Travel insurance to be arranged for all tourist arrivals over holiday season : Srettha

[Bangkok Barry]

2 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

That might just cover 50 tourists.

 

The Thai Examiner link tells us what it covers.
The plan provides for insurance coverage of ฿500,000 per person for injuries and ฿1 million in case of death due to an accident.

[Mike Lister]

30 minutes ago, Isee said:

A two limb approach would be to pass a law that hospital/emergency services can't charge different rates for the same service/medication etc.While at it, might as well just create a new piece of legislation that does away with dual pricing across the board in the Kingdom. 

Private hospitals are just that, private businesses that all have different overheads and buying power. No two private hospitals can possibly charge the same amount and remain profitable, unless they are both owned by the same company.

[jippytum]

Some Thai insurance companies ended up bankrupt providing covid  cover. Don't think 50 million will be enough to cover all tourists during the holiday season

Indians claim to lose that much anually to ladyboys in Pattaya. 

[thailand49]

After years they had to scrape the idea to charge visitor 300 baht because they couldnt figure left and right how to go about in collect. Now they going to dig up 50 million is that enough to offset the dual pricing at their hospital. 

[Captain Monday]

12 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

It is the responsibility of the traveller/tourist to have a health insurance. Communicate that instead of offering free services...For a Schengen visa it is an obligation to have a travelinsurance 

What does a schengen visa have to do with Thailand do want them to mandate travel insurance like during Covid? 
 

Nothing more than a redundant waste of time and money for those of us who are already fully insured from sickness or injury regardless of global location or reason thru mandatory insurance provided by our “corporate overlords”

Edited December 21, 2023 by Captain Monday

[daveAustin]

There will be a catch or fall guy (someone else will pay)  because stuff typically doesn’t come free in thighland.  

[Scouse123]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

 

 

One of the regional tourism routes, which was proposed by Vietnam, is the world heritage route encompassing Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, Luang Prabang in Laos and Thailand’s Udon Thani province.

 

 

 

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And just what is in Udon Thani province of interest to international tourists?

 

I get Halong Bay and Luang Prabang, but confused by Udon Thani.

[Poseidon]

Should charge the tax to all hotels and Airbnb. That will get them recompensed for this. It's just occurred to me our travel insurance will deny claims based on this government insurance covering our bills. Great. So government hospitals only. 

[JeffersLos]

14 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Wonder, what scheme they will come up with now to screw tourists for such an insurance. No way that the government will pay for that for an extended time.

 

Free insurance. Exit tax is now 50,000 Baht. 

[Andyfez]

Perhaps instead of making everyone go to the expense of this travel insurance, they should tell the international hospitals not to be charging ridiculous prices like 100,000 baht per day.

[alien365]

Will this cover riding a bike without a helmet, license, or while drunk? Rabies injections after dog/monkey bites? 

[damo1967]

19 hours ago, stoner said:

so no more go fund me after busting your face on a good bender down bangla road ? 

Doesn't bother me seeing these 'gofundme' requests..  I ignore every single one of them mainly due to the usual scenario's.. no licence, no helmet, pissed, stoned... those m0r0ns should be kept in Thailand and made to pay off their hospital bills. 

[Kerryd]

This scheme was already approved ages ago. It is the WHOLE reason they were (supposedly) adding yet another "arrival tax" on tourists. What is it up to now, an extra 300 or 500 baht tax per arrival ?

This started because Anutin whined that hospitals were being stuck with unpaid bills from tourists who were treated and then snuck out of the country without paying. He claimed the hospitals had lost close to 300 million baht the previous year because of that.
As there was nearly 40 million "arrivals" that same year, a 10 baht "tax" would have been more than enough to cover the money lost.

But instead, they decided it should be 300 baht. 30 times what was needed. And NO mention of any of it going towards "medical insurance". Makes you wonder where all that money was going to go.

You can bet they are going to keep that tax under the table and come up with a new scheme to charge tourists an extra fee for "medical coverage".

