ABSTRACT
Within two relatively short periods – from November 2006 to January 2007 and in January 2008 – the government of Thailand, which has been a world trade organization member since 1995, issued seven compulsory licenses, citing public health as a ground to justify its actions. The government is mainly responsible for health-care expenditure in Thailand. In 2002, Thailand adopted the national health security act, which covered most Thai citizens under a national insurance scheme. Thailand's government use licenses, like other compulsory licensing activities, created a dichotomy between supporters and objectors. Internationally, public health activists praised and congratulated Thailand for advancing access to medicines, while patent advocates fiercely criticized the Thai policy for expropriating private property. Thailand's compulsory licensing granted by a postcoup government was seen as a solution for bridging financial shortage resulting from its political turmoil, rather than an appropriate means to reduce public health costs.
