You probably noticed your health insurance renewal went up again this year. Some may see it as "cost of things going up", but there are only so many things you can fight at once. 

The increasing costs of private care are getting harder to ignore, and it's a number that keeps widening every year it goes unexamined.

Thailand's general inflation is essentially flat; CPI averaged 0.4% in 2024 and turned negative in early 2026, so the kingdom is basically a deflationary environment for most things. Private medical costs are the exception. Willis Towers Watson projected Thailand's gross medical cost trend at 15.2% for 2024. Their latest survey puts 2026 closer to 10.8%, while Aon keeps it higher at 14.8%. 

The honest range is somewhere between 11% and 15%, depending on which broker you ask, and the direction is not in dispute by anyone. When insurers talk about medical inflation running at double digits here, they are talking about what private hospitals charge, what insurers pay out on claims, and what that means for your premium at renewal.

Why private care keeps getting more expensive

Thailand's private hospital market is concentrated in a small number of very large groups. Bangkok Dusit Medical Services alone operates 60 hospitals and accounts for roughly half the SET-listed private healthcare market. 

These networks are investing heavily in robotic surgery, high-end diagnostics and internationally-accredited facilities, partly to attract medical tourists, and those capital costs get distributed across all patients whether they want them or not. 

BDMS's own analyst briefings have cited "price intensity" as a deliberate revenue growth strategy, which is a fairly candid way of saying the pricing is not accidental.

Medical tourism amplifies the dynamic considerably. Bumrungrad treated over 604,000 international patient episodes in 2025 from more than 180 countries, with Middle Eastern patient revenue up 49% year on year. 

International patients generate significantly more revenue per admission than domestic ones, and their presence shapes how hospitals price everything else. The hospital is not wrong to chase that revenue; it is just worth understanding that expats living here are not the priority segment, and the pricing reflects that.

Demographics are doing their part, too. Thailand crossed the "aged society" threshold in 2022, which means chronic disease management (diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, oncology) is where costs are compounding fastest. 

Targeted cancer drugs now run from 300,000 to 8 million baht per case, depending on the drug and the duration. A major cardiac event at a top-tier Bangkok hospital can reach millions. These are not edge cases for an expat population that skews older and tends to rely entirely on private care.

Where does this land for most of us?

International broker data puts the average international health premium in Thailand at roughly US$3,594 in 2024, up from US$1,934 in 2020, an 86% cumulative rise in four years. A procedure costing 300,000 baht today reaches roughly 575,000 baht in five years if the 14% trend rate holds. 

Self-insurance strategies that felt reasonable before may not be as favourable now, and the question most people have not actually sat down to answer is not whether costs are rising (that much is obvious to anyone reading a renewal notice) but whether their actual coverage holds up when you run those numbers forward a decade.

The issue is not the hospitals; it is whether the plan behind your hospital visit is keeping pace with what the hospitals are charging. Cigna Global offers direct billing at major private hospitals across Thailand, meaning no upfront payments, no reimbursement chasing, and no surprise bills when you are already dealing with enough.

Find out how Cigna Global can protect you from rising medical costs here.

Has medical inflation in Thailand caught up with you yet?

It will continue rising until it's unaffordable and then you cancel insurance when you need it the most. A good time to investigate medical treatment in cheaper areas or countries

I had private medical insurance for almost twenty five years, a mid-range policy from one of the big UK based health insurance companies. My policy coverage was worldwide excluding the USA and I had minimal claims over that time.

It started off costing me just over £200 per year when I started back in about 1994, by 2018 they wanted over £5,000 to renew.

I checked my policy costs by entering the annual premiums into an excel spreadsheet and there was a constant annual increase of about 17% per year every year.

I cancelled the insurance in 2018 when it crossed the £5,000 threshold, that was just too much.

I am still in good health.

If I had not cancelled the insurance my annual premium would now be about £30,000 per year.

By cancelling the insurance I have saved well over £150,000.

Edited April 27Apr 27 by davee58

1 hour ago, davee58 said:

I had private medical insurance for almost twenty five years, a mid-range policy from one of the big UK based health insurance companies. My policy coverage was worldwide excluding the USA and I had minimal claims over that time.

