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Tourist Visa Insurance Now Available in Thailand

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Tourist Visas and insurance for tourists here in the Kingdom of Thailand.

For those of you who are unaware, there have been some issues or some concerns raised by retirees in Thailand with respect to the possibility of Immigration imposing a law that would require retirees to go ahead and have insurance in Thailand. We have done another video specifically on that topic. That is not what we are discussing in this video just to be clear on that. 

That being said, in a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com. The article is entitled: TAT Enlists Companies to Provide Insurance for Tourists  and I urge those who are interested in this to read this article directly; there is a great deal more than I am going to quote, but I am just going to quote a little bit and provide some analysis here. Quoting directly, "The Tourism Authority of Thailand has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with 3 leading insurance companies to provide an insurance policy, Thai Travel Shield, for foreign tourists. The insurance plan, an online insurance package, provides coverage of up to 2 million baht with premiums starting from 400 baht per trip up to 7 days." Quoting further, "Once they go through the Immigration process, the insurance will be active 24/7 and tourists can contact a call centre with staff who are able to speak 40 languages to assist in the event of accidents, sickness, flight cancellations, lost luggage or even death until they leave Thailand."

So clearly, the Immigration Authorities and the Tourism  Authority here in the Kingdom are keenly aware of issues arising where foreigners can become unhealthy or where they can suffer an accident in the Kingdom and not have any medical coverage and that can prove both a problem for the foreigner in question as well as for Thailand in the sense that the government apparatus, for lack of a better term, has to go ahead and absorb the cost, or some of the cost associated with a foreigner who has been injured or had an accident here in the Kingdom.

Therefore moving forward, I think probably tourism insurance is a good idea but I think it is also possible they may one day make this mandatory where it either becomes a part and parcel of ticket purchases to the Kingdom similar to like a fuel surcharge tax that is just levied on air carriers, or there may become some sort of documentation requirement pertaining to insurance that will be required for people who apply for a tourist visa at a Thai Embassy or Thai Consulate abroad.  

Exactly how this will play out with respect to the practicalities of the regulations associated with a tourist visa application remained to be seen but I think it is fairly safe to assume that probably sometime within the next 18 months from this video, we may see mandatory tourist insurance associated with applications for longer term tourist visas to remain in the Kingdom.