We wrote this in October 2026. Beauty Link only operates in Vietnam, so read us as an interested party. This is background reading, not medical advice, and a doctor has not reviewed it; your surgeon answers questions about your face.
Sources: Smartraveller (Medical tourism)
What a facelift is, in either country
The NHS describes a facelift as surgery that lifts and pulls back the skin of the face. It is mainly aimed at loose skin on the lower face, the jowls and the neck. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) names its targets: loose, sagging skin, deep creases from nose to mouth, jowls, and extra skin or fat beneath the chin.
- Traditional facelift. The ASPS version: an incision from the temple hairline, around the ear, into the scalp, with deeper tissue and muscle usually lifted along with the skin.
- Mini facelift. A shorter version, covered in the questions below.
- Neck lift. ASPS says a neck lift treats sagging jowls, loose neck skin and fat under the chin.
Surgeons sometimes add a brow lift or eyelid surgery to treat the forehead and eyes, ASPS says. What a facelift will not do is give you a new face or halt ageing.
Sources: NHS, American Society of Plastic Surgeons
What the Thailand search results show
The top Google results we read in October 2026 were mostly pages from Thai hospitals and agents, including some in Bangkok and Phuket. They use names such as deep plane facelift, endoscopic lift and stem cell facelift. Several promise natural or youthful looks, and several mention JCI accreditation. Those are the providers' own claims.
ASPS says some minimally invasive treatments, such as stem cell facelifts, are of unproven benefit. Ask your surgeon what any technique involves.
Sources: American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Google Australia results for "thailand face lift" read in October 2026
Facelift abroad: Thailand and Vietnam compared
The table sums up Smartraveller's two country pages as read in October 2026.
| Thailand | Vietnam | |
|---|---|---|
| Travel advice | High caution overall (a security and safety rating, not a surgery one) | Normal precautions |
| Medical care | Mixed. Big city private hospitals are of a high standard, with English speaking doctors in most cases. | Mixed, and mostly below the Australian standard. Most public hospitals give poor care. |
| Cosmetic surgery | Medical tourism is common. Discount and uncertified places can have poor standards. | No separate cosmetic surgery warning. Foreign private clinics may not meet Australian standards. |
Thailand's advice level is about security, not surgery. Smartraveller says some Thai hospitals and clinics have refused compensation to patients who were unhappy with the results of cosmetic surgery, or who were harmed. In both countries, learn your legal rights before you book.
Sources: Smartraveller (Thailand, Vietnam, Medical tourism)
Recovery time, bruising and your stay
Expect 2 to 3 hours in theatre, often asleep under a general anaesthetic, and a night on the ward, per the NHS. Bruising lasts 2 weeks or more, full recovery runs about 2 to 4 weeks, and swelling or numbness can linger for weeks or months. Non dissolving stitches are removed at around day 7 to 14.
By day 10 to 14, ASPS says, most people are presentable in public.
The NHS asks facelift patients to wait 7 to 10 days before flying, since a long flight soon after major surgery makes a life threatening clot more likely. Build your stay around your surgeon's own advice.
Sources: NHS, American Society of Plastic Surgeons
Risks and complications to talk through
ASPS says facelift risks are rare. Its list includes anaesthesia risks, bleeding, blood clots, heart and lung problems, fluid build up, infection, nerve injury with weakness, numbness, lasting pain or swelling, poor healing, hair loss at the cuts and scarring you may not like. The NHS adds an uneven look. Ask your surgeon for the full list. Your surgeon should explain how likely each one is for you.
Clinics abroad may offer no follow up, the NHS warns. Smartraveller notes that Medicare will not help overseas and plain travel cover rarely includes medical tourism, so it points you to a specialised policy covering complications and evacuation.
Sources: American Society of Plastic Surgeons, NHS, Smartraveller (Medical tourism)
Questions to ask before you book, in Bangkok or Vietnam
Send this list to any hospital, and ask for the answers in writing.
- Is the hospital accredited by the local health authority?
- Is my surgeon a qualified plastic surgeon, and where can I check that?
- How many facelifts has my surgeon done, and how many had complications?
- Deep plane, SMAS, mini lift or neck lift: which do you suggest for me, and why?
- Can I have two consultations with my surgeon, not only with sales staff?
- Can I see before and after photos of my surgeon's own work?
- Which day will you remove my stitches, and which day can I board a plane?
- Where will my follow up be after I fly home, and what happens if I need more surgery?
- Are the surgeon and hospital covered by indemnity and malpractice insurance, and can I see proof?
Smartraveller says to be wary if a hospital overseas gives much lower risks than you were told at home.
Sources: Smartraveller (Medical tourism), NHS
Choosing Vietnam for your facelift
We cannot arrange a facelift in Thailand. Our concierge work covers two Vietnamese cities, and only hospitals with a Ministry of Health license and registration. Patients pay nothing, since hospitals fund us.
- Share your facelift goals in a short quiz, and we list licensed hospitals that do lifts.
- Chat with the hospital on WhatsApp, while an advisor who speaks English translates.
- Get the hospital's written facelift plan and an itemised quote.
- Land to an airport pickup, then check ins from your advisor as your face heals, in Vietnam and at home.
Some people should not be approved for a facelift, and that is the surgeon's and hospital's call. Andrew Lam, our Co-founder, leads the team.
Related pages: face lift Vietnam for the full Vietnam guide, face lift Korea vs Vietnam, the wider plastic surgery Thailand vs Vietnam comparison, and is plastic surgery in Vietnam safe.
Sources: Beauty Link team records
Facelift questions
In ASPS terms it is a lighter lift, done through shorter incisions near the temples and ears. It is meant for faces with less loose skin, and the result is more modest than a full lift.
We show no facelift prices for either country. Get a written quote from each hospital listing what it covers. Smartraveller says to budget for every possible cost, complications included.
We will not rank them. Smartraveller's point is that one country can hold both strong and weak hospitals and surgeons.
Facelift surgery has risks. ASPS says facelift risks are rare but include bleeding, infection and nerve injury. Your surgeon should spell out your own odds for each one and how it would be managed.
The sources we read do not name an age. ASPS says good candidates are healthy, do not smoke, and have realistic expectations.
Less invasive treatments such as fillers or laser cannot match a surgical lift, ASPS says, though they may push back the time you need one. It calls stem cell facelifts unproven.
Sources: American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Smartraveller (Medical tourism)