Insurance for Thai Girlfriend

[lemonwaterjoe]

Hi,

 

I'm looking for a "normal" health insurance for my Thai gf to cover expenses in case she got sick, has an accident with her car or whatever. I did a lot of research but didn't find much useful so far. Would be thankful for any kind of recommendation.

 

Many thanks,

Joe

 

 

[steve187]

she would already be covered as long as she is registered where she is living

[lopburi3]

Why?  Unless for travel outside Thailand all Thai have fee healthcare.  Even if outside home area emergency service is provided free.  Home can easily be changed to current residence in most cases if that is an issue.  Even paying for service at low government rates would likely be cheaper than insurance that is not needed.

 

That said insurance is available but very costly if more than inpatient coverage - and insurance in not well regulated so most people do not even insure homes.  

 

Perhaps a regular payment into an emergency bank account would be a better option if you really need to be a provider.

[brewsterbudgen]

I use Luma for my wife.  It covers her Worldwide, except USA.

 

https://www.lumahealth.com/personal-insurance/

 

Edit: but my wife is Laotian, not Thai.

Edited April 24, 2021 by brewsterbudgen

[Sheryl]

As others said, there is no need for insurance for a Thai national as they all have free health cover.

 

The only reason to insure would be to enable usage of private hospitals. But this comes at quite a price as health insurance here, due to the very small demand for it, is costly.

 

If you nonetheless want to do this then I would suggest April My Health Thailand.  Or alternatively you could  just get a personal accident policy, much cheaper and many to choose from.

 

 

[Kiujunn]

Get her a job where she can get into  social security.

When she quits the job she can still keep social security,  about 500 baht/ month.

This is the most cost-effective health care in Thailand.

 

You say she has a car.  So she will probably have a credit card,  these often have some coverage,  sometimes through her company.  Check it. 

 

Otherwise TGF is covered under the 30- Baht scheme, as others have said. But almost no TGF is registered at the place where she really lives, so useless.  It's possible to change, but many landlords don't cooperate. 

 

And: try out how is the care under the 30- Baht scheme and then decide whether this is good enough for your GF. It includes endless waiting times and bureaucracy. It may include dirty wooden boards to rest instead of a bed (seen in one of Thailand's top-3 hospitals,  10 years ago). Certain conditions will not be treated (spine, pain). It certainly requires that someone accompanies her to hospital, I have been refused admittance if I wouldn't come up with a gf to stay with me, and I have picked up quite a few Thais after operations, when they still could hardly walk due to the medication. 

 

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, Kiujunn said:

 

...And: try out how is the care under the 30- Baht scheme and then decide whether this is good enough for your GF. It includes endless waiting times and bureaucracy. It may include dirty wooden boards to rest instead of a bed (seen in one of Thailand's top-3 hospitals,  10 years ago). Certain conditions will not be treated (spine, pain). It certainly requires that someone accompanies her to hospital, I have been refused admittance if I wouldn't come up with a gf to stay with me, and I have picked up quite a few Thais after operations, when they still could hardly walk due to the medication. 

 

 

I don't know of any government hospitals now which do not have proper beds.   And for extra fee can get a private room (but must have someone to stay with you - this is a requirement only for private rooms not the wards)

 

Spinal conditions are treated just as much as anything else. Pain treatment also available though they hesitate to provide opiates to outpatients.

 

But red tape and waits (except in emergency) , for sure.

 

 

 

 

[tomazbodner]

As many said, for Thai nationals, there's a cover at public hospitals. She would need a separate insurance to cover private hospitals, though.

There are several personal insurance companies in Thailand. I'd recommend you reach out to them with her information for a rough quote and coverage, then once you have a short list, ask for experience with them by other members.

When I was last at Phyathai hospital, there was a counter near the cashier, where a girl was selling insurance that covered BDMS hospitals (largest private hospital group in Thailand), which gave promotions on elective treatments as well as full cover of services at their hospitals. Else you have Allianz, Prudential, Bupa, AIA, Dhipaya, ...

[Kiujunn]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

 

I don't know of any government hospitals now which do not have proper beds.   And for extra fee can get a private room (but must have someone to stay with you - this is a requirement only for private rooms not the wards)

 

Spinal conditions are treated just as much as anything else. Pain treatment also available though they hesitate to provide opiates to outpatients.

 

But red tape and waits (except in emergency) , for sure.

 

 

 

 

As I said,  it was one of the top 3 in Thailand.  Take your pick.

 

As for spine: to treat every rice farmer's broken back according to Western standards you would need an MRI in every district and physical therapists in every village. 

They just don't visit a doctor because they know very well what they get: paracetamol.

 

As I recommended, the OP go and look himself. 

[Sheryl]

3 minutes ago, Kiujunn said:

As I said,  it was one of the top 3 in Thailand.  Take your pick.

 

As for spine: to treat every rice farmer's broken back according to Western standards you would need an MRI in every district and physical therapists in every village. 

They just don't visit a doctor because they know very well what they get: paracetamol.

 

As I recommended, the OP go and look himself. 

