Final Phase of 30-Baht Scheme Extends Coverage to All Provinces

The “Treatment Anywhere” 30-baht universal healthcare scheme is now available across all 76 provinces in Thailand. The National Health Security Office (NHSO) confirmed the expansion began yesterday in the remaining 31 provinces.

Dr Athaporn Limpanylers, deputy secretary-general of the NHSO, said the initiative first started on Jan 7 last year in four pilot provinces—Phrae, Roi Et, Phetchaburi, and Narathiwat.

The programme aims to improve accessibility and speed, enabling patients to seek medical services closer to home. It also ensures faster financial reimbursements for providers and adopts AI systems for pre-payment verification to boost efficiency. Accurate data sharing among service providers is key to its success, he added.

To enhance support, the NHSO expanded its 1330 hotline, which operates 24/7. People can use it to book appointments or request assistance. The hotline connects directly to the NHSO database for real-time service verification. Additional volunteers have been brought in to manage calls, while other contact options, including Line (@NHSO), Traffy Fondue, and Facebook, have been set up for convenience.

As of Dec 27, the programme includes 13,004 healthcare facilities. These consist of 788 medical clinics, 1,394 dental clinics, 5,491 pharmacies, 4,344 nursing clinics, 340 physical therapy clinics, and 453 traditional Thai medicine clinics.

Since the system went live, over 7.04 million people have accessed its services. The NHSO finalized reimbursement procedures for service providers on Dec 23.