Their treatment combines diet and slimming machines, which the center's leaflet claims use infra-red technology to dissolve fat. A spokesperson said they have expanded from one branch in 2004 to 15 branches across Bangkok today.
But Chaicharn is not impressed with many of the quick fixes he sees, and says that there is no substitute for an improved diet and more exercise.
"This is not scientifically proven, and we don't accept this as a treatment for obesity," he said of the various slimming centers.
Anongnuth Chiangpradit is director of the Wellness Centre at Bumrungrad Hospital, a private hospital in Bangkok that offers everything from advice on a balanced diet to gastric banding -- or stomach-stapling -- surgery.
She thinks clinically obese people should consult a doctor, but says those wanting to shed a few kilograms could benefit from some of the more experimental treatments.
"Whenever the patient is committed to make a change, any additional help they can get is good," she says.
And it is not just locals who are being targeted. Tubby tourists are also heading to Thailand, where they can fast on Samui Island, get colonically irrigated in Phuket and have fat surgically sucked out in Bangkok.
Anongnuth says that half of her clients are from abroad, but advises both Thais and tourists to exercise a degree of skepticism when splashing out on some of the more far-fetched miracle slimming cures.
"There are a lot of treatments out there," she says. "Being a doctor, I would like to see the clinical proof that those treatments work."
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