Council set to launch ‘Face Off’ ethics probe
Singer didn’t undergo advertised procedure
The Medical Council of Thailand will launch a disciplinary inquiry into the doctor and director of the hospital involved in the high-profile facelift procedures performed on veteran country singer Surachai Sombatcharoen.
Council secretary-general Sampandh Komrit said the Department of Health Service Support (DHSS) found both the doctor and director of the hospital allowed the facelift to be advertised in an exaggerated manner and did nothing to stop it.
The council will meet on March 10 to discuss the issue. If the doctor and the director are found to have committed ethical and professional violations, the council is authorised to revoke their medical licences.
The council has also decided to probe another physician who went on television to guarantee successful results in every surgical procedure similar to that performed on the singer.
The guarantee amounts to an exaggeration.
Dr Sampandh said what Mr Surachai went through was not the face-off procedure but a facelift with Botox and filler injections administered to eliminate wrinkles and shape the face.
The singer will need more injections in six months. “We should wait and see what his face will look like then,” the council secretary-general said.
He said the injections were nothing new in the cosmetic business.
DHSS chief Boonrueng Trairueng-worawat yesterday said the “Face Off Project by Dr Xeping” campaign exaggerated claims about the procedure.
Plastic surgery adviser Xeping Chaiyasan, 38, has denied accusations of exaggerating claims in the ad campaign and admitted not being a medical doctor.
The campaign claimed to offer a surgical technique on 10 spots of the face capable of making people aged 60 look younger than 30.
Ms Xeping insisted she never publicised her project as information on the plastic surgery techniques, including the names of plastic surgeons and the hospital which gave Mr Surachai a facelift, had never been disclosed.
The Facial Plastic Surgery Association of Thailand has since filed a police complaint accusing her of making exaggerated claims about her controversial plastic surgery campaign.
In her campaign, Ms Xeping claimed to be able to deliver a surgery that promised rejuvenation and youthfulness.
Mr Surachai, 60, appeared at a press conference yesterday for the first time since undergoing the facelift last month.
“It’s my right to do the plastic surgery through the medical procedures of my choice,” he said, accompanied by Ms Xeping who explained she did not intend the term “face off” in the campaign to be considered a medical term.
Mr Surachai said he was satisfied with the results of the procedure and urged critics not to attack Ms Xeping.
The singer said he told the doctor who carried out his facelift he wanted his wrinkles and grey hair removed.
Mr Surachai said he was supposed to remain in the hospital recovering.
However, he asked to be discharged to attend his mother’s funeral and took the opportunity to address the public.
Ms Xeping said she has considered suing the Facial Plastic Surgery Association of Thailand.