Reference Prices in Thai Tenders, Explained with Data

What a reference price is

The reference price (ราคากลาง, raka klang) is the benchmark against which an agency compares the bids it receives. The Public Procurement and Supplies Administration Act B.E. 2560 (2017) defines it and sets the order of sources an agency draws on to build it. Prices set under the Price Committee's rules and standard prices fixed by central agencies such as the Bureau of the Budget come first. Where none exists, the agency uses a market survey of supplier quotations, the price it paid in its most recent purchase within the last two fiscal years, or another price under its own practice.

The agency publishes the reference price with the tender on e-GP, the Comptroller General's Department's procurement system, and the open award records carry both the reference price and the agreed contract price of each project, which makes the comparison below possible. For specialised medical and scientific equipment the market-survey route is common: the agency collects quotations and specifications from suppliers while it drafts the terms of reference (TOR), often months before the invitation.

What the data shows

For every e-bidding project in the eight equipment categories we track, FY2024–FY2026, we compared the agreed price with the reference price. In seven of the eight categories, most projects (59% to 79%) were awarded within 1% of the reference price. Diagnostic imaging was highest at 79%, followed by patient monitoring and critical care (73%) and surgical and operating-room equipment (71%). Laboratory and scientific instruments, where 67% of projects are bought by university faculties outside the medical schools, were the exception at 43%.

The median project tells the same story: in every category the median award was at least 98.3% of the reference price, and in imaging it was 99.8%. Totals sit a little lower because a minority of projects do attract real discounts. In imaging, all awards together came to 97.4% of their reference prices; in lab and scientific instruments, 93.6%.

Imaging shows the shape behind those numbers. Of 1,841 imaging projects, 1,400 were awarded less than 1% below the reference price and 57 exactly at it. Only 3 came in above it, and 53 at a discount of 20% or more. Clinical-lab tenders look different again: 41% of IVD projects were awarded exactly at the reference price, the highest share of any category.

Who buys matters

The share also depends on the buyer. In every category, university hospitals and medical schools awarded a smaller share of their projects within 1% of the reference price than public hospitals did. In imaging the figures were 84% for public hospitals and 52% for university hospitals; in patient monitoring and critical care, 77% and 33%.

The award data does not say why. University buyers may write broader specifications, attract more bidders or build their reference prices differently, and any of these would leave more room between the reference price and the winning bid.

Why awards cluster at the reference price

When most winning bids land at or just below the reference price, the award stage itself shows little price competition. That is a common outcome in Thai e-bidding for specialised equipment, and it follows from how reference prices are built: from supplier quotations, earlier purchase prices and published standard prices, collected while the specification is drafted. Where few products meet a specification, the quotations behind the reference price and the eventual bids come from the same small group of suppliers, so the two tend to converge.

This is a lawful and well-understood pattern. It does not, on its own, indicate anything improper about any tender, agency or company, and this article makes no such suggestion.

What a new entrant can do

• Be in the market survey. Make sure your distributor's quotations and specifications reach buying committees when they collect prices, months before the invitation. A product that was never quoted rarely sets the benchmark.
• Use the draft-TOR comment period. Agencies often publish the draft TOR and reference price for comment before inviting bids. That is the legitimate moment to point out a requirement only one product can meet, and to show that yours complies.
• Document price-performance. Where the TOR allows price-performance evaluation, clinical and service advantages can count alongside price, if they are documented in the bid.
• Expect little discount headroom at award. When most awards land within 1% of the reference price, your price position is set when the reference price is built, not on the day bids open.

The timing of those steps is covered in When Thai hospitals sign contracts. For one category in depth, see Thailand's public imaging market, FY2024–FY2026.