Abstract
This research project, titled "Spatial Analysis to Determine the Locations for Newly Established
Secondary Public Hospitals in Bangkok Metropolitan Area,” addresses two primary objectives: 1) to
identify optimal locations for establishing public secondary hospitals within Bangkok, and 2) to
develop policy recommendations for site selection of these hospitals in Bangkok area. The research
was conducted in three distinct phases.
First, the research began by assessing the current healthcare services provided by secondary
hospitals in Bangkok. The findings indicate that hospitals registered as service units within the
National Health Security Office (NHSO) currently cover 88.29% of the population, with provisions
for inter-district service access under specified travel and distance conditions. Furthermore, spatial
analysis reveals that these hospitals serve 87.98% of the population within a 6-kilometer radius.
However, when considering individual districts, the hospitals cover only 61.08% of the total
population.
Second, this study identified suitable areas for establishing new secondary hospitals using a robust
methodology that combined the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), a multi-criteria decision making approach, with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). A total of ten factors crucial for
determining suitable locations was identified. The criterion range for each factor was weighted,
incorporating both primary and secondary influences. This comprehensive dataset was then
processed and analyzed using an overlay layer technique with spatial data analysis. This process
resulted three distinct levels of suitability: highly suitable, moderately suitable, and less suitable.
The areas categorized as highly and moderately suitable are considered to have the potential for
the establishment of new secondary hospitals.
Third, the research determined the locations of newly established secondary hospitals and assessed
their projected service coverage. The study proposed adding hospitals in seven districts that
currently lack secondary hospitals, and in 20 districts where covered population was below 7 0%.
The findings demonstrate that with the existing 98 hospitals serving as NHSO units and the 27 newly
established secondary hospitals, service area coverage within a 6-kilometer radius would increase
significantly to 94.36% (from 87.98%). When analyzed by individual districts, the population
coverage would rise to 84.74% (from 61.08%). Furthermore, this research highlights problems
identified rom these findings and provides policy recommendations to relevant agencies for public
utilization in establishing secondary hospitals.
