National Parks To Provide Insurance For Tourists

[george]

National parks to provide insurance for tourists

BANGKOK: -- The National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department is to offer travel insurance to tourists to help cope with the 2,000-odd visitors to national parks each year who meet with accidents.

The department’s director for national park development, Mr. Winij Rakchat, said that under the insurance scheme tourists would be required to pay an extra 10 percent on the price of national park admission tickets, which would give them insurance coverage of up to Bt100,000 each.

Around 2,000 visitors to national parks each year undergo accidents, whether drowning, falling down mountainsides, or getting knocked on the head by tree branches.

At present Thai citizens pay Bt20 for national park entrance, while foreigners are required to pay USD5.

Mr. Winij stressed today that the new admission fees were still extremely cheap when compared to those levied by other countries.

He expressed confidence that the scheme, which will be instituted by November, would be welcomed by tourists.

-- TNA 2004-09-15

[Nam Kao]

Does it cover Bullet holes and Suicide?

[sriracha john]

or getting knocked on the head by tree branches.

does that include branches being held in someone else's hands at the time?

[ovenman]

He expressed confidence that the scheme, which will be instituted by November, would be welcomed by tourists.

Yes indeed, no doubt that tourists will welcome the opportunity to pony up another 10% in national park admission fees to fund this little protection racket.

[astral]

Put up signs denying liability, just like they do everywhere else, and charge us all the same price!!

[eljeque]

The department’s director for national park development, Mr. Winij Rakchat, said that under the insurance scheme tourists would be required to pay an extra 10 percent on the price of national park admission tickets, which would give them insurance coverage of up to Bt100,000 each.

We pay 200 baht. Thais pay 20 baht. Now, we will pay an additional (10%)

20 baht for insurance as well. What about insurance for the Thais?

How much will that cost?

I wonder if it will include life insurance as well.

Around 2,000 visitors to national parks each year undergo accidents, whether drowning, falling down mountainsides, or getting knocked on the head by tree branches.

At present Thai citizens pay Bt20 for national park entrance, while foreigners are required to pay USD5.

Mr. Winij stressed today that the new admission fees were still extremely cheap when compared to those levied by other countries.

NO, they are not. Why doesn't he list the fees levied in other countries.

Many countries have free National parks. They also have clean bathrooms,

and a host of other facilities.

He expressed confidence that the scheme, which will be instituted by November, would be welcomed by tourists.

"Scheme" is right on the money. Anyone out there want to be the first to

try and collect on the insurance?

A much better idea would be to make the city, province, country responsibble

for accidents caused by potholes, damaged sidewalks and the like. But then,

Thai people would actually pursue the insurance and the number of claims

would be enormous. A man sped by me on his motorbike and drove into

a large hole for a storm drain in the middle of a a new road. The workers

had simply forgotten to put the covers on and or not put up the orange

cones. I doubt that he received anything from the city administration.

[NedKelly]

What a F&*%$#ing piece of <deleted> this is. This idiot is comparing Thailand to other countries.......how can he justify that ??? Tourists mostly already have insurance ! And lat time I went into a national park in Austrlaia it was free for all including all the asians and others !

When are we going to see where this extra money is going....for years now they are charging farang 200 baht entry, bu twhat have they got to show for the extra income........NOTHING.......its all in the hip pockets of officials !!

[Darth Bangkok]

Thai insurance?? what insurance? I was hit-and-run while riding my bike two years back. Luckily, I wrote down the guys license into my mobile. I was an outpatient at the hospital, I was just banged up a bit. But I had damage to my bike, hospital bills, and lost wages. The guy was found (another long, boring shit story with the ###### police inspector) and he had first class insurance. the burden was on me the whole time, I was forced to travel to these outrageous hole-in-the-wall outfits in the middle of no where and submit all kinds of shit like my beat up helmet and stuff. Even though this guy signed a police report admitting guilt. Anyway, after tons more shit, more than a year later, I got my GF's brother, a lawyer involved. two months after that, I got a lousy 11,000, well short of the 30,000 i requested. good luck to tourists going into national parks.

in NY, I was walking across a small, quiet street one morning going to work. A guy was driving in his SUV doing the same. He took that route everyday as it was quiet. Well, as he rounded the corner he took a sip of his coffee and looked down. He didn't see I was already in the crosswalk until the last second. It slammed into me and sent me flying. When I got out of the hospital, his insurance company sent an agent to visit me in my house and we worked it out so that they paid all my medicals bill (substantial) and lost wages (substantial) and gave me $1,000 not to sue. As I was going to Thailand in a few weeks, I agreed no problem. Case closed. No crying over a measely $500 TOTAL.

I haven't gone to a Thai national park in three years and will never go again. Why do I have to support Thai National parks? MY tax dollars are already supporting national parks in my own country. let us all pay the same ###### price. why is the insurance 10% of the admission price? does that mean that medical costs for a thai are lower than a farang with the same injuries (probably in Thailand).

Three years ago I went to Pa Dtairm national park in Ubol and proceeded to get ripped off on the admission fee. we barted it down and the jackass gave me a receipt from some other national park in Ratchaburi from 2 years previous. Inside was nothing. what the ###### do they do with the money (rhetorical question). there was some welcome center with a bunch of incoherent english. everything else, all trail markers etc, was in Thai. If you are going to charge us 10 times the price give us some service god ###### it!!!!

[astral]

We pay 200 baht. Thais pay 20 baht. Now, we will pay an additional (10%)

20 baht for insurance as well. What about insurance for the Thais?

How much will that cost?

Will we be able to opt out?

Sign a waiver?

[Darth Bangkok]

no, because you are not buying insurance. it is a price increase