Thailand. With a population of 67 million Thailand shares borders with Malaysia, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia. Per-capita healthcare spending in Thailand increased from $73 in 2002 to approximately $220 in 2013. The government sponsored healthcare scheme, although limited in coverage, has expanded to include 99% of Thailand’s population, up from 75% coverage in 2002. The country also has more than 850 public hospitals and almost 600 private hospitals.

The Thai medical device market is worth approximately $1 billion and is growing 15% annually. Nearly all of the top U.S. medical device manufacturers market their products in Thailand. Because the domestic device industry primarily produces basic products such as gloves and syringes, the country depends on imports for higher-end devices— diagnostic imaging equipment in particular.

Thailand’s most recent medical device regulations were passed in 2008, and the Medical Device Control Division, part of the Thai Food and Drug Administration, is in charge of administering the regulations. Foreign companies must register their devices according to risk. The Thai classification system divides devices into Class III (low-risk), Class II (medium-risk) and Class I (high-risk)—the exact opposite of the United States and EU classification frameworks.

Source: Medical Device Business