Data collection and tools
The research team approached the interviewees once permission had
been received from the provincial chief medical officers in Ranong
and Tak provinces. In-depth interviews were conducted in a relaxed
manner, and started with open questions. The interviewer gradually
probed for greater detail on information revealed by the respondents
by linking this with the conceptual framework, and exploring
emerging themes. Issues of the perceptions of local health staff towards
the policy and their real-life experiences of operational constraints
in policy implementation were also interview topics. All
interviews were conducted in Thai