In a closely-followed court case, the Administrative Court in Phetchaburi ruled that multi-tiered “dual pricing” in Thai hospitals usually are not discriminatory as they benefit Thailand, in accordance with the media outlet Coconuts Bangkok. Official , who sued the Ministry of Public Health after discovering he was being charged more for his cancer remedy as a foreigner, vowed to attraction the decision.
Erwin stated the court docket took the Ministry at its phrase as a substitute of fact-checking statements and that a current change in how the Ministry defines labour costs allowed it to justify the dual pricing retroactively. The ruling appeared to be based mostly solely on the idea that foreigners have and earn extra money, to enable them to afford to pay more which benefits the Thai financial system.
“The pricing was set on an applicable foundation of socioeconomic status, and it benefits Thailand, so it subsequently doesn’t count as discrimination.”
The Thai structure ensures equal safety which Erwin claims dual pricing violates, and the Ministry’s own regulations say that hospital pricing ought to be based mostly on the actual price of therapy. But in September 2019, public hospitals launched new guidelines with a 4-tier pricing system based mostly on legal status inside Thailand. The lowest costs were charged for citizens of Thailand and costs could be the same or barely larger for these who come from other ASEAN or neighbouring nations.
Fees begin to climb significantly on the third tier for folks on non-immigrant visas like working foreigners and expats and prices usually skyrocket for the fourth tier which includes international vacationers and those that are retired in Thailand. The case cited example dual pricing for antibody screening the place the first two tiers pay one hundred thirty baht and the expat tier pay a hundred ninety baht, but the fourth tier for tourists and retirees pay double the original worth. For larger therapies and operations, the difference may be large. For instance, a spinal MRI price a Thai individual 18,700 baht while a tourist pays almost 10,000 baht extra at 28,050 baht.
Ewrin’s lawsuit is seeking to abolish the dual pricing multi-tier buildings and revert back to the plans that had been used from 2004 to 2019 with unified pricing buildings..g