 

i have been in all of the top government hospitals in Thailand within the past year (as visitor not patient). All had normal beds. Certainly not wooden slabs as you describe.

 

"Broken back"  is nto a medical diagnosis.

 

People can and do get spinal surgery when required at government hospitals. I know this first hand. And there are some excellent spinal specialists to be had at the tertiary level hospitals.

 

But certainly a run of the mill back ache, with no neurological signs, will just be treated symptomatically.

[Kiujunn]

So it seems beds have improved.  Good.

 

As for broken back:

Dislocated vertebra fracture in Phitsanulok, 50 y.o. female, farmer.

Neurosurgeon would not operate on her, recommended conservative treatment. 

She happened to have very good insurance through a farang relative. 

She was airlifted to Bangkok Hospital and operated as required. 

I think this is exactly the situation OP is thinking of.

 

As for "run of the mill" backs: I don't see old people with a 90° kyphosis in rich countries, even rice growing ones.  They are treated before it is so late. I see them whenever i go to a village in Thailand. 

[lemonwaterjoe]

Thanks for all your input, really much appreciated.

[grin]

The experience of my extended Thai family and the 30 baht scheme has been quite bad when it comes to major illnesses especially cancer. Treatments were started too late to save them. In two other cases they had to wait 6 months just to get an MRI. For simple things it has not been so bad except the all day waits at the government hospitals.

 

I have heard of people starting businesses and putting their relatives on the payroll to take advantage of group health insurance and social security. Sorry, but I have not verified this so don't have any details.

[C3PO]

This is an old thread, but maybe still useful information. I learned that with some international insurances (April for example) you can take your Thai partner on your insurance plan, even if you both live in Thailand and she/he is a Thai national. It works only if the expat is the main policyholder. The downside is if the expat gets off the policy, the Thai partner won't be able to keep the insurance. 

[Lia C]

@C3POThanks for this comment. This was exactly what I was hoping to find. Can anyone else (@Sheryl perhaps) verify that a Thai national living in Thailand can join an international expat health insurance policy (such as April International) if an expat is the main policyholder?

 

I ask because my Thai spouse and I both currently have (separate) April International plans, as we were both living primarily in Germany for the past 2 years. We’re now moving back to Thailand and I don’t want to forfeit April’s excellent coverage for my spouse. Thailand-based alternatives are not ideal. Can we simply request that April merges my spouse’s policy with mine so that we can continue their coverage as-is?

Edited December 26, 2023 by Lia C

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, Lia C said:

@C3POThanks for this comment. This was exactly what I was hoping to find. Can anyone else (@Sheryl perhaps) verify that a Thai national living in Thailand can join an international expat health insurance policy (such as April International) if an expat is the main policyholder?

 

I ask because my Thai spouse and I both currently have (separate) April International plans, as we were both living primarily in Germany for the past 2 years. We’re now moving back to Thailand and I don’t want to forfeit April’s excellent coverage for my spouse. Thailand-based alternatives are not ideal. Can we simply request that April merges my spouse’s policy with mine so that we can continue their coverage as-is?

Best to ask a broker, preferrably one very family with April International. I use   https://www.aoc-insurancebroker.com/

[Lia C]

3 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Best to ask a broker, preferrably one very family with April International. I use   https://www.aoc-insurancebroker.com/

I’ll check in with them. Thanks for the recommendation. If I remember correctly were you previously with AA Insure? Did you switch to AOC from AA after AA spun off the international plans to AA World? Curious as it was a very rocky and jarring shakeup in my experience.

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, Lia C said:

 Did you switch to AOC from AA after AA spun off the international plans to AA World?

 

Exactly

[Lia C]

Adding to this thread with info some may find useful:

 

I can report that it is 100% possible to have a Thai spouse added as a beneficiary to your existing April International (France) policy—even if they are living in Thailand full time. I have now successfully done this with my wife after we returned to Thailand from our previous residence abroad. Previously my wife had a separate April International policy while she was herself an expat in the EU, but I don't believe this matters. They only seemed to care that we were married. Some other things to know:

• Unless your spouse is already insured with April International at an equal or superior level of benefits to you, they will need to submit a new health questionnaire and go through underwriting just as if they were applying for a new policy.
• Both you and your spouse will be insured on the same policy, so your specific plans will also be the same (you can't insure one of you at a higher/lower level of benefits).
• It appears that as long as your marriage is valid in France, it's valid for this purpose. This is important for same sex couples whose marriages are not considered legal in Thailand. We have only a US marriage certificate. We were not asked to have this translated or certified in France or the EU.
• We only needed to provide the following documents for my wife:
  • Passport
  • A special 1-page form (similar to an application form)
  • Health questionnaire + any relevant medical records
• April states that your spouse will be added to your policy "on the 29th of the month following medical acceptance." In our case it was completed immediately after medical acceptance, about a week after we submitted the documents.
• Once your spouse is added, you'll receive an invoice for a pro-rated premium—to catch your spouse up to your existing policy term. You'll then renew together as a single policy.