health insurance

[saengd]

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

I thought that there were only about  500,000-1,000,000 .expats living in Thailand,

https://news.thaivisa.com/article/38177/the-mystery-of-exactly-how-many-expats-live-in-thailand

Like you I've seen several versions of this, the one I've come to trust is the 3.5 mill. figure which includes all non-Thais, legal and illegal. That includes foreigners married to Thais, Chinese, Burmese and Cambodian all of which seem to make up the majority.

[gk10002000]

15 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Chiang Mai immigration denies issuing that hand out. The pic of it was taken at a agents office.

Interesting.  Wonder if it was just a gross misunderstanding of the immigration order by the "agent", or they are trying to coerce and induce an extension applicant to buy insurance??  

[GeorgeCross]

51 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

20,000.  An interesting point of view and understandable given the nuttiness that is going on and seeming to get worse every year.  But breaking the law and risking deportation and being barred from returning is probably not the best approach. 

 

if you are going to leave anyway though what do you have to lose!!

 

its a mistake Thailand keeps repeating, they think they are so special that everyone is just clamouring to keep returning here but the truth is once the shine has worn off only family would drag one back

 

 

[holy cow cm]

6 hours ago, emptypockets said:

'They' don't have to come up with anything. Are you on an OA visa? If not, at this stage, you have nothing to worry about. Relax. If you are on an OA visa, then look at moving to an O visa and get extensions based on retirement.

If everyone now because they did not foresee this and are just now jumping around like the sky is falling moves to an O then the O is going to fall as well. I for one do not want everyone jumping to an O and ruining it for me and all the other O holders who have been on the good side.

[holy cow cm]

3 hours ago, griffon2011 said:

The article states that in 2018 680,000 out of 3,420,000 expats failed to pay their hospital bills with the majority being retirees.  Where did they get that data?

It is a bunch of BS. 

[saengd]

18 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

If everyone now because they did not foresee this and are just now jumping around like the sky is falling moves to an O then the O is going to fall as well. I for one do not want everyone jumping to an O and ruining it for me and all the other O holders who have been on the good side.

The good side! You mean the lucky side!

 

I've been on an O-A extension for eighteen years with 800k Baht in the bank, I'm potentially on the wrong side of the fence on this and I may well jump ship to an O visa so best move along and make room.

[UncleMhee]

1 hour ago, gk10002000 said:

But breaking the law and risking deportation and being barred from returning is probably not the best approach.

Agreed but as stated...

 

21 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

if you are going to leave anyway though what do you have to lose!!

I wasn't planning on leaving.....though over the last decade I've spent considerable time with hill tribes. Keep in the good books with the headman, you might get to expire up there in twenty years; with no one any the wiser.

 

18 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

ruining it for me and all the other O holders who have been on the good side.

Thanks for your support...NOT! The "good side", pffft.... let's just divide and conquer then shall we; I'm alright jack, tuff luck for you. I'm sure our hosts will be clapping their hands together over that.

 

It's O-A holders who believed they were doing the right thing getting shafted here. 

[ubonjoe]

Seval baiting, bickering, off topic posts and replies to them have been removed.

[Peter Denis]

My Non Imm OA Visa was issued 19 June 2019, and is valid till 18 June 2020.

I planned to make a trip to Laos in 3 weeks, but am worried now that I might be refused entry when coming back as I do not have thai approved health insurance.

I read the Police Order on health insurance several times, but it is clear as mud on the above.

When there is a chance that I will be refused re-entry I will simply postpone my foreseen trip until there is some clarity on the issue.

 

1511398266_InsuranceO-AVisaNewPoliceOrder.pdf

[Peter Denis]

34 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

My Non Imm OA Visa was issued 19 June 2019, and is valid till 18 June 2020.

I planned to make a trip to Laos in 3 weeks, but am worried now that I might be refused entry when coming back as I do not have thai approved health insurance.

I read the Police Order on health insurance several times, but it is clear as mud on the above.

When there is a chance that I will be refused re-entry I will simply postpone my foreseen trip until there is some clarity on the issue.

 

1511398266_InsuranceO-AVisaNewPoliceOrder.pdf 1.87 MB · 0 downloads

Just read UbonJoe's response on a similar question from someone planning to re-enter Thailand with a still valid Non Imm OA Visa.  Accordingly, there is absolutely nothing to worry about.

[LivinLOS]

21 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

yeah reads the same to me, also saw this earlier on FB. not looking good ????

 

Careful, I read there was some faked news posted (never saw the image) and this fits its description. Chiang Mai etc.. Maybe a mod can confirm @Sheryl

 

I do think this is the readong of both the law and the reports from IOs however only this above fits the description of the dodgy info previously (not claiming its you as source). 

[LivinLOS]

20 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Chiang Mai immigration denies issuing that hand out. The pic of it was taken at a agents office.

Thanks Joe.. Sorry I hadnt got to this when I posted prior. 

[LivinLOS]

20 hours ago, Mango Bob said:

This letter states that the wife and children must also have this insurance.  You know that is not correct.  Immigrations can not tell a Thai wife she must be included on the policy.  Anyway if they are on a O visa fr marriage they wouldn't be required to have insurance.  This just show how fake this letter is.

it may be meaning 'dependant spouse and children' that piggyback off a long stay farang. The dependant visa offer to non Thais etc. 

[LivinLOS]

7 hours ago, griffon2011 said:

The article states that in 2018 680,000 out of 3,420,000 expats failed to pay their hospital bills with the majority being retirees.  Where did they get that data?

Agree.. insane.. 1 in 5 hospital visits went unpaid for !! These are nonsense figures. 

 

Having had a think (and not believing that huge amounts of expats manage to skip out on hospital bills) I suspect a lot of the unpaid bills may be farangs dieing in Thai hospitals.. Once dead, the bill dies with them. 

[kingofthemountain]

25 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

Agree.. insane.. 1 in 5 hospital visits went unpaid for !! These are nonsense figures. 

 

.....I suspect a lot of the unpaid bills may be farangs dieing in Thai hospitals.. Once dead, the bill dies with them. 

Yes these are nonsense.

Some farang probably dies in hospital and bill dies with them

but i am pretty sure most of the unpaid bill are from the ''expat'' group

of Thai neighbouring countries (Laos, Myanmar, Cambodgia, Vietnam...)

but of course Thai authorities do not want to shame the ASEAN members

it's much more easy to blame (And charge) again the farang

[madmen]

12 hours ago, oslooskar said:

Well, I certainly hope they can come up with something reasonable. However, in the meantime, I will be looking at other options like Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, and Vietnam just in case worse comes to worst. The real heart-breaker for me would be leaving all the cats behind that are now dependent on me for food. ????

Its a sad fact that Thailand dont care about the old and frail. they dont even care about there own citizens. They would rather you left for Peru at age 77 rather than die in a Thai hospital like my 75 year old mate just did after getting sepsis and spending a month in ICU in a semi coma with an astronomical bill. Unpaid

[rabas]

8 hours ago, saengd said:

Like you I've seen several versions of this, the one I've come to trust is the 3.5 mill. figure which includes all non-Thais, legal and illegal. That includes foreigners married to Thais, Chinese, Burmese and Cambodian all of which seem to make up the majority.

I believe there are only about 200,000-250,000 total farang expats (were!) in Thailand. So 600,000 unpaid ~400B bills would surely be Burmese and Cambodian workers with minor problems. It can't possibly be retirees, and these workers cannot buy way overpriced Thai insurance policies.

 

So it makes me wonder if the O-A only medical insurance is just a way to selectively require insurance from Western farang expats, who they assume have money. Type O is a broad category that includes marriages and other things.