medical council · Thailand
Medical Council of Thailand
Statutory body regulating the practice of medicine in Thailand. Registers all physicians, issues and renews medical licences, sets specialty standards, and handles disciplinary complaints. Patients and international referrers can look up a doctor's current licence status through the Council's public register.
Key facts
- Thai name:
- แพทยสภา
- Founded:
- 1968, headquartered in Nonthaburi, Thailand
- Regulates:
- Individual physicians, not clinics (facility licensing sits with the Ministry of Public Health)
- Governing law:
- Medical Profession Act B.E. 2525 (licensure and disciplinary action)
- Public register:
- checkmd.tmc.or.th/En/v3 (name search)
Scope of authority
Licensure of all physicians in Thailand; specialty board examination and certification; ethical standards; investigation of professional misconduct. Does not license individual clinics — facility licensing is administered by the Ministry of Public Health.
How to check a licence
We could not document this register automatically (robots.txt disallows automated access, so we did not fetch the register; the existing links are kept unverified). Open the official site directly.
Complaint pathway
https://complaint.tmc.or.th/
Verify a practitioner
What is the Medical Council of Thailand (TMC)?
The Medical Council of Thailand (แพทยสภา), often shortened to TMC, is the statutory body regulating the practice of medicine in Thailand. Registration with the Council is mandatory for every practising physician in the country. It maintains a public licence register, sets specialty standards and handles disciplinary complaints. Our registry records it as founded in 1968 and headquartered in Nonthaburi.
How do I check a Thai doctor's licence?
Ask the clinic for the doctor's full name, then search the Council's public register by name at checkmd.tmc.or.th/En/v3. Do not rely on a screenshot supplied by the clinic. A manual browser check on 2026-10-11 (automated access is disallowed by the site's robots.txt, so we do not fetch it automatically) found that a name search for one cardiothoracic surgeon returned the registration, the year permission to practise was granted and the TMC-certified board specialties, but it did not show the licence number, so confirm the name, registration year and specialties instead. A licence that has lapsed or been suspended should not appear as active; status changes are reflected in the register.
What does the Medical Council of Thailand regulate, and what does it not regulate?
The Council regulates individual physicians rather than institutions: licensure of all physicians in Thailand, specialty board examination and certification, ethical standards, continuing professional development requirements and investigation of professional misconduct. It does not license individual clinics, because facility licensing is administered by the Ministry of Public Health. Registration confirms that a physician is licensed but does not certify the quality of a specific clinic or procedure; facility accreditation (for example JCI, HA or Thai Hospital Accreditation) is a separate question.
Which law governs medical licensing in Thailand?
The Medical Profession Act B.E. 2525 governs licensure and disciplinary action through the Medical Council of Thailand. The Council can suspend or revoke a practitioner's licence after a fitness-to-practise hearing. Separately, the Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (as amended) gives patients a route to civil claims for harm caused by defective medical services.
How do I complain about a doctor in Thailand?
Patients may file a written complaint with the Medical Council; its complaint page is complaint.tmc.or.th. The Council can suspend or revoke a doctor's licence following a fitness-to-practise hearing. The process can be lengthy, and pursuing action from abroad is practically difficult. For civil claims, the Office of the Consumer Protection Board can assist with proceedings, and patient affairs offices within the Ministry of Public Health assist foreign patients in initiating complaints. Civil cases commonly take three to five years and need Thai-language documentation.
Is a Medical Council of Thailand licence enough to judge a specialist?
Not by itself. The Council sets specialty standards, but specialist societies hold their own credentials. For example, a fellowship of the Royal Thai College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists complements, and does not replace, Medical Council of Thailand licensure, so check both the current TMC licence and the relevant fellowship for the subspecialty you are seeking. Plastic surgeons are also listed with the Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand, which publishes its own fellowship directory.
What should I check for a hair transplant in Thailand?
Verify that the lead practitioner is a Medical Council of Thailand-licensed physician. Some advertising clinics employ technicians rather than licensed doctors for core procedure steps, so ask who performs each step and check the named doctor against the TMC register.
Who registers dentists in Thailand?
Dentists are registered by the separate Thai Dental Council (ทันตแพทยสภา), not the Medical Council. Its scope covers licensing, specialty recognition, continuing dental education and disciplinary matters.
Clinics with an accreditation from this body
- Bangkok IVF CenterBangkok
- Absolute Hair ClinicBangkok
Link derived from the clinic’s declared accreditation list. Not every clinic holding this body’s licence is listed — only those whose public record explicitly names the body.