Transnational Mobility and Utilization of Health Services in Northern Thailand: Implications and Challenges for Border Public Health Facilities.

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVE: Transnational populations from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are crossing borders regardless of whether their status is legal or undocumented, to receive health services in the border regions of Thailand. The implications and challenges of transnational mobility and the utilization of public health facilities in Thailand's border regions are therefore investigated in this study. METHODS: Four public health facilities were selected, located in 2 economically-active border areas in Northern Thailand: Mae Sai-Tachileik at the Thailand-Myanmar border and Chiang Saen-Ton Phueng at the Thailand-Lao PDR border. Qualitative data were obtained from in-depth interviews with 8 medical and non-medical hospital staff responsible for implementing facility-level policies and providing health services for the transnational population. RESULTS: Five themes were identified through analysis of the implications and challenges for transnational mobility and the utilization of public health facilities under study: contextual determinants of illness in specific border areas; uncompensated care as opposed to financial management in serving the transnational population; health service opportunities for the transnational population; cross-border collaboration on public health; and the remaining challenges of transnational mobility in border regions. CONCLUSION: Conventional content analysis with interpretative induction of in-depth interview data offers recommendations for improving the capacity of border health facilities to reduce the burden placed upon them to provide services to the transnational population.

Youth attitudes toward dating violence in Thailand.

This study assessed the occurrences and intensity of psychological, physical, and sexual attitudes toward dating violence among Thai youths, and examined possible variables related to the formation of these attitudes.The random sample consisted of 1,296 male and female adolescents from high school, vocational school, and out-of-school groups. Thai youths in general reported attitudes that were supportive of dating violence. The variables more closely related to attitudes toward dating violence were personal variables. Peer influence, partner relationships, and family characteristics were related to higher support for dating violence. Females reported higher endorsement of dating violence than males. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed, and recommendations for policy makers are drawn.