"Traveling to Thailand and over 50?" article on Flyertalk

[TheAppletons]

Excerpt from an article on the Flyertalk website, a community of frequent travelers (750,000+ members):

 

"As of the end of last month, tourists to Thailand aged over 50 will need to prove that they have medical cover, The South China Morning News reports. This legislation came into force on October 31st and, according to Sathit Pitutecha, the Thai deputy minister of public health, has been put into place so that the nation’s government is not required to cover any of their medical expenses of travelers in this “risky” age group staying in Thailand for the maximum period of one year."

 

Nowhere in the article does it mention O-A visa or any other type of visa.  The article is missing several key details and I could see where the average tourist over 50 may think this applies to their potential future travel plans.  

 

https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/traveling-to-thailand-while-50-youll-need-health-insurance-first.htmlFlyertal

 

(Mods: if this is the wrong place to post this, please feel free to move it elsewhere.)

[dimitriv]

31 minutes ago, TheAppletons said:

The article is missing several key details and I could see where the average tourist over 50 may think this applies to their potential future travel plans.  

 

This is almost the same as people asking on Facebook:  I visited Thailand last year. Do I risk being sent back to my home country when I visit this year again?

 

I heard that the total of unpaid hospital bills is 500 million Baht each year.  That sounds like a lot of money. Till you realize that Thailand has almost 40 million visitors each year. 

 

That is 12 1/2 Baht of unpaid hospital bills for each tourist.

 

When I read news coming from the Thai government it often seems like a kindergarten class trying to do politics. With all their confusing laws they do more harm than good.

 

 

 

 

[PatOngo]

4 minutes ago, dimitriv said:

When I read news coming from the Thai government it often seems like a kindergarten class trying to do politics.

It's on a par with their universities!

[justin case]

On 11/12/2019 at 8:19 AM, dimitriv said:

 

This is almost the same as people asking on Facebook:  I visited Thailand last year. Do I risk being sent back to my home country when I visit this year again?

 

I heard that the total of unpaid hospital bills is 500 million Baht each year.  That sounds like a lot of money. Till you realize that Thailand has almost 40 million visitors each year. 

 

That is 12 1/2 Baht of unpaid hospital bills for each tourist.

 

When I read news coming from the Thai government it often seems like a kindergarten class trying to do politics. With all their confusing laws they do more harm than good.

 

 

 

 

they could just squeeze and extra 20-50-100 baht out of every tourist, but , NO

[Dumbastheycome]

13 minutes ago, justin case said:

they could just squeeze and extra 20-50-100 baht out of every tourist, but , NO

Exactly .  And  without  knowing what the  true statistical spread across  All the unpaid hospital bills is actually attributable to "over  50's" long stay or otherwise  rather than those who skip as tourists why not add 20 Baht to the  "departure tax" that is now automatically extracted via  airline tickets?

I suspect it is because  those behind this  insurance scam have identified a captive market that falls outside the  coffers of the Thai Govt. Why else insist on conditions  that essentially deny offshore based Insurers?