Country Focus The BOI highlights Thailand's flourishing medical devices sector, with a nearly US$20 billion trade value, among the strongest in ASEAN countries. Abundant raw materials, especially rubber and plastic for singleuse items, a skilled labour pool for semi-tech and hightech device production, and government support are driving this sector's growth, projected at 6.5% annually in 2022-2023. Smart remedy for healthcare challenges Hong Kong-headquartered consultancy YCP Solidance's April 2021 white paper titled The Future of Smart Hospitals in Thailand highlights how technology adoption and the development of smart hospitals with digitalised systems can effectively address challenges stemming from an ageing society, rising healthcare costs, and evolving medical needs in Thailand. A report highlighted that implementation of digitalised systems and smart hospitals can efficiently tackle challenges arising from Thailand's ageing population, increasing healthcare expenses, and changing medical demands
Smart hospitals in Thailand serve critical medical objectives: enhancing operational efficiency, improving patient outcomes, reducing patient volume, enhancing diagnostic accuracy, boosting revenues, and more. Both public and private hospitals are striving to enhance efficiency and cost management while maintaining high standards of care. As a result, ongoing digital initiatives are being pursued across the country's healthcare institutions. The Ministry of Public Health initiated the eHealth strategy from 2017-2026, leveraging information and communications technology (ICT) to enhance health services, management, and communication. Digitalising hospitals holds immense potential. For instance, these systems can optimize the healthcare professional-to-patient ratio to ensure adequate care. With only 0.5 physicians per 1,000 people and Thailand transitioning to an ageing society with a rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), patient volume is increasing. Smart systems can not only manage operational costs but also expand services to underserved areas. Smart hospitals focus on objectives like seamless patient flow, clinical excellence, mobile asset management, patient experience, remote monitoring, and data management.
Various platforms are already deployed in public hospitals, including smart queue kiosks, mobile apps, assistive robots, self-payment kiosks, chatbots, remote care systems, telemedicine, blockchain data management, and more. While Thailand is on track for full implementation of smart systems in healthcare facilities, the pace of adoption varies between public and private hospitals, necessitating diverse approaches for technology vendors to cater to different care providers' needs, YCP stated. Going circular with recycling Plastics hold an indispensable role that extends beyond Thailand's medical devices sector. The country boasts the largest petrochemical sector in Southeast Asia and the 16th largest globally. In 2018, this sector, including plastic resins, generated 11.8 million tonnes of products. The plastics industry's significance is reflected in its contribution of nearly US$37 billion to Thailand's economy in the same year, constituting 6.71% of the country's GDP, according to a World Bank study. However, the widespread production of plastics, both in Thailand and globally, has led to a growing issue of mismanaged waste, resulting in detrimental economic and environmental consequences. A 2021 study by Lourens J. J. Meijer et al reveals that Asia, particularly, contributes to over 80% of plastic leakage into marine environments, with Thailand ranking sixth among the top ten contributing countries from the region. Packaging remains a dominant waste; Pepsi launches rPET bottle Thailand grapples with an annual consumption and generation of approximately 2.5 million tonnes of plastic packaging waste. This waste stream is dominated by plastic bags and bottles, accounting for 60% of the total plastic packaging waste.
Pepsi claims to tbe first beverage supplier with 100% rPET bottles in Thailand SEPTEMBER 2023
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