Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing insurance and Thai Retirement Visas.

A recent notation on the Royal Thai Embassy website for London came to my attention and it specifically notes the following under For Retirement Non-immigrant O, let's be clear. This is non-immigrant O, not Non-immigrant O-A okay. I am quoting directly: "While Thailand still puts in place travel restriction, foreign nationals who are holders of Non-immigrant O can apply for the Certificate of Entry to go to Thailand. Further, if your Visa has expired you have to apply for a new Visa. You must meet the requirements for a non-O Visa with the additional requirement that applicants have health insurance, for outpatient not less than 40,000 Baht and for inpatient not less than 400,000 Baht." 

Now for those who have kept track of this topic in detail the past few years, what does that sound like? That sounds like the insurance requirement for O-A Visas and that is something that I have been burned heavily on this channel making videos on this in that I predicted or I felt like it seemed that Thai Immigration over time was probably going to make Insurance a requirement for all retirees. Now Non-immigrant O Retirement Visas, folks who have an O Retirement Visa here in Thailand that may not necessarily apply to you. Depending on circumstances, you may not necessarily have to get insurance based on the regs as they currently state.

However, if you end up abroad as noted on this website's quote specifically, that insurance requirement may become part of the process if you want to be able to get a Certificate of Entry to come into Thailand. So as a practical matter, I think it is safe to presume a large number of retirees are going to be subject to obtaining insurance in order to obtain their visa or perhaps to put more precisely in order to enter Thailand on even an O Retirement Visa. They certainly are required to have insurance for an O-A Retirement Visa but it now looks like O it may be required too or I should say definitely is required for those coming in from abroad it would appear. 

So those who are watching this video, I am not trying to be overly opaque but with I would say rare circumstantial exceptions, it looks to me like Insurance is now required for those wishing to retire on a Retirement Visa here in the Kingdom of Thailand.