I noticed that the US State Dept has upgraded its travel alert for Thailand to a level where insurance cover is bought into doubt. Might be worth checking your position if you are in Thailand or planning to travel there. This is in contrast to the advice still being issued by the UK which still remains unchanged in so far as only "caution" is urged.

Thailand Travel Alert

LAST UPDATED: MAY 23, 2014

The U.S. Department of State recommends that U.S. citizens reconsider any non-essential travel to Thailand, particularly Bangkok, due to ongoing political and social unrest and restrictions on internal movements, including an indefinite nighttime curfew throughout Thailand. The Department of State has advised official U.S. government travelers to defer all non-essential travel to Thailand until further notice. This Travel Alert supersedes the Travel Alert issued on May 16, 2014, and will expire on August 21, 2014.

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/thailand-travel-alert.html

But Obama said, "If you want to travel to Thailand and keep your insurance, you can travel to Thailand and keep your insurance."

I'm shocked.

My insurance is unaffected. I would suggest people not jump to the worst possible conclusion about everything.

Searched the alert for the word "insurance"

No incidents of the word found, indicating there is no caution about insurance.

But I did check my own (company provided) and it's fine.

But Obama said, "If you want to travel to Thailand and keep your insurance, you can travel to Thailand and keep your insurance."

I'm shocked.

Good one. Candidate for Post of the Year.

I think the non-essential travel warning is to put pressure on the Thai army. I can't see any reason to avoid non-essential travel. Plenty of shootings in USA, so perhaps we should avoid traveling there. USA is just making itself look a little stupid. UK government thinks it's ok to travel here, as do the vast majority of other countries.

The "non-essential travel" warning is boiler plate. Because on the slim chance that some poor tourist or (God forbid) government employee is hurt or killed, there would be congressional hearings to find out why the bastards (from other party) didn't warn us of the danger. Then more hearings to find out why they sent government employees into a war zone. Then still more to find out why they covered up their incompetence. Then even more to.....

Sound familiar? So we get warned out of an abundance of caution cover your butt.

Not unlike many other countries are warning, if you do any investigation, BTW.

Edited May 28, 201412 yr by impulse

I think the non-essential travel warning is to put pressure on the Thai army. I can't see any reason to avoid non-essential travel. Plenty of shootings in USA, so perhaps we should avoid traveling there. USA is just making itself look a little stupid. UK government thinks it's ok to travel here, as do the vast majority of other countries.

The "non-essential travel" warning is boiler plate. Because on the slim chance that some poor tourist or (God forbid) government employee is hurt or killed, there would be congressional hearings to find out why the bastards (from other party) didn't warn us of the danger. Then more hearings to find out why they sent government employees into a war zone. Then still more to find out why they covered up their incompetence. Then even more to.....

Sound familiar? So we get warned out of an abundance of caution cover your butt.

Not unlike many other countries are warning, if you do any investigation, BTW.

Yes and no to the last part. Travel advisories from most countries follow similar wording to this:

"The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all but essential travel to the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla on the Thai-Malaysia border." (UK)

• We strongly advise you not to travel at this time to the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla or overland to and from the Malaysian border through these provinces due to high levels of ongoing violence in these areas, including terrorist attacks and bombings that result in deaths and injuries on an almost daily basis." (Australia.)

In either of those examples travel insurance becomes void in those provinces. The US warning is different asking you to "reconsider" non essential travel to Thailand as a whole, insurance companies put different interpretations on wording like that if it suits their purposes. Aside from that insurance also has the following problem,:

"Before travelling to Thailand check with your insurance provider that they will continue to cover for claims arising from the current situation. Some travel insurance policies exclude cover following a military coup or the imposition of martial law, and your insurance may be invalid."

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand

There have been enough examples of insurance companies on this forum wriggling through a lot smaller holes than the above in order to avoid paying out.

I think the non-essential travel warning is to put pressure on the Thai army. I can't see any reason to avoid non-essential travel. Plenty of shootings in USA, so perhaps we should avoid traveling there. USA is just making itself look a little stupid. UK government thinks it's ok to travel here, as do the vast majority of other countries.

The "non-essential travel" warning is boiler plate. Because on the slim chance that some poor tourist or (God forbid) government employee is hurt or killed, there would be congressional hearings to find out why the bastards (from other party) didn't warn us of the danger. Then more hearings to find out why they sent government employees into a war zone. Then still more to find out why they covered up their incompetence. Then even more to.....

Sound familiar? So we get warned out of an abundance of caution cover your butt.

Not unlike many other countries are warning, if you do any investigation, BTW.

