Health insurance in Thailand

[ThaiRiviera]

Hello all,

First post for me on this forum. I've moved to Thailand a few months ago and my student public health coverage from my country (France) is about to expire, so I'm looking at the options for health insurance here.

I've been looking at the offer from big int'l companies online like Allianz and found packages that seemed pretty good and all comprehensive for EUR 1100-1800 / year, + EUR 600 for dental. At the same time, friends here advised me to get insurance from a local company, starting as low as THB 10-20,000.

I'm young and have no noteworthy health problems, but I live in Samui where traffic-related accidents are no joke and where we're stranded with a choice between a goverment hospital that feels like a slaughterhouse for cattle, and the excellent but prohibitively expensive private hospitals. So essentially I'm looking for a policy that enables me to be treated in the private hospitals with no (or minimal) out of pocket costs, and I'm also looking to keep premiums down as my income is not spectacularly high.

I have no experience with buying private insurance plans, so I'm looking for advice on the topic... Are EUR 1000+ premiums reasonable? Does anybody have experience with the local insurers? Are they reliable? Would a plan from a Thai firm also cover me if I'm travelling out of Thailand?

How much should I expect to pay for dental check-ups and basic care if I don't have dental insurance?

Any tips on important things to consider and traps to avoid?

I'd be really grateful to hear other people's experience with this!

Edited January 31, 2015 by ThaiRiviera