More than 160,000 people with "dubious citizenship" started receiving free health care yesterday under a scheme to help the stateless.
The move is a result of a cabinet resolution on April 20 driven by health civic groups who called on the government to help stateless people.
Surapong Kongchantuk, on a committee working on details of the scheme, said the cabinet approved the inclusion of more than 160,000 stateless people in the scheme in the 2016 fiscal year, starting yesterday. There are 626,027 members in the scheme now.
The government is putting 1.28 billion baht into the scheme or 2,043 baht per person for 2016.
The so-called Stateless Healthcare Scheme has funded free health care to stateless people undergoing the Thai citizenship application process.
The scheme, overseen by the Public Health Ministry, was launched in 2010 by the Abhisit Vejjajiva government, based on the concept that many are considered to be Thais but have been left out of the registration process.
About 400,000 stateless people benefited from the scheme when it was first launched.
Those granted Thai nationality will shift to the Universal Coverage Healthcare scheme.
Previously, the government provided about 900 million baht of funding for the scheme annually.
"This group of people are considered to be Thais. But they didn't have their birth registration," Mr Surapong said.
Providing health care is a way to offer an opportunity, and also help prevent disease transmission, he said.
Mr Surapong said the ministry will work with the Education and Interior ministries to verify more than 70,000 students with dubious citizenship.