It started off costing me just over £200 per year when I started back in about 1994, by 2018 they wanted over £5,000 to renew.

I checked my policy costs by entering the annual premiums into an excel spreadsheet and there was a constant annual increase of about 17% per year every year.

I cancelled the insurance in 2018 when it crossed the £5,000 threshold, that was just too much.

I am still in good health.

If I had not cancelled the insurance my annual premium would now be about £30,000 per year.

By cancelling the insurance I have saved well over £150,000.

Great that you have saved over 150,000 Pounds. Did you keep this amount in a separate bank account for serious emergency healthcare treatments?

The cost of insurance is going up here to keep pace with things, but also remember that the cost of insurance and the cost of care at the hospitals also add to the costs that the hospitals have treating deadbeat, no insurance tourists or visitors that are hospitalized and have no coverage, they sneak out without paying.

11 hours ago, msbkk said:

Great that you have saved over 150,000 Pounds. Did you keep this amount in a separate bank account for serious emergency healthcare treatments?

At a time when the global economy is wobbling, storing very large amounts of fiat currency in banks can be risky.

Yes, you need some immediately available reserve of liquidity.

But compounding interest on a term-deposit is unlikely to meet appreciating hospital costs.

The answer can be to buy 'allocated' gold bullion, purchased through a reputable on-line dealer, and held by a specialist bullion-vaulting company in a 'safe jurisdiction' such as Switzerland or Singapore. It can be quickly sold on-line for fiat currency and the proceeds transferred, only to your 'linked bank account'. There is a small percentage fee on purchase and on sale, and monthly storage and insurance charges are due quarterly; more than swallowed up when bullion prices are soaring.

So far this has worked well for me. My only regret: seeing my hoard of gold diminish, albeit by a small percentage.

Further point: consider limiting one's insurance cover to more extreme cases, e.g. exclude outpatient treatment.

I started of in 2014 with 1200£/yr for outpatient cover. By 2025 it had crept up to 3800£. The renewal for this year would be + 39% with 750 co-pay. Since AXA decided not to pay for my recent heart attack because it is considered "chronic", I won't bother renewing the policy.

I may not be addressing the topic exactly as written - but here goes)

As far as insurance goes, I carried Thai Insurance for a year. First problem was that they raised the premium twice right before signing. Next - Their coverage for the year was a whopping pittance for a flu shot. I am no longer required to carry insurance for my Visa, so I self insure.

As far as Hospital pricing - I assume prices have generally risen, like everything else.

I have used public hospitals here. Both for routine care, colonoscopies, and a covid emergency (I can say they saved my life - I might have actually died if I was in the USA).

You do have to negotiate the confusion and different intake procedures (You MUST have a thai speaker with you). But my experience with these public hospitals is 90% positive. The medical care is generally quite good. While I pay Farang prices, I have never felt overcharged or ripped off. I'm happy to pay what ever the bill is. Why? Because I see how efficiently they run their operations with no waste. I find the staff to be usually friendly and hard working.

As far as Private hospitals - There are HUGE differences in pricing. and attitudes.

Because of posting laws, I won't name the Private Hospital with offices in Bangkok, Samui, Pattaya, and Khon Kaen. I used the Pattaya and Khon Kaen branches personally. (During he Covid Virus, we used the KK branch to avoid the overcrowding at the public hospitals). My wife hates them, because she see's their charges are sky high, and they push for extra tests. I will say that their medical care is excellent - If you want to pay.

Keep looking for private hospitals if the costs are a real worry. If you contact them for pricing info, they will usually respond. (Again, maybe have a Thai Speaker handy) We use Kohn Kaen Ram on 2nd, just across from Central Plaza for issues that are not handled by Public Hospitals. Excellent Service and run efficiently. The Drs are ok answering questions and are very patient. They also don't push for extra services. As a matter of fact, I've had nurses question "Are you sure you want that?" (I love the peace and quiet of their lobbies). Pricewise, i really believe they are more than fair.