Thailand

Local governments

Which group/committee/person within the funding/policy-decision organization makes the decisions?
Local research committee at university level or hospital level, occasionally national committee (difficult to get funding). This is another committee which is different from the Ethics Committee in each level.
 

What are the criteria the funding/policy organization(s) use to make their decisions?
Relevant research questions which can potentially answer national unmet need.

There are some Thai NGOs acted as patient advocacy groups, however, they are not specific to ophthalmology. They usually take care of patients’ rights and benefits in general.

Yes, there are national organizations for this purpose. The thing is it takes too long time, such as more than a year, for the organizations to approve a project even though the funding provided is much higher than other sources. 

They can be presented at a meeting for defending their budget proposal.

If the funding is from the government (which usually is) the budgets provided will be according to a fiscal year starting from October to September of the following year. The decision on the budget should be made no later than Q2 of the same year to use the money from October of that year until September of the following year.

Can scientists invite decision-makers to their lab/institution to see their work firsthand?
Yes, although this rarely happens.
 

Do the funding/policy organizations hold open meetings or solicit comments from the public that researchers can participate in?
There is occasionally public hearing for some large research projects, but usually no.