Seems strange to say the public healthcare is bad because of the existence of private healthcare. It's bad due to the fundamentals. Things like: - it is "free

Seems strange to say the public healthcare is bad because of the existence of private healthcare. It's bad due to the fundamentals. Things like: - it is "free" so it is grossly oversubscribed (basic market forces at work) - it is taxpayer funded and government run (spending other people's money on other people, the worst way to get value) - there is no incentive to improve since there is no competition (nobody loses their job and the public system does not go bankrupt and disappear regardless of how much worse it is than the private system) And those fundamentals are why the private system is so much better. It's not free and consumers are spending their own money on themselves so seek out the best value they can. And the competition between private hospitals is pretty fierce so they are contantly upgrading, innovating, and advertising (including their prices) to attract customers. It is common here for many of the best doctors to practice in both private and public sectors. My anecdote mentioned the fact that the doctor who did my foot surgery does that. As for cost, those private hospitals, and there are lots of them, cater primarily to Thais. So plenty of Thais can afford private care. It's not a huge unknown cost going in that is potentially ruinous like in the U.S. Like you said, in order to exist the private system must be better than the public system. That is the wonderful effect of markets when they are allowed to operate.