Absolute Hair Clinic vs HairTran: Surgeons, Prices and Waiting Times Compared (2026)

One r/HairTransplants poster had the decision down to two names by the end of 2023: "In the end the choice for me was between Dr. Laorwong and Dr. Patty. Both had by far the best communication, where within budget, and had some independent results online that I felt were similar in hair characteristics to what mine." Dr. Patty had an opening in the two weeks the poster had off, and that settled it (r/HairTransplants, December 2023).

That's the choice this page compares, from what each clinic publishes and what patients report.

HairTran publishes an English-language starting price and a written guarantee. Absolute publishes no English price and states no results guarantee, and both its surgeons are ISHRS Fellows, a membership grade with privileges full Members don't have.

Both are booked months ahead by patient accounts, and both are in our Bangkok hair transplant guide.

It's two clinics but three surgeons: Dr. Kongkiat Laorwong and Dr. Ratchathorn Panchaprateep at Absolute, and Dr. Pukpinya Jangjetriew, "Dr. Patty", at HairTran. Patients on Reddit mostly talk about the surgeons, not the clinics, and so does this page.

Absolute Hair Clinic vs HairTran at a Glance

Clinic rows come from each clinic's own pages and the ISHRS register, read 9 October 2026, each linked below. We compare what the clinics publish with what patients report; nobody at AsiaPatient has visited either clinic.

Who Each Clinic Is

Absolute Hair Clinic is one branch at 134/2 Krungthonburi Road, by BTS Krung Thonburi Exit 4, open daily from 9 AM to 6 PM. Its contact page says "we have been exclusively dedicated to hair transplantation for the past 17 years."

HairTran Clinic is on the 3rd floor of No.2 Quant on Soi Sukhumvit 25, "a 3-5 minute walk from BTS Asok (Exit 6) and MRT Sukhumvit (Exit 2)" per its about page, open Monday to Saturday from 9 AM to 6 PM. Its two transplant procedures are the FUE hair transplant and Non-Shaven FUE.

The one technique split is FUT. Absolute lists it; HairTran's pages list only FUE and Non-Shaven FUE.

The Surgeons and Their Credentials, as Each Clinic Publishes Them

Dr. Kongkiat Laorwong, Absolute

Absolute's profile page says "Dr. Kongkiat Laorwong is a Diplomate American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery which has certified since 2010 and now a Fellow ISHRS in 2014." It lists "Thailand License since 1999 (License No. 23810)" and 2006-2007 training at DHT Clinic. The ISHRS register lists "ISHRS Fellow Member" and "ABHRS Diplomate".

Dr. Ratchathorn Panchaprateep, Absolute

Absolute's profile page says "She is a board-certified dermatologist and PhD in dermatology from Division of dermatology, Chulalongkorn University." It lists ABHRS certification in 2013, ISHRS Fellow membership in 2016 and the ISHRS "Platinum Follicle Award" in 2019, which the page calls "the highest award in the field of hair restoration". Her ISHRS register page lists "ISHRS Fellow Member" and "ABHRS Diplomate".

Dr. Pukpinya Jangjetriew, "Dr. Patty", HairTran

HairTran's home page says every patient is cared for by "a physician certified by the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS), a member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), and licensed by the Thai Medical Council (V.31632)". Its about page lists "Medical Degree (M.D.) - Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand (2004)" and claims "4,000+ cases performed by our in-house surgeon.", the clinic's own count. Her ISHRS register page lists "ISHRS Full Member" and "ABHRS Diplomate".

Reading those grades

The ISHRS says most new members start as Associates and can move up to full Member or Fellow (FISHRS), and Fellows get privileges full Members don't. It's a grade of membership, not a measure of results, and all three surgeons are ABHRS Diplomates on their register pages.

You can look all three up yourself: the Thai Medical Council register by name, the ABHRS physician directory and the ISHRS Find a Doctor page.

Check the license number and the board listing yourself before you pay a deposit.

Technique and Equipment

Both clinics do FUE and both place grafts with implanters; the equipment names differ.

Absolute's FUE page describes the Trivellini system with a flared rim punch in "0.8- 1.00 mm punches" and says "We use implanters for graft placement which is the new standard in hair restoration." It puts the time grafts spend out of the body at "2-5 hours depends on the number of grafts (max. 4000 grafts per day)".

HairTran's home page names the "WAW DUO FUE SYSTEM, which creates ultra-small incisions (~0.8 mm)" and commits to "using the Implanter Pen technique for every patient - at no additional cost." The implanter pen is the DHI tool, so there's no DHI surcharge at HairTran.

