Legal Measures for Medical Tourism in Thailand for Sustainable Development
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Abstract
The research aims at reviewing existing statutes and subordinate laws relating to medical practice and public health in Thailand as well as in the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore and India. It analyzes harmony between existing legal environments in Thailand and policies on medical tourism hub and proposes amendments to and development of medical practice and public health laws to support medical tourism. The research begins by addressing and analyzing laws and regulations relating to a value chain of medical tourism by relying on a doctrinal method together with performing functional comparative analysis with an aim to analyze impacts on legal measures on medical tourism. According to the findings, readiness of Thailand’s legal measures on medical tourism is high compared with other countries in the region as reflected through the evaluation scores. Despite falling behind Malaysia, Thailand achieved a higher score than Singapore and India. This is because laws and regulations relating to medical tourism in Thailand are capable of support growth of medical tourism and are being supported by a clear national policy towards medical tourism. In addition, the government can take actions to enhance competitiveness of the country for medical tourism. It is recommended that the Thai government should develop laws and regulations relating to the visa process to promote traveler comfort, develop laws and regulations to allow free labor movement for flexibility of medical practice, ensure flexibility and transparency of medical service fees, and develop a dispute resolution system for disputes arising from medical services. To ensure sustainable development, the government shall collect special fees from medical tourists which will be subsequently allocated to subsidize the public health system for Thai citizens.
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References
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