Mandatory health insurance

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Gaybutton
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

Post by Gaybutton »

fountainhall wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 10:12 am I also think it is not wholly unfair to introduce some change of conditions to the O retirement visa requirements - provided these are done over a period of years to permit individuals to adjust to them or, if necessary, to make alternative arrangements.
In my opinion, none of this, O or O-A, is unfair if new rules apply only to new applicants. I think the unfairness starts if and when new rules get grandfathered in and harm farang who already have been living in Thailand and legitimately following the rules for years. Many such farang, if after all those years suddenly find themselves now ineligible for visa extensions, literally have no place to go.

When it comes to medical insurance, how does applying new rules over a period of years help anything? The more years that go by and the older you get, the more difficult it gets to even be eligible for medical insurance.
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

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Folks, I just removed a post obviously designed to discourage people from further posting on this topic. I do not tolerate that kind of posting. If anyone is tired of this or any other topic, then very simple - stop reading it.
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

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Dodger wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 11:16 amNow I'm seeing information regarding "Mandatory Health Insurance for Tourists" which is another policy which hasn't been formalized yet, although a consortium of 3 Thai insurance company's has already developed tailored "tourist" policies and advertising them on the internet.
I don't believe they have the remotest clue how this will be implemented. How will they know which tourists have worldwide annual insurance, which ones purchased trip insurance before setting out from home and which ones have no insurance cover at all? Once they have worked that all out, how are tourists without insurance going to buy a one-time short- term policy? At the airport? The good Lord help us! Just imagine all those huge new queues to buy a policy, to change cash, to check if credit cards are acceptable in Thailand blah blah!
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

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Bad news for expats living in Thailand:

"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

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fountainhall wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 5:28 pm I don't believe they have the remotest clue how this will be implemented.
Another example of well thought through ideas . . .

The idea of requiring tourists to have medical insurance has been talked about by the powers-that-be for a few years already and nothing has ever come of it. To me, it's right up there with the idea that some sort of tracking bracelets be issued to tourists upon arrival so that Thai authorities will know where they are at all times. Remember that one?

I agree with you. I don't see how such an idea can possibly be implemented. Unless Thailand wants to destroy their own tourist industry, I don't see how they have much choice other than to just accept that there will be times when some tourists will screw over hospitals, at least when it comes to people arriving on the 30-day privilege. I suppose they could make insurance a requirement to obtain other types of tourist visas, but people planning a foreign holiday don't want to spend a lot of time jumping through hoops.

What about all those Chinese tourists? Many can just barely afford the trip. Where are they supposed to get medical insurance from that would cover them in Thailand?

Even if they do put this idea into effect, I have a feeling a couple months later it will be rescinded.
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

Post by Undaunted »

Gaybutton wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 8:02 pm What about all those Chinese tourists? Many can just barely afford the trip. Where are they supposed to get medical insurance from that would cover them in Thailand?
They wouldn’t dare touch the government’s Chinese sacred cows!
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

Post by fountainhall »

Gaybutton wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 8:02 pm I don't see how such an idea can possibly be implemented.
The only practical way in my view is to slap a tourist tax on every arrival (including Thais). It's not a new idea and several other countries have such taxes, although more for general revenue than medical costs. But that then penalises all the travellers who do have insurance - especially those business travellers who will be arriving quite a few times each year.
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

Post by fountainhall »

Undaunted wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2019 7:25 pmBad news for expats living in Thailand
Respectfully, there is absolutely nothing remotely regarding "news" on that video that hasn't already been discussed in detail on this and other forums.
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

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Respectfully, everything on this thread has been recycled and rehashed ad nauseam.
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Re: Mandatory health insurance

Post by Dodger »

Apparently, plans to start requiring tourists to have health insurance are fully in motion. The links I provided earlier in this thread show the details of those Plans.

The consortium of 3 Thai insurance companies referenced in those links are owned by some of the wealthiest and influential families in Thailand. The Chairman of the first insurance company listed is a member of the family that also owns Kasikorn bank and many other huge enterprises just to give you an example. We are talking about BIG MONEY dealers here most being Thai nationals with Chinese heritage.

Apparently the cost of this coverage is fairly low ranging between 400 - 1,000 THB for holidays ranging between 7 - 30 days and can be purchased online or at the arriving airport(s). If you multiply just 1% of the annual tourists coming to Thailand by the average insurance fee 700 THB we are talking about billions of baht annually. That's just 1%!

The Chairman of the first insurance company listed (I'm not going to use names here) has an MBA from the U.S. and is an expert on Risk Management. It seems reasonable to think that people with these types of skill sets are the ones who are also involved in the planning.

With the potential to generate tens of billions of baht each year for Thai businesses (and God knows who else) and lower the risk of hospitals losing revenue...it's hard to debate why they shouldn't do this.
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