This paper reviews the situation and trend on the Human Resources for Health
and its priority problems in Thailand. It also highlights the issue of the inequitable
distribution of doctors. Through several brainstorming sessions among stakeholders, it
summarizes a package of recommendations for the future continuous and sustainable
knowledge-based Human Resources for Health Development.
The priority HRH problems in Thailand are the inequitable distribution, the
shortages, the provider-patient relationship, and the inadequate morale and productivity.
Inequitable distribution of doctors is considered the most serious problem. The study
shows a more than 23 times differences in the density of doctors in the capital city and
the lowest density province. Several factors contribute to this problems, including the
rapid capitalistic economic growth with rapid expansion of the urban private hospitals, the
opportunity for continuing education, the urban origin of the graduates, and the influx of
foreign patients. Many strategies, both supply and demand sides, were used to solve
these problems. However because they are implemented in a fragmented, uncoordinated
sometimes conflicting manners, and rarely evaluated systematically, the successes are
not so much.
The package of recommendations for continuous and sustainable HRH
development include the knowledge generation and management, the continuously
verified and updated HRH information and the sustainable capacity development for
HRH management.