Senior officials behind Cholnan’s Cabinet removal: rural doctors

In a Facebook post on Monday, the rural doctors' group said it regretted the removal of Cholnan on Sunday as he was doing good work at trying to reset operations at the ministry. However, the post said, the former minister faced a lot of obstacles from a group of senior officials at the ministry, who wanted to retain their power.

The Rural Doctor Society said the former minister worked hard on adjusting operations at the ministry, unlike his predecessor Anutin Charnvirakul, who did little other than decriminalise marijuana.

The rural doctors also alleged that the core senior officials dragged their feet instead of responding to Cholnan’s policies and eventually laid a trap, pitting him against the National Health Security Office (NHSO). The row was over the 30-baht universal healthcare scheme, which traditionally falls under the jurisdiction of the NHSO. However, this group of officials wanted to wrest this authority away from NHSO, sparking a bitter feud.

The post said that Srettha had no choice but to remove Cholnan in the wake of this row.

The Rural Doctor Society says it is now placing its hopes on Cholnan’s successor Somsak Thepsuthin and is optimistic he will help reform the universal healthcare system to benefit all Thais.

Meanwhile, Cholnan’s staff removed some documents and a Buddha image from the former minister’s office on the fourth floor of the Public Health Secretariat building.

Cholnan’s name was also removed from the door of the office on Sunday.

Somsak is expected to move into the office soon after he is sworn in.