Yes and no to the last part. Travel advisories from most countries follow similar wording to this:

"The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all but essential travel to the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla on the Thai-Malaysia border." (UK)

• We strongly advise you not to travel at this time to the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla or overland to and from the Malaysian border through these provinces due to high levels of ongoing violence in these areas, including terrorist attacks and bombings that result in deaths and injuries on an almost daily basis." (Australia.)

In either of those examples travel insurance becomes void in those provinces. The US warning is different asking you to "reconsider" non essential travel to Thailand as a whole, insurance companies put different interpretations on wording like that if it suits their purposes. Aside from that insurance also has the following problem,:

"Before travelling to Thailand check with your insurance provider that they will continue to cover for claims arising from the current situation. Some travel insurance policies exclude cover following a military coup or the imposition of martial law, and your insurance may be invalid."

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand

There have been enough examples of insurance companies on this forum wriggling through a lot smaller holes than the above in order to avoid paying out.

I have posted this elsewhere recently.......... Insure and Go in response to my verbal enquiry as to whether my Annual Cover was still valid sent me back an email with so many ifs and buts in it that I'd consider it worse than useless. That I might add is at current British FCO levels of warning

Excellent article on travel insurance and the coup:

http://safety.worldnomads.com/thailand/#axzz308QetImQ

I think the non-essential travel warning is to put pressure on the Thai army. I can't see any reason to avoid non-essential travel. Plenty of shootings in USA, so perhaps we should avoid traveling there. USA is just making itself look a little stupid. UK government thinks it's ok to travel here, as do the vast majority of other countries.

The "non-essential travel" warning is boiler plate. Because on the slim chance that some poor tourist or (God forbid) government employee is hurt or killed, there would be congressional hearings to find out why the bastards (from other party) didn't warn us of the danger. Then more hearings to find out why they sent government employees into a war zone. Then still more to find out why they covered up their incompetence. Then even more to.....

Sound familiar? So we get warned out of an abundance of caution cover your butt.

Not unlike many other countries are warning, if you do any investigation, BTW.

Yes and no to the last part. Travel advisories from most countries follow similar wording to this:

"The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all but essential travel to the provinces of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla on the Thai-Malaysia border." (UK)

• We strongly advise you not to travel at this time to the southern provinces of Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and Songkhla or overland to and from the Malaysian border through these provinces due to high levels of ongoing violence in these areas, including terrorist attacks and bombings that result in deaths and injuries on an almost daily basis." (Australia.)

In either of those examples travel insurance becomes void in those provinces. The US warning is different asking you to "reconsider" non essential travel to Thailand as a whole, insurance companies put different interpretations on wording like that if it suits their purposes. Aside from that insurance also has the following problem,:

"Before travelling to Thailand check with your insurance provider that they will continue to cover for claims arising from the current situation. Some travel insurance policies exclude cover following a military coup or the imposition of martial law, and your insurance may be invalid."

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand

There have been enough examples of insurance companies on this forum wriggling through a lot smaller holes than the above in order to avoid paying out.

I have posted this elsewhere recently.......... Insure and Go in response to my verbal enquiry as to whether my Annual Cover was still valid sent me back an email with so many ifs and buts in it that I'd consider it worse than useless. That I might add is at current British FCO levels of warning

That is it in a nutshell, I've known them go to court to argue over the meaning of a comma in a document when it is in their interests to do so. All insurance policies are different depending on the underwriters and it doesn't hurt to check to see exactly what you are covered for and what you're not. I wasn't jumping to the "worst possible conclusion" as one poster suggested but simply pointing out it pays to check.

I got caught up in the hoo-haa in 2006 and had to buy a ticket CNX-SIN to get onto an Emirates flight back to the UK. Emirates were happy to change my flights for free because of the situation but Good-To-Go refused to pay for my CNX-SIN ticket because their T&Cs excluded civil disturbances. They told me they'd have been happy to pay for any medical claims though.

I got caught up in the hoo-haa in 2006 and had to buy a ticket CNX-SIN to get onto an Emirates flight back to the UK. Emirates were happy to change my flights for free because of the situation but Good-To-Go refused to pay for my CNX-SIN ticket because their T&Cs excluded civil disturbances. They told me they'd have been happy to pay for any medical claims though.

" They told me they'd have been happy to pay for any medical claims though."

Provided they don't arise as a result of civil disturbance or the coup.

I just don't get the sense that this will bring on open hostilities. Does anyone think that the former regime's supporters would resort to a tragic action?

I just don't get the sense that this will bring on open hostilities. Does anyone think that the former regime's supporters would resort to a tragic action?

It's a definite possibility. Considering all the rhetoric from them over the past few months, and all the weapons being found now.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/730645-weapons-found-at-deserted-chiang-rai-hotel-army-says/#entry7910769

The military have made a number of raids over the past week uncovering weapons that allegedly belong to underground militant groups allied to the previous government.