Maybe they SHOULD be looking at stopping the double pricing at hospitals for starters. There was a news story a week or so ago about a Thai woman that had been working in (Sweden ?) that complained because she thought her hospital bill (in Thailand) was too high. The hospital admitted it had overcharged her because they thought she was a "foreigner".

Gee, just the thing tourists want to hear when choosing a holiday destination. That they will be charged considerably more (than a local) if they go to a hospital, they will pay 5-20 times the "local" price of admission at various Parks and attractions, they will have to pay an additional tax on their tickets and maybe (probably) have to pay for medical coverage when they arrive as well.

Thai business school teaching at it's best. If you are losing customers - increase the price of everything to make up the lost revenue. If you start losing more customers - raise prices even more !

[CecilM]

Great idea. Who will pay for that? Tourist fee?

[Srikcir]

12 hours ago, Elkski said:

The PM is going to piss off all these travel insurance companies. 

The government migh also use one or more of Thai travel insurance companies for travel claims processing in lieu of the government, avoiding the government to expand its services having no previous experience and costs of administration.

In practice the government might use its 50 million baht budget to bulk purchase the travel insurance, ie., from a Thai travel insurance coalition thst CA provide the highest amount of coverage for the least cost. That then benefits Thai travel insurance providers and the Thai government. 

[dallen52]

All I can say is..

About Time.

 

I've advocated for years that a simple say 1000 baht insurance policy on all arrivals would ease a lot of pain and suffering. 

[soalbundy]

12 hours ago, Elkski said:

So of a million tourists arrive over the holidays thats 50 baht each to cover them.  It doesn't compute.   Who would trust this and not purchase travel insurance that costs 3000 baht per month.  I seem to recall paying 350$ for both of is for 7 weeks last holiday.  I thought it was up a bunch from the 85$/mo I  used to pay.   And an additional thought since my wife is Thai would you buy her insurance or plan to use the 50 baht Thai system? 

The PM is going to piss off all these travel insurance companies.  I would guess he has buddies excited at the thought of starting a forced insurance on arrival company.  

That's not the way insurance works, out of your hypothetical  1 million tourists not even 0,01% would need hospital treatment for an accident and I think this insurance would only be for accidents, for an illness you would need your normal travel insurance. Your wife's '50 Baht system' only covers illness, not accidents. I think this move is positive why look down on any improvement that the government tries to make for tourists, there seems to be a system of damned if they do, damned if they don't here.

[jacko45k]

16 minutes ago, alien365 said:

Will this cover riding a bike without a helmet, license, or while drunk? Rabies injections after dog/monkey bites? 

A dose of drippy ***** from a drunken liaison?

[Bday Prang]

4 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

That's not the way insurance works, out of your hypothetical  1 million tourists not even 0,01% would need hospital treatment for an accident and I think this insurance would only be for accidents, for an illness you would need your normal travel insurance. Your wife's '50 Baht system' only covers illness, not accidents. I think this move is positive why look down on any improvement that the government tries to make for tourists, there seems to be a system of damned if they do, damned if they don't here.

could not agree more,  but just to put things in perspective I bought some insurance before arriving last month,  £1 million emergency  medical / accident cover   for 6 months    only £150    and I'm 62      not that expensive 

 Will those of us paying for our own insurance be offered any discounts ?  I doubt it

[bluejets]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

It is reported that the Ministry of Tourism and Sports will seek about 50 million baht from the Central Fund to buy insurance coverage for tourists visiting Thailand over the New Year period.

....and after that..???......... what happens.....don't see why Thai should have to pay for some cheap charlie's insurance.

 

As usual, the devil is in the detail.

 

I always arrange travel insurance for both my wife (even though she is Thai) and myself when coming back to Thailand, part of the cost of the trip.

Combo insurance is around 50% extra for both of us compared to just one. (me)

In this instance I see the latest fees are around AUD$350 for the 30 days away from Aus. for both of us combined.

No way top of the cover range but it does cover basic accident, hospitals etc when we are there up to around $5 mil I think.

