Critical care medicine, one of the newest medical specialties in Thailand, has had most of its evolution in the past 25 years. There have been many advances and critical care services in major regional hospitals and currently, most university medical centers have become state of the art. Critical care fellowship training; a subspecialty certification of the primary board of internal medicine, anesthesiology, and surgery; has been in place for approximately 14 years. Despite the fact that TSCCM is one of the most active societies in education and training, the number of qualified intensivists in Thailand is still much less than is necessary. In addition, critical care nurses and other related professionals necessary for the ICUs’ clinical team falls short in delivering acceptable, high quality, critical care services. In the very near future, Thailand’s population will become an increasingly aged society. The movement toward one ASEAN community has prompted government policies to encourage Thailand to become the Medical Hub of Asia as well as a world-class destination for healthcare. Thus, the demand for critical care services will increase disproportionally when compared to the training capacity and its popularity as a specialty to new medical graduates. A critical look at critical care medicine by policymakers and the medical community is a blueprint for preparing and optimizing the critical care workforce regarding future planning and the development of future policies.

Keywords: Critical illness, Critical care, Intensive care, Workforce shortage, Intensivist