It has been announced that people applying for O-A visas in their home countries will have a health insurance requirement starting this July. O-A visas are a one year visa for people age 50 and over.

 

There is currently controversy and lack of clarity about whether other visas / annual extensions in Thailand will be included in this requirement. Either starting in July or at a later date.

 

This topic is a MULTIPLE CHOICE poll for people to record their predictions. 

In other words, choose either one choice or as many as you like.

7 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

It has been announced that people applying for O-A visas in their home countries will have a health insurance requirement starting this July.

When was that confirmed?

Why  did you limit the marriage visa extension to folks over 50?

All of the above. Definitely.

Foreward looking people would also be interested in how other countries handle this subject. Colombia, for example. Nevermind Thailand. Predictable.

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

There is currently controversy and lack of clarity about whether other visas / annual extensions in Thailand will be included in this requirement

I think it is a pretty easy assumption that all forms will eventually require medical insurance.

 

Folks now without would do well to decide what they want to do about it in the future.

 

Meaning find suitable insurance now or start planning an exit

Especially if one has hard assets in Thailand to sell

 

8 minutes ago, mania said:

I think it is a pretty easy assumption that all forms will eventually require medical insurance.

 

Folks now without would do well to decide what they want to do about it in the future.

 

Meaning find suitable insurance now or start planning an exit

Especially if one has hard assets in Thailand to sell

 

True,hardly anybody 60/70 plus is going to live with a 4000 gbp insurance tag every year.  Times up Id say,...'hard assets to sell'  that time has well and truly passed.   All those 50 plus and laughing with low insurance costs,..your time will arrive

I think there should be a requirement even for short term tourists to prove on arrival that they carry travel insurance 

21 minutes ago, mania said:

I think it is a pretty easy assumption that all forms will eventually require medical insurance.

 

Folks now without would do well to decide what they want to do about it in the future.

 

Meaning find suitable insurance now or start planning an exit

Especially if one has hard assets in Thailand to sell

 

Hard to sell "hard" assets in a hurry for a fair price. Especially not, if an entire Thai-Family was originally meant to be a firm part of the "asset-equation" in Thailand.

 

33 minutes ago, oxysong said:

True,hardly anybody 60/70 plus is going to live with a 4000 gbp insurance tag every year.  Times up Id say,...'hard assets to sell'  that time has well and truly passed.   All those 50 plus and laughing with low insurance costs,..your time will arrive

I found hitting the magic age of 70 increased my policy fees, by 75% and have no pre existing conditions. Never made a claim.

 

 

29 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

I think there should be a requirement even for short term tourists to prove on arrival that they carry travel insurance 

lol! the immigration line ups would extend to saraburi!

 

31 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

I think there should be a requirement even for short term tourists to prove on arrival that they carry travel insurance 

The only issue I see on that is expecting the immigration official to vet insurance documentation in a multitude of languages. 

2 minutes ago, AYJAYDEE said:

lol! the immigration line ups would extend to saraburi!

 

Can be done at check in/baggage drop??

Just now, RJRS1301 said:

Can be done at check in/baggage drop??

Oh, so you have moved the queue to the check in areas at London, Delhi and Beijing? But surely there would be no point checking for them there, if they were not going to be checked at Bangkok? 

1 minute ago, RJRS1301 said:

Can be done at check in/baggage drop??

at your point of departure? lol. how would the ticket agent verify it? 

 

5 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Oh, so you have moved the queue to the check in areas at London, Delhi and Beijing? But surely there would be no point checking for them there, if they were not going to be checked at Bangkok? 

No passport, no board, no ticket no board, no insurance no board.

Save the line up at Thai entry point.

Harder to police at land crossings but can be done with modern communication systems

 

1 minute ago, RJRS1301 said:

No passport, no board, no ticket no board, no insurance no board.

Save the line up at Thai entry point.

Harder to police at land crossings but can be done with modern communication systems

 

and how do they verify that the policy is valid? and you expect airlines to train all their ticket agents to know the insurance rules of any countries that choose to implement this? 

 

What timeframe?

 

Long term I see a requirement for (nearly) all, next few years not so much yet.

I ticked them all, because I think mandatory health insurance will be required for ALL expats living in Thailand on any type of one-year or multiple-90 day visas.

 

I don't think that this requirement will be applied to short-term tourists, because it would probably reduce the number of foreign tourists who visit the country and spend money, (and that includes all the Chinese tourists).

 

But it's very clear that the authorities care not one jot about long-stay expats.  We're not encouraged to come here and we're not welcome here.  If imposition of a mandatory health insurance policy causes some/many of those expats to leave, then it's not of concern to the authorities.  Take it or leave it.

 

 

2 minutes ago, simon43 said:

I ticked them all, because I think mandatory health insurance will be required for ALL expats living in Thailand on any type of one-year or multiple-90 day visas.

 

I don't think that this requirement will be applied to short-term tourists, because it would probably reduce the number of foreign tourists who visit the country and spend money, (and that includes all the Chinese tourists).

 

But it's very clear that the authorities care not one jot about long-stay expats.  We're not encouraged to come here and we're not welcome here.  If imposition of a mandatory health insurance policy causes some/many of those expats to leave, then it's not of concern to the authorities.  Take it or leave it.