 

I'm just curious why it never crossed the minds of the government to make travel insurance compulsory for entry to Thailand.

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, Bday Prang said:

could not agree more,  but just to put things in perspective I bought some insurance before arriving last month,  £1 million emergency  medical / accident cover   for 6 months    only £150    and I'm 62      not that expensive 

 Will those of us paying for our own insurance be offered any discounts ?  I doubt it

Well, let us say that when you say rent a motorcycle here it comes with insurance, but it won't cover you! Never sure about any policy until one has the misfortune to need to claim. 

[mran66]

Not targeted for westerners for sure. Who with sane mind would trust thai govt promised insurance with very low coverage so that they would decide not to take their own insurance?

 

Oh maybe some Indians and Chinese 

[Reigntax]

14 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Wonder, what scheme they will come up with now to screw tourists for such an insurance. No way that the government will pay for that for an extended time.

At B100,000 per day the scam seems to be run by the hospitals

[Reigntax]

29 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

That's not the way insurance works, out of your hypothetical  1 million tourists not even 0,01% would need hospital treatment for an accident and I think this insurance would only be for accidents, for an illness you would need your normal travel insurance. Your wife's '50 Baht system' only covers illness, not accidents. I think this move is positive why look down on any improvement that the government tries to make for tourists, there seems to be a system of damned if they do, damned if they don't here.

 The B30 covers a lot more than just illness. Including maternity, preventative vaccinations and so on

[Pouatchee]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

From an observations of people who lives in Pattaya is that right now the place is not buzzing like it used to be, and if tomorrow

all the expats in Pattaya will get and leave, Pattaya will look very empty and this is why the PM is in a panic...

 

I was there monday and stuck in traffic. Maybe because holiday season. Same thing a month ago, not the festive season but as it goes high season. Maybe the girly bars arent as busy but the restaurants and other venues are. I go in the daytime and the maine arteries are busy. I avoid going at night at all cost so cannot talk about that

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, Pouatchee said:

 

I was there monday and stuck in traffic. Maybe because holiday season. Same thing a month ago, not the festive season but as it goes high season. Maybe the girly bars arent as busy but the restaurants and other venues are. I go in the daytime and the maine arteries are busy. I avoid going at night at all cost so cannot talk about that

Yeah, same for me Tuesday. Certainly busy and they are mainly tourists not Expats.

[Captain Monday]

1 hour ago, nobodysfriend said:

 

Good idea from the PM .

EVERY tourist should have enough coverage in case an accident or sickness ( Dengue ) , happens .

Just to avoid being ripped off by some greedy hospital .

Make the insurance affordable and reliable .

Thailand is a dangerous country , the insurance is to protect the tourists themselves .

Paying some money for peace of mind is quite worth it .

That’s the point. “We” are already fully insured  I don’t need some nonsense travel insurance.

I know there are good policies out there for the debit card crowd but the ones I have read in detail have too many limitations and exclusions. 
 

In my life I have only purchased travel insurance when forced to my Thai entry requirements during Covid. A poor value for a bit of paper to satisfy immigration, coming in. 

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

The sooner governments around the world make travel insurance mandatory,

Statements like that highlight the ignorance surrounding travel insurance.

Countries like the EU can implement such a policy for short term visas, Thailand however would have to restructure the visa arrangements before considering such a move.

[Sheryl]

12 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

It is the responsibility of the traveller/tourist to have a health insurance. Communicate that instead of offering free services...For a Schengen visa it is an obligation to have a travelinsurance 

Rather difficult to enforce mandatory insurance when so many tourists enter Visa Exempt.  For visa yes, could be done. But for VE? Would be a nightmare at the airport.

[Sheryl]

8 minutes ago, Reigntax said:

 The B30 covers a lot more than just illness. Including maternity, preventative vaccinations and so on

And accidents. Some exception regrading motor vehicle accidents as there is another compulsory insurance scheme for that. But certainly all other accidents.