Strategic Purchasing
Pooling national funds to buy health services efficiently on behalf of the whole population.
Who We Are 1
About the National Health Security Office
The public agency behind Thailand’s Universal Coverage Scheme — securing access to quality health care for every citizen, regardless of income or status.
Thailand's strategic purchaser for universal coverage
Established in 2002 under the National Health Security Act B.E. 2545, the National Health Security Office (NHSO) — known in Thai as “Sor Por Sor Chor” — manages the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS), the public health-financing programme that today protects more than 47 million people across the country.
Rather than delivering care directly, NHSO acts as a strategic purchaser: it pools public funds, designs the benefit package, registers health-care providers, and pays for services on behalf of UCS beneficiaries — everyone not covered by the civil servant or social security schemes, which includes most informal-sector workers, older people, and low-income households. In practice the scheme has proved strongly pro-poor: government health subsidies reach lower-income households more than richer ones.
Our core business
Four functions that turn public funding into health protection for everyone.
Benefit Package
Defining — and continually expanding — the services every UCS member is entitled to receive.
Provider Network
Registering and partnering with hospitals and clinics nationwide to deliver care close to home.
Financial Protection
Shielding households from catastrophic medical costs through low, predictable fees at the point of care.
Universal coverage, at scale
2002
Year established
47M+
People covered by UCS
>99%
Covered by a public health scheme
13
NHSO regional offices
Figures as of 2025. UCS has entered its 24th year of operation.
Our values
Equity
Health is a right, not a privilege. We design for those who need protection the most.
Efficiency
Every baht of public funding is purchased and managed for the greatest value and impact.
Participation
Patients, providers, and civil society help shape the scheme through open, shared governance.
Sustainability
Protecting coverage for the long term — financially sound today and resilient for tomorrow.
Milestones
Fifty years of widening the circle — from free care for the poor to universal coverage that follows the patient.
1975–1995
Before universal coverage
Cover is built one group at a time — free medical care for the poor (1975), the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme (1980), the voluntary health card (1983), the Social Security Act (1990), and free care for children (1993) and older people (1995).
2002
National Health Security Act
The Act entitles every Thai citizen to health care, creates NHSO and the National Health Security Board, and opens the 1330 hotline. Coverage jumps from about 71% to 92.4% of the population.
2003
Paying hospitals by diagnosis
The scheme starts paying all hospitals, teaching hospitals included, through Thai DRGs version 3 — and cuts the cataract surgery waiting list from over a year to three months.
2006
Community health funds
Sub-district health funds launch, pooling NHSO money with matching contributions from local governments so prevention can be planned by communities themselves.
2008
Kidney failure covered
Dialysis and kidney transplantation enter the benefit package — a decision later matched by the other two schemes. Population coverage passes 99% and has stayed there since.
2010
Reaching people outside the register
A benefit package is created for people with citizenship status problems, and rare antidotes such as botulinum antitoxin are added to what the fund will pay for.
2015
Long-term care at home
Community-based long-term care goes nationwide: care plans, trained caregivers, and home visits for older people who cannot manage daily life on their own.
2020
Coverage under pandemic conditions
COVID-19 screening, testing, treatment, and quarantine are covered for every scheme, while village health volunteers and the post office deliver medicines to chronic patients.
2021–2024
Care where the patient is
Cancer Anywhere lets patients go straight to any ready hospital; kidney patients choose their own dialysis method; adult diapers, 9-valent HPV vaccination, proton beam therapy, and robotic surgery join the package.
2025
Twenty-three years, and the SAFE test
Entering its 24th year, NHSO frames the next stage of health financing around SAFE — sustainability, adequacy, fairness, and efficiency.
Scroll or use the arrows to move through the timeline.
Explore About Us
NHSO Profile
Vision, mission, core business, and a message from the Secretary-General.
Learn moreNHSO Governance
Statutory boards, organisational structure, executives, and the regional network.
Learn moreLaw & Regulation
The National Health Security Act and the legal foundation of universal coverage.
Learn moreUCS at a Glance
Key facts, figures, and benefits of the Universal Coverage Scheme at a glance.
Learn moreOur Partners
Domestic and international collaboration advancing universal health coverage.
Learn moreRegional Network
Thirteen regional offices bringing the scheme close to every community.
Learn moreWant to learn how Thailand achieved universal coverage?
Explore our learning programmes, or get in touch with the team.