With Thailand's increasing popularity as a destination for medical treatment with patients from the Middle East, Arabic-speakers and translators are now much sought after in the Kingdom.

When Kitsanenat Boonmalert left to study in Egypt seven years ago she had little clue as to how she would eventually use the skills she learned at al-Azhar University, the world's most prestigious institute of Islamic higher education.

"It was my parents' wish to have one of their children study in a Middle Eastern country to truly know the Koran and be able to explain to other family members how we should live our lives accordingly," said Kitsanenat, who turned 27 this year and has two older siblings.

While she pursued an education in a foreign land, Kitsanenat's own country rose to become a medical hub for Middle Eastern patients, with Bumrungrad and Bangkok hospitals at the forefront.

Bumrungrad's group chief executive Curtis Schroeder said the number of Middle Eastern patients seeking treatment at his hospital had picked up since the events of September 9, 2001, which has made it more difficult for people from the region to obtain visas to Western countries.

"With well-qualified doctors and world-class services at inexpensive prices, Thailand has emerged as the one of the top alternative destinations among Middle Easterners for medical treatment," he said.

But no matter how great the facilities are, Thailand would not have become a successful medical hub if patients and doctors could not communicate with each other. And this is where Arabic translators have become vital to this success.

Kitsanenat came home for a break before her last semester and found a part-time translating job at Bangkok Hospital where she could practice

the language skills she had acquired in Cairo. After three months working part time, she knew she had found her future career.

"My job is to help patients find what they need. Translators can help them through the registration process and to find the right doctors for their symptoms, as well as translate when they meet the doctors," said Kitsanenat.

Kitsanenat said patients came to the hospital for all kind of treatment, from simple check-ups to cancer and heart treatment.

She says she has learned a lot and for those who are interested in the job a background knowledge in medicine and nursing would be very helpful.

As with languages such as English, Arabic is spoken differently in different countries, and Egyptian Arabic is sometimes not easy to understand for those from another Arab country, said Kitsanenat.

But for Hussein Hajihama, 31, who was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, the accent is not a problem. Working full-time as a translator at Bumrungrad for over three years, Hussein said not everyone who studied in the Middle East could become a translator.

"Some [Thai] students stick too much with other Thai students, so they do not get to practice the language [with a native speaker]. They can read the Koran but cannot communicate in daily life, which is crucial for being a translator," said Hussein, adding that roughly only 50 per cent of those who came for interviews got a job.

A former religious teacher at a school in Pattani, Hussein said every day at work was a challenge, with the most common problems being culture-related.

For example, Thai nurses and doctors knocking on the door before entering do not realise that Arab women need time to put on their headscarf or veil to cover their head, as it is taboo to let anyone see their hair, and they might become angry if doctors and nurses did not wait long enough before they entered the room.

Kitsanenat said that Middle Easterners love talking and

are vociferous compared to Thais.

"You just have to understand: they are loud, but it doesn't mean they're angry," she said.

Despite the problems they encounter almost every day, both said they loved the job, not only because they received a satisfying pay packet, but also because they found it rewarding when they could help their foreign "friends".

Chatree Duangnet, the chief executive of Bangkok Hospital, said he was confident the number of patients from the Middle East would continue to rise and possibly double or triple in the years to come, particularly as several private hospitals now had contracts with Middle Eastern governments such as the United Arab Emirates and Oman to outsource some of their medical services to Thailand.

This being the case, those with good spoken Arabic do not have to worry about their job prospects, he said.

"We are very interested in anyone who can speak Arabic. We will be very interested to talk to them," he said.

Sopaporn Kurz

The Nation