Report: All foreign tourists will soon need insurance in order to enter Thailand

[off road pat]

17 hours ago, Global Guy said:

These incidents happened at two different hospitals. One hospital not so good and another (the serious accident) is a good hospital but the amount of medical care/work I needed was extreme. Over 2.5 years post accident now, I'm still having surgical work as recent as 8 weeks ago, and need more medical work to continue fixing problems plus physical therapy and neuro work. I go to the States for my surgeries now as my insurance covers that work over there. My insurance here isn't nearly as good as in the US.

 

To put this accident in perspective, the surgeons did a medical case presentation at the hospital on all the work they had to do to piece me back together. I have 20 pieces of titanium holding various parts of my body together. 

 

I was that busted up. Frankenstein looked better than I did. They had to reconstruct the left half of my face, among other reconstruction work on my legs, hips, jaw, sinus cavities, etc. I still have another two years of work to go on my teeth, jaw, and soft tissues in my legs and hips. My accident is one that wasn't supposed to be survivable. 

 

So, it wasn't just the insurance issue, it was the extreme severity of the damage I had. And I didn't describe all my injuries either.

I can't even imagine the pain, suffering and stress involved in all those operations, My heart  goes with you..Wish you the best recovery possible !!!

[Rockee]

Idiotic, it's bad enough now with the Chinese at DM, imagine the 'queues' for insurance machines, folks with no baht, arguing, kids crying, machines breaking down, laughable.
 

'The requirement is seen as helping to reduce the burden on Thai hospitals who are being forced to treat an increasing number of insured foreigners.'

 

No problem then according to the article if foreigners are insured why is it costing Hospitals?

 

It states " uninsured" foreigners!


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[YetAnother]

On 6/5/2017 at 1:03 PM, bheard said:

What is idiotic is coming to Thailand as a tourist without travel insurance.

all the years here has recently , given thailand's recent slide, taught me i made a mistake living here

[gk10002000]

13 hours ago, madmitch said:

Here's a list. http://www.phukethospital.com/Patient-Services/Insurance-Company-International.php

 

Although it states health insurance some travel insurance companies are included and the likes of SOS Assistance and Mondial act as TPAs for a number of travel insurance companies.

 

You will notice that no American insurance companies are included on the list! Interesting! I don't know why.

Thank you.  Yep.  Like I wrote initially, I could not find any travel insurance company for an American that had arrangements or direct pay deals to Thai hospitals.  I am not saying there are not any, I am just saying I could not find anything concrete.

[terminatorchiangmai]

On 9/15/2017 at 12:33 PM, bheard said:

 

Can't read?

 

that was original post until they corrected it.

Thanks for waking up but better you go back to sleep since you have nothing to add here.

[Cereal]

I wonder how this would affect someone like myself who crosses over the Friendship bridge at Vientiane for a day of shopping?

[Media1]

On 6/5/2017 at 1:06 PM, JAFO said:

Wait.....Are foreigners a burden to the medical system here?...don't make me laugh.

 

How many go and leave without paying?, whats the financial loss? whatever the number is, it has to be in the noise level. 

 

 

Yes the regime Prayut and his failed government are clutching at straws and if they continue. Will be all alone

[Duggsie]

Not before time.

 

Should be rolled out, worldwide.

 

No insurance?.......No entry!

[Duggsie]

15 hours ago, Cereal said:

I wonder how this would affect someone like myself who crosses over the Friendship bridge at Vientiane for a day of shopping?

It would affect you like this:

 

Are you insured?

 

No?

 

No entry, then.

 

So no shopping for you, today.

 

Go home.

 

Is it any "wonder"?

[JAFO]

6 hours ago, Duggsie said:

Not before time.

 

Should be rolled out, worldwide.

 

No insurance?.......No entry!

What should happen is Medical services should be affordable for all. Right now its all a big fear scam supported by lawyers and Pharmaceutical companies.

 

 

[AloisAmrein]

If the immigration introduces this, I will boycott the country. Why should I buy an insurance with low performance when I have a good insurance in my home country which is valid worldwide. Thailand will be the only country worldwide with such a stupid law.

[ukrules]

1 hour ago, AloisAmrein said:

If the immigration introduces this, I will boycott the country. Why should I buy an insurance with low performance when I have a good insurance in my home country which is valid worldwide. Thailand will be the only country worldwide with such a stupid law.

 

This is not what they are saying at all.

 

You wil be made to purchase insurance to gain entry / extension unless you already have insurance which you purchased before travelling.

 

 

[AloisAmrein]

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

 

This is not what they are saying at all.

 

You wil be made to purchase insurance to gain entry / extension unless you already have insurance which you purchased before travelling.

 

 

Are you sure? And how they intend to check this?

[ukrules]

5 hours ago, AloisAmrein said:

Are you sure? And how they intend to check this?

That's what the aritcle said so yes, I'm pretty sure.

[elliss]

We  are aliens , temporary visitors,to the Kingdom , out at the stroke of the pen .

  Insurance  should be compulsory , why burden the Thai people .

[Jip99]

6 minutes ago, elliss said:

We  are aliens , temporary visitors,to the Kingdom , out at the stroke of the pen .

  Insurance  should be compulsory , why burden the Thai people .

 

 

Can't argue with that....it is compulsory for Schengen visas..

[LionofMedaCM]

Stupid excuse from a hypocrite country again, there is no free cure in Thailand!! neither in public or private hospitals you must queue and pay more than local people , i repeat ..roger that ...there is no free treatment in Thailand

Copy that..

