arun, Bangkok
Golden Buddhastatue at WatTraimit
(Above) A traditional Thai dance being performed on stage;(left) a floating market in Bangkok
Blitzing throughBangkok
Even a quick trip tothe Thai capital istime enough toexplore the city’sdual faces oftradition andmodernity, plus itsfamed seamyunderbelly
DEEPAK OHRI
DEELUXÉ
DOTTED WITHIMPRESSIVE STEEL ANDGLASS BUILDING ANDTRADITIONAL TEMPLESALIKE, THE LANDSCAPE ISA STUNNING EXAMPLE OFEXACTLY WHAT MAKESBANGKOK SO SPECIAL
MEDICAL TOURISM ISPOISED TO BE A MAJORGROWTH INDUSTRY ANDINDIA DESERVES A HUGESHARE OF THAT MARKET.I HOPE WE MAKEOURSELVES READY TOPROVIDE A PATIENTEXPERIENCE THATMATCHES THE TRAININGOF OUR PHYSICIANS
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