Who Does Which Step

Absolute's FUE page says two different things about extraction. One line reads "Doctor makes all the incisions on donor area and graft extracted by himself/herself and his/her assistant." Another reads "The doctor administers local anesthesia (nerve block), makes excisions, and the grafts are extracted by a technician."

On placement the same page says "Most of grafts are inserted with implanters in the incisions by experienced assistants." and "Doctor does some grafts placement at the end and double check to complete the work."

Dr. Laorwong put numbers on it in a written reply that a prospective patient pasted into a January 2024 post: "Donor: I inject local anesthetic and I make all excisions, my assistant pull out the grafts, I also pull out the grafts too." and "Recipient : I inject local anesthetic and I make all pre-made incisions with blade, my assistant and myself place the grafts with implanters. I place the grafts around 10-50% the rest are done by assistants." (r/HairTransplants, January 2024).

One patient, reviewing a year after surgery, wrote "Larowong was with me in the beginning of the surgery, but I knew the techs were doing 100% of the extractions." (r/HairTransplants, March 2026).

Two days later in the same thread, a patient four days out from a 4,500-graft procedure described more surgeon involvement: "he was in the room and did all the incisions himself" and "he does do the crown swirl and other sensitive areas himself."

HairTran's about page says "She personally performs all critical steps of the procedure." Its home page describes extraction as "our skilled team meticulously extracts individual follicular units (grafts) from the donor area".

The patient with 3,340 grafts wrote "Next was Dr. Patty cutting the slits." and, asked who implanted, "At least for me she was implanting along with an assistant of hers at the same time." (r/HairTransplants, December 2023 to January 2024).

The ISHRS says grafts are placed "most often by the trained staff", and the ABHRS says the extraction incisions "must be performed by the physician of record"; placing grafts isn't on its list. So staff placing grafts is normal at both clinics; what differs is how much the surgeon does beyond the incisions.

Ask both clinics in writing which steps the surgeon does and which steps staff do, and keep the answer.

Published Prices and What Is Included

HairTran publishes a figure. Its FUE page says "At Hairtran Clinic, pricing starts at 102,000 THB, with every step personally supervised by ABHRS-certified Dr. Patty." That's $3,080 (฿102,000), read 9 October 2026, on a page that states it was last modified 25 May 2026.

The same page lists "Free HIV tests", "Free painkillers, anti-inflammatories, and antibiotics", "Free meal on procedure day" and "Free 3 months of oral hair-growth medication" as included, and the home page adds "0% installment plans for up to 10 months with participating credit cards".

Absolute publishes no per-graft price on any English page. Its Thai-language FUE page says, in our translation, that the price starts at about 30,000 baht depending on the number of grafts, $910 (฿30,000); that page states it was last modified 25 September 2023.

Its payment page lists the item "Deposit for hair transplant" at "฿35,000.00", $1,060 (฿35,000), both read 9 October 2026. The October 2025 patient below was "asked to pay THB 35,000 deposit".

What Absolute patients report paying per graft

Every figure here comes from patient posts and is dated by the post.

So posts from 2024 to 2026 report $2.11 to $3.02 (฿70 to ฿100) a graft at Absolute, and patients who split the price put ฿100 on non-shaven. Across Absolute, Bangkok Hair Clinic and Hairsmith, most reports fall at ฿65-90. The February 2025 patient paid "296000 Thai baht for the surgery + 15000 baht for 5 days Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) during the aftercare treatment" for 3,709 grafts, which is $8,930 (฿296,000) plus $450 (฿15,000), or 79.8 baht a graft by our arithmetic.

The graft count can move on the day. The October 2025 patient's final count was 4,047 grafts against 2,500 estimated from photos, and the bill doubled with it.

What HairTran patients report paying

One patient collecting quotes in November 2024 listed "Hairtran: 45 / graft" next to "Absolute: 100 / graft with Dr. Ratchathron" (r/HairTransplants). When a commenter asked about the 100, the poster replied "i don’t want the shave on the top. happy to shave side and back though". So the Absolute figure was for non-shaven, and the post doesn't say which the HairTran ฿45 was for.

A patient who consulted in October 2025 wrote "I was quoted in October 185k baht and I also did PRP for 12k. To lock in the price required a 40% deposit." (r/HairTransplants, March 2026). That's $5,580 (฿185,000) plus $360 (฿12,000), one case's quote rather than a published rate.

The whole Bangkok market, including the clinics that publish a per-graft rate, is in our Bangkok cost guide.

Get both quotes in writing against your own graft count, and ask what happens to the price if the count changes on the day.

Shaven or Non-Shaven: What Each Charges

Dr. Laorwong's pasted reply from January 2024 priced the two options: "1. Donor and recipient shaved FUE, the cost is 80 Baht per graft, require shaving the whole head.." and "2. Recipient non shaven FUE, shave only donor area, the cost is 90 Baht per graft." Later reports put Absolute's non-shaven rate at 100 baht: "And 100 baht for non-shaven FUE." in June 2024, and 90 shaved against 100 non-shaven in March 2025.

