webfact Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 Make travel insurance compulsory, say voters in Phuket poll The Phuket News Passengers are screened on arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport during heightened MERS health alert in 2015. Photo: AFP PHUKET: -- A majority of people who took part in an online poll by The Phuket News have called for introducing mandatory travel insurance for all tourists entering Thailand. The poll, held over two weeks, was posted online after a report by the Bangkok Post earlier this month cited an “informed source” that the proposal was to be forwarded for consideration by the national tourism policy commission. The concept is not new, and initially surfaced in 2013. Full story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/make-travel-insurance-compulsory-say-voters-in-phuket-poll-62729.php -- © Copyright Phuket News 2017-06-26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoePai Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 (edited) Excellent idea but they also need to copy the EU and state a minimum amount* of Medical cover before being allowed in * €30,000 ? Edited June 26, 2017 by JoePai Insert amount Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just1Voice Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 I see nothing wrong with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlehead Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 5 minutes ago, Just1Voice said: I see nothing wrong with this. Perhaps you are an insurance salesman. Have you ever tried to collect insurance from a travel insurance company? I have. It took almost a year to get my mother some money from them after a bad trip she went on. Insurance companies are in business to take your money. Not to pay it out. (know any poor insurance salesmen?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave67 Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 They dont like having to spend money on Tourists , tourists who provide Thailand with 10% of GDP. UK should reciprocate Is it for everyone or just tourists ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattjock Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 As most of the tourist related hospital costs are related to traffic and other accidents they should be proactive and try to minimize these not reactive and pay for the damages. Ban the already illegal jet skies, apply heavy fines on motorbike rental places that rent bikes to people without a license, make sure the police actually book people for traffic offenses, make sure all the speed boats and ferries are in good condition and are driven by competent people. If this is done there will be a lot less deaths and injuries among both tourists and Thais and the government hospital costs will go down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seismic Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 I agree, and at the same time bring in a law requiring all Thai's who travel outside the kingdom to purchase large insurance policies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 23 minutes ago, Dave67 said: They dont like having to spend money on Tourists , tourists who provide Thailand with 10% of GDP. UK should reciprocate Is it for everyone or just tourists ? I know UK is not Schengen, but for Schengen this is already compulsory, I would presume for the UK as well. Problems are that quite a few countries already have health insurance for citizens abroad, which is the real aim of this question, so why force them to buy travel insurance? In order for the insurance to be affordable and viable cover would be limited, so it may reduce but not solve problems. How to handle people here on extensions of stay or non-immigrant visa? There are lots of issues to be solved, and implementation would very likely lead to many problems. Think only of the compulsory check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thechook Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 17 minutes ago, pattjock said: As most of the tourist related hospital costs are related to traffic and other accidents they should be proactive and try to minimize these not reactive and pay for the damages. Ban the already illegal jet skies, apply heavy fines on motorbike rental places that rent bikes to people without a license, make sure the police actually book people for traffic offenses, make sure all the speed boats and ferries are in good condition and are driven by competent people. If this is done there will be a lot less deaths and injuries among both tourists and Thais and the government hospital costs will go down. There should be compulsory 3rd party insurance attached to vehicle registration. In Aust for example when you pay your anual registration you pay the insurance and if a person is hurt or god forsake even killed including tourists visiting all medical costs and future rehab are covered by the tansport accident commission. Why doesnt thailand have such a scheme other countries have had it for 50÷ years. Travel insurance should still be compulsory I agree but most tourists are injured in traffic accidents at the hands of thais and left with the bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinginKata Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 1 minute ago, Thechook said: There should be compulsory 3rd party insurance attached to vehicle registration. In Aust for example when you pay your anual registration you pay the insurance and if a person is hurt or god forsake even killed including tourists visiting all medical costs and future rehab are covered by the tansport accident commission. Why doesnt thailand have such a scheme other countries have had it for 50÷ years. Travel insurance should still be compulsory I agree but most tourists are injured in traffic accidents at the