If you are about to open a pharmacy, or already run one and an assessment is approaching, "GPP" is unavoidable. GPP (Good Pharmacy Practice) is the standard the Thai FDA requires every modern-medicine pharmacy to follow — a condition for both new licences and renewals.
Many shops find GPP daunting and complex, but it is really a set of practices meant to keep pharmacies safe, auditable and capable of serving the public well. This guide summarises GPP in plain terms, grouped into main areas, flagging which parts are day-to-day operations a system can help with and which the pharmacist must do personally — with links to go deeper on each topic.
What is GPP?
GPP stands for Good Pharmacy Practice — the standard for modern-medicine pharmacies, covering premises, equipment, having a pharmacist, drug storage and dispensing, record-keeping and patient counselling.
The goal of GPP is not paperwork for its own sake; it is to ensure that people buying medicine from a shop get the correct, safe, quality product with advice from a pharmacist. Pharmacies that fail the GPP assessment risk not having their licence renewed, so understanding and meeting GPP is foundational, not optional.
The main GPP requirement areas
Although the assessment form has many points, it boils down to a few main areas worth understanding at a glance first:
- Premises, equipment and environment — space, storage, temperature control
- Personnel — the responsible pharmacist and their presence
- Quality control and drug management — sorting, handling expired stock
- Record-keeping and reporting — purchase/sales registers, controlled drugs, lot, expiry
- Service and counselling — dispensing by the pharmacist
Premises and storage requirements
The first area inspectors usually look at is the premises. The shop must have sufficient sales and counselling space, a defined counselling area, and proper drug storage — sorting drug types, temperature control where needed, and separating expired or deteriorated medicine from sellable stock.
Most of this is physical shop arrangement, but one point links directly to a system: separating and handling expired drugs. If the shop knows, in real time, when each lot expires and how much remains, arranging shelves and separating stock is far more accurate than walking the aisles by eye.
Personnel and pharmacist requirements
A modern-medicine pharmacy (Kor Yor 1) must have a responsible pharmacist present throughout the opening hours stated on the licence. Dispensing dangerous and controlled drugs must be under the pharmacist’s supervision, not left to general staff.
While the pharmacist’s presence is a human duty, a system supports it through access control — defining user roles (pharmacist, cashier, assistant) and restricting access to certain data or functions by role, so the work mirrors the shop’s real duty structure. Recording the pharmacist’s continuing professional development (CPD) credits is also part of maintaining professional standards over time.
Record-keeping and reporting requirements
The area shops most often miss — and the heart of GPP — is record-keeping. The shop must have a system to record purchases, sales (including dangerous and specially controlled drugs), lot numbers and expiry dates, complete and auditable. At inspection, the shop must be able to produce these.
This is where a GPP-oriented POS makes a clear difference: it records data automatically at the point of sale and goods receipt, instead of reconstructing a ledger afterwards. Sequentially numbered receipts/tax invoices, searchable sales history, and tax reports that include an FDA tab for controlled-drug registers all support GPP record-keeping directly.
- Purchase records — source, supplier and quantities received
- Sales records, including dangerous and specially controlled drugs
- Lot numbers and expiry dates per product
- Prescriber and buyer details where the law requires (controlled-drug registers)
- Sequentially numbered receipts/tax invoices and retained tax reports
Where a system helps you meet GPP
GPP has both human and system parts. The human parts — having a pharmacist, giving advice — no software can replace. But the "recording and auditability" part is exactly where a good POS and stock management cut the burden and reduce errors.
- Automatic stock deduction on every sale, tied to lot and expiry
- Goods-receipt capture with cost and lot from the source
- Forcing required fields before closing a controlled-drug sale
- Sequentially numbered receipts/tax invoices and searchable sales history
- Tax reports with an FDA tab for controlled-drug registers
- Role-based access control and PDPA-aligned data handling
Go deeper on each topic
This guide gives the overview. To go into detail on each area, we have separate focused articles, so you can read only the parts relevant to your shop:
- Licensing and opening steps — licence types, documents and e-Submission filing
- POS and GPP — a checklist of what your system should do to pass assessment
- Sales registers and controlled-drug reports — keeping the registers correctly
- Drug expiry management — separating and handling soon-to-expire stock systematically
Frequently asked questions
Does GPP apply to every pharmacy?
GPP applies to modern-medicine pharmacies obtaining and renewing licences with the FDA/provincial office. Passing the GPP assessment is a condition for getting and keeping the licence, so it is necessary for any shop that wants to operate legally.
What does GPP cover?
Mainly premises and drug storage, having a resident pharmacist, drug-quality management, recording purchases/sales and controlled drugs, and patient counselling. Record-keeping is the area where a POS helps most.
Do I need a specific software brand to pass GPP?
No. The law does not mandate a brand or format, but it does require complete, auditable records. A GPP-oriented POS makes meeting those requirements far easier and more accurate than paper.
When should a new shop prepare for GPP?
Before filing the application, because officials schedule an on-site GPP inspection before issuing the licence. Arranging the shop and preparing the record-keeping system early makes the assessment go far more smoothly than fixing things later.
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