Hi there

When i came here I decided self insuring has a considerable advantage....or at least avoids a long list of costly downsides I have listed elsewhere......as long as one can financially cover possible future "events".

I have mentally allocated an amount of my assets for lifelong healthcare.

Obviously I could have a "bad run of luck" and go over my limit and have to draw more from assets but this may only be a few % possibility i.e. a reasonable risk.

One thing niggles me a bit.....

I have the gut feeling that as the world becomes smaller medical costs for farang in Thailand.....very reasonable now.....are likely to at least partially normalise with those internationally.

And even at 66 I'm talking long term trends as my parents died at 89 and 95 thats a long time for prices to rise.

It has occurred to me to hedge against this happening.

Example I thought quite some years ago about opening an account and buying shares in the Ram Group after seeing the place ran quite well and seemed busy.

To my great regret I didn't and the shares have risen multifold in the intervening period. (I glean this from seeing the yield drop enormously, am I correct?)

The idea simply that if healthcare costs go up probably hospital profits and assets and therefore shares will rise with the costs.

SO the project is:

How to hedge against rising healthcare costs by investment.......possibly not obvious as hospital shares (or maybe it's not too late?).....lateral thinking welcome!

ps:what's the best place to look for historical price charts for Thailand (or numbers if that's all there is) I tried to look up Ram and could only find a couple of years.

Found a Ram chart

It has indeed had a fantastic rise, like tenfold....had I stuck even a modest amount of my funds with them I'd be very happy.

More details here

http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quickchart.asp?symb=TH%3Aram&insttype=&freq=2&show=True&time=13

PE is now 26 is it too stretched?

How does it compare to the sector?