hands of thais and left with the bill. But there already is a compulsory insurance. For sure this low cost insurance covers no mechanical damage and only limited (quite limited - think 50,000 baht person). I assume you want a higher grade vehicle insurance made compulsory ? Various levels of insurance is available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lupatria Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 (edited) I guess I'm missing something here, like: Make travel insurance provided by a Thai company compulsory, say voters in Phuket poll Edited June 26, 2017 by Lupatria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheryl Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 In theory it is a good idea to require travel insurance (NOT specifically Thai issued insurance) for tourists but I have trouble envisioning how it can be enforced given the large numbers who enter visa exempt. Screening for proof of insurance at immigration entry points would be impractical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 37 minutes ago, Sheryl said: In theory it is a good idea to require travel insurance (NOT specifically Thai issued insurance) for tourists but I have trouble envisioning how it can be enforced given the large numbers who enter visa exempt. Screening for proof of insurance at immigration entry points would be impractical. Only option that I can see: compulsory Thai insurance from one company bought automatically by everyone, included in the ticketprice. You're only missing the overland entries, but I think those are not many compared to flying in (I may be wrong there, think of the many Malaysians going for a night out in Hat Yai). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave67 Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 What about if you have insurance from outside of Thailand already. You still have to buy their 650bt zero cover plan ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quadperfect Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 Voter fraud for sure. Maybe those chinese kids did the deed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimmer Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 A troll post of no value to the topic has been removed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dumbastheycome Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 7 hours ago, Thechook said: There should be compulsory 3rd party insurance attached to vehicle registration. In Aust for example when you pay your anual registration you pay the insurance and if a person is hurt or god forsake even killed including tourists visiting all medical costs and future rehab are covered by the tansport accident commission. Why doesnt thailand have such a scheme other countries have had it for 50÷ years. Travel insurance should still be compulsory I agree but most tourists are injured in traffic accidents at the hands of thais and left with the bill. A sound idea only if all vehicles have annual registration. A way to survey the percentage is count the number of quick turnabouts of vehicles approaching a checkpoint. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopitiam Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 Certain countries (Schengen?) require compulsory travel insurance when you apply for a visa. However, I have not heard of any country asking tourists on visa exempt for compulsory travel insurance when entering the country. Thailand could be the first country in the world to do this regardless of the chaos to be expected in all entering points into the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinginKata Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 30 years ago when I regularly flew cheapy charter tour flights buying travel insurance was required if you not show some sort of personal annual policy. Not sure if this was a money making scam but as far as I know the airline had a responsibility for their tourist. So why not have the airline bringing people responsible for medical expenses. Seems an easy solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulic Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 Travel insurance dose not cover pre-existing conditions and there are so many exclusions that it is practically worthless. It sounds like a good idea but nothing would change from the point of Thai hospitals getting paid vs. stuck with the bill. When I read about most accidents involving tourists they are caused by Thais. Why does their insurance (taxi, cement truck, cars, etc) not cover the hospital bills of a tourist injured by them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulic Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 Personally I would be quite happy to pay for Thai insurance on arrival that will cover me no questions asked for accidents/emergencies in Thailand versus travel insurance purchased in my home country that really does not cover you. I am quite certain that 90 % of tourist who have purchased insurance are not covered for much (if anything) but because nothing happens to them they never have to make a claim and never find out they insurance coverage is actually non existent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickFarang Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 Another money grab....