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

[Mad mick]

3 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

Impossible to enforce. Will never pass.

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

They really dont want us . Just quality chinese tourist lndians who have none spend no money and fly back home racist country amazing  kwailand at certain end of the land kwai ! do these fools know u can't  get insurance at certain ages , great off to vietnam or where  we are welcome , Myanmar or cambodia, phillipines,  bye bye thailand basket case . And keep your quality tourist lsis + + all the best , sorry for the thais a lot of good people lose there jobs and businesses   no money " crime wave on the way " great military jaunta " who will pay for the submarines that will never see a day at sea .

[kurtmartens]

1 minute ago, Mad mick said:

They really dont want us . Just quality chinese tourist lndians who have none spend no money and fly back home racist country amazing  kwailand at certain ages do these fools know u can't  get insurance , great off to vietnam or where  we ate welcome Myanmar etc bye bye thailand basket case . And keep your quality tourist lsis + + all the best , sorry for the thais a lot of good people lose there jobs and businesses   no money " crime wave on the way " great military jaunta " who will pay for the submarines that will never see a day at sea .

And so the question that is always asked by some of us who do like it here ... why are you here then?!

[rasg]

9 minutes ago, smotherb said:

gee, it would seem that simply denying entry to another foreigner who cannot produce an active insurance card or B300k in cash may do it; however, Khao San road vendors would probably offer fake insurance cards from any insurance company within a day or two

But you would already have to be in Thailand to get one...

[KamalaRider]

I don't get get the negative responses?

What's so horrible for Thailand to require an accident/health insurance at the border?

People must be idiots to not have an insurance before arriving to Thailand and if they do, they deserve to pay an extra fee or to be scammed.

In my home insurance, I have a 30 days health/accident insurance, but I always add an extra on top voiding any cash cost plus it tops up any surgery or specialist work at the hospital, not that I have had use for it so far.

Insurance is just that what it says, insurance IF something bad happens and it only costs me an extra $US90 to add a little of security if it happens.

[smotherb]

2 hours ago, Bob12345 said:

Exactly, tourists will buy the policy at home and the policy will be in their native language.

So immigration just has to translate the policy at the spot and check the names on the policy with the name in the passport.

Knowing my own insurance policy consists of a booklet of rules and assuming they have a translator ready it will take about 10-15 minutes per arrival to check if they are adequately insured or not.

Maybe even contact the insurance company itself as my policy is just printed on normal A4 paper without stamps or watermarks. How can they know it is real or not?

 

Long story short: this will not happen.

Within a week we will see a U-turn from another office.

Why bother to translate, if they don't believe you or have any doubt; just deny entry, simple.

[jonclark]

53 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Is it not on the visa application form somewhere. But of course, somebody MIGHT not be doing job properly. Did you have to have fingerprints done EVERY time at VFS, as we did.

Fingerprints - you surely are joking - no never - we fill in an online form, pay by credit card, drop off the passport at Trendy as per our appointment and pick it up 10 days later job done. 

 

You seem to be having a very different experience then me..

 

Anyway ...back to the topic at hand - Insurance? 

 

 

[smotherb]

1 minute ago, rasg said:

But you would already have to be in Thailand to get one...

From Khao San road maybe, but proper travel insurance and their ID cards are available worldwide. And, as I said in another post; if the immigration boys have any doubt; they just deny entry.

[Catkiwi]

3 hours ago, 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?

 

Probably a typo and should have been "increasing number of uninsured foreigners".

Totally agree on the chaos it would cause at airports or other border crossings. It will also be another reason for tourists to go somewhere else for their jollies.

[Rhys]

Starting with Danny right...

[Suradit69]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Thai hospitals who are being forced to treat an increasing number of uninsured foreigners.

 

3 hours ago, terminatorchiangmai said:

Thai hospitals who are being forced to treat an increasing number of insured foreigners.

 

Now you lost me !

Apparently you lost the "un" in "uninsured" as well.

[Suradit69]

Judging by the hysteria here at Thai Visa, a lot of people have no insurance and expect to be treated for free when they get sick or have an accident.

 

A lot of farang apparently think there should be no personal consequences for their reckless behavior.  Nanny state mentality running amok. 

[Psimbo]

3 hours ago, fatdrunkandstupid said:

Retirement extension fee...  1900 THB

 

Compulsory insurance...   36,000 THB

 

Getting to stay in a country where you are despised...  Priceless...

