The cabinet meeting on Tuesday 9, February 2010 has come to the following decision:
The Cabinet approved the Draft Medical Welfare Act B.E....., which the previous Cabinet had approved and endorsed the resolution on the principle and the Council of State had vetted as proposed by the Ministry of Finance, and granted the continuation of the act.
The content of the draft act
1. Defined the word “medical treatment” as providing medical service and public health directly to the persons that had the rights and their family members to have treatment, examination, physical therapy, which were essential to health and living life, including health check, health promotion, but excluding beauty therapy (Draft measure 4)
2. Determined the rights to receive medical welfare for medical treatment in state clinics and private clinics according to the principle of inpatients and others that the Ministry of Finance determined, and not the ones of inpatient that the Ministry of Finance determined, covering only the case that the persons that had the rights or their family members encountered accidents or any emergency cases that if they did not receive immediate medical treatment, they might have a risk of death. This included private clinics as determined by the Ministry of Finance in the case of outpatient occasionally. (Draft measure 8)
3. Determined that in case that members of the families depending on the rights of others who had the rights to receive medical welfare for their members of the families from other organizations at the same time and the case that the persons who had the rights were out of the positions of officials, full-time employees, foreign employees, persons receiving pension, or being removed for cause, or being suspended from government service, or the members of the families is out of being the members of the families according to the act before the medical treatment terminates, the persons who had the rights could receive medical welfare for themselves or their family members until the medical treatment finishes. (Draft measure 9)
The Cabinet acknowledged the report of operating progress in solving problems and improving efficiency of Suvarnabhumi Airport Service (AOT) and approved the principles of establishing the Suvarnabhumi Airport Police subject to the Tourist Police Division, called the Sub-Division 6 of the Tourist Police Division, to be responsible for the inside area of the Suvarnabhumi Airport. The Royal Thai Police was assigned to work in details in accordance with law enforcement and concerned regulations as the Facilitating to Solve Problems and Developing Efficiency of Suvarnabhumi Airport Service Committee proposed.
The Cabinet approved the principle of expense in helping the agriculturists affected by the plague of brown plant hoppers, the grassy stunt disease, and the ragged stunt disease within the budget of 1,240,000 million baht. The 501-million-baht budget would be disbursed from the central budget while the reserves for emergency or necessary cases, 39 million baht, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives had to seek grant of disbursing from the fund for agriculturists according to the procedures and refer the matter to the Cabinet.
The Cabinet agreed and approved as the Ministry of Finance proposed;
1. Agreed to decrease the budget and granted the organizations to disburse each other in the scheme of increasing competencies of the unemployed to create economic value and society in the community (Tonkla Archeep Project) as suggested in number 1.
2. Approved the draft principle and the working method in allocating the reserves to the schemes under the Strong Thailand Action Plan B.E. 2555 to which the loan was allocated under the royal enactment of granting authority to the Ministry of Finance to make loan for economic recovery and economic security enhancement B.E. 2552 as suggested in number 2.
3. Approved changing the details of the scheme under the Strong Thailand Action Plan B.E. 2555, the details as sent, and agreed on the principle allowing the Bureau of the Budget to review the approval of changing the details of the scheme as mentioned and reported the matter to the committee and the Cabinet as suggested in number 3.
4. Approved the adjustment of the action plan and the plan of spending the money of Naresuan University and Chiangmai University and agreed on the principle allowing the Bureau of the Budget to review approval of changing the details of the scheme as mentioned and reported the matter to the committee and the Cabinet as suggested in number 4
5. Approved determining the period of budget allocation to the schemes under the Strong Thailand Action Plan B.E. 2555. The organizations sent the information to the Bureau of the Budget to review in order to seek budget allocation and to complete it within 23 February 2010. The Bureau of the Budget would proceed the approval within 15 working days. After the approval, the organization had to sign the contract within 8 April 2010 as suggested in number 5.
The Cabinet approved as the Ministry of Defence proposed;
1. The Ministry of Defence had the intention to issue the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the government of the Republic of Singapore on joining of the Singapore army in Cobra Gold exercise in Thailand. The Draft MOU passed examination and was approved by the committee of considering issuing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Defence Ministries of other countries in the part of the Ministry of Defence.
2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that the MOU had the qualification of an international agreement which was the contract according to the measure 190 of the Constitute of the Kingdom of Thailand. It required seeking the approval of the Cabinet before proceeding the bond (Before signing).
3. The Ministry of Defence could operate without issuing the act in order to be in accordance with the contract. Hence, the Draft MOU was not the contract according to the Measure 190 Section 2 of the Constitute.
--Cabinet Meeting (Abhisit Vejjajiva) January 9, 2010--