6 months in and we have officially-officially made it past the ugly duckling phase! Note: if you have questions, please check first and second posts. There are a lot of answers there.

Hey everyone, I’ve never posted on Reddit before, but I’ve benefitted so much from this community that I wanted to share my experience and pay it forward. I’m using a throwaway account for privacy reasons. My Journey I’m 36 and started losing hair at 23, classic male pattern baldness. Over the past 10 years, I’ve been on oral finasteride and minoxidil which helped stabilise my hair loss. Around a year ago, I began exploring the possibility of hair transplants. It was a daunting process initially because I had so many questions and concerns about what could potentially go wrong, but this community’s reviews and insights gave me the much needed confidence to go for it! After nearly a year of research, comparing results and reviews from clinics in Turkey, Australia and Thailand, I chose Absolute Hair Clinic in Bangkok. While they were one of the pricier options, their reputation and consistent results stood out for me. Between Dr. Laorwong and Dr. Ratchathorn, I ultimately chose Dr. Ratchathorn for her outstanding results and impressive accolades. I just had a strong feeling she was the best fit for my use case. The Consultation I planned a two week trip to Bangkok to ensure I had time to recover before flying home. The day before the surgery, I met Dr. Ratchathorn for the pre-op consultation. She designed my hairline, conducted a donor area assessment and did my blood test for HIV. Initially, she recommended two sessions, focusing on density at the front and midsection first and then addressing the crown later. However, I preferred a single session if possible and she accommodated this by maximising the grafts she could use for a single session: 2300 grafts to the front 800 grafts to the midsection 1200 grafts to the crown In order to make this work, we agreed not to lower the hairline and prioritise coverage. Cost & Surgery Details Cost: 80 THB per graft (shaved) Total grafts: 4,300 Procedure length: ~6-7 hours On surgery day, I arrived at the clinic, had my hairline finalised and off we go. The anaesthetic injections were about a 5/10 pain wise but once they kicked in, I didn’t feel much. I slept through most of the procedure thanks to Valium and woke up briefly during implantation when the anaesthetic wore off (a quick top-up fixed that). After the procedure, I was given meds, made the payment via Wise and walked back to my hotel. The process was surprisingly smooth overall. Post-Op Care The clinic provided five days of free cleaning and medication application for both the donor and recipient areas + 1 session in an oxygen chamber. I extended the cleaning service for an additional 5 days (totally worth it as I didn’t want to risk damaging the recipient area and it wasn't very expensive). All the staff there were incredible!!! So friendly, professional and attentive. On my last day, they even treated me to an oil scalp massage to remove the scabs. Overall I’m very happy with my choice to go with Dr. Ratchathorn. She is truly a master of her craft. The thought and care she put into designing a natural looking hairline were outstanding. While it’s still early, I’m feeling very optimistic about the outcome (fingers crossed). Thailand itself made the whole trip worthwhile. Amazing food, friendly people and I could comfortably explore the city with the black bandana they provided to protect my scalp. I’ll try to post monthly updates to share my progress, but please feel free to ask me anything in the comments!

I would like to start by saying thank you to everyone that participates in this community. I researched hair transplants for over a decade before making the decision to proceed with one this year. Reddit is a large reason why I chose to proceed, and why I chose AHC. I’m very glad I did. Secondly, I would like to emphasise that although it’s early days in terms of results, I cannot recommend Dr. Ratchathorn and her team at Absolute Hair Clinic highly enough. Going into this procedure, I was anxious as all hell. They swiftly put my mind at ease with care, surgical precaution, and a willingness to explain and walk me through the process. The aftercare was phenomenal, and I’m thrilled with their consultation, surgical execution, and hairline design. Cutting to the chase - Cost: 80 baht per graft (shaved) Grafts: 3779 (to rebuild hairline, strengthen the forelock, rebuild the temples and strengthen the frontal third) Medication: Minoxidil (topical rogaine currently, but switching to oral on Ratchathorn’s advice), Finasteride (topical, 0.05% - due to sides from oral), Nizoral shampoo I don’t want to ramble any more than I already have, so please, ask me anything. I owe it to those that went before me, that I share my story and give back to the community that has given me the courage to do this.