Leading country in health services for many years.

                 Thailand has been a leading country in health services for many years, both in the integrated medical industry and medical tourism. In 2021, Thailand’s medical tourism industry was ranked 5th in the world by the Medical Tourism Association. The top 5 countries where people come to receive medical treatment in Thailand are Kuwait, Cambodia, Myanmar, Japan and China. The top 5 groups of diseases are health check-ups, orthopedic, cardiovascular, metabolic, and dental diseases and the top 5 diseases that generate the highest income for Thailand are cardiovascular, metabolic, cancer, bone and joint, and neurological diseases.

                Thailand’s competitiveness is growing steadily. Medical service is currently worth at least 100,000 million baht and is expected to increase steadily due to the increasing investment of private hospitals both in Bangkok and potential areas in the provinces in order to support both Thais and foreigners. According to the Department of Health Service Support in 2014, it was found that the total number of the foreigners who used medical services in Thailand was 1.2 million cases.

                Thailand has the potential in public health and service sectors which are recognized around the world. Thailand has 69 hospitals accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), which is ranked 4th in the world and ranked 1st in Southeast Asia. In addition, Thailand is ranked 6th in the world for medical tourism that tourists are interested in. The government therefore use such advantages in formulating a policy to develop Thailand into a “Medical Hub” within 10 years from 2017 to 2026 in order to raise the standards of health care in tourism. The objectives are to recover and drive the country’s economy and to provide job opportunity for the people. At present, a total of 5 supporting guidelines have been established as follows.

                 1. Development of the Andaman Wellness Corridor (AWC) to recover the economy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in the southern Andaman provinces, namely Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga and Ranong, which are areas that are ready and have high potential such as treatment of complex diseases, gender affirmation surgery, marine tourist care, world-class spas and hot springs, etc.

                 2. Development of a wellness industry model with green medicine by allowing more use of cannabis extracts in medicine or consumer products. This is to generate income in the economy along with the tourism industry, as well as creating jobs and careers and increasing the state income from taxation.

                  3. Development of the Cannabis Hub in a virtual world (Metaverse), which related to the development of Cannabis Digital Asset, a prototype business that allows people to access the comprehensive cannabis and hemp business using virtual world, the digital technology.

                  4. Pinning Thailand as the World Class Super Center through, for example, the establishment of an advanced specialized hospital for cancer treatment, a pilot project in Amata City Industrial Estate, Chonburi Province, and the establishment of Udon Thani Cancer Center Hospital in cooperation with foreign universities.

                 5. Pinning Thailand as a medical education center by increasing the country’s capacity in producing doctors in both international medicine courses and Thai traditional and alternative medicine courses.

                 Currently, foreigners pay more attention to investing in private hospital business in Thailand. This is due to the opening of the AEC which allows high proportion of service business shareholders with ASEAN nationalities up to 70 percent and foreigners are also allowed to freely invest in the Thai stock market. The Stock Exchange of Thailand reports that the value of shares in the hospital business continues to increase every year.

Source: Department Of Health Service Support

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