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Tourist Insurance Provides Insight for Retirees in Thailand

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the recently-announced Tourism Insurance; so Insurance on tourists coming into Thailand and I will get into the specifics of that in a moment.  I think that there are some insights that can be gleaned from this for retirees here in the Kingdom as we have yet to actually see the Retirement Insurance regulations rolled out; we have yet to see what they actually look like. 

I am making this video again to some degree speculative, but also to point out some things that I think we can probably expect with the Retirement Insurance scheme as soon as we see the finer points rolled out in the regulations which should be forthcoming relatively quickly. We are making this video shortly after July 1, when it was announced that we should have seen these regulations being rolled out; we have yet to see them. We will update you as soon as we do see them. That being said, as of now we are left to speculate but there is some fodder for speculation based on recent announcements. 

In a recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Compulsory Insurance for Tourists Eyed. Quoting directly: "Compulsory Travel Insurance for foreign visitors at a 20 baht premium is expected to debut this year according to the Office of the Insurance Commission. Foreign travelers will be required to pay for the Compulsory Insurance at Immigration Offices in airports while the premium will be directed to Thailand's tourism promotion fun for coverage of payments in the event of claims, said Secretary-General Suthipon Thaveechaigarn. The Compulsory Travel Insurance will offer up to 1 million bottom coverage in cases of death with a maximum duration of 30 days, "that is important, I will get to that in a moment. "The insurance will have to seek approval from the Tourism and Sports Ministry before being forwarded to the Cabinet later." 

So first of all a comment on that. This isn't the law yet. It has to obtain cabinet approval be published in The Royal gazette presumably before this is rolled out as an official regulation. The other thing to keep in mind, and to think of when we look at this article, and again I urge those who are watching this video the article is titled Compulsory Insurance for Tourists Eyed, from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com. Go read this article in detail; there is more to it. I am simply bringing up a few points to provide specific clarity from one specific perspective and that is retirees.

So there has been speculation that Retirement Visa Insurance will not be required for those extending their stay in the Kingdom but will only be required for those who are obtaining their Retirement Visa from abroad. I don't think that that is going to be how this comes about and this article is just one more piece of evidence that I think should be looked at when examining that question. Note that this is issued with a duration of 30 days meaning this 20 baht insurance if you want to call it that, is going to be directed primarily at those who are entering the Kingdom on Visa exemption stamps. Visa exemption stamps, depending on the bilateral relationship between two Nations, they are generally issued for 30 days, for example Americans that come to Thailand and are just coming on holiday they will be stamped in for a 30-day stamp; from Britain, Australia, Europe, if you come in you are basically going to be given a 30-day stamp. This insurance seems to be directed at those folks. Why is that important to a retiree? What is clear to me, they really want everybody who is in the Kingdom insured if they are a foreigner.  It looks to me like that is a high priority for folks. As of yet, we haven't seen anything with respect to those in the Kingdom on a Marriage Visa. Holders of Business Visas are generally going to be covered by a corporate plan or depending on their position, they may actually be covered by Thai Social Security, so not really a big issue with respect to Insurance in Business Visas Marriage Visas remain to be seen.  I have done a video specifically discussing my analysis of insurance in the context of Thai Marriage Visas. You can check that out on his channel. What is clear to me is Thailand is not trying to be difficult with its guests if you will but that being said the guests that have come to Thailand and become ill or have unfortunately passed away in the Kingdom, a lot of the costs of those illnesses and passing get carried over to Thailand. They get borne by the system, the medical system here in the Kingdom and it appears to be a priority at least in the current government to mitigate a lot of those costs and I think they are trying to do it in as reasonable a manner as they can. At the same time, there are costs associated with being insured and I think it is pretty safe to say that