BANGKOK, Thailand – Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul received the Jainad Narendra Award during the National Public Health Conference 2025 on September 12 at IMPACT Forum in Nonthaburi province. The Premier was welcomed by Permanent Secretary for Public Health Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, alongside senior health officials, doctors, nurses, and village health volunteers.
The 2024 Jainad Narendra Award recognized five categories of honorees. In administration, Anutin was honored for his leadership during the COVID-19 crisis and for strengthening the country’s health system in ways connected to economic development.
In the service category, Dr Montith Poolsaguan, Director of Koh Yao Chaipattana Hospital in Phang Nga province, was recognized for establishing a dialysis unit and launching the “Sky Doctor” project. The academic category honored Dr Porntep Siriwanarangsan, President of the Preventive Medicine Association of Thailand, for advancing national health standards.
Community leadership recognition was awarded to the Abbot of Hua Fai Temple in Chiang Rai province for creating a senior health network and founding a charitable foundation that supports the disadvantaged. In the citizen category, Wilai Thongsantia, a village health volunteer from Nakhon Ratchasima, was honored for developing a diabetes care network and helping contain the spread of COVID-19.
In his address, Anutin described the award as recognition of all Thai public health personnel. He pledged continued support for improving the well-being of health workers and accelerating training for new professionals. (NNT)