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thechook Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 6 hours ago, Ulic said: Personally I would be quite happy to pay for Thai insurance on arrival that will cover me no questions asked for accidents/emergencies in Thailand versus travel insurance purchased in my home country that really does not cover you. I am quite certain that 90 % of tourist who have purchased insurance are not covered for much (if anything) but because nothing happens to them they never have to make a claim and never find out they insurance coverage is actually non existent. Full travel insurance will cost you around $1,000 AUD for a 2 week stay in thailand. This covers everything, vehicle accidents, muggings tropical diseases and up to 5 days stay in hospital. Cheaper covers only cover administration costs and don't insure you for anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freebyrd Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Seems sensible to me. My wife and I are going for 3 nights in BKK this week. No motor bikes Tuk Tuks and of course no jet skis , just a quiet few days but I'm 60 and....... As an aside, even though I'm English I took out travel insurance for a 5 week trip to the UK a couple of months back. The way things are in the UK these days you never know if you will be asked to pay if something does happen. It's the responsible thing to do wherever you travel to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmitch Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 3 hours ago, Thechook said: Full travel insurance will cost you around $1,000 AUD for a 2 week stay in thailand. This covers everything, vehicle accidents, muggings tropical diseases and up to 5 days stay in hospital. Cheaper covers only cover administration costs and don't insure you for anything. I don't know where you have been looking. You can get perfectly good coverage for well under A$100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Croc Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 While the tally of unpaid hospital bills, left by a few tourists, sounds large when stated in isolation, it is miniscule in comparison to the benefits of mass tourism to Thailand and a small item in the country's overall budget. The few cases of major injury and illness that occur with the uninsured, requiring hospitalisation, is not, in my opinion, a major crisis requiring drastic, and almost impossible to administer, forced legislation. Of course, short term tourists should always have travel insurance, and, when an uninsured visitor gets in trouble and wants others to bail them out, their pleas fall on my deaf and uncaring ears. I always bought insurance when travelling. How to implement a compulsory scheme gives rise to many questions, such as how to check/collect at the many land borders (no tickets on which to impose a tax), how does it work with multiple entry tourists and long term stayers who are still considered to be temporary visitors. The chaos and waiting times for clearance on entry would increase dramatically. A Thai scheme where insurance would have to be bought at the border would quickly turn into a farce in this country of corruption and inefficiency. The administration costs would be much greater than the current hospital debts. It would just be another form of arrival tax, and brown envelope heaven, for any who can get themselves involved. The Phi Phi park entrance fee scandal would pale into insignificance in comparison. Also, the delineation between travel insurance and health insurance is muddied now, even some posters above don't understand the difference. When does a long term visitor stop requiring one and need the other? A storm in a teacup, most other countries wear such costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopitiam Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 I wonder if there is any TV member who can share any experience of tourists visiting a foreign country without travel insurance and needed medical care. How are they treated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgdanson Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 On 6/26/2017 at 0:41 PM, Thechook said: There should be compulsory 3rd party insurance attached to vehicle registration. In Aust for example when you pay your anual registration you pay the insurance and if a person is hurt or god forsake even killed including tourists visiting all medical costs and future rehab are covered by the tansport accident commission. Why doesnt thailand have such a scheme other countries have had it for 50÷ years. Travel insurance should still be compulsory I agree but most tourists are injured in traffic accidents at the hands of thais and left with the bill. There is compulsory insurance, but not 'that' compulsory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godang Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 After a certain age you cannot get travel insurance, this probably includes a lot of expats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dumbastheycome Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 There are many cheap options available for Travel Insurance. Most if not all offer adequate levels of cover subject to minimizing risk criteria. ( no comment as to claim ability) If Thailand insists on having such as a criteria for entry it is not a great drama. Unless.....if there is some insistence that it cover the duration of stay ! Which would mean anybody who stays more than the nominal 3 months most insurance policies are valid could encounter problems. That is the issue that expats could maybe consider rather than harping endlessly on about what is proposed in the aspect of "tourists". Is it possible that for applications for extensions of stay there will be a requirement to show current and ongoing accident/sickness insurance cover? In light of that perhaps there is an opportunity upcoming to find an Expat Insurance Broker who can provide reasonable valid collective cover that satisfies requirement without extorted cost. Despite all options it is difficult to foresee how to overcome the usual cutoff age criteria involved in any Insurance policy if having Insurance becomes a mandatory requirement . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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