Rakxa, Thailand
Comprehensive, clinically led retreat that also folds in Asian medicine
Set on the lush conservation-area island of Bang Krachao, known as the green lung of Bangkok (the city is an hour’s drive away), RAKxa opened in December 2020 and represents a significant step forward in healthcare. This is an East-meets-West retreat, that attracts a notably global clientele. They consult mainstream medical doctors at the VitalLife Scientific Wellness Clinic – all wood, stone, glass and ceramics – but also Ayurvedic, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Traditional Thai Medicine (TTM) doctors at the RAKxa Jai Holistic Wellness Center, along with a team of complementary therapy specialists.
RAKxa was originally planned to be just a clinic with accommodation: two grand three-bedroom residences and 60 airy one-bedroom villas, a third with a lakeside pool. However, that plan changed abruptly pre-launch. Five years ago, CEO Dusadee Tancharoen, then 46, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. What especially shocked her, she says, was that health-check blood tests had always come back “within the range”, as mainstream doctors say. After treatment, taking a deep dive into complementary therapies to restore her health, she visited top medispas to “see what the wellness industry was doing”, and thought she spotted a gap in the market. “I loved them all,” she says. “But most focused mainly on either the medical or the complementary. So we decided RAKxa should combine both. We are Thai, we have 5,000-year-old traditions of Asian medicine to call on.”
RAKxa also has ineffably lovely Thai service, serene but quickly efficient, to enhance its appeal. And of special interest to anyone grimacing at the cost of private healthcare at home is that, as VitalLife’s parent company is Bangkok’s Bumrungrad International Hospital, this is also somewhere to prepare for or recover from a procedure in the most pleasurable way possible. Adriaane Pielou
Healing Holidays can arrange a five-night Rest & Reset programme from £4,135pp, including transfers, full board and treatments. Exclusive offer Stay for five nights or more and enjoy a complimentary upgrade to a pool villa.