Thailand is wooing patients in China to visit its many hospitals, at the China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services, that began on Wednesday.

Although most Chinese people probably view it as a tourist spot, the southeast Asian country has been popular with some Western citizens who go there to recover from illnesses, says a Thai government official.

"Thailand has long won its name as a rehabilitation resort among Europeans, Americans and people from the Middle East, though it is largely known as a tourist destination among Chinese people," says Apipong Khunakornbodintr, a minister counselor at the Thailand embassy in Beijing.