Trade in health service: challenges and opportunities for Thailand

Trade in the healthcare services sector has witnessed a rapid growth due to rising incomes, changes in demographic profiles in developed economies, convergence of life styles, long waiting periods to seek elective medical procedures in the advanced economies, and global supply and demand imbalances in the provision of healthcare. The emerging economies in the ASEAN region, especially Thailand and Malaysia, have been aggressive in promoting themselves to be a hub of healthcare services. The primary objective of this paper is to investigate the opportunities and challenges for Thailand in expanding the export of healthcare services. Due to their unique inherent characteristics, healthcare services are traded through four distinct delivery modes. This paper provides a critical appraisal of the factors that underpin trade in healthcare services via each mode. This analysis provides an insight into the mode-specific factors that drives and/or drags Thailand‘s export in healthcare services. An attempt is made to provide an appraisal of the extent to which the Thai healthcare services sector has succeeded in utilising these modes to expand trade in healthcare services. This exercise provides a fitting platform to critically examine each mode of delivery in terms of its associated challenges and opportunities. The paper also outlines a way forward to enhance export competitiveness of Thailand‘s healthcare services in increasingly contested markets for healthcare services