On 13 August 2025, the Chulabhorn Royal Academy hosted a meeting of faculty members, academics, administrators, and students in medical sciences under the theme “Driving Thailand Forward with Innovation, Research, and Technology.” The event brought together over 260 participants from educational institutions across the country.
The meeting served as a platform for knowledge exchange, showcasing research outcomes, and sharing experiences across universities, research institutions, and relevant sectors. It aimed to support curriculum development, advance medical innovations that address societal needs, and provide opportunities for emerging researchers and students to demonstrate their potential while building collaboration networks. The program featured keynote lectures, research presentations, and panel discussions designed to inspire creativity and foster practical innovation.
Dr. Siriporn Pittayasophon, Vice President of NXPO, joined the panel discussion and outlined Thailand’s national strategic goal of achieving high-income country status by 2037. She highlighted R&D investment targets of 1.7% of GDP by 2027 and 2% by 2037—supported by 30% public investment and 70% private sector contributions.
She also presented budget allocations for the medical and healthcare industry during 2023–2026, focusing on five strategic areas: vaccines, advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) and next-generation vaccines, medical devices, genomics, and herbal medicines/extracts. Funding totaled 2.43 billion THB in 2023, 1.67 billion THB in 2024, 2.46 billion THB in 2025, and 670 million THB in 2026.
On education, Dr. Siriporn noted a 22% decline in higher education enrollment over the past 14 years—most pronounced at the undergraduate level—while the number of higher education personnel rose by 47% over the past six years. In 2020, higher education funding reached 109.55 billion THB, accounting for 20% of the national education budget.
She also cited data from Thailand Science Research Innovation (TSRI) showing that 690 medical faculty members are expected to retire within five years—590 in medicine and 100 in diagnostics/therapeutic technology—potentially affecting the country’s capacity to train future medical professionals.
In terms of human resource development, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) is implementing the Skill Mapping plan to align graduate production with national priorities in areas such as advanced agriculture, digital marketing, modern construction, electric vehicles, and data science. Key initiatives include Reskilling/Upskilling programs, the GenNX model, and the STEM One-stop Service.
Dr. Siriporn noted that workforce demand in the medical sector exceeds 71,207 personnel, with the highest needs for nurses (21,708), chemists (18,980), pharmacists (8,189), physical therapists (6,906), and medical technologists (6,450). Dr. Siriporn concluded by underscoring the importance of preparing the workforce with expertise in AI, big data, and practical field experience; promoting on-the-job training; developing curricula that integrate technology and ESG principles; and strengthening both soft skills and job-specific competencies to meet the evolving demands of the medical industry.
