Until everything goes horribly wrong:
BANGKOK: The Thai government is cracking down on illegal beauty clinics and unlicensed doctors after the death of a high-profile woman.
The name of her job says it all.
Athitiya Eiamya worked as a "pretty" – a term used for the almost ubiquitous product promotion girls who work the trade shows and city shopping malls.
But Athitaya's life ended tragically due to complications from a botched filler injection to make her buttocks appear fuller, administered by a man with no medical training.
Legitimate beauty clinics abound in Bangkok but there's also a burgeoning network of underground, cut price practitioners offering the same kind of services at sharply discounted rates. And while customers may save money, the real cost could actually be their life.
Dr Thara Chinakarn, Director of the Bureau of Sanatorium and Art of Healing, Ministry of Public Health Ministry, said: "Some people have undergone beauty procedures despite knowing that it was being carried out by an unlicensed dermatologist. This is absolutely unsafe and dangerous. Don't care just about convenience and cheap price or let an unlicensed dermatologist inject some substance into your body as it is risky and dangerous."
The current maximum penalty for operating without a licence is a three-year prison sentence plus US$2,000 fine and as yet, there are no plans to increase the severity of that punishment.
But the government has initiated a crackdown following a recent spike in cases of botched procedures.
Why am I not surprised?