The infant mortality rate (IMR) is a good indicator of health status differences
in various population groups, i.e., the IMR in non-municipal areas being 1.85 times
higher than that in the municipal areas. Although the IMR has declined by half in the
past 20 years, the urban-rural difference is increasing (Table 1.4). In the World Health
Report 2000, Thailand was ranked 74th in the area of equity in health status as
measured by the distribution of child mortality