Healthcare in Thailand

Private hospitals help complement the system, especially in Bangkok and large urban areas, and Thailand is among the world's leading medical tourism destinations.

Although there have been national policies for decentralization, resistance to implementing such changes persists, and the MOPH still directly controls most aspects of health care.

Means-tested health care for low-income households was replaced by a new and more comprehensive insurance scheme, originally known as the 30 baht project, in line with the small co-payment charged for treatment.

People joining the scheme receive a gold card, which allows them to access services in their health district and, if necessary, to be referred for specialist treatment elsewhere.

[4] The bulk of health financing comes from public revenues, with funding allocated to contracting units for primary care annually on a population basis.

Thailand achieved universal coverage with relatively low levels of spending on health, but it faces significant challenges: rising costs, inequalities, and duplication of resources.

[4][5] Although the reforms have received a good deal of criticism, they have proved popular with poorer Thais, especially in rural areas, and they survived the change of government after the 2006 military coup.

Then, Public Health Minister, Mongkol Na Songkhla, abolished the 30 baht co-payment and made the scheme free.

[6][7][8] In 2009, annual spending on health care amounted to 345 international dollars per person in purchasing power parity (PPP).

The National Institute of Emergency Medicine (NIEMS) is seeking to increase minimum training to 40 hours, a move initially opposed by the Rescue Network of Thailand, an association of voluntary first responders.

Significant money must be at stake[citation needed] as, sometimes, competition for patients between organizations leads to turf wars and even gun play.

To control brain drain, a frequent occurrence in the 1980s, they stopped training medical personnel in English and created good working environments in rural areas.