Thailand

Influenced by Western methods and systems, Thailand’s roots in the mental health care system stretches back 120 years (Tuicomepee, Romano & Pokaeo, 2012). Although counselling as a profession is new in Thailand, psychology as a subject isn’t a modern practice. The 1930’s marked the first time it was ever taught in the country’s teacher training curricula. From then, it has gone through quite the evolution with tertiary academies like Chulalongkorn University and Assumption University offering undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Psychology. 

With the late 1990s, came a period of globalization which, as a result of technological and economic advancements, brought about a dire need for mental health services. This was mostly due to instant cultural changes that influenced the average population’s lifestyle where it became more competitive and fast resulting in heightened stress levels and behavioral problems (Sangganjanavanich & Nolrajsuwat, 2015).

A study by the World Health Organization in 2016 showed that Thailand has one of the highest suicide rates in Southeast Asia at 14.4 suicides per 100,000 citizens. Despite the spike in such cases, there is a huge disparity in psychiatrists and psychosocial staff with only 7.29 mental health personnel for every 100,000 citizens, which are disproportionately concentrated in only the major cities, like Bangkok. Another study by Supanya and colleagues (2017), observed that the proportion of people diagnosed with depressive disorders accessing mental health services has grown exponentially from 2009 to 2016. The paper explored the success of Thailand’s development of a newer evidence-based surveillance and conceptual framework for suicide and depression. The system was based off five primary concepts: (i) to improve awareness of depression and depressive disorders and to reduce associated stigma through education; (ii) to reduce the progression to depressive illness in those at risk; (iii) to reduce the length of depressive episodes, with early, appropriate and effective interventions; (iv) to prevent suicide, an important comorbidity of major depressive disorder; and (v) to prevent relapse and recurrence of depression (Supanya, S., et al., 2017). 

Although Thailand started out with more of a Western modality when it comes to therapy, the country has eventually transitioned to approaches like logotherapy and mindfulness-based therapy that are more adjusted to the Thai culture. According to Chanpattana (2010), therapies such as person-centered therapy, which emphasizes the here-and-now concept which is heavily practiced in Buddhism sects, seem to work more effectively for the Thai population.