Equal treatment

HEALTH CARE: While most doctors want well-paid jobs in city hospitals, Dr Krai Dabtham opted to serve the poor in the remote northern highlands

TANIDA SIRORATTANAKUL

Unlike most of his classmates at Prince of Songkla University's medical school, Dr Krai Dabtham decided that after graduation he would go to work in a remote area where doctors were in short supply. His friends bet that he wouldn't last more than a month.

They were wrong. Eight years have since passed and the energetic 36-year-old doctor is still practicing in a small hospital in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district in the northern highlands.

His dedication to treating all patients regardless of race, religion or economic status has not only won over the local community but also earned him a Siriraj Hospital award for outstanding rural doctor of the year.

What motivated the son of a Chinese family from Suphan Buri province to begin his humanitarian work was the injustice of the health care system in Thailand. In most government-run hospitals, he said, the poor are treated disdainfully by medical staff and, in some cases, even denied treatment.

"When people are sick, the hospital is their last source of hope. Rural people do not have a choice of hospitals like those living in the cities, so doctors there should do their best to help everyone," said the bespectacled physician.

The patients at Mae Ai Hospital, located near Thai-Burmese border, include local officials, merchants, hilltribe people, patrol police and soldiers. As a director of the hospital, Dr Krai has introduced a policy that staff are to treat all patients with respect. Smiling nurses now greet patients at the hospital's new reception area area and no one in need is turned away, unlike at many other hospitals. As a young student at Bangkok's Amnuaysilp High School, Krai was inspired to become a doctor by the physician who successfully treated his father. "I was so impressed by the sight of a doctor taking good care of my father. I could feel happiness and pride when he succeeded in curing my father. And I wanted to feel just like that as well."

Krai fulfilled his dream when he passed the entrance examination to Prince of Songkla University's Faculty of Medicine.

When he graduated and had to chose a hospital to work in, no one thought he would select a rural one. Thus, it came as a surprise to everyone when they heard of Dr Krai's choice since he was perceived as the kind of person who could not tolerate working in the countryside.

"I made a bet with them and I won," chuckled Dr Krai, a tall man with a fair complexion.

He recalled that when he had to choose the place, he took the map and picked up only the distant area.

"At that time, I wanted to go to the North because I'd never been there. I chose Mae Ai hospital because it's far," he said, adding that very few of his friends chose a place like this.

Dr Krai is the only one from his old medical class who is still working in a rural hospital. After working at Mae Ai for four years he was promoted to director of the hospital in 1993.

Since then, he has brought a lot of changes to the small district hospital.

One of his intentions is to make the hospital a warm home where people are not reluctant to come in.

He borrowed money to build a park, swimming pool and basketball court beside the hospital which patients, staff and the public can use. He also improved roads and buildings around the hospital. He set up a health care information centre and a clinic for people with diabetes, disabilities and Aids.

In addition to improving the service at the hospital, Dr Krai set up a fund to help poor patients pay for their treatment and travelling expenses, and to organise funerals for patients who die without relatives. The fund is also used to buy medical equipment and support other activities of the hospital.

Still, the hospital is in need of more doctors to serve the approximately 300 patients a day. Presently, there are only two doctors, including, the director.

"We've always faced a lack of doctors here because of the remote location. Most new medical graduates prefer to work in the cities," he lamented.

State agencies can play an important role in encouraging doctors to work in rural areas.

Not all medical students are suited to working in rural areas, he said. "But at least I think they should spend at least one moment of time in their life to be doctor in the rural area and they will learn many things they can't find in the textbook."

As a good rural doctor, he said, work should not be limited to the hospital, but should be in the community as well.

Since he moved to work here, Dr Krai and his staff have often visited the distant hilltribe villages in the area to provide medical services and promote health care programmes.

As the number of Aids sufferers in Mae Ai has drastically increased, Dr Krai initiated a project to train Aids volunteers in every village. The volunteers have a duty to educate people in the community about Aids so that they can protect themselves from the deadly disease and know how to take care of their relatives or friends who suffer from Aids.

In addition, he established the Dharma Chuay Puen (Dharma Helps Friends) Club so Aids patients and their relatives can meet and do activities together.

"Aids is a big problem here because there are presently over 1,000 people suffering from the disease. I hope all the activities I've done will help alleviate the situation," he said.

In addition to health care, Dr Krai has worked on children's problems. With donations from people, he established the Mae Ai Child Development Centre, taking care of malnourished children and those who have problems with their physical and mental development. He donates 2,000 baht of his own money each month to support the kid's lunch programme.

Dr Krai has also contacted the district officers and the Royal Office to establish a school for orphans in Mae Ai.

"There are presently about 600 orphans, some of them are children of Aids patients," he says.

His work helping children began when he was a student. He regularly collected small change and donated it to the Foundation for Children.

"I feel pity for children. Even though it's just a small sum of money, I think at least it could help them," he said.

Although he doesn't have a large income, he has donated another 8,000 baht of his salary to five remote schools in the northern highlands so they can provide lunch for their students. "How can the children learn if they are still hungry. How can they develop themselves?"

To support their son's work with the underprivileged, Dr Krai's parents still send him money. "We aren't rich. But I'm lucky that my family understands what I'm trying to do and, most importantly, that they've never expect that I must make a lucrative income from this career."

In addition to children, he helps elderly people by establishing a club with the main objective being to organise recreational activities for them, provide nutritious food and preserve their culture and traditions. There are presently about 1,000 elderly people in the district who are neglected and live alone.

Dr Krai plans to construct a building to be an activity centre for Aids patients, Aids volunteers, disabled people and the elderly. If the project is completed, these groups of people will have a permanent place to hold their activities.

After he was given the Siriraj Hospital award for outstanding rural doctor, his fame spread to nearby areas. As a result, many local leaders approached and tried to persuade him to be the doctor in their communitites.

"I worked hard until the community accepted me. So how can I move to another place? There are a lot of things here I want to do for the community. Rewards can't change my intention to be a doctor for rural people but they encourage me to work harder," said the active doctor.

"I never think of my work as a sacrifice since I'm happy to work. Although the image of a doctor today has changed, I prefer to be one who works for the honour of his career."

Those who want to contribute to the Mae Ai Hospital fund can contact Dr Krai Dabtham at (053) 459036-7.

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