Category: Interview

An Interview with Mr. Vaipanya Kongkwanyuen, General Manager of Chiva-Som

Peacefully located at Hua Hin, a seaside town in Thailand, Chiva-Som was the first comprehensive wellness resort in Asia and has been praised as a top healing destination in the world. Its holistic approach to the health of body, mind and soul has won numerous hearts around the globe for Chiva-Som. Intensive retreats, treatments and other health options, with the guidance of wellness advisors, lead every guest on a fruitful journey of achieving their wellness goals. Being in operation for 25 years so far, Chiva-Som still continues to enhance its wellness offerings on the way of further development and innovation. An overall renovation was just completed by the end of last year.

To have a deeper exploration of this top wellness resort and its role in the current overseas medical tourism, SpaChina interviewed Mr. Vaipanya Kongkwanyuen, the General Manager of Chiva-Som.

Mr. Vaipanya is returning home to Chiva-Som, having been the Director of Food & Beverage for the resort in 1994 in the early stages of the journey, during the pre-opening phase. He was recently based in China (Beijing, Lijiang and Hangzhou) for the Aman Group, where he was General Manager since 2012. He has extensive experience and a career background in food & beverage in Thailand and overseas from the beginning of his career in 1984. Mr. Vaipanya is the first Thai General Manager at Chiva-Som, and with his experience and capabilities from a 30-year career in five-star hospitality, he brings his experience to execute further development and significant service to Chiva-Som.

Please introduce Chiva-Som to our readers.

Located on the beautiful Gulf of Thailand, Chiva-Som is a secluded ‘Haven of Life’, promoting good health and wellbeing. Our guests embark upon unique journeys of self-discovery with a holistic approach to wellness, incorporating mind, body and spirit, to bring a healing balance to individual lifestyles.

For the last 25 years, Chiva-Som has provided a Haven of Life for guests seeking to improve their health and wellness. Our programs are founded upon our six wellness modalities: Spa, Fitness, Physiotherapy, Holistic Health, Wellness Cuisine and Aesthetic Beauty, offering you the empowerment to fulfill your individual goals.

Chiva-Som has just completed a large renovation. What big changes have taken place?

I am very excited to share that all areas of the resort renovation are complete. Our guests will certainly enjoy the new design of accommodation and guest facilities such as our Health & Wellness facilities, Hydrotherapy Suites, Bathing Pavilion, outdoor pool, gym, our two restaurants, the Orchid Lounge and Niranlada Medi-Spa.

Step into our Health & Wellness reception area and experience luxurious comfort, with refurbished treatment rooms and superior massage beds providing a greater sense of tranquility.

How do you enable guests to enjoy a smooth journey at Chiva-Som instead of getting lost in the midst of so many choices?

The stay with Chiva-Som begins with the retreat the guest chooses to embark upon. Our wellness advisors guide our guests towards personal goals and a path that leads to the holistic healing the guest is searching for, and therefore, our guests can maximize their time spent with us. An advisor continuously monitors our guests on a daily basis to ensure they are on track to achieve their personal goals. 

What medical programs do you offer?

We offer over 200 treatments and services to help address holistic wellness for our guests. The main medical treatment and services are:

Laboratory Testing: Wellness laboratory testing, partnering with local certified laboratories, is a program offered at Chiva-Som in line with the organization’s vision of providing personalized service to our guests. This program helps our Specialists to design the tailor-made programs based on their personal health profile and preferences.

Colonic Hydrotherapy: Colonic hydrotherapy involves the infusion of water into the bowels to cleanse and flush out accumulated waste from the colon. The procedure – called colonic irrigation or colonic hydrotherapy – is designed to flush out the fecal matter that can accumulate and harden in the colon. The benefits of the treatment are to strengthen the intestines and improve colon health. The treatment provides preventative health benefits, as it is theorized that diseases including cancer begin in the gastrointestinal tract. A poorly functioning colon is a precursor to illness, and proper elimination is a natural way to maintain and restore health. Due to its outstanding benefits this treatment is included in our Art of Detox Retreat and also in our treatment menu.

JalaNeti: JalaNeti is a technique that is used by yogis to stay disease-free, and most importantly to use the breath well during their yogic practices without any nasal blockages. Just as brushing the teeth is dental hygiene, the practice of JalaNeti is nasal hygiene. This technique uses water to purify and clean the nasal paths, right from the nostrils to the throat. JalaNeti goes beyond nasal cleansing and helps in aligning your body, mind, and spirit. Hence, it should be practiced daily and not only when one has a nasal blockage or a cold. Due to its benefits, this treatment is included in our Yoga for Life retreat and also in our treatment menu.

