Health > Intergovernmental conference of Far-Eastern countries on rural hygiene : preparatory papers : national reports : report of Siam

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the Department of Public Health, after taking into consideration
the funds at its disposal, may also be considered to be too
extensive. Yet the work of promoting social well-being in Siam
cannot be judged purely from the size of the public health budget
alone. The expenditure of other State departments—in the
Ministries of Public Instruction, Defence, Economic Affairs
and Agriculture—may also be regarded as including certain
phases of health work, of which it will be difficult to attempt a
definite estimate.
However, under the new democratic form of administration,
Siam is rapidly expanding her health work and organisation
to adequate national dimensions, as it is fully recognised that
upon the standard of national health depends the standard
of national prosperity.
The expenditure of the Department of Public Health and the
local authorities for the last three Siamese years is an indication
of the increasing activities of health work in this country. The
total expenditure for the years b.e. 2477, 2478 and 2479 are
respectively 1,382,790, 1,636,337 and 2,173,006 baht.1
Reimbursement by municipalities will probably show an
accelerated increase in the immediate future.
With other demands on the State budget, the grant provided
for the Public Health Department may be considered
satisfactory. Under the new schemes it is hoped to attain better
general economy, thereby releasing part of the available funds
for the more urgent phases of the work. The decentralisation
of health activities is designed to create local responsibility in
health work, and it is in this direction that new resources are
to be expected for the future health requirements of the country.
II. RURAL RECONSTRUCTION AND COLLABORATION
OF THE POPULATION.
Siam, being a purely agricultural country and therefore
mostly rural, is particularly interested in the question of rural
reconstruction, which is one of the most important items of her
national policy.
1 1 baht — £0.092 (average rate of exchange, 1936). — Editor.