British embassies emphasize they cannot pay expat hospital bills

[Longwood50]

13 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

But for me charging people who do get insurance an extra $10 ($40 in this example) to cover ones who don't is simply unfair & rewards bad behavior, most people will still buy travel insurance so instead of $250 it will now cost them $290,

I see your point, however the nuisance of having to prove ones insurance coverage, the fact that it covers Thailand, the fact that the insurance company is a recognized and approved company in my mind does not warrant the hassle of just handing them 300 baht and moving on. 

[Longwood50]

22 hours ago, geisha said:

Just make travel insurance for tourists mandatory.

First off you fail to recognize any "hurdle' you make a tourist go through is one more reason not to visit Thailand.  If I run a supermarket and lose money on bread and milk but I get more customers into my store and they buy far more than the bread and milk, I come out ahead.  

The 448 million baht is pocket change.  38 million tourists times 300 baht is 10.4 BILLION BAHT.  Stop making it a hassle charge the lousy 300 baht and welcome them to Thailand and use the money collected to pay any unpaid medical bills to the hospitals. 

[vandeventer]

On 6/9/2022 at 12:40 PM, grain said:

My retirement ext is due in July, I'll be doing it in approx 4 weeks time. So what happens in 2023? Am I going to need this damn insurance. I'll be 75 then, probably I can't get it. And isn't that's what the 800,000 THB in a Thai bank all about? If I fell ill or had an accident then I do have a considerable amount of money, on hand here in Thailand, to cover any such issues. 

Well, if I do have to have US$3 million comprehensive medical insurance, which I seriously doubt I can get, then I guess that'll be the end for me. 

And if you could get at what price, maybe more than your pension? Your are not alone, someone needs to tell us for sure if this is true without having us guessing.

[vandeventer]

On 6/9/2022 at 11:51 AM, sanuk711 said:

Like most things in Thailand Eff1n2ret, I dont know---they do not seem to give enough forward warning for people to look at different options etc.  My 1 year Visa is due September---so I wish I knew, more details.

We all wish we knew more. From what I heard there is a lot of insurance co. going broke from covid so maybe they are crying to the government to make more insurance policies? If this happens many of us will be leaving Thailand as 3 million USD insurance  is way over most of our heads.

[OJAS]

On 6/9/2022 at 10:16 AM, Moonlover said:

 

But I'm not talking about an OA visa, I'm talking about non imm O visa which is the one normally used to obtain an extension.

Oh no it isn't!

[ThailandRyan]

11 minutes ago, OJAS said:

Oh no it isn't!

He is confused......my extension is based on an OA visa that I entered the country on.

[moogradod]

1 minute ago, ThailandRyan said:

He is confused......my extension is based on an OA visa that I entered the country on.

Sure he is as so many posters here, apart from not grasping the whole picture anyway. Sometimes I believe that some will deliberately bring insurance issues up only to produce a headline like the one we see in this thread. Marketing from the insurance companies in a perfidious way - but all this discussion will do more harm than good - it will serve nobody. This thread and topic should be closed and deleted.

[OJAS]

37 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

He is confused......my extension is based on an OA visa that I entered the country on.

As is mine!

[OJAS]

49 minutes ago, moogradod said:

Sure he is as so many posters here, apart from not grasping the whole picture anyway. Sometimes I believe that some will deliberately bring insurance issues up only to produce a headline like the one we see in this thread. Marketing from the insurance companies in a perfidious way - but all this discussion will do more harm than good - it will serve nobody. This thread and topic should be closed and deleted.

All stemming from lousy reporting on the Pattaya Mail's part, I think. Not only are they incapable of differentiating between the USD and THB, but they also imply that the British Embassy will cheerfully and gleefully pay tourists' hospital bills (it only being expats' bills that they won't pay)!

 

[Moonlover]

13 hours ago, OJAS said:

On 6/9/2022 at 3:16 PM, Moonlover said:

 

But I'm not talking about an OA visa, I'm talking about non imm O visa which is the one normally used to obtain an extension.

 

13 hours ago, OJAS said:

Oh no it isn't!

I know that you used a non imm O-A to obtain your extension (you said so above) and there are others, but the vast majority use a non imm O to lead them into an extension, be it married or retirement and it is the one issued by IOs in country for that purpose.

 

Also it is always a non imm O that Ubjoe refers to when talking about obtaining an extension. Would you care to let him know that he is wrong too?

[geisha]

On 6/17/2022 at 4:43 PM, Longwood50 said:

First off you fail to recognize any "hurdle' you make a tourist go through is one more reason not to visit Thailand.  If I run a supermarket and lose money on bread and milk but I get more customers into my store and they buy far more than the bread and milk, I come out ahead.  

The 448 million baht is pocket change.  38 million tourists times 300 baht is 10.4 BILLION BAHT.  Stop making it a hassle charge the lousy 300 baht and welcome them to Thailand and use the money collected to pay any unpaid medical bills to the hospitals. 

What “ hurdle” , a visa is a hurdle, am expensive flight is a hurdle, 5 minutes on the internet or a phone call to a reputable travel insurance company ( there are many) is NOT a hurdle and it is not expensive. If you don’t have a 100 € odd to go 10 000 miles from home on a holiday,  to ensure your health treatment in case of need, then stay closer to home. Really.  
why should a country or hospital be liable for a holiday makers travel mistakes ? The “ don’t care” attitude doesn’t work in real life.

[Longwood50]

14 hours ago, geisha said:

What “ hurdle”

Yes, you have mentioned hurdles and the insurance is just piling on one more.  This entire idea of mandatory insurance is just a handshake between the government and the insurance companies allowing them to reap billions.

The idea that 448 million baht in lost revenue from unpaid medical bills  is a huge deal is a red herring to give some credence to their propsal.  As mentioned Thailand gets in a normal year 38 million tourists. 

Do the math.  As little as 15 baht per tourist covers those losses.  But no, the government wants to hit the fly of a problem with a cannon mandating insurance. 

Charge each tourist the 300 baht entry fee covering the hospitals and doctors for any unpaid medical expenses and let the bureaucrats figure out how to spend the remaining 10 billion baht that is left over.  

Stop making it a hassle to travel to Thailand