Aesthetic Beauty Treatments: Adhering to the philosophy of Chiva-Som, aesthetic beauty is what we strive for to balance the mind, body and spirit by addressing the guests’ needs with advanced technology and our experienced team. It complements Chiva-Som’s world-renowned approach to total wellness with the latest developments in both modern aesthetic treatments and micro-invasive cosmetic treatment. Our guests may undergo aesthetic assessments, corrective treatments and minimally-invasive treatments to regain healthier and younger-looking skin.

Physiotherapy Treatments: In our bespoke Optimal Performance retreat, coordinated guidance from our Fitness and Physiotherapy experts will help alleviate pain and improve posture. Guests’ physical and mental state will feel replenished and rejuvenated from the treatments. Programs of Re-functional Exercise, Physiotherapy, Super Stretch, group classes and Deep Tissue Massage help to restore our guests’ physical condition.

Who are the fans of these medical programs? How much do you charge for these medical programs?

Top three nationalities of these five treatments are Russian, British and Australian.

Pricing are: Blood testing programs 20,000  – 60,000 THB; Colonic Hydrotherapy4,500 – 5,500+ THB; JalaNeti 2,800 ++ THB; Aesthetic Beauty treatments5,000 – 50,000+ THB; Physiotherapy Treatment: 1,750 – 6,100 + THB.

Please tell us about your medical team. Who are the team leader and members? What expertise do they possess?

Our medical team includes Medical doctors, Dermatologists, Register Nurses, Nurse Aids and Physiotherapists, all of whom are licensed in Thailand.

What do you think of “overseas medical tourism” in terms of its current development and future potential? How will Chiva-Som participate in this global trend?

The Asia-Pacific region currently dominates the medical tourism market and it is expected to continue as its stronghold for years to come. We provide high-quality medical services at a much lower rate, as compared to the developed economies. There are companies that cater to all the medical and non-medical needs of the tourist during their travel. In the future the market will absolutely expand and the competition will grow to gain larger portions of the market shares.

Chiva-Som is aware of this global trend and we are now moving forward to improve both our hardware and software resources. Our practitioners and staff are encouraged to join the international summits and useful training related to their expertise to keep them at the cutting edge and be able to develop new treatments and services that align with our philosophy, global trends and the most important aspect, our market share. Apart from service and process development, the new technology and service programs are carefully selected to support our core vision and cover all directions of wellness.

As more and more wellness resorts arise, how does Chiva-Som update in line with the new health and beauty trends in order to attract more guests while at the same time keeping its core character?

Apart from our intensive retreat offerings, we have our wellness and nutrition experts working in-house with our guests. Our Research & Development colleagues are constantly researching and developing the new retreats in line with industry trends striving for the greatest benefit of wellbeing and healthcare to put into practice. Our mission is to establish sustainable health and wellbeing through education and modification of lifestyle for our guests to carry on their wellbeing behavior on a daily basis.

You have worked both in China and Thailand for no short time. What commonalities and differences do you see between the two markets concerning their wellness needs and wellness consumption patterns?

My experience working with Chinese in general is that they do not pay as much attention to lifestyle for optimal wellness as do Thais. They have a busy lifestyle and many occasions for social events disturb their eating habits and sleep patterns. I assume that they prefer to get the results faster than sustaining their approach to health improvement. In other words, normally they will see the doctor when they feel sick instead of paying attention to preventive maintenance through healthy lifestyles to avoid illness. But I have to say I see more and more Chinese begin to establish stronger wellness awareness nowadays and seek after different kinds of health activities. For instance, there are willing to improve the methods of cooking and eating habits once they experience healthy and delicious food.

For the younger generation in China, the major concern is nutrition and digital appliances, i.e. mobile phones and electronic devices. These are part of their lives and they seem to ignore the side effects from both eating unhealthy food and the usage of mobile phones all the time. High stress is another influence as they want to stay competitive at all times.

Rooted in the profound culture and slow-paced lifestyle of Thailand, and supported by global advanced medical technology, Chiva-Som is striving to educate every guest on how to achieve sustaining health by embracing a right lifestyle. A long-lasting healthy life surely starts from your daily wellness behaviors.