HairTran's FAQ and non-shaven page both price Non-Shaven FUE at "100 THB per graft", $3.02 (฿100), read 9 October 2026.

One June 2024 email quote from HairTran, pasted by a prospective patient, read differently: "The price for a shave FUE hair transplant (scalp donor) 2500-3000 grafts is 104,000 - 122,500 THB." against "237,500- 285,000THB" for non-shaven, about 95 baht a graft against 41 by our arithmetic (r/HairTransplants).

The thread's poster, a HairTran patient, had answered a question about it earlier that day: "Nah they don’t shave it. Never heard about extra.. seems weird? Every single person I’ve seen who went here had non shaven." That exchange is from June 2024, and the clinic's page now shows the 100 baht rate. How the procedure works, and which other Bangkok clinics offer it, is on our non-shaven FUE page.

Waiting Times and Booking Terms

Neither clinic publishes a waiting time. What follows is what patients wrote and when, not a current wait.

At Absolute, a June 2024 post title read "Laorwong now 90 baht per graft? Booked out for the next 10 months!" An October 2025 patient wrote "I wanted Dr Panchaprateep, but she was booked solid for the next 6 Months." A commenter in September 2026 wrote "A lot of these doctors book out for months if not at least a year in Ratchathorn’s case. If you haven’t reached out already you should start now" (r/HairTransplants).

At HairTran, a March 2026 patient wrote "When I consulted in Oct. 2025, The earliest was second week of March 2026." and a commenter guessed "I think it's closer to a 1 year waitlist now dude, you might as well just lock it in now." (r/HairTransplants).

The wait varies by surgeon.

Absolute's refund and rescheduling policy says "All deposits are non-refundable under any circumstances once payment is made." You can reschedule twice within a year of the deposit: free at least 30 days out, "$200 USD (or 7,000 THB)" at 15 to 29 days, and under 14 days it "will be treated as a cancellation." (read 9 October 2026).

HairTran publishes no deposit amount. The October 2025 quote above came with a 40 percent deposit to lock the price, by that patient's account.

How You Reach Each Doctor

Absolute's contact page says "There are 2 doctors, please specify your preference, each doctor will respond to you directly." and lists WhatsApp and LINE beside email. Its online consultation page asks you to "send clear pictures and videos of both your thinning or balding areas and your donor area."

HairTran's contact page says "Notice: For your convenience, we have transitioned to Zoom-only consultations (No walk-ins accepted). Please book your appointment at least 4 weeks in advance to receive a private consultation link with the doctor."

The March 2026 HairTran patient picked the clinic partly on that contact: "I ended up choosing Dr. Patty at HairTran because of her clinic results and mainly because of responsive and thorough in communication-Kevalee was great and quick with communication."

Send both clinics the same photos of the hair loss and the donor area, and the same questions.

Aftercare, Follow-Up and Guarantees

Absolute's aftercare guide says "We provide intensive post op care for 5 days, includes wound care, hair wash and Low-Level Light Laser Therapy (LLLT)." and "HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy) is available now at Absolute Hair Clinic for intensive post op care." The February 2025 bill above carried 15,000 baht for five days of HBOT.

On results, Absolute's contact page says "Important Notice: No Hair Transplant Results guarantee." and "No money refund".

HairTran's home page lists follow-up at 1 day, 2 weeks, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, the last a "Final assessment with your doctor", and patients who've flown home send photos through its "dedicated online follow-up system for international patients".

HairTran's guarantee has two wordings on the same site. The FUE page says "1-year results guarantee: If your growth does not meet expectations, we'll re-transplant at no extra cost". The home page says "If the outcome does not meet the treatment plan and you have attended all scheduled follow-up visits, we will provide additional care at no extra cost within the warranty period."

The second version carries a condition, every scheduled follow-up attended, and the FUE page also notes "Individual results vary". Neither wording promises a result; what HairTran promises is more work at no charge, on its terms. The weeks after surgery are in our Bangkok recovery guide.

What Patients Report About Absolute

The one-year review from March 2026 ended well: "I'm fairly certain I have my final result, though, and I am overall very pleased with it. I would give it a 9.5 out of 10." The October 2025 patient wrote "Absolute's skill, efficiency and organisation were outstanding - they do two procedures a day most days, and the system runs like clockwork."

The criticism is about the surgeon's share of the work and about admin. A commenter on the March 2026 review wrote "Also I feel like he is giving up too much work to the technicians" and claimed, without giving a source, that the problems were recent. The October 2025 patient's booking notes read "Poor communication. Finally, they responded with confirmation and a pre-op instructions sheet."

What Patients Report About HairTran

The March 2026 patient's day-one post covered the pain: "I was initially worried about the pain from local anesthesia, but it ended up being very manageable-mostly a 2-3 out of 10, with a couple spots maybe hitting a 4."

The criticism is about hairline style. A June 2024 commenter wrote "I think if you have the money and time for Laorwong he's the better option but patty still produces good results for the price. The only issue I have with Patty's results is the front line density seemingly lacking and she can overdo the jagged hairline to where it looks comical." (r/HairTransplants).

The same commenter had wanted Dr. Laorwong first and switched on availability. That remark and the June 2024 non-shaven quote above are the main criticisms of HairTran we found on r/HairTransplants.

The Threads Where Patients Compared Them

By April 2026 one poster was asking for anything else: "Everybody seems to go to the same two clinics. It would be interesting to hear about results outside of HT and absolute in Thailand" (r/HairTransplants).

Inside Absolute, the choice between its two surgeons comes up too. The February 2025 patient "specifically chose Dr. Ratchathorn over Laorwong because I preferred her hairline designs" and added "I think Dr. Patty at Hairtran Clinic (also in Bangkok) is about half the price of what I paid and she has excellent results." (r/HairTransplants, March 2025).

How to Choose Between Them

This is our judgment built on the facts above, not a ranking, and nothing here says which clinic is better.

Waiting time. Ask both for the next open surgery date in writing; patients report months at both.

Surgeon contact first. At Absolute you email the doctor you pick and that doctor replies; HairTran books a Zoom call with Dr. Patty at least four weeks out.

A written guarantee. HairTran publishes one, with a follow-up attendance condition in one version; Absolute states no results guarantee and no refund.

Two surgeons. Absolute; patients pick between them on hairline style and on who has a date.

Budget first. HairTran publishes a starting price of $3,080 (฿102,000); Absolute's English pages show no price, and patients report ฿70 to ฿100 a graft in posts from 2024 to 2026. A lower or higher quote isn't proof of quality either way.

Who does each step. Both clinics' own words above leave room, so ask in writing and compare the answers.

Questions to Ask Both Clinics Before You Pay a Deposit

1. Which steps will the surgeon do, and which will staff do: extraction, incisions, placement? 2. How many grafts does the clinic do per day, with how many people? 3. What is the deposit today, what does it cover, and what happens if I move the date? 4. Does the per-graft price change if my graft count changes on the day? 5. What is included in the price, and what costs extra, such as PRP or oxygen sessions? 6. What does the guarantee or touch-up policy say in writing, and what condition does it carry? 7. How do I get follow-up once I'm home? 8. When is the next open date with the surgeon I want?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Absolute Hair Clinic or HairTran cheaper?

Only HairTran publishes a current English-language starting price: from $3,080 (฿102,000), and $3.02 (฿100) a graft for Non-Shaven FUE. Absolute's English pages show no price; its Thai FUE page, dated 2023, says from about ฿30,000.

Posts from 2024 to 2026 report $2.11 to $3.02 (฿70 to ฿100) a graft at Absolute, and patients who split the price put ฿100 on non-shaven. Get both in writing for your own graft count.

Which clinic is booked out longer?

Neither publishes a wait. Absolute patients wrote of 10 months in June 2024, a six-month wait for Dr. Panchaprateep in a post from October 2025 and "at least a year" for her in September 2026, while a HairTran patient who consulted in October 2025 was offered March 2026. Ask both for the next open date in writing.

Do I have to shave my head at either clinic?

Both offer a non-shaven option at a higher per-graft rate. HairTran publishes $3.02 (฿100) a graft for Non-Shaven FUE, and at Absolute Dr. Laorwong's January 2024 reply gave 80 baht shaved and 90 non-shaven, with posts from 2024 and 2025 reporting 90 and 100. Ask which parts of the head get shaved under each option.

How long do I need to stay in Bangkok?

HairTran's home page says "We recommend staying for two weeks to allow time for consultation, the procedure, and initial recovery. If time is limited, a minimum stay of three days is possible, provided you rest adequately before traveling home." Absolute's aftercare guide describes five days of post-op care at the clinic.

Get a Quote From Both

Send the same photos and the eight questions above to both clinics and compare the written answers. The other four Bangkok clinics are in our Bangkok clinic comparison.

If you want quotes for your own case from both, our contact page is the place to start.

Prices, policies and credentials on this page come from each clinic's own site and the ISHRS register, read 9 October 2026, and each is linked where it appears. Clinics change prices without notice.

Dollars at ฿33.14 = $1 (European Central Bank reference rates, 22 September 2026).