Thailand spent 444 billion baht on public health during the three-year COVID-19 epidemic, according to the Ministry of Public Health. In the ministry’s analysis, the cost of identifying and treating COVID-19 patients accounted for more than half of the total cost, or 260 billion baht.
According to internal estimates, the cost of vaccine acquisition and distribution was roughly 78 billion baht. In addition, throughout the pandemic, the government spent 57.5 billion baht on victim compensation and medical worker incentives. From 2020 to 2022, the government paid for all citizens’ medical and vaccine bills. The majority of the funding came from the yearly budget. Loans totaling 1.5 trillion baht were also issued to boost economic growth and pay for several critical public health programs.