Regarding Chinese guests, is there any upward trend in numbers in recent years? What kind of profile do they have and what is their age range? How many days do they stay in Chiva-Som? What kinds of programs attract them the most?

For the last two years, we were heavily engaged in the Resort renovations. This required closure of the entire resort for six months in both years. We experienced a decline in global guests, including Chinese; however we have laid out the plan to visit our partners and have been re-visiting travel agents to update them on products, retreat services and the newly-renovated facilities. We expect to see the number of Chinese guests grow by 3-5% in the market this year. Most of our Chinese guests are business executives and also guests who are seeking health improvement. The majority of their age range is from 40 to 65 years old. They stay from three to five nights with us and the most popular retreat is ‘A Taste of Chiva-Som’ where our Health and Wellness Advisors will guide guests through our wide range of therapies, fitness programs and nutritional options to help them decide on the path that best suits them. Whether it’s a stay of pure relaxation or a lifestyle transformation, we assist guests in making the entire experience truly fulfilling to address their needs.

Do you have any future plans for targeting the Chinese market?

We are working with our Sales Representative for mainland China. Heaven’s Portfolio is our partner with their offices in Shanghai and Beijing. They represent us for Sales and Marketing activities, Public Relations related activities and booking accommodation. In 2018, I as the General Manager with our Head of Sales visited our business partners to maintain the business relationship and to update them on new services and enhance their knowledge to promote Chiva-Som to their clientele. We recognize the Chinese market as our potentially growing market where we are working to enhance the education of our guests to achieve their personal, optimal wellness and practices in everyday life for good health and longevity.

An interview with Mr. Richard Williams,
Consultant at A.W.Lake 360° Wellness Design

The widely-known Balinese massage is not the whole of Bali Spa. Time-honored healing traditions, the rich produce of this tropical island, and the prevailing spiritual energy in every corner altogether give Bali Spa a sophisticated charm.

Richard Williams is a freelance spa consultant based in Bali, Indonesia with some 23 years plus in the spa industry. He has worked for Chivasom and The Peninsula Hotels in Bangkok and Shanghai, managed a wellness resort in Bali and now opens 5-star hotel projects in Asia with AWLake.Design, as well as mentoring spa teams to two private islands and lectures at Stenden University in Bali on Spa openings, Concept and Spa business development. His latest project the UR SPA at The PuXuan Hotel and Spa has been awarded as the “Best Spa Concept of the Year” at SpaChina Awards 2019. SpaChina interviewed him, allowing Richard to unfold the real picture of the spa world in Bali.

Tell us about the spa world in Bali. 

Bali has been the center of the spa universe in Asia for many years. Known for its indigenous healing modalities, warm, gentle culture and tropical geography have made Bali an aspirational destination for holiday makers and spa goers alike.

A Balinese spa experience would fall short without some of the more famous local treatments, the “boreh” or herbal, medicinal body wrap, “kunyit”, turmeric with yoghurt and honey body conditioning, “kelapa” coconut oil massages and the compulsory floral bath. In China floral baths are supposed to bring luck and in Bali it’s not hard to surrender to the relaxing and heady scent of tropical flowers. Bali is also a deeply spiritual, Hindu culture and many spas will offer rituals, of “melukat” water cleansing and blessing, calming mantras and mindful meditations.

Trending in Bali are the following:

• Mindfulness & meditation
• Sound healing, gong baths and Tibetan singing bowl, crystal singing bowl therapies
• Light therapies for stress and deep relaxation to influence theta wave activity of the brain
• Floatation
• Halotherapy or salt therapy
• Aesthetic tourism, mostly non-invasive and dental
• Yoga continues to be extremely popular along with fasting and detox retreats and breathwork workshops
• Wit Hof methodologies with breathwork and ice baths
• Cryotherapy facials and cryo body therapy
• Strong Korean facial massage treatments

Spas in Bali are on every corner, the budget spas offering cheap services, fish, foot therapies, touting their services street-side by young inexperienced staff, (I won’t call them therapists!), are best avoided.

“Ibu Pantai” or beach ladies are actually not bad for a beach massage at an agreed and very reasonable price because they are usually the older women who have been massaging for years. High-end hotels offer amazing spa experiences, looking over the “sawah” rice fields with coconut palms swaying in the warm breeze, or being lulled to sleep on a clifftop overlooking the Indian Ocean with the waves hypnotically breaking on the shore. City slickers might choose their club hangouts in Seminyak, where in a hip & stylish hotel you can still have a spa treatment at 2am after a night out.

