Your referrals for supporting eligibility for Sex reassignment surgery

According to the current Thai regulation for SRS, you are required to submit 2 referral letters from qualified mental health specialists. The letters should be addressed directly to Dr. Chettawut:

The First Referral letter must come from only either a psychiatrist or a licensed psychologist.

The Second Referral letter can come from a psychiatrist or licensed psychologist or sexologist or gender therapist.

Example of SRS recommendation letter

Mental health professionals who recommend the patient for SRS share the ethical and legal responsibility for that decision with the surgeon.

There is no specific format for the SRS recommendation letters; however the letters MUST confirm your diagnosis of gender identity disorder as well as support your eligibility for sex reassignment surgery.

You are required to secure the printed (SRS) recommendation letters containing the original handwritten signatures of your specialists

As soon as you receive the original SRS referral letters with handwritten signatures from your specialists, please scan them properly and send the scanned copies to us via email (in jpeg or pdf file format) for Dr. Chettawut’s review and approval. To expedite the process of SRS letter approval, we encourage you to provide a web link where we can find the credentials of your specialists.

Then, the original letters must be provided to Dr. Chettawut on the consultation day in Bangkok.

If your specialist(s) can only provide the letter with electronic signature, we recommend you to follow the steps below:

1. You need to email us confirming that your specialist only provided you with an electronically signed recommendation letter.

2. You are required to inform your specialist to email us directly using his/her official email address to confirm that he or she issued the SRS letter and the exact copy of letter that you have provided must be attached.

3. You must bring the SRS letter containing the electronic signature on your consultation with Dr. Chettawut.

All the steps above must be followed and fulfilled, otherwise, you will be required to undergo a one-time evaluation with our Thai Psychiatrist to determine your eligibility for SRS and to secure the needed letter.

Note: Even though the recommendation letters for sex reassignment surgery have been provided during face-to-face consultation with Dr. Chettawut, he reserves the right to request additional two (2) Thai psychiatrist evaluation if he observes obvious uncertainty of SRS eligibility or a doubtful legitimacy of the patient’s purpose in getting the SRS.

In this unusual situation, the surgical schedule may depend on the patient’s ability to obtain the approvals of two (2) Thai psychiatrists at the patient’s own expense.

Consultation with Thai psychiatrist/s in Bangkok

Getting the required SRS referral letters from your country before coming here in Bangkok is preferable and a safer step as you will be evaluated carefully and adequately. The consultation with Thai psychiatrist (either one or two psychiatrists) is only the last option and necessary for the following reasons:

1. You cannot secure one or two SRS recommendation letters from your country due to time constraint, unavailability of mental health specialists in your local area, etc.

2. If you have provided the letter/s but the qualifications of your mental health specialist/s and/or the content of the letter/s does not satisfy Dr. Chettawut’s requirements.

3. You do not have the original SRS recommendation letters with handwritten signatures or the steps for approving the electronically signed letter/s is not fulfilled.

4. If Dr. Chettawut deems it necessary based on his expert judgment (see note above).

Dr. Chettawut’s administrative team will arrange the appointment and accompany you to the Thai psychiatrist/s. It will be a onetime consultation & psychological evaluation so it is your responsibility to convince the psychiatrist(s) that you are a good candidate for SRS. You may bring any letter(s) from your previous mental health specialists and/or from your endocrinologist who takes care of your hormone replacement therapy (HRT). We strongly recommend you to present them as proof or supporting documents during the consultation. Wearing a feminine clothing and light make-up would also help.

The Thai psychiatrists reserves their right to provide or not provide the SRS referral letter. This will depend on their evaluation on the face-to-face consultation. Therefore, there is no guarantee that you will get the needed letter. In this case, the surgery may be rescheduled or postponed depending on your ability to obtain or complete the required SRS approval letters.

Note: Each Thai psychiatrist consultation costs 10,000 THB.

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