Sattharam leads the Progressive Social Security Team in unveiling a policy to reform the Social Security Fund, proposing adjustments to fund management to enhance transparency, reform the health system, and elevate insured persons' rights to be equal across all funds.
On 11 Jul 2026 GMT+7, candidates from the Progressive Social Security Team held a discussion event titled “Our Social Security” at The Meeting Place Co-working Space in Wang Mai Subdistrict, Pathum Wan District, Bangkok. The event provided a platform for insured persons, employers, and the public to hear policies, exchange views, and jointly design the future of the social security system, along with a facilitation point to assist with registering to vote for the Social Security Committee board.
The event was divided into two sessions. The first presented reform approaches under the Zero Budgeting policy—a budgeting method based on necessity—to review all expenditures of the Social Security Office. Proposals included upgrading fund management, investment, and risk management with greater transparency and accountability for the maximum benefit of insured persons, as well as reviewing publicity budgets and adjusting insured persons’ benefits to align with current circumstances.
The second session opened a forum to hear voices from workers in various occupations under the theme “Voices of the Forgotten Workers and New Policies We Wish to Promote.” Topics included welfare proposals for creative workers, promotion of recreational welfare, reforming the Social Security Office's communication to better reach insured persons, care for migrant workers and benefits to social security, and unlocking employer welfare benefits.
Mr. Sattharam Thambutsadee A former member of the Social Security Office board representing insured persons and a representative of the Progressive Social Security Team, Sattharam revealed that one urgent reform is to make the Social Security Fund’s management more transparent. During his board tenure, investment reports were only provided at the asset class level, without details on individual projects or companies. This led to observations concerning the Skyline project, which was classified under Global Private Equity (foreign unlisted stocks), even though it was later found to be a real estate investment in the Rama 9 area through shares in the project's owning company.
This classification raised questions because the asset is located in Thailand but categorized as foreign investment. Sattharam noted that the fund’s asset classification standards should be clearer and more verifiable to build trust among insured persons. He emphasized that managing the Social Security Fund, a long-term fund, should not follow a retail investor mindset focused on short-term timing but prioritize asset allocation, risk diversification, and strict investment criteria to ensure stable growth and maximum benefit to insured persons.
Regarding benefits, Sattharam said the fund’s main expenses currently are medical treatment costs, which are the highest, and old-age pensions, which will become the main expense in the future. Currently, the fund pays pensions to over 800,000 to 900,000 beneficiaries, totaling about 20 billion baht annually, with numbers steadily rising as society ages.
He noted that although medical expenditure has increased yearly, it is important to verify how much of this actually benefits insured persons. Past data showed some budget portions do not directly translate into patient benefits but instead flow into hospital finances through Social Security Fund payment mechanisms.
"Therefore, future social security reforms should not focus solely on increasing the medical treatment budget but must improve oversight systems to ensure efficient, transparent, and accountable spending so that fund money truly enhances the quality of care and insured persons’ benefits," he said.
/* No translation provided as this is a fragment */ Dr. Chutinat Chinudompon A former medical subcommittee member of the Progressive Social Security Team, Dr. Chutinat stated that Thailand currently lacks concrete measures to control or slow rising medical costs. The team’s proposals are not aimed at changing citizens’ treatment rights but seek to improve insured persons’ access to quality healthcare within a stable and sustainable system.
She proposed implementing Sections 9 and 10 of the National Health Security Act to realize "National Benefit Standards" truly so that regardless of whether people are covered by social security, the National Health Security Scheme, or civil servant rights, they should receive medical treatment with the same standard and fair, equal service costs.
She also noted that if the government acts as the sole purchaser of health services (Single Purchaser) instead of fragmented purchasing by each fund, it would enhance bargaining power in buying medicines and medical supplies, enabling lower prices, reducing system costs, and allowing saved budgets to expand medical benefits for the public.
Regarding improving insured persons’ medical benefits, she said social security users currently receive fewer services than Gold Card holders, especially in primary care that facilitates access, such as receiving care at local clinics, obtaining medicines from community pharmacies, and dental, physical therapy, and traditional medicine services, which Gold Card holders can access but insured persons cannot.
Dr. Chutinat added that although the Social Security Fund spends more per capita on health than the Gold Card system, insured persons bear many hidden costs, including travel, lost income, and opportunity costs from traveling to hospitals themselves. Therefore, expanding services to allow insured persons to receive medication and care close to home would increase convenience, reduce expenses, and promote preventive care among working-age people.
However, structural problems remain in improving insured persons’ benefits because the Social Security Fund’s hospital payment rates differ from the National Health Security Scheme. In some cases, hospitals receive much higher budgets for insured persons than for Gold Card holders, leading to revenue from insured persons subsidizing Gold Card patient costs to maintain hospital liquidity.
"This issue impacts not only insured persons but also the overall health service system and over 44 million Gold Card holders. Therefore, system reform requires cooperation from all sectors—the Social Security Office, National Health Security Office, and government policy makers—to simultaneously elevate benefits across all funds, not just the social security system alone, since changes ignoring the bigger picture could adversely affect users of other schemes."
