Gold Card Scheme Extended to New Thai Citizens

The National Health Security Office (NHSO) will provide universal healthcare benefits under the gold card scheme to at least 480,000 ethnic individuals who are set to receive Thai citizenship.

Yuphadee Sirisinsuk, deputy NHSO secretary-general, stated on Sunday that the initiative aims to ensure all Thai citizens, including those awaiting citizenship verification, have access to healthcare services.

This policy follows a cabinet decision last October to grant Thai citizenship to 483,626 people from 19 ethnic groups who migrated to Thailand before 1999. Among them, 143,525 are children born in the country. Yuphadee clarified that migrant workers are not included in this scheme.

Last month, NHSO collaborated with other agencies to streamline the process for granting healthcare benefits. They found that issuing ID cards to those eligible often caused delays, as only about 10,000 people are verified annually. To expedite access, the agencies agreed that eligible individuals would first receive a certificate of residence from district offices within five days.

Once issued, the certificate allows registrars to verify applicants’ histories before granting them Thai ID cards. However, Yuphadee warned that false statements during this process would lead to the revocation of Thai citizenship, returning individuals to stateless status.

Those with certificates will immediately qualify for a gold card under the universal healthcare scheme at no cost. “This cooperation among agencies will ensure health rights equality, giving them access to healthcare like other Thai citizens,” Yuphadee said.