Tourists coming to Thailand - they must have enough funds to support themselves, says business leader

[ThomasThBKK]

5 minutes ago, qwertyuiop said:

As far as I am aware it was never discontinued. It is now simply a part of the ticket price 

include mandatory short term health insurance there too for 800 baht extra.

 

Et voila, we just solved all of thailands unpaid bill problems....      No one wouldd care about 800 baht on a flight ticket price.... 

[herfiehandbag]

29 minutes ago, yang123 said:

Easy!  Re-introduce the airport Departure tax: takings to be stored for disbursement against medical bills of runners. 

The problem would be the storage! Such a large pot of money would prove irresistible, on so many levels!

[ThomasThBKK]

2 minutes ago, xylophone said:

There were some stats published a year or two ago that showed the amount owed by farangs who didn't/couldn't pay their hospital bills.......must be on the net somewhere.

 

The total LOSS of all hospital bills unpaid EXCLUDING the profit came down to around 10 BAHT/tourist, i made the math somewhere here on thaivisa... they even tried to introduce something for that in terms of extra charge on ticket price but as always couldn't follow through...

[mickymouse1]

The TOURISTS ARE COMING ,THE TOURISTS ARE COMING...

Reminded me of the " RUSSIANS R COMING" 555

Rest assured no one is coming. Hahaha

DREAM ON. 

 

[Airalee]

29 minutes ago, Bassosa said:

Oh c'mon, a handful of old boys leaving their (private) hospital bills unpaid should not be grounds for such concerns and corresponding policy changes. Look at the income Thailand generates from visitors in relation to these unpaid medical business. It's nothing and shouldn't even be mentioned quite honestly. I agree with others, it's pure xenophobia.

 

 

It’s not actually xenophobia as much as it’s a cash grab in order to shore up insurance companies that usually invest their money in low risk government bonds for income.  Now that interest rates are so low, where can they put their money?

 

We can see just with some simple math that it’s completely lopsided.  Frequently, we hear numbers bandied about how much the hospitals are getting shortchanged by foreigners doing a runner (and this includes all the tourists too...not just retirees.

 

“Today’s report quoted the minister as describing these foreigners as ‘risky’ as he pointed out that ฿500 million in unpaid hospital bills were racked up in Thailand health system every year, a situation that had to be addressed.“

 

Source: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2019/10/10/foreigners-insurance-visa-requirements-over-50s-thai-deputy-public-health-minister-sathit-pitutecha/

 

The most recent figures I could find showed that there were 80,000  “retirement visas” issued in 2018
 

“Thailand issued almost 80,000 retirement visas in 2018, an increase of 30% from 2014, with Britons accounting for the bulk.

Research by Kasikornthai Bank estimated that in 2016, there were 68,300 foreigners over 50 years old holding long-stay visas, a 9% increase over the preceding two years.”

 

Source: https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Thailand-s-foreign-retirees-see-their-good-life-slip-away

 

Doing some back of the hand calculations shows that if the average foreigner was to pay ฿100,000 annually for their policy (with realistic coverages...not the 400k mumbo jumbo) the total of these premiums yearly would be ฿8 billion.  And this is just what the retirees (80k vs tens of millions of tourists) pay.

 

฿8 billion in retiree premiums vs ฿500 million lost by every foreigner that sets foot on Thai soil.

 

For someone who cannot (or will not) see that we are getting scammed I question if they are somehow on the payroll.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.“

 

-Upton Sinclair 

 

[david555]

2 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

Parting tourists from their funds before they start their holiday during or after ????

i guess the whole timeline ….

[FritsSikkink]

3 hours ago, rott said:

Is there any history of foreigners becoming a burden on Thailand.?

 

Have the full rules been published yet so that these potential troublemakers know what it is they are required to comply with,? Those that are selected that is. 

Yes, a long history of foreigners not paying their hospital bills.

[bodga]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

40 millions or so tourist a year

100 baht insurance  fee at airport for  all 40  million  =4000,000,000 baht how  difficult would  that be to do, no paperwork  no nothing...............instead  convuluted old  load of  ballcocks  dreamt up by a numpty halfwit with <deleted>  all else to do all day except  justify his creaming off .

[zaZa9]

This is news ??

[FritsSikkink]

3 hours ago, Airalee said:

I’d be curious to know exactly how much the hospital bills have been for the Thais that have been hospitalized here for coronavirus, and if it even comes close to the US$100,000 coverage that they require foreigners to carry.

 

The ฿400,000-800,000 insurance requirement to extend my “retirement visa” now basically jumps to a ฿5,000,000 policy requirement (The ฿3,000,000 pacific prime policy won’t be sufficient according to my insurance agent) if I, as a retiree, ever want to leave and then reenter Thailand for any reason.

Nobody has the same issues from Covid, so it is impossible to give you an exact number. some people stay overnight, others are in a coma for quite a while.

