Chapter 10
Recommendations and lessons
Policy recommendations for Thailand
B ased on the insights gained through the assessment, two sets of policy
recommendations — one set related to the unfinished agenda and
one to the future agenda — are offered with a view to sustaining and
improving the UCS over the next 10 years.
The unfinished agenda
Thailand took a pragmatic approach to implementing the UCS, doing what was
possible and putting on the back burner some of the more difficult aspects of
the original policy design. For example, the NHSO was established as a public
purchaser, but the CSMBS and SSS were left relatively untouched. The financing
of health-care services changed, but this had limited impact on re-orienting
the existing inequitable allocation of the health workforce. Moreover, the role
of the MOPH in the provision of services changed less than was intended.
It is important to press ahead with these unfinished items on the reform agenda.