Kluaynamthai

Yes, we have bananas

The name of our organization is Kluaynamthai.  Kluay, in Thai, means banana (กล้วย).  The ‘namthai’ refers to a district near the water.  Back in the ’60’s when the company was started in a small apartment building near the port of Bangkok, there was a small grove of banana trees adjacent to the building.  The trees were beautiful and almost always full of bananas.  The original founder of the business felt that they were a gift to his patients.  After all, what’s healthier than a fresh banana.  And given the limited budget of the business, having at least one free product that was healthy seemed like a lucky charm.  So the business became Kluaynamthai – the banana hospital near the water.

Today, that original building still exists as part of our acute care campus, but the business has grown substantially to include two hospitals, many primary care clinics, nursing homes, a home care company, Thailand’s largest training school for caregivers, a virtual care business, a resort and a farm.  We’ve come a long way from the small building beside a banana grove near the port.  

Recently we opened up a new long term care building specifically designed for dementia care.  Beside this building, there is a large garden where residents can safely wander, grow vegetables and herbs and generally have some freedom outside of the building.  In honour of the opening of this new building, which is called the Garden Living Home, one of the banana trees from the original grove was transplanted to the new garden.  It was literally removed from its original home, trucked about 10 km to its new home and planted.  I am pleased to say that it’s doing fine.  There are bananas ready for picking and the residents in this new building will soon have the benefit of a tree that produces healthy and satisfying bananas on a weekly basis.

Rather than name the hospital after himself, the founder who had been a monk, decided to name the business after the fresh banana trees that graced the area just next to the first building that became the hospital.  It was a symbolic name that represented freshness, good health and continuous growth.

And yes, today,  we still have bananas.