Rh-Negative blood reserves in Thailand are extremely low, academics say, and the international community in Thailand is encouraged to donate blood.
"The Thai population has a very low prevalence of the Rh-Negative blood type," said Dr Issarang Nuchprayoon of the Thai Red Cross National Blood Centre, citing a report suggesting that only 0.3% of Thais have this blood type, compared to around 15% of Westerners.
"This disparity in numbers may provide challenges for Western tourists with this blood type, as in emergencies that require blood transfusions, a scarcity in Thailand's Rh-Negative type blood pool may cause assistance to be delayed."
With Rh-Negative blood from Thai donors alone not being enough to support the needs of foreign visitors, he encouraged the Western community with this blood type to donate.
Dr Issarang said all material used to recruit blood donors is currently published in Thai and only communicated to Thai people.
"But now we see an opportunity to get more blood from Western visitors," he said.
