Health Care System in Thailand

To begin our Thailand APPE experience,we had a lecture discussing the health care system in Thailand. The Thai health care system has been recently reformed as part of the 11th national economic and social development plan that is based on his majesty the King's sufficiency economy philosophy and focuses on people centered development. Major elements of the reform include focusing on health building rather than health repairing, developing a universal coverage of health services and improving the quality of care. The reform has resulted in a universal health care plan that covers almost 100% of the Thai people. The reform also has placed a large burden on the government to front the bill. The health care system in Thailand is much different than the predomiately private health care system found in the United States. Today's lecture was an excellent introduction in understanding the Thai health system and I am exicited to learn more about it during the next few weeks.