The National Health Security Office will expand its health security programme to cover those who are waiting for their Thai citizenship to be confirmed.

"Public Health Minister Mongkol [na Songkhla] realises that hospitals have to shoulder the medical expense for these people, so he will soon ask for the approval of the Cabinet to let the NHSO cover them," Dr Piya Netwichien, deputy secretary-general of the NHSO, said yesterday.

About 700,000 people with unclear nationality are living in border provinces without health security, he said during his visit to healthcare units under the NHSO in Mae Hong Son.

Although these people are not yet proven to be Thais, they receive medical treatment from Thai hospitals.

The NHSO needs about Bt1.3 billion per year to provide health security for those stateless people under the universal health scheme. The budget will be distributed to each hospital that has to take care of them.

Currently the NHSO only covers those who are classified by the Interior Ministry as Thai and possess a 13-digit identity number.

Dr Suwat Kittidilokkul, head of the Mae Hong Song health office, welcomed the idea, saying those people should have the right to receive healthcare of the same standard as Thais since they have been staying here.

He said they had become a big burden since it cost the province Bt30 million-Bt40 million each year to provide them with medical treatment. About 50,000 people in his province are waiting for their statehood to be clarified.

Dr Pranomporn Siriphakdi, director of Pai Hospital, said more than 1,500 people who were defined as non-Thai received medical treatment at his hospital and could not afford to settle their bill.