[david555]

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

Those pesky foreigners, why oh why won't they just send their money over and stay in their own countries.

 

Pure selfishness on their part.

 

******** 

Some do !……. they are called sponsors of "good girls" (!??...) 

[fxe1200]

1 hour ago, Saltire said:

".... I recall a proposal to charge 2 or 300 Baht on entry to cover tourists, that would work if they got the cover sorted out.

 

I too recall that proposal, 300THB would be sufficient to set up a fund in which a tourist is completely covered for his/her time in Thailand. They can just add that to the existing airport tax, which is nowadays also included in the ticket price. The profits of this insurance scheme could go to these underfunded state hospitals, or be fed to the gangsters running this country.

[2 is 1]

How many tourist don't have enough money! Tell me you wise TAT leader? And how much you loose money?Coz these broke people entrance here! What about "John" friend " Jakob" whit 2 million bth whit him! He can't support John! Or John going to be burden to Kingdom! Whos leaders think nation first and they people! Coverment want equivalence ! Like great Mao think , even also him take money first own pocket and give what was left!

Edited September 14, 2020 by 2 is 1

[Lacessit]

No tourist is going to consider a one month holiday when they have to spend 14 days of it in quarantine here, then possibly another 14 days when they return to their home country.

They may get rich snowbirds that spend 6 months in Thailand, but the snowbirds own or rent condos. They don't stay in expensive hotels, and their numbers are small.

I don't know what these tourist authorities are smoking, but I'd like to try it.

 

[david555]

1 hour ago, Oldie said:

It is the same if a dog bites you. Suddenly nobody is the owner. 

 

So …. just take him with you and dash him to the nearest Cambodian building construction place ….one biting dog less on street …. one more on the menu … 

[Airalee]

6 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Nobody has the same issues from Covid, so it is impossible to give you an exact number. some people stay overnight, others are in a coma for quite a while.

Doesn’t matter.  So few people here have even needed treatment that expensive insurance policies are obviously a cash grab from foreigners.

[crazykopite]

I wish they would stop coming up these crazy ideas every day my sides are hurting that much because I can’t stop ????????????????????????????????????????????

[VBF]

3 hours ago, Sheryl said:

<snip>

A similar scheme to allow medical tourism to resume that was supposed to be in effect in July is still largely dysfunctional.

As, it would appear, are many of the "decision makers" in Thailand much of the world.

(With apologies to @petermik whose earlier post I initially missed)

Edited September 14, 2020 by VBF

[Ludo55]

2 hours ago, Poet said:

Would you mind me asking, how old was this guy?

I would imagine that most of those who die in hospital would be here on retirement, so, there is notionally 800,000 to be recovered right there, and possibly a house or condo too.

If it is the case that some of these deaths are young folks, possibly here on a work visa, education visa, or perhaps even tourists, well, okay, I'll reluctantly admit that there is some argument for insisting that everyone be insured. Before they put an additional burning tire on the neck of their tourist industry, however, they should be absolutely certain that this genuinely is a problem big enough to be worth crippling that income.

In fact, I would argue that, at the same time as introducing an insurance requirement, they should balance it out by getting rid of all short-term visas (tourism, education, volunteer, medical etc) and simply have an up to one year visa waiver for all countries eligible for the current visa waiver. You present your insurance cert, from any credible insurance company, and the IO stamps you in until the final date of your coverage. In a sense, your insurance becomes your visa.

 

You seem to forget about the Expats that go through Agents that pay Immigration. No Health Insurance, no 800,000 in the bank, and normally very little money. Then you have all the pretend bar managers and others on ED and Volunteer Visas that have no Insurance and very limited finances 

[zyphodb]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

 

Unfortunately yes, many cases of foreigners becoming a burden in Thailand, especially (but not only) as regards hospital bills

 

No, the details have not been released and probably not yet even worked out.

 

If history is any guide they will be very convoluted, poorly explained, subject to varying interpretations and very hard to implement.  A similar scheme to allow medical tourism to resume that was supposed to be in effect in July is still largely dysfunctional.

 

 

So, Sheryl, how much money do you think that these "many" foreigners becoming a burden, has cost Thailand, compared to the untold billions that foreigners have brought to the country in the last 30 years or so? also how is this any different to all the other tourist countries who don't seem to have the same xenophobic reactions to the tourists that enrich their economies as Thailand does? 

[DaLa]

2 hours ago, Banana7 said:

Some foreigners die here, after being in the hospital for numerous days. I know one guy in Pattaya, had a bill of over 1,000,000 baht from the Bangkok Pattaya hospital, when he died. The hospital tried to locate his friends to pay the bill. Needless to say, no one admitted being his friend. I imagine he isn't the only foreigner who has left a hospital with an outstanding debt.

