Development of the long-term care system in Thailand

Abstract

Thailand is on the verge of becoming an ‘aged society,’ with 13% of its population aged 65 years and over. Under these circumstances, the Government of Thailand has developed a community-based long-term care (LTC) system on a pilot basis, taking advantage of local and external knowledge and resources. Japan’s official development assistance for Thailand to develop an LTC system has contributed to the development of models regarding community-level integration of LTC, the development of specialised care and the rehabilitation capacity. This has led to the creation of Thailand’s own LTC model, which is being scaled up as pilot LTC rograms. However, there are policy concerns for Thailand in expanding standardised quality LTC across the country in the future: (1) There is a lack of regulations for private LTC providers in urban areas; and (2) financial resources will need to be secured as LTC expands nationwide