Health and Safety in Thailand

The Ministry of Public Health is the governing arm of Thailand responsible in assuring the health and wellness of its citizens.  It has realigned its administrative system in order to concur with the National Development Plan Economy and Society which is the central development plan of the nation. 

The total expenditure on Health as a percentage of the Thailand’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 3.5% as of 2003.  There are 69,331 health centers all over the country with almost 19,000 physicians by the end of 2002.  The average number of hospital beds available for every 10,000 population is 22 on the same year.  According to World Health Organization (WHO) report in 2002, the average life expectancy of Thailand is 69.9 years for males, and 74.9 years for females.  The caused of deaths have shifted from communicable and infectious diseases to illnesses hasten by every day lifestyle and behavior.  The table below shows the causes of death in Thailand as of 2002 per 100,000 people, based on WHO report:

Causes                                              Rate

Cancer                                       73.3
Accidents and Poisoning                 55.3
Hypertension                               26.6   
Heart Diseases                             24.6
Pneumonia                                  21.1

Other major contagious diseases in Thailand are hepatitis, dengue, malaria, bacterial diarrhea, dengue fever, rabies and Japanese encephalitis.  The government has also improved its support to people infected with HIV/AIDS.  The cases of HIV had been reduced to 1.5% for ages 15 to 49 years due to a well-funded and politically supported program launched by the Thai government.  A total of 58,000 people died because of AIDS, including adults and children have been recorded since its first outbreak in 1984.