Thailand's ratio of doctor per persons to improve to 1:1500 within 2022

BANGKOK, 14 May 2015 (NNT) – Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin has indicated that Thailand's ratio of doctor per persons will improve to 1 per 1,500 within the year 2022.

Dr. Rajata expressed this belief at Wednesday's certificates awarding ceremony for graduating medical students of the rural doctors program. For education year 2014, a total of 589 doctors were produced under the program, which was initiated in 1995.

According to Dr. Rajata, 5,914 doctors have been produced under this program and around 5,000 medical students are currently undertaking their studies to become rural doctors. Because of this, he is confident the ratio of 1 doctor per 1,500 people will be attained by 2022.


-- NNT 2015-05-14

Boy these figures are driving me Quackers.

How about improving the quality and education of the doctors already staffed in Thailand. I have talked to so many who are almost ignorant in their specialty and general practice is 20 years behind the times

Thailand will achieve this ratio by announcing more and longer holidays in an effort to increase the number of road accidents thus bringing the overall population in line with the limited number of doctors. Thailand is beginning to learn how to do long-term planning.

Most doctors are in Bangkok working in the medical tourism aspect of healthcare. I think there are around 35,000 doctors in Thailand.

"by" 2022, not "within". "Within" a period of time but "by" a specific date. "within seven years" or "by 2022". Kao-jai reu plao?

According to Dr. Rajata, 5,914 doctors have been produced under this program and around 5,000 medical students are currently undertaking their studies to become rural doctors. Because of this, he is confident the ratio of 1 doctor per 1,500 people will be attained by 2022.

The good man is making a statement about new graduates who become rural doctors, and "because of this" he is confident that the ratio of 1 doctor per 1,500 people will be attained. That ratio is an average of both rural and urban areas. It would also be interesting to know the current ratio, maybe it is now 1:1,400 which means it is getting worse by 2022. Or it is now 1:1,499 which means no noticeable change.

The article is just 4 sentences long and the author was still able to mix things up enough to basically tell nothing.

I guess one of Thailand's problems is the lack of doctors in rural areas. So i wonder what the ratio of doctors to people is in rural areas and how that is changing over time.

Just out of interest Cuba 4.91 per 1000 population.

Could not find the numbers for North Korea which Thailand appears to be emulating.