Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Business Visas. We are specifically discussing a topic which I believe is on a lot of people's minds especially Expats' minds here in Bangkok, which is the topic of possible mandatory COVID-19 insurance. 

A recent article, this is from the front page of the Bangkok Post print edition, and the article is titled: Virus Cover Needed for Long Stays. Quoting directly: "All foreigners living in Thailand as Non-immigrants will in the future have to prove they have insurance coverage of at least 100,000 US Dollars (3 million Baht (against COVID-19." So let's start off, "all foreigners as Non-immigrants". On its face that appears to be the case. As I have gotten into in another video and as I will drill into in this one, it seems to be talking about two different things. I think this seems to be being applied to retirees specifically. As yet we haven't seen the actual rules be put out so for right now it still may be a little bit nebulous. Also, reporters are not lawyers, they are not drilling down into the legal minutia of this stuff. They are just reporting the basic facts as they see them and right now it appears there is discussion of a proposal for COVID-19 insurance to be required across the board. Quoting further: "The proposal was approved in principle by the Cabinet yesterday said Traisuree Taisaranakul, Deputy Spokesman for the government said it would apply to all holders of one year Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV)." "NIVs are awarded in four categories: marriage work, business and retirement." This is the first point of this that leads me to believe this may not apply to everybody and the reason I say this is because those are not the only NIV categories. Education Visas are an NIV category; there is a Media Visa out there; there are Religious Visas out there that are considered Non-Immigrant Visas, so there are multiple Non-Immigrant Visa categories. Thailand Elite is a Non-immigrant Visa category so they say this as if, marriage, work, business, retirement as if that is the only category. No. BOI is one example. There are other categories both under the law and actually issued in practice there are other categories of Non-immigrant Visa. Quoting further, and this again is what leads me to believe people that are in Business Visa status right now do not freak out. This is I think ultimately when we see the finalized regulations I am rather doubtful that this is going to actually apply to Business Visas and here is one reason that causes me to question it. Quoting directly: "At present, holders of the NIV must be insured to the tune of just 40,000 Baht for outpatient treatment or 400,000 Baht for inpatient treatment at a hospital." Well no, not all Non-Immigrant visa holders have to have that coverage. I believe what they are talking about is the O-A Visa coverage associated with those who are in Thailand in O-A Retirement Visa status. A Business Visa holder does not need to have that; a Marriage Visa holder for that matter does not need to have that; certain Retirement Visa holders notably O Retirees do not have to have that. So again, I think in sort the fog of the circumstances none of this has really been hashed out yet. I think the reporter here may have conflated things or even maybe the spokesperson may have completed things. They thought they were talking about all Non-immigrant visas, maybe they are just talking about Retirement Visas.  

Another article here, this is from the Nation, that is nationthailand.com, the article is titled: New Rules to Support COVID Health Insurance for Long Stay Expats. Again on its face this seems to be saying all long stay expats but when you read it again nationthailand.com, quoting directly: "The Cabinet on Tuesday approved in principle new rules, (again in principle) new rules to support health insurance for long stay foreigners under the Non-Immigrant O-A Visa." So in that article it seems to be referring directly to O-A Visas and the other article seems to be conflating all Non-Immigrant Visas with the O-A. 

So the thing I would say to viewers of this video this time, take a breath don't get freaked out at this exact moment. This is not the time to be overly worried about this. There is a long way to go before we ultimately see this rule play out. Moreover, it looks to me that between the print edition article that I initially saw today, today being Wednesday June 16th and the Bangkok Post print edition between that and the Nation Thailand article, to me more definition was added to the subject of this. I think the thrust of this may be on Retirees. I would be very surprised to see Business Visa holders especially Work Permit holders being ultimately impacted by the changes to this. One of my reasons thinking that is a) most Work Permit holders are covered under the Social Security System, they already have medical coverage and they pay into it, and b) Directors, and things like this, people that own companies and work here on Work Permits generally have their own insurance to begin with. So it would seem pretty redundant to require those folks to have all of this coverage. It is going to be circumstantially dependent but the vast majority of folks here in Thailand in my opinion, that have Work Permits are probably going to have coverage anyway most likely under Social Security or under some kind of other private scheme including a scheme that may be provided by their employer or they may be providing it for themselves if they are self-employed. I ultimately do not think, again this is my opinion, but it looks to me from reading all of this that this applies to retirees not more broadly all Non-Immigrant Visas. That said it remains to be seen. We have not seen these rules actually rolled out. As soon as they are or as the situation evolves we will certainly keep you updated on this channel.