Who are the main guests of wellness destinations and spas in Bali? What do they mostly seek?

Frankly the demographic is enormous, but there are certain “tribes”…

• The retreat guests and yogis
• The young surfer, party types who will still have a massage
• The expat community (who often settle for home visits from local practitioners they know, rather than choosing the more highly priced hotel spa services who cater to the high-end and honeymooners etc, and who are paying for, possibly a once in a lifetime trip/experience
• The 35 – 55 age group, disposable income, spa-savvy, more likely to be having a spa journey than a quick fix, but know their shiatsu from their tuina, their product ranges and spa services

Invariably spas now need to be results-driven. A guest wants to know what the benefits are. How will I feel after the treatment? And it’s Bali, they want stunning vistas accompanied by a memorable culturally authentic experience. Guests may pay more, since they are mostly on vacation and they also have the luxury of time. Resort spas ought to always be about capturing the guest and then keeping them… no express treatments!

What do you think are the key success factors for running a spa or wellness related centers in Bali, given that there are so many?

Good question! Invest in your team. Create a caring and healthy working environment and ensure you implement a training plan where you are constantly maintaining and raising the team’s skills level.

Keep it real…guests want to know about the culture, about sustainable initiatives, about the product story. They want authenticity, but also transparency. We no longer want to read on the spa menu that we will be taken to heaven, we want to know how we’ll feel after the treatment.

Having a great concept is also important, whereby the staff are invested in the story and the guests are delighted, engaged and enlightened by the spa experience.

Could you please share with us any successful cases?

I would rather not name the properties but there are some very successful hotel spas. They have done their time and are well-established. They are well-managed and offer dynamic services. They are often lucky enough to capture the majority of their business from in-house guests and have a reasonably high capture rate and more importantly, they make money.

Social media has created that “insta-moment” even in spa, and particularly since Bali has so many spectacular places in nature, but also some architectural design stunners that leave the guest amazed at their beauty.

There is one spa that can be called “the best massage in Bali”, and it is a Day Spa, operated by an extremely discerning and professional person who has kept the concept simple for years and offers Esalen-style massage, that they personally train their male therapists, who are chosen to give these local young men skills and a profession.

There is a wide range of healing modalities in Bali apart from spas. Could you introduce them? Which are your favorites?

Giving the guest a cultural experience by taking them to local temples and allowing them to feel the rituals, is extremely popular and there are many Westerners who bring groups to Bali on spiritual tours and personal wellness retreats.

I prefer to avoid large groups and so, if I go very early in the morning I particularly like Tirta Empul Temple for Melukat water cleansing ceremony. There are many touristic temples like Bekasih in Karangasem, Uluwatu and Tanah Merah seaside temples. My preference is to find the out-of-the-way places, you can find a Jero (priestess) or Mangku, (priest) to take you somewhere special and more local.

Will the diverse healing modalities exert a challenge to the growth of spas in Bali? Or do they tend to integrate with each other?

Healing modalities have already been integrated for years into the spa culture of Bali. Some guests are comfortable with the spiritual realm, others are not. Again, this goes back to what kind of experience is your spa? What concept are you offering and is it going to be culture-centric or not?

Do you see anything that China’s and Bali’s spa worlds can learn from each other?

The Balinese modalities have gone global since brands like Mandara made them famous and Balinese therapists can be found in spas from Dubai to Dusseldorf. TCM has had a global platform far longer, but China spa modalities are less common. We would like to say that warm bamboo massage is Chinese, that the history of bamboo is the metaphor for strength, tenacity and longevity. Cross-culturalism will always have a place in spa services, Balinese style of service I think would be very appealing in China… the quiet gentle ways and they are accustomed to offering a 5-star guest service experience. The Chinese offer a multitude of health treatments and knowledge. I particularly like the wellness aspect of Chinese food, the sustaining broths, the teas, fruits and vegetables that have a specific benefit dependent on your disposition, the time of the year, the circadian rhythm. These are elements of centuries-old knowledge that I feel can still find a more relevant place in the spa and wellness industry as a whole. To both foreigners and local Chinese, products and concepts based around the elements of tea are also very appealing.