Thailand became the first transition country in Asia to introduce universal coverage for health care in 2002. This important step follows a longstanding commitment by the Thai Government to provide affordable health care to its population which is reflected by its high share of public expenditure for health care (61.6% in 2003) when compared to neighbouring transition countries. The Thai Rak Thai Party (TRTP) won its landslide victory in the 2001 general election because of the Party’s promise to implement its policies. The Party leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, on becoming the Prime Minister of Thailand, announced at a press conference on 6 January 2001, (Election Day), that his Party was committed to implementing its policies as promised. Furthermore, since his party was entrusted by the people to set up the government, the Party’s policies were the government’s policies, and therefore: “If the party cannot keep its promise, it would betray the electorate’s trust.” As the Universal Coverage Scheme policy had been part of the TRTP's manifest since 26 March 2000 and was promoted during the political campaign under the slogan of ‘sam sib baht raksathukrok’ (“30 baht treats all diseases”), the ‘30 baht’ (approximately 30 baht to the US 0.75-80 dollar) policy became one of the government’s top priority policies to be implemented following the election.