Personal experience

Why Vietnam?

If you'd asked me a few years ago where I'd go overseas for cosmetic surgery, Vietnam probably wouldn't have been the first place that came to mind. This is what changed my thinking.

If you’d asked me a few years ago where I’d go overseas for cosmetic surgery, Vietnam wouldn’t have been on my radar.

Thirteen years earlier, I’d travelled to Thailand for my first cosmetic surgeries, so I already associated Thailand with going overseas for procedures. South Korea had also become well known for cosmetic surgery, particularly facial work.

Vietnam only really started coming onto my radar much more recently.

And importantly, it wasn’t because of advertising.

It was because I was seeing real results from women I actually knew.

Friends had been there. I could see their before-and-after photos, ask what they’d paid, what the hospitals were like, how they’d been treated and whether they’d do it again.

That’s what made me start paying attention.

Vietnam has changed enormously

Vietnam has become a very different destination to what many Australians may still picture in their heads.

Ho Chi Minh City is a huge, modern international city, and Vietnam's healthcare and medical tourism sectors have been developing rapidly. The country itself is actively looking at medical tourism as an area for growth, helped by competitive treatment costs and increasing medical expertise.

In some ways, it reminds me of Bali 10 or 15 years ago. There was a time when Bali wasn't the automatic destination it is for Australians today. Then suddenly everybody had been, everybody knew somebody who'd been, and it stopped feeling unfamiliar.

I think Vietnam is going through a little bit of that now.

And cosmetic surgery is part of it.

It's easy to get there

Once I started looking at the practical side of the trip, Ho Chi Minh City felt far less daunting than I’d imagined. I flew from Brisbane to Singapore (7.5 hours). I had a 2-hour stopover in Singapore, then on to Ho Chi Minh (2.5 hours) with Singapore Airlines. I got my luggage, jumped in a cab, and was at my hotel within 20 mins and before 8pm. It was a super easy trip.

Grab is basically their version of Uber, so getting around, ordering food, groceries — literally almost anything you need — was easy. Translation apps made day-to-day communication much simpler, and I found plenty of accommodation options close to everything I needed.

For me, it wasn't one thing. It was the results I'd seen. It was recommendations from people I trusted. It was the Korean influence in the surgical techniques. It was the technology and facilities I discovered. It was being able to access procedures at prices that were very different to those in Australia. And eventually, it was simply a gut feeling that this was worth investigating for myself.

I went over there expecting to have one facelift. We already know how that turned out.

But having now actually experienced cosmetic surgery in Vietnam rather than simply reading about it online, I understand why more people are starting to look at it. Vietnam may not be the first place Australians traditionally think of for cosmetic surgery. But I don't think that's going to be the case for much longer.

What I personally experienced

Facilities, costs & care

Modern Facilities

This is a photo of one of the operating rooms at Gangwhoo Clinic—part of the facilities, equipment, and hospital environment I experienced during my time there. I’m sharing it simply as part of my own experience, so you can see what the environment I walked into actually looked like.

What It Cost Me

A look at what I personally paid in Vietnam compared with the options and prices I had explored in Australia. I share my costs across procedures, travel, accommodation, and recovery to provide real-world context.

The Care I Received

The people who cared for me became an important part of my experience, especially during recovery. The support I received stayed with me the most.

Knowing what I know now, would I do it all again?…Absolutely I would.

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Feel informed, understood and better prepared.

If you want to go deeper, I’ve put my entire Vietnam experience into one place — from how I ended up having five surgeries in nine days, through to the planning, travel, hospital experience, recovery, costs, what I learnt and what I would do differently. The Complete Beauty Guide includes 130+ pages of content across 10 chapters, plus practical checklists, templates and downloads, all presented inside your own customer portal. I’ve spent a lot of time putting it together because I wanted to create the kind of resource I wish I’d had before I went. There is absolutely no obligation to purchase it. You can read and use free stories and information across The Beauty Guides site as much as you like. And if you still have a question, you’re always welcome to message me.
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