Foreigners applying for non-immigrant (O-A) visas for stays in Thailand of up to one year are now required to have a health insurance policy with minimum coverage of three million baht for in-patient medical fees, instead of the previous 400,000 baht.
Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha said yesterday that the new rule is intended to ensure that they will receive proper medical treatment if they fall ill during their long stay in the country.
According to the Thai Immigration Bureau and the Department of Consular Affairs, 3,768 foreigners were granted non-immigrant visas last and this year.
The insurance policies can either be purchased in Thailand or in their home country, but the coverage amount of foreign issued policies must be on a par with the sum stipulated in policies issued in Thailand.
The announcement will likely be met with displeasure and backlash from international travellers hoping to make Thailand their home long-term, or at least for one year.
It is especially difficult for those hoping to retire in Thailand as insurance policy premiums are infamous for skyrocketing once the applicant passes a certain age, increasing exponentially with age under the assumption that older people are more prone to illnesses and accidents.
As Thailand releases plan after plan to lure back tourists, many complain that the complicated entry process, the rising costs, and constant changes to immigration policy, not to the benefit of international travellers, seems to be simultaneously pushing away the same expats with money that the country claims to be encouraging.
Source - BangkokJack
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