Yep- just keep spreading the negativity- you're on a roll today! You really are a bitter person.

[silent]

2 hours ago, fatdrunkandstupid said:

Or it could create quite a lot of money for a few corrupt individuals.

 

What outcome do you think is most likely?

The machines will be equipped arms?

[wvavin]

Its another joke!

[tso310]

Don't panic and keep calm. It won't happen. Most of these ideas simply disappear without trace after a couple of weeks. 

[wump]

I was too lazy to read the thread, but anyone coming here without insurance (for holiday) is simply stupid or American. A night at a private hospital is easily 20000 up and having major surgery can go into the millions. Insurance is 8 bloody euros a year for a normal holiday guy, 1 euro per day for stays up to five years. What's the big deal? You could slip anywhere, fracture your neck of the femur, that's 300,000 Baht. 

 

I know older people get charged excessive premiums but how about excluding anyone on a retirement visa from the insurance requirement? The headline only talks about tourists anyway.

[mrdome]

I have travel health insurance on every trip. One can only hope they will allow proof of that (not that I'm holding my breath).

[alexlm]

I'm covered by France. Abroad.

I don't need insurance.

so?

[kurtmartens]

2 minutes ago, wump said:

I was too lazy to read the thread, but anyone coming here without insurance (for holiday) is simply stupid or American. A night at a private hospital is easily 20000 up and having major surgery can go into the millions. Insurance is 8 bloody euros a year for a normal holiday guy, 1 euro per day for stays up to five years. What's the big deal? You could slip anywhere, fracture your neck of the femur, that's 300,000 Baht. 

 

I know older people get charged excessive premiums but how about excluding anyone on a retirement visa from the insurance requirement? The headline only talks about tourists anyway.

Yay ... more American bashing!  <deleted>.

[impulse]

3 hours ago, kotsak said:

The only way this can be enforced is if all tourists need a pre-approved visa in order to enter the country, similar to the Shengen visa. The moment you allow visa exemption the whole thing goes belly up.

   

Eezy Peezy.

 

Add $25-50 to the cost of a R/T airline ticket and make it a $1,525-1,550 ticket instead of a $1,500 ticket.  That's a 1.6% - 3.2% increase.  Big whoop.

 

Thailand will still be an order of magnitude cheaper on airport fees and taxes than, for example, Heathrow.  

 

Wanna laugh, look up the airport taxes on an international flight from Heathrow or LAX to BKK and see which country gets around 80-90% of the combined airport fees and taxes.  

 

Spoiler alert:  It isn't Thailand.

 

[Redline]

Why don't they make it safer.  I would think most of the accidents are due to lack of enforcement of the laws.  They are too lazy to enforce the laws, and again they make the tourists pay.  They want the public to be informants too, so the police don't have to do their work.  They don't fix problems here.  There will be a tipping point with tourists.

[impulse]

4 minutes ago, Redline said:

Why don't they make it safer.  I would think most of the accidents are due to lack of enforcement of the laws.  They are too lazy to enforce the laws, and again they make the tourists pay.  They want the public to be informants too, so the police don't have to do their work.  They don't fix problems here.  There will be a tipping point with tourists.

 

Good question, but 2 discrete issues.  Even if they do their best, some folks are still going to get drunk and fall down, fall off their rented scooters or keel over of heart attacks from the little blue pills.

 

[bazza73]

6 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

Judging by the hysteria here at Thai Visa, a lot of people have no insurance and expect to be treated for free when they get sick or have an accident.

 

A lot of farang apparently think there should be no personal consequences for their reckless behavior.  Nanny state mentality running amok. 

I don't have insurance. Over 70, preexisting conditions. No insurance company would insure me. I do, however, have backup of funds set aside for medical emergencies, as well as private health insurance in Australia.

It's the classic one-size-fits-all of most bureaucracies. It dovetails neatly with the Law of Unintended Consequences.

There are a large number of elderly expat retirees in Thailand. Given the cost of compulsory insurance for the over 70's, I can predict many will see countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines as more welcoming.

Said retirees quite frequently are the sole means of support for Thai GF's and wives. That support would start collapsing, not that the bureaucrats in Bangkok would care.

There's also the matter of the 800,000 baht on compulsory deposit at very low interest rates with Thai banks. That would start to evaporate too. And the many agents who make a living assisting retirees. The general contribution of retirees to the local economies.

