Recomendation for a Health Insurance policy for my Thai wifey

[Pumpuynarak]

Having recently had a procedure carried out at a local private hospital in Korat where i settled the bill as i have no insurance (not possible due to pre-existing conditions) i thought it would be sensible to arrange insurance for my Thai wifey whilst she is still young and healthy.

 

Now i know she is covered by the Thai scheme whereby she would have to attend the local government hospital for treatment but i would like to arrange insurance where she could attend a private hospital.

 

Can anyone recco a good health insurer who provides comprehensive cover at a reasonable cost and above all else actually pays claims out in a timely manner ? I believe Thai insurers are to be avoided if possible.

 

Thanks for any help guys.

 

 

[Celsius]

28 minutes ago, Pumpuynarak said:

I believe Thai insurers are to be avoided if possible.

 

Every insurance in Thailand is issued by Thai insurer. They are all equally bad. My Thai wife has 3 insurance policies, one through her employer, one on her own and something similar to life insurance which is actually required and you have to be paying into it for years to actually get covered for anything serious. Oh and of course social security.

 

Even though she has been paying since she started working at 18 and she is 42 now, she still can not get approved for a simple tonsil surgery. Yearly mammogram check ups or health checkups in general like in every civilized country? Forget about it. Fortunately she gets some of that thorugh her employer.

 

 

[Pumpuynarak]

4 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

Every insurance in Thailand is issued by Thai insurer. They are all equally bad. My Thai wife has 3 insurance policies, one through her employer, one on her own and something similar to life insurance which is actually required and you have to be paying into it for years to actually get covered for anything serious. Oh and of course social security.

 

Even though she has been paying since she started working at 18 and she is 42 now, she still can not get approved for a simple tonsil surgery. Yearly mammogram check ups or health checkups in general like in every civilized country? Forget about it. Fortunately she gets some of that thorugh her employer.

 

 

and here was me thinking as i'm from the UK my Thai wifey could buy a UK/European health insurance but maybe not !!!

[jwest10]

On 1/28/2023 at 12:08 PM, Pumpuynarak said:

and here was me thinking as i'm from the UK my Thai wifey could buy a UK/European health insurance but maybe not !!!

It is frankly disgusting the other way around when ex-pats here and will be nothing else but provide the bulk of the expenses and homes but tried to get  on the family insurance policy without success.
Even a small policy in  own name but no and provide for  the property and daily expenses but hey ho they are the rules!!

[Pumpuynarak]

8 minutes ago, jwest10 said:

It is frankly disgusting the other way around when ex-pats here and will be nothing else but provide the bulk of the expenses and homes but tried to get  on the family insurance policy without success.
Even a small policy in  own name but no and provide for  the property and daily expenses but hey ho they are the rules!!

I just contacted Cigna Insurance for a quote but low and behold they called me back and explained that as my wifey was Thai she could not hold a Cigna policy insuring her in Thailand.

[howerde]

FWD is a Thai insurer, i know Thais who use it to supplement their work cover they say it is very good, my experience of Thai insurers for foreigners is not good to say the least, but maybe they treat Thais better, for what it's worth she pays about 50 000 baht a year no existing conditions

[HampiK]

On 1/28/2023 at 12:08 PM, Pumpuynarak said:

and here was me thinking as i'm from the UK my Thai wifey could buy a UK/European health insurance but maybe not !!!

 

On 1/30/2023 at 11:56 AM, Pumpuynarak said:

I just contacted Cigna Insurance for a quote but low and behold they called me back and explained that as my wifey was Thai she could not hold a Cigna policy insuring her in Thailand.

Yes, your Thai need to have additional another passport, or have to be included in your cigna policy, then It would work.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

Thailand requires that any insurance company that sells insurance to the Thai public be licensed and regulated by the Office of The Insurance commissioner. The "Thai public" is anyone physically in Thailand.  

 

When it comes to foreigners, the OIC is not terribly concerned and some offshore insurers will take the risk and sell insurance to foreigners residing in Thailand. When it comes to Thai citizens, the OIC may take a different view and offshore insurers are more cautious. Companies such as Cigna, which have operations in Thailand, could be particularly vulnerable if the OIC were to come to the conclusion that Cigna's offshore offices were actively selling insurance to Thai citizens.

 

This isn't something specific to Thailand. Almost all countries have similar restrictions on cross-border insurance transactions.

[Hummin]

My wife looking at Thai Life  insuranse at the moment. Anyone have experience with them? 

 

 

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

52 minutes ago, Hummin said:

My wife looking at Thai Life  insuranse at the moment. Anyone have experience with them? 

 

 

Thai Life can only provide medical coverage by issuing an extension to a life insurance policy. If your wife wants life insurance along with medical cover, that's ok.

 

Thai Life will likely only offer whole life cover, meaning one with a cash value. Some of the annual premium will go towards the life insurance portion of the policy, some towards the cash savings portion and some towards the medical cover.

 

But if she wants all of her premium going towards medical insurance, she may wish to look at medical insurance policies from non-life insurance companies.