I am planning on travelling to Hong Kong with my long term Thai girlfriend in December. I understand that she doesnt require a visa prior to travel for a short holiday but insurance ? We travel to the UK each year for about 5 months and I have never yet taken out any health insurance for her but realise that I should do really. This trip to Hong Kong gives me another opportunity to investigate a number of possible option for insurance for her. Any thoughts, suggestions, would be much appreciated.

Travel insurance is not expensive and always a sensible precaution - not just for medical problems but also lost/delayed baggage, flight cancellation/delay etc.

There are many companies offering Travel Insurance and we would be happy to send you various quotations for you to choose.

Please go HERE

AA, I wonder if you could answer a travel insurance question that I cannot find an answer to and may be of help to the OP.

I have been looking for travel insurance for my partner and all the companies I have looked at, including a fairly expensive one marketed by Amex, will not pay medical bills directly to a hospital overseas but require you to settle yourself and then claim on your return to Thailand.

All very good if you're in a position to pay, but could be problematical if you're not.

Is this the norm for Thailand?

AA, I wonder if you could answer a travel insurance question that I cannot find an answer to and may be of help to the OP.

I have been looking for travel insurance for my partner and all the companies I have looked at, including a fairly expensive one marketed by Amex, will not pay medical bills directly to a hospital overseas but require you to settle yourself and then claim on your return to Thailand.

All very good if you're in a position to pay, but could be problematical if you're not.

Is this the norm for Thailand?

There are insurance companies in Thailand who are happy to deal direct (usually though an international company like SOS) either in full or for large invoices over 100k Baht.

Please email your requirments HERE and we can offer you various options

How come my thread has been hijacked ?!!

Hope that has helped Thonglorjimmie ...

Anyone else have any contributions ?

I just spent 3 weeks in USA and took out a 1 million baht / 670 baht premium AXA travel policy as BUPA will not cover non-accident medical incidents in USA. Good service but no claim experience, thankfully.

They do require payment which they will reimburse. I'm guessing that some arrangements could be made with the hospital & other providers in the USA if you had proof of sufficient coverage from such a company & those in USA were not concerned about preexisting condition issues, etc.

How come my thread has been hijacked ?!!

Hope that has helped Thonglorjimmie ...

Anyone else have any contributions ?

No doubt you would want to know if insurance companies step into to assist in the event of sickness or accident rather than wait until you get back home?

How come my thread has been hijacked ?!!

Hope that has helped Thonglorjimmie ...

Anyone else have any contributions ?

No doubt you would want to know if insurance companies step into to assist in the event of sickness or accident rather than wait until you get back home?

As before, brokers are not willing to post these various options on a general forum so one can at least get a head start without divulging lots of personal data.

... and the "we can't because everyone's needs are different" response is hooey. BTW I dealt with AXA directly from their website sans broker.

My understanding is that brand name travel insurance isn't really a big thing in Asia, e.g. it's done mostly through the banks or credit cardf