Introduction Noncommunicable diseases and mental health conditions account for 60%–70% of premature deaths across Southeast Asia, including the Greater Mekong Subregion, and increasing among low-income, mobile, and marginalized populations. Migrants face persistent barriers to accessing effective care. Services are often unavailable in border areas, industrial zones, and worksites, with shortages of basic diagnostics, trained mental health professionals, and gender-sensitive care. Access is further constrained by long distances to facilities, inflexible clinic hours, high out-of-pocket costs, and income losses from time away from work, particularly for undocumented migrants. Complex administrative procedures, employer-linked registration, language-dependent digital systems, and lack of health information in migrant languages further limit access, especially for women whose documents or mobility may be controlled by employers. Care is frequently not culturally acceptable, with migrants reporting discrimination, stigma, and lack of privacy. Mental health needs and gender-based violence remain under-recognized. Quality of care is uneven due to overcrowded facilities, limited training on migrant-sensitive and mental health care, medication shortages, and weak referral pathways, resulting in poor continuity and suboptimal management of chronic conditions. Context Thailand is the primary destination for migrant workers in the Greater Mekong Subregion, hosting over five million migrants, mainly from Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar. Many are employed in low-skilled, mobile sectors such as fisheries, construction, and domestic work. The key public policy problem is the inability of existing health systems in the Greater Mekong Subregion to provide continuous, long-term care for noncommunicable diseases and mental health conditions among migrant populations. These conditions require sustained treatment, follow-up, and monitoring. Yet migrants’ high mobility, insecure legal status, and fragmented access to services result in frequent interruptions to care. Circular migration across Greater Mekong Subregion borders compounds care fragmentation and weakens health system efficiency. Given the persistent disparities and the growing digital health landscape in the Greater Mekong Subregion, it is important to identify priority areas for policy and investment—designing and piloting a regional digital health ecosystem that connects migrants, health workers, and facilities across borders, integrates noncommunicable diseases and mental health services, and ensures gender-responsive and rights-based access. Policy Options To address fragmented and discontinuous care for noncommunicable diseases and mental health conditions among migrants, this policy brief reviews digitally enabled policy options responding to high mobility, administrative fragmentation, geographic barriers, and limited continuity of care. The central logic is to shift health systems away from location- and employer-based access toward portable, person-centered care that functions across workplaces, provinces, and borders. Option 1: Digital health passports. Portable electronic records would store essential clinical information, including noncommunicable disease diagnoses, mental health assessments, medication history, and follow-up plans. This addresses medical record loss and treatment interruption due to frequent movement. Evidence from refugee and mobile population systems in Europe and Southeast Asia shows reduced duplication of diagnostics and improved continuity of care. However, key constraints include data privacy concerns, low digital literacy, and mistrust among undocumented migrants--requiring strong governance safeguards and clear separation from immigration enforcement. Option 2: Mobile health and telemedicine expansion. Tailored to migrant populations, these tools can support chronic disease monitoring, appointment reminders, mental health screening, and remote consultations, particularly in border areas and industrial zones with limited specialist services. Evidence from chronic disease programs indicates improved adherence and follow-up when integrated into primary care. Limitations include uneven internet access, limited provider readiness, and the need for multilingual and gender-sensitive design. Option 3: Digital integration across migrant health services. Interoperable referral systems and shared follow-up platforms across public facilities, migrant health posts, and nongovernment providers can reduce fragmentation and improve care coordination without creating parallel systems. However, this approach depends on sustained interagency cooperation and consistent implementation capacity. Together, these policy options prioritize digital continuity of care as a system-level response to the structural barriers affecting migrants with long-term health needs. Policy Implementation Implementation of digitally enabled migrant health interventions has involved migrant health programs, public facilities, and nongovernment providers. Cross-border coordination and interoperability have required sustained interagency cooperation and clearly defined governance arrangements. Studies on portable electronic health records and digital health passports show that implementation required secure data-sharing protocols, privacy safeguards, and separations from immigration enforcement to maintain trust among undocumented migrants. Mobile health applications and voice- or chatbot-based platforms required provider training and integration into primary care workflows. Teleconsultation and point-of-care diagnostics have depended on digital infrastructure, provider readiness, and coordination between referral facilities