Major medical centre gets Cabinet green light
Thailand will have Southeast Asia's largest and most modern medical centre after the Cabinet yesterday backed a Bt8.74-billion project to make Siriraj Hospital a centre of medical excellence.
Caretaker Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang said the centre - under the banner of Siriraj Hospital - would be built between 2007 and 2010 on 33 rai of land near Thon Buri train station that belongs to the State Railway. The Cabinet first approved the project in May 2003 and assigned related agencies to discuss using land worth Bt688 million to build a 12-storey research building and 14-storey medical centre. The State Railway board later agreed to let Siriraj Hospital use the land free of charge. A committee supervising the project agreed to Siriraj Hospital's proposal, which has seven parts. They are: a centre of excellence in research, a centre of excellence in medical administration, a medical information-technology centre, an ageing and longevity centre, an applied Thai medicine centre, a medical museum and a garden with riverside paths, pier and conservation of the old train station. The Government Lottery Office will provide Bt4 billion, Siriraj Hospital Bt3.6 billion and the government about Bt1.1 billion. The Cabinet urged construction to be as quick as possible, saying the centre would be very useful for public health and research.
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