Putting it bluntly, if this insurance requirement becomes reality, the Thais will be crapping in their own nest. They stand to lose far more than they would gain.

[Mangkhut]

A great idea that should have been implemented long time ago. Intensive care units in hospitals all over Thailand, even upcountry are having heavily injuried farang patiens in ICU care for weeks and months without getting paid for it. 

 

Thai citizens going to get a Schengen visa needs a medical insurance. Other countries such as Russia also have a mandatory travel insurance policy for persons applying for a visa to the country. 

 

It goes without saying that traveling abroad without insurance for possible medical issues and accidents that can happen is extremely stupid. For those who are that stupid - a mandatory requirement is the best solution. If you cannot afford an insurance - stay home!

[KenKadz]

So the media in Thailand (Bangkok Post) is using "unnamed and anonymous" sources now, very American?

In any case, not to worry, just another half-nice idea.

When was the last time a Thai government authority actually implemented a plan and saw it all the way through to completion, with full functionality?

[kurtmartens]

1 minute ago, bazza73 said:

I don't have insurance. Over 70, preexisting conditions. No insurance company would insure me. I do, however, have backup of funds set aside for medical emergencies, as well as private health insurance in Australia.

It's the classic one-size-fits-all of most bureaucracies. It dovetails neatly with the Law of Unintended Consequences.

There are a large number of elderly expat retirees in Thailand. Given the cost of compulsory insurance for the over 70's, I can predict many will see countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines as more welcoming.

Said retirees quite frequently are the sole means of support for Thai GF's and wives. That support would start collapsing, not that the bureaucrats in Bangkok would care.

There's also the matter of the 800,000 baht on compulsory deposit at very low interest rates with Thai banks. That would start to evaporate too. And the many agents who make a living assisting retirees. The general contribution of retirees to the local economies.

Putting it bluntly, if this insurance requirement becomes reality, the Thais will be crapping in their own nest. They stand to lose far more than they would gain.

And remember this is really about insurance for tourists, not for those of us living here.  We are all (myself included) jumping to a lot of assumptions.

[nisakiman]

If they really want to cover unpaid medical bills, as has already been suggested, a fee of 500 Baht on arrival for all  tourists would be the easiest to administer. That money should then be ring-fenced to pay any medical fees in a government hospital for the uninsured. Most people will still prefer to have private insurance anyway and be treated in a private hospital. I don't know what the estimated costs of treating uninsured foreigners is on a yearly basis, but 500 Baht times 30 million(?) arrivals is 15 billion Baht. I would have thought that would cover it. And 500 Baht isn't a huge sum of money that people would recoil in horror at paying.

 

It would, of course, require the airports to install enough ticket / token dispensing machines that can take multiple currencies throughout the whole arrivals area of the airport, which would be the sticking point, probably.

 

There's no way they would be able to check the insurance of each and every arrival. It would be an impossible task.

[Si Thea01]

3 hours ago, 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?

 

 

Just wondering if I'm reading the same report? 

 

This is in the initial report.

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

 

This is what you quoted,

"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."

 

 

[impulse]

Just now, KenKadz said:

When was the last time a Thai government authority actually implemented a plan and saw it all the way through to completion, with full functionality?

 

Last one I recall was the crackdown on overstays.  That one has had devastating effects on a lot of guys I used to know.

 

Oh, and the one on repetitive border runs.

 

[Redline]

Just now, impulse said:

 

Good question, but 2 discrete issues.  Even if they do their best, some folks are still going to get drunk and fall down, fall off their rented scooters or keel over of heart attacks.

 

Sure, but I believe road and water safety is a big issue.  They need to make the roads safer, the boats safer...more police enforcement, and control of motorbike rentals, and drinking and driving.  Every country deals with drunk tourists.  This proposed insurance will make them big money, and they will not have to face the enforcement issues that initially cause the financial burden.  This is a huge win/win for them, and a lose/lose for the tourists.  They will still come here because it's cheap, but in the next 10 years, there will be a big shift to neighboring countries, if they don't address some core problems.  I was just making the point that the authorities here will do anything to not have to enforce any laws.  They deal with incidents after the fact, but it's mostly a free for all.  People do what they want, with no fear of police action because very few are caught.  The USA does not require insurance and the visa is 10 years with stays up to 6 months per year.