in remote or border settings. However, there were significant implementation challenges. Unintended effects include digital exclusion, data privacy concerns, and uneven provider adoption where training or incentives were insufficient. Across case samples, fragmented governance, short-term financing, inadequate technical training, and poor cross-border interoperability constrained implementation. Programs that incorporated multilingual and low-literacy design, strong data protection frameworks, integration with public health systems, and community mediators or migrant health volunteers demonstrated stronger operational sustainability. Policy Outcomes Evidence from existing digital health case studies demonstrates improvements in continuity of care for noncommunicable diseases and mental health services. Portable electronic health records and digital health passports have shown reductions in duplicated diagnostics, improved medication adherence, and smoother cross-facility referrals by ensuring that clinical histories remain accessible despite migration and job changes. Mobile health empowerment tools have increased health knowledge, medication adherence, and early self-screening for hypertension, diabetes, and depression, especially where multilingual or low-literacy interfaces were used. Teleconsultation and point-of-care diagnostics reduced travel time, accelerated referrals, and improved chronic-disease monitoring in remote or border settings. Workforce tools, including tablet-based case management and e-learning modules, have improved documentation quality and provider confidence. Unintended outcomes included digital exclusion limited reach among populations with low connectivity or literacy and uneven provider adoption. Fear of surveillance reduced participation among undocumented migrants where confidentiality safeguards were unclear. In some pilot settings, initial gains in service utilization declined when funding cycles ended or where interoperability was incomplete. Recommendations Health workforce digital enablement—through mobile tablets, artificial intelligence-assisted triage tools, and structured e-learning modules—should be expanded and institutionalized across migrant health posts and nongovernment clinics to strengthen and sustain early detection capacity, case management efficiency, and service responsiveness. Regional governance and partnership models observed in existing programs highlight the importance of harmonized cross-border coordination mechanisms, digital standards, data-sharing protocols, and sustained financing through public–private partnerships. Establishing a dedicated Greater Mekong Subregion Digital Health Coordination Group could formalize these practices. Successful replication requires attention to factors observed in prior initiatives. Greater Mekong Subregion governments should prioritize embedding digital healthcare within universal health coverage structures, allocating dedicated financing lines, and formalizing the role of migrant health volunteers as digital navigators. By scaling proven models and addressing implementation gaps, the region can move toward a more equitable, portable, and resilient system of noncommunicable disease and mental health care for migrant populations. A digitally enabled, migrant-inclusive primary healthcare system will enhance health outcomes, lower catastrophic costs, and boost economic resilience across the Greater Mekong Subregion. Note: This work is part of a regional technical assistance on Strengthening Regional Health Cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion – Phase 2 and was presented as part of the Prince Mahidol Award Conference 2026. Resources IOM. 2024. IOM Thailand Annual Report 2024 . N. Marziliano and G. Giuliani. 2024. 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Ask the Experts Santosh Jatrana Professor, Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Santosh Jatrana is a demographer and social epidemiologist specializing in migrant health, ageing and health, primary health care, and health inequalities. She has held academic positions at James Cook University, Swinburne University of Technology, University of Otago, and National University of Singapore. Her career spans research, teaching, and consultancy across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and India. Vasoontara S. Yiengprugsawan Senior Universal Health Coverage Specialist (Service Delivery), Human and Social Development Office, Sectors Department 3, Asian Development Bank Dr. Vasoontara Yiengprugsawan oversees ADB's health technical assistance, including noncommunicable diseases and mental health and regional cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion and BIMP-EAGA. She has held senior health research positions in Australia, a WHO Fellowship with the Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, and worked in policy and research with a UN Migration Agency in Geneva. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology from Australian National University. Follow Vasoontara S. Yiengprugsawan on Eduardo P. Banzon Director, Health Practice Team, Human and Social Development Office, Sectors Department 3, Asian Development Bank Dr. Eduardo Banzon champions Universal Health Coverage and has long provided technical support to countries in Asia and the Pacific in their pursuit of this goal. Before joining ADB in 2014, he was President and CEO of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, World Health Organization (WHO) regional adviser for health financing for the Eastern Mediterranean region, WHO health economist in Bangladesh, and World Bank senior health specialist for the East Asia and Pacific region. 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