Breaking barriers for Thai innovations

POLICY FOCUS

- SAOWARUJ RATTANAKHAMFU PICHAKORN KHOWASINTH

Thailand is abundant with talent in medical technology. Why aren’t our homegrown innovations reaching patients? The answer is simple: a broken system.

What will it take to turn Thai ideas into global medical breakthroughs? That answer is just as simple: fix the fragmented system.

Our country has the brains, the ambition, and a booming market waiting to be tapped. What's missing is a clear path from lab bench to hospital ward and beyond.

The missed opportunity is enormous. Around the world, medical technology, or MedTech, is one of the fastest-growing frontiers in healthcare, driven by ageing populations, rising chronic diseases, and rapid leaps in diagnostics, devices, and digital health.

For Thailand, it's more than a hot market. It's a chance to diversify the economy, expand access to healthcare, and claim a place as a regional technology leader.

Thailand has a strong research and business ambition. Yet, many homegrown innovations never make it to the market due to a lack of sustained support in a fragmented system. Startups are then left to struggle alone on the long, costly journey from prototype to hospital ward.

THAILAND’S MEDTECH GAP

According to BMI Research, Thailand’s medical device market is on a steady climb, growing at an annual rate of 6.2% between 2024 and 2029 and expected to hit 109.2 billion baht (US$2.8 billion) by the end of the decade. About 1,000 companies are registered in the sector, though most focus on single-use exports such as gloves and syringes. The capacity is impressive, but few have stepped into the more complex and lucrative world of high-tech medical devices for the domestic or global market.