[ravip]

Can't see that it's idiotic. 
What is idiotic is coming to Thailand as a tourist without travel insurance.

Absolutely correct. Not only Thailand, travelling to any country without insurance is super idiotic unless you have unlimited cash to spend.

 

Idiotic, it's bad enough now with the Chinese at DM, imagine the 'queues' for insurance machines, folks with no baht, arguing, kids crying, machines breaking down, laughable.

The requirement is seen as helping to reduce the burden on Thai hospitals who are being forced to treat an increasing number of insured foreigners.'

No problem then according to the article if foreigners are insured why is it costing Hospitals?

Strange post without any substance but Thai bashing. Why not take the insurance from your own home country?

 

[DogNo1]

What about long-term stayers with one-year retirement extensions?  I think that you have to be a resident of another country to buy travel insurance.  Plus travel insrurance certainly won’t be effective for one year.

[rasg]

34 minutes ago, DogNo1 said:

What about long-term stayers with one-year retirement extensions?  I think that you have to be a resident of another country to buy travel insurance.  Plus travel insrurance certainly won’t be effective for one year.

I had no difficulty getting a one year policy for my Thai wife with Bupa in Thailand. It was 5000 baht.

[ncc1701d]

Good grief. This is not looking good...

 

so what about people owning holiday apartments on the Gold Coast (for example). They going to get hit hard with taxes even if they are residents?

[wgdanson]

On 05/06/2017 at 12:54 PM, Orton Rd said:

Idiotic, it's bad enough now with the Chinese at DM, imagine the 'queues' for insurance machines, folks with no baht, arguing, kids crying, machines breaking down, laughable.

 

'The requirement is seen as helping to reduce the burden on Thai hospitals who are being forced to treat an increasing number of insured foreigners.'

 

No problem then according to the article if foreigners are insured why is it costing Hospitals?

 

Read it properly, it says UNINSURED foreigners.

 

[wgdanson]

On 29/06/2017 at 3:52 PM, rasg said:

If you go off the beaten track in Thailand where there are many things that bite etc it makes total sense to me to have travel insurance. If you are stupid enough to rent a motorbike and you end up being an just another accident statistic your body will go home if you have insurance.

 

It is not unworkable and it's not expensive at all. Immigration can check your documents just as they do with your passport when you enter Thailand.

 

The sooner the UK requires it, the better. It would solve 95% of our health tourism at a stroke.

For my GF to get a UK Visitor visa, she must show medical insurance.

 

[muffy]

And Thais have no insurance .

[DogNo1]

Whether to have insurance or not depends somewhat on a person's age and their period of stay in Thailand.  Some older people residing here do not have an established residence in any other country than Thailand.  Travel insurance isn't a possibility for them.  For people seventy and over, self-insurance makes sense since they can't buy local insuranc  unless they were enrolled before the age of sixty.  I am covered by Japanese National Health Insurance which will pay for any procedure what it would have cost in Japan.  The cost of an angioplasty and the installation of one Stent at Bumrungrad would be around $31,000 compared to a cost of around $10,000 in Japan.  In that case, I would be on the hook for $21,000 out of my own pocket with everything to be paid by me upfront with later reimbursement of the $10,000 in Japan.  

Today, on my way back from Seattle, I stopped by the travel insurance sales office at Narita Airport and discovered that travel insurance for the six months that I usually stay in Bangkok would cost me about $1,400. I didn't have  a chance to check  on exclusions and limitations.  It might be helpful in the case of a serious accident on a motorcycle taxi , but I'll have to check the fine print.  So far, due to my advanced age, I have simply been willing to pay everything myself, collecting any reimbursement that I can get in Japan and deducting the whole expense from my income tax which is something that you can't do in  other countries.  If it comes to all of us needing to have health insurance in Thailand, I will just declare  my JNHI and declare that I have the funds to oay the difference.

 

For those younger Americans expecting to use Medicare and VA Health Benefits, please be aware that Medicare cannot be used outside of the US and that VA care is still quite sluggush with  three month delays 

To see a doctor  not uncommon.

 

Good luck to everyone.  I hope that your choice works out for you.  I still hope to spend the six winter months in Bangkok under some scheme that TAT can accept,

 

 

 

 

[autanic]

Keep these coming. I love it.  Is there a think tank within the Government called "Tax the Tourist Committee". They are working hard !

[ravip]

7 minutes ago, autanic said:

Keep these coming. I love it.  Is there a think tank within the Government called "Tax the Tourist Committee". They are working hard !

Don't sound so naive, ask someone applying for the Shengan visa the requirements - Thai requirements would be put to shame!

[autanic]

4 minutes ago, ravip said:

Don't sound so naive, ask someone applying for the Shengan visa the requirements - Thai requirements would be put to shame!

Perhaps, but this is just one more measure in a long line of measure to put up hurdles. 

One of the things that attracted me to Thailand years ago was the "Happy go lucky" attitude of the Thais. 

Naive, not at all, I left the UK for a reason, even though I am back here visiting at the moment.

[stanleycoin]

15 minutes ago, autanic said:

Keep these coming. I love it.  Is there a think tank within the Government called "Tax the Tourist Committee". They are working hard !

Yes it's called the

Money Number One Committee.

There are many,  many,  of this type of committee in Thailand.

they have been around for years,   and increase in number every year

and efficiency  

 

[autanic]

On 06/10/2017 at 7:28 PM, muffy said:

And Thais have no insurance .

especially when driving a moped.  . .  what insurance . .  fancy a coffee Officer ?