They should have taken better care of him then. That way he'd still be around to pay his bill. 

[2 is 1]

8 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

I wish they would stop coming up these crazy ideas every day my sides are hurting that much because I can’t stop ????????????????????????????????????????????

What is the best gag ever! Read TAT ideas! Every day new one! Never ending source. Soon they start give invoice! This day's idea only 19.99 read and laugh!

[VBF]

2 hours ago, Poet said:

<snip>
In fact, I would argue that, at the same time as introducing an insurance requirement, they should balance it out by getting rid of all short-term visas (tourism, education, volunteer, medical etc) and simply have an up to one year visa waiver for all countries eligible for the current visa waiver. You present your insurance cert, from any credible insurance company, and the IO stamps you in until the final date of your coverage. In a sense, your insurance becomes your visa.
 

Which, in the case of tourists especially, is covered by travel insurance, which in turn also includes the required $100K Covid insurance.

Trouble is @Poet your suggestion is ridiculously simple and practical with little room for cheating. Therefore...........????

[Bluespunk]

19 minutes ago, david555 said:

Some do !……. they are called sponsors of "good girls" (!??...) 

Damn, you're right. 

[Enzian]

Right now the body of a deceased foreigner I knew is lying in the cold room of a private hospital in Bangkok, where he died a few days ago, adding up daily storage fees on top of the over 100,000 THB already owed. He had the 800K for long stay renewal earlier this year, but his friends can't get too it unless his one living relative far away starts to cooperate, or the embassy gets seriously involved. This is playing out moment by moment, but I take this opportunity to say NO MATTER how crazy you are, prepare for the end, don't leave your friends in the lurch with problems that can only be sorted out slowly and with the help of a great lawyer. It's not fair.

[Poet]

1 minute ago, Ludo55 said:

You seem to forget about the Expats that go through Agents that pay Immigration. No Health Insurance, no 800,000 in the bank, and normally very little money. Then you have all the pretend bar managers and others on ED and Volunteer Visas that have no Insurance and very limited finances 

Yes, that turned out to be the case in that story, the guy who died had paid 13,000 per year to an agent.

My later suggestion in the thread was that, okay, visitors to Thailand should have insurance but, to balance out the inconvenience, Thailand should have a simple visa waiver scheme allowing up to 12 months per entry, replacing all the short term visas such as tourist, eduction, volunteer, and medical. We show our insurance cert to the IO on arrival and get permission to stay until the date our insurance expires. For pensioners, as their insurance will be more expensive, get rid of the 800K requirement.

[ThailandRyan]

8 minutes ago, Ludo55 said:

You seem to forget about the Expats that go through Agents that pay Immigration. No Health Insurance, no 800,000 in the bank, and normally very little money. Then you have all the pretend bar managers and others on ED and Volunteer Visas that have no Insurance and very limited finances 

Oh my god yes, there must be 100's of Thousands of these people being a leech on Thai society, lets be real in our view and get real instead of being one who throws everyone under the wheels of the bus as being the same, as it is in reality only a small percentage of folks, who go this route, and some of those that do, have the money, they just do not want to Thai it up in the banking system here, yes sarcasm in the last sentence.

[Poet]

2 minutes ago, Enzian said:

He had the 800K for long stay renewal earlier this year, but his friends can't get too it unless his one living relative far away starts to cooperate, or the embassy gets seriously involved.

This demonstrates the flaw in the 800K scheme, which is supposedly meant for precisely this eventuality.

Replace it with comprehensive insurance and trust that your farang retirees will probably end up spending the remainder of their 800K in Thailand anyway.
 

[Sunmaster]

It is hard enough to follow the quarantine procedures for those who REALLY want to come back and re-join their Thai families. Who in their right mind would spend 2 weeks locked up in a (very expensive) hotel room, with wife and kids perhaps, and then maybe "enjoy" a few days in a half deserted resort??

To hell with all your COVID precautions. People are desperate, they are dying because they lost their jobs and the suicide rate is up 22%. For what?

[VBF]

4 minutes ago, Enzian said:

Right now the body of a deceased foreigner I knew is lying in the cold room of a private hospital in Bangkok, where he died a few days ago, adding up daily storage fees on top of the over 100,000 THB already owed. He had the 800K for long stay renewal earlier this year, but his friends can't get too it unless his one living relative far away starts to cooperate, or the embassy gets seriously involved. This is playing out moment by moment, but I take this opportunity to say NO MATTER how crazy you are, prepare for the end, don't leave your friends in the lurch with problems that can only be sorted out slowly and with the help of a great lawyer. It's not fair.

Hang on a minute......

The guy's dead, cremate him with a "basic" funeral!

Why keep a body lying around if nobody claims it?  I know that when I die I shan't give a stuff what happens to my body. It's like throwing away a used tissue (best burnt for hygiene)