Access to Healthcare in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Abstract

The focus of this study was on access to quality healthcare services in crucial areas of public health. Among those areas examined were acute treatment, chronic care, mental health services, end of life care, and wellness services. Data was gathered by conducting interviews with doctors, nurses, and academics associated with the healthcare field in Chiang Mai during an 18-day visit to Chiang Mai, Thailand and its environs. The information obtained throughout this study highlighted the excellence of the Thai public health system. Since universal healthcare coverage was enacted in 2002, Thailand has seen a direct correlation between increased governmental health expenditure, increased use of public healthcare services, and a decrease in morbidity and mortality. Thailand’s low Infant Mortality Rate and Child Mortality Rate are exemplary indicators of the efficacy of the healthcare system and illustrate the exceptional access, quality, and provision of free public healthcare available to the Thai populace. The information gathered during this study is significant in that it adds to the current understanding of the universal health care system in Thailand and by extension, supplements the existing body of knowledge on the international health community.