Resume funding or we’ll sue: health groups

Some 10,000 people could be severely affected by loss of the projects. United under the name “Thai Health Movement”, their organisations have threatened to sue ThaiHealth in the Administrative Court. 

The 20 public organisations gathered yesterday to discuss their official response to the suspension of funding for public benefit projects and the sacking of seven ThaiHealth board members by order of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

They also released a statement with five demands –including rescinding the call by the NCPO to sack the seven board members. Another demand for the Revenue Department’s retrospective collection of tax totalling Bt800 million from all organisations funded by ThaiHealth to be cancelled.

Stop Drink Network manager Theera Wacharaprani read the Thai Health Movement statement. He said the group demanded that ThaiHealth pay its contracted projects and warned that if the projects were not “unfrozen”, they would sue ThaiHealth in the Administrative Court.

Theera revealed there was Bt1,953 million in funding suspended since the Monitoring and Auditing Committee on Fiscal Expenditure imposed strict funding approval measures on ThaiHealth in October last year. 

He said this had affected 5,208 public workers, more than 3,400 of whom did not receive any payment for more than three months.

“It has also vastly impacted related projects and other part-time volunteers who work on these projects – meaning the ThaiHealth budget suspension has affected more than 10,000 public workers at every level,” he said.

Another demand in the statement was about the removal of the seven members of the ThaiHealth committee. Theera said the group urged the government to revoke the dismissal order or select candidates – who have a similar or better profile than the ex-committee members and no links with alcohol or cigarette businesses – to sit in the empty seats.

“The group will closely monitor the ThaiHealth board meeting this Friday and if they find out that there is an improper selection of a ThaiHealth manager or committee members, they will launch a nationwide protest,” he said.

On the taxation issue, he said the group had asked government agencies – such as the Office of the Auditor General and Revenue Department – to remove the threat to public organisations by imposing tax on the ThaiHealth budget.

“The public organisations and ThaiHealth did not sign service employment contracts – but we signed a work agreement to work on behalf of ThaiHealth, so this does not match a criteria to pay income tax,” he explained.

Jittima Panudej, from the Women's Health Advocacy Foundation, said the group respected ThaiHealth being reformed but suggested there should be more experts sitting on the committee and creating new rules to prevent conflict of interest.

Jittima expressed reservations about Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s order to approve ThaiHealth funds for Pracha Rath or “state of the people” projects that might be a government effort to transfer a public organisation budget to projects that favour a big business group.

On the government side, Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya assured there was no plan to abolish ThaiHealth. He said the NCPO’s order to remove seven ThaiHealth board members was not an absolute command – if the seven could clarify their situation they could petition to return to their position.