Health activists have urged the Ministry of Public Health to revoke the new declaration on patients' rights, saying it will lead to more disputes with medical professionals.
Kannikar Kijtiwatchakul, of the Foundation for Consumers, said the declaration, which was quietly announced on Aug 12, had been written by five health professional councils, without including other stakeholders such as patients and health civic groups.
The group was told the declaration went to a public hearing in October 2014, but that was not enough for the public input process. Critics say it appears to skew the balance of rights in favour of medical professionals over patients.
Ms Kannikar asked if the new declaration was an effort by health providers to reduce the number of lawsuits filed against them by patients. She also raised concern over the details of the declaration.
The declaration says patients have certain obligations to perform, such as informing medical professionals about their condition and symptoms.
She said in many cases, patients are not physically conscious to perform those duties.
It says patients must give full health details to doctors so they can provide accurate treatment, she said.
That means patients must take responsibility if they fail to provide enough information on their symptoms in the event the treatment goes wrong, she added.
"This will only lead to more lawsuits against health providers because the patients don't have any choice," said Ms Kannikar.
Parun Rutjanathamrong, an academic with the Thai Drug Watch group, said the declaration was aimed at supporting patients in getting the highest benefits from healthcare procedures and make them aware of the importance of working with health professionals.
But it seems to put all the blame on patients for not working with the professionals so their "duties" had to be determined by the new declaration, he said.
The previous declaration said its aim was to support the relationship between health professionals and patients on the basis of understanding and trust, said Mr Parun.
He said the new declaration also says patients have the right to receive accurate information about their sickness and treatment in simple language so they can decide if they need health services.
However, in the new declaration, health professionals can decide for them in emergency cases, which will spark more conflict leading to more lawsuits, he said.
Nimit Tian-Udom, director of the Aid Access Foundation, said his members won't accept the new declaration.
More disputes between health providers and patients are likely if treatment goes wrong, he said. Doctors will blame it on the patients, who will say patients had already been warned, he added.