 

 

the international embarrassment of forcing the breakup of perhaps thousands of families will be too great. they wont do it

 

7 minutes ago, AYJAYDEE said:

and how do they verify that the policy is valid? and you expect airlines to train all their ticket agents to know the insurance rules of any countries that choose to implement this? 

 

Yes, they know the boarding requirements for visa, tickets etc, so checking another document is not that hard

Modern communication , put the policy number into a system, then is comes back as valid or not, the systems are available, not an impossibility.  Some one will always try to rip off a system, but most abide by rules and regulations.

 

I think it is a pretty easy assumption that all forms will eventually require medical insurance.

 

Folks now without would do well to decide what they want to do about it in the future.

 

Meaning find suitable insurance now or start planning an exit

Especially if one has hard assets in Thailand to sell

 

Mandatory insurance isn't the way to go, option of money in the bank for those self insurers.

 

For those with no family ties here its not so bad if it comes in as i would switch to spending less time here and stay on tourist visas. It might make life more interesting going to 2 or more countries every year

 

1 minute ago, AYJAYDEE said:

the international embarrassment of forcing the breakup of perhaps thousands of families will be too great. they wont do it

 

You're in cloud-cuckoo land!  There won't be any international embarrassment whatsoever.  This is all about 'encouraging' expats to go live elsewhere.  The country is under the thumb of the Chinese and you hardly see the Chinese government inviting old 'farang' to come and retire in China.

 

Everyone should have a plan B (or C or...).  The Thai people may love westerners, but the government does not.

3 minutes ago, simon43 said:

You're in cloud-cuckoo land!  There won't be any international embarrassment whatsoever. 

One of my favourite quotes runs along the lines of "X country has become the laughing stock of the world because of Y". You read it all the time. It's simply never true

Poll is misleading - as of now 38 voted - 25 for 1st option is not the 23% as showing -more like 65%

Just now, 473geo said:

Poll is misleading - as of now 38 voted - 25 for 1st option is not the 23% as showing -more like 65%

Don't forget TIT ????

You're in cloud-cuckoo land!  There won't be any international embarrassment whatsoever.  This is all about 'encouraging' expats to go live elsewhere.  The country is under the thumb of the Chinese and you hardly see the Chinese government inviting old 'farang' to come and retire in China.
 
Everyone should have a plan B (or C or...).  The Thai people may love westerners, but the government does not.

Your insurance, you are happy paying something like 150k when you get to 70, and 200k+ when you get to 80? many people cancel when they need it the most because it gets too expensive, then you question is it worth it in the first place, I don't think it is

2 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

16 minutes ago, simon43 said:

You're in cloud-cuckoo land!  There won't be any international embarrassment whatsoever.  This is all about 'encouraging' expats to go live elsewhere.  The country is under the thumb of the Chinese and you hardly see the Chinese government inviting old 'farang' to come and retire in China.
 
Everyone should have a plan B (or C or...).  The Thai people may love westerners, but the government does not.

Your insurance, you are happy paying something like 150k when you get to 70, and 200k+ when you get to 80? many people cancel when they need it the most because it gets too expensive, then you question is it worth it in the first place, I don't think it is

I'm 60 years old.  I pay 48,000 baht each year for $1.2 million of health cover. My scheme is for life, with no fee increases if I claim.  My insurance company already provided me with projections for the cost when I'm 70 and 80 - at 80 years old I would be paying about 100,000 baht each year, regardless of whether I'm living in Thailand or not.  That's a necessary expense for me and I've budgeted for it.

 

I have no intention of joining any Thai insurance scheme because they appear to be very poor value for money.  If I am required to join that scheme if I want to remain in Thailand, then I will simply move to Myanmar or Laos, continue my online teaching 'hobby' and continue with my expat insurance.  (I'm lucky because the Thai wives were ditched a long time ago...).

20 minutes ago, simon43 said:

You're in cloud-cuckoo land!  There won't be any international embarrassment whatsoever.  This is all about 'encouraging' expats to go live elsewhere.  The country is under the thumb of the Chinese and you hardly see the Chinese government inviting old 'farang' to come and retire in China.

 

I predict China will become another place for us to retire in a short time frame.

VISAs are very easy now, and cheap if you're not American and buy outside the west.

1 hour ago, RJRS1301 said:

I think there should be a requirement even for short term tourists to prove on arrival that they carry travel insurance 

There is no requirement but TAT always suggests to get insurance and even promote the insurance company. Tourist visa is very cheap.  It is around 400 baht for 7-day and 1700 baht for two months. I bought it a few times when I was certain that I would stay for two months only. The insurance becomes invalid if you stay more than two months. It starts the moment you clear immigration on entry and end when you clear immigration on exit. I think vast number of tourist staying for two weeks or less should be already covered by 700 baht airport tax which they can increase to 1500 to if not covered.

the international embarrassment of forcing the breakup of perhaps thousands of families will be too great. they wont do it
 

It didn't stop the Tory government in the UK creating a hostile environment for immigrants and splitting up countless families by imposing huge fees and financial requirements. Maybe the Thai government will follow their example.

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