The Thailand Trans* Taskforce presented recommendations to the Committee on Public Health in support of protecting coverage for gender-affirming hormone therapy as a fundamental human right. 

Activists delivered their statement in the parliamentary pressroom at 3:30 PM on 18 June 2026, the Thailand Trans* Taskforce, led by Atitaya Asa and supported by various activist networks, submitted their recommendations to Ekkapop Sittiwantana, Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Public Health. In their statement, the Thailand Trans* Taskforce maintained the importance of ensuring access to gender-affirming hormone therapy under Thailand’s Universal Coverage Scheme. In their statement to the Committee on Public Health, the Thailand Trans* Taskforce reiterated the safety, efficacy, and necessity of gender-affirming hormone therapy. 

The Thailand Trans* Taskforce delivered the following statement: 

Statement on the Necessity and Sanctity of Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy for Transgender Wellbeing 

As members of the transgender community and activists for human rights, wellbeing, and gender equality, we affirm the right to gender-affirming hormones. Hormone replacement therapy is not a special privilege, nor a trivial personal matter separate from politics. Rather, hormone replacement therapy is a fundamental healthcare service imperative to transgender people’s wellbeing. Hormone replacement therapy is just one of many rights to healthcare that the state must implement and administer safely to respect the human dignity of all patients. 

Inclusion of gender-affirming hormones into Thailand’s Universal Coverage Scheme should not be viewed as merely a budgetary or pathological question. Human rights and bodily autonomy are integral to this issue, which impacts a demographic historically overlooked by and excluded from the healthcare system. 

According to the National Health Act of 2007, “wellbeing” does not simply mean the absence of illness, disease, or disability. Wellbeing reflects a holistic quality of life, inclusive of positive physical, mental, and social states. For transgender people, wellbeing is more than the care or management of disease and illness. It encompasses safety, self-esteem, and the ability to lead a life in accordance with one’s gender identity. Transgender wellbeing is also inclusive of equitable healthcare free from discrimination, harassment, or abuse. 

Transgender people pursuing hormone replacement therapy need access to accurate health information, regular healthcare consultation, and affirming expertise from doctors. Equitable healthcare access goes beyond just distributing medication – transgender people need safe, follow-up care that encompasses all realms of wellbeing to reduce the risk of any negative side effects.

Excluding gender-affirming hormone replacement therapy from Thailand’s Universal Coverage Scheme will not completely eliminate its use – but it will significantly increase risk. When transgender people cannot access hormone replacement therapy through the medical system, they will be pushed to obtain this necessary treatment through unregulated suppliers, rely upon unverified information, and avoid formal healthcare for fear of discrimination. Our healthcare system must commit to protecting the safety and dignity of all patients – not pushing marginalized communities out. 

Responsible policies should be grounded in a philosophy of harm reduction rather than medical paternalism. Currently, transgender people face constant scrutiny and must prove their suffering for the chance to access gender-affirming care. It is imperative that our healthcare system instead prioritize consent, autonomy, and respect for all patients. 

We also challenge the notion that health is a zero-sum game. People should not have to compete against each other for access to health resources. Rather, the health of all vulnerable demographics is interconnected. Children deserve vaccines; the chronically ill deserve treatment; the elderly deserve long-term care; disabled people deserve appropriate accommodations; likewise, transgender people deserve access to gender-affirming hormone therapy. 

The health rights of one demographic do not infringe upon the rights of any other. The problem is not only ensuring that transgender people have a full right to health and well-being, but also addressing the structural violence of the Thai healthcare system, which must distribute resources in a fair, transparent, and equitable way. 

This issue clearly demonstrates the resistance that emerges when transgender people justifiably assert their right to material support, such as funding, healthcare, legal protection, and gender recognition. Conversations about transgender rights must go beyond tokenistic social acceptance and demand equitable care, investment, and protection from the state. 

We thus offer the following recommendations to the Committee on Public Health, members of the House of Representatives, and members of the Senate, particularly those concerned about or opposed to gender-affirming hormone therapy: 

1. Gender-affirming hormones should be conceptualized as a medical right. The safety, efficacy, and importance of gender-affirming hormone therapy is continually supported by academic research, despite the onslaught of biased, prejudiced, and harmful disinformation. 
2. Media communications must refrain from framing transgender communities as a burden on the healthcare system. It is unacceptable to perpetuate the false belief that ensuring the right to healthcare for transgender people takes away resources from other vulnerable communities. This misunderstanding reproduces transphobic stigma, hatred, and discrimination within society. 
3. The legislative branch should play a role in the effective development, implementation, and evaluation of equitable gender-affirming healthcare services. Congress must continually investigate the quality, efficiency, and safety of gender-affirming healthcare – not to challenge its legitimacy, but to ensure that all receive the highest standard of care. 
4. The expertise of transgender people, community activists, medical professionals, and health researchers should be respected and valued in policy-making decisions about gender-affirming care. Effective policy necessitates cooperation from all groups impacted by the issue and should not be determined solely by lawmakers who are personally removed from the issue. 
5. Our healthcare system must continue to develop equitable and diverse services, including gender-affirming hormone therapy, that are safe, accessible, respectful, and non-discriminatory. This includes advancing knowledge on gender-affirming healthcare in order to ensure policies reflect the diverse needs of the transgender community.
6. Our healthcare system must remain committed to its stated principles of promoting health equity. Health policy should not be determined by gender stereotypes, social divides, or campaigns premised on misunderstanding, fear, and hate. 

Transgender people should not be forced to convince the state of their worth or value as human beings. Like all people, the transgender community has a fundamental right to health. The state should not debate whether transgender people deserve healthcare – rather, we must ask how our healthcare system can care for the transgender community in a safe, equitable, and dignified way. 

We reiterate that gender-affirming hormone therapy is an essential healthcare service for transgender people. Access to safe gender-affirming care is predicated upon the fundamental right to bodily autonomy. Thailand’s healthcare system must ensure high-quality care and respect the intrinsic worth of all people. 

Lastly, we call upon all parties to stand together on basic shared principles of equality, dignity, and value for human life. Our healthcare system should not abandon anyone simply because they do not conform to society’s expectations of gender expression. 

The health of all marginalized and vulnerable communities, such as children, women, transgender people, or those living with chronic illness, disability, or HIV, are interconnected. Ensuring equitable healthcare access for one demographic does not take away resources for another. These interconnected health issues only emphasize the imperative for inclusive, holistic, and equitable healthcare services.

Gender-affirming hormones are not a special privilege – they are an inviolable right within an equitable healthcare system. 

With respect and in solidarity, 

Atitaya Asa

Chair of the Thailand Trans* Taskforce