Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests we are discussing the notion that COVID insurance might soon be required for all Retirees in Thailand. As we have noted in prior videos on this channel. Presently those who are entering Thailand have to obtain COVID-19 Insurance in order to come into Thailand. However, up to now it hasn't really even been talked about that COVID-19 insurance would be required for those folks who are in Thailand at present. I have done another video contemporaneously with this one where we are discussing this in a more broad context. With respect to Retirees, I think it is looking like COVID-19 Insurance probably will be required for all Retirees in Thailand. Now I want to be clear at the outset of this video, this is not broad insurance. This is not the 400,000 Baht inpatient 40,000 Baht outpatient that has been required up to now since October 2019 for O-A Visas, so we are not talking about that. We are talking about separate insurance which is COVID specific okay? 

So a recent article from the Nation, nationthailand.com, the article is titled: New Rules to Support COVID Health Insurance for Long Stay Expats. As I discussed in another video I did on this, there seems to be a lot of conflation in the media at least presently, that is what it appears to me that this COVID-19 requirements going to apply to all Non-Immigrants. As of yet, we haven't actually seen this law enacted; we haven't seen any regulations promulgated yet, so it remains to be seen exactly how this looks yet. So let's start from there. However and I have done the analysis in my prior video, this does look like the main thrust of this policy is aimed at the Retirees, the long staying expat Retirees so that is the reason for this video. But understand this, we are not talking about mandatory insurance across the board, we are simply talking about COVID specific insurance, which these are two different policy types. Quoting directly: "The Cabinet on Tuesday approved in principle (again in principle) new rules to support health insurance for long stay foreigners under the Non-Immigrant "O - A" Visa." Quoting directly: "The old rules required purchasing Thai Health insurance through the website longstay.tgia.org which has suffered operating problems. The new rules offer a lifeline for expats over the age of 70 who cannot purchase insurance in Thailand and thus face having their applications for extension of stay rejected. The new rules were set as follows: First Visa application must include Health insurance or Government welfare with minimum coverage of $100,000 or 3 million Baht for medical expenses and treatment of COVID-19."  And then, and this is probably key for most folks here in Thailand. "Applications for Extension of Stay can use Health Insurance from abroad or Government welfare from abroad. This must be certified by a relevant Government Agency." and they are talking about Embassies or Foreign Ministries. "Finally if an insurer refuses coverage due to health risk, visa applicants must submit additional documents including the letter of refusal plus securities deposits, and other health insurance accounting for at least 3 million Baht." They go on to say that the Immigration Bureau deals with Immigration here in Thailand and Foreign Ministry deals with things abroad. So that is currently what we are looking at.

In my opinion it does look like, from what I am reading and again they have said and I can't restate this enough, this has been approved in principle, quoting directly from this article and the other articles I have read on this, the other things I have researched on this. This has yet to be fully finalized so the finer points of this have yet to be spelled out. I am sure there is going to be a lot of consternation amongst the Expat community about this. As I have talked about in my prior video on this, I do not necessarily think this is going to apply broadly to all Non-Immigrants Visas and I go into my reasoning for that in that video. I do and this is unfortunate for Retirees I think, I do think that yes retirees are going to probably ultimately be broadly affected by this change in policy.

Now again the exact policy parameters or the exact parameters of regulations remain to be seen so we will keep you updated on this channel as the situation progresses.