RAKxa Opens on Bang Krachao, Bangkok’s Green Lung

RAKxa, a medical wellness retreat on Bang Krachao, the protected green peninsula in a bend of the Chao Phraya opposite central Bangkok, opened its first phase on 1 December 2020. It started with 27 garden villas of about 80 square metres each and one restaurant, Unam, with further pool villas and residences planned to bring the total to around 60 villas.

The retreat was created by three partners: the developer M.K. Real Estate Development, Minor Hotels, which manages the hospitality side, and VitalLife Scientific Wellness Centre, a subsidiary of Bumrungrad International Hospital. That last name explains the concept. RAKxa presents itself as Thailand’s first fully integrative wellness and medical retreat, where doctors and diagnostic technology share a campus with practitioners of traditional disciplines.

In practice the site is organised around three buildings. The VitalLife clinic handles consultations, screening and medical treatments. RAKxa Jai, the holistic centre, covers Thai, Chinese and Ayurvedic therapies along with energy work. A medical gym, with physiotherapists and a hydrothermal area, deals with movement and recovery. Guests follow personalised programmes of three to fourteen days, built around aims such as gut health, de-stressing, weight management or immunity, and the kitchen follows an anti-inflammatory approach using produce from the retreat’s own gardens.

Managing director Dusadee Tancharoen described the project as an attempt to offer something beyond the spa holidays usually associated with Thailand. The design follows the same idea: villas finished with Thai silks and local craft, set in gardens of indigenous plants, without the look of either a hospital or a conventional spa. The developers also restored part of Bang Krachao’s ecosystem that had been degraded over time.

The location is the surprise. Bang Krachao is about an hour from both of Bangkok’s airports and can be reached by car or by boat, so the retreat sits within sight of the city’s towers while remaining among mangroves, orchards and cycling paths. It gave Thailand, already home to long-established retreats in Hua Hin and Koh Samui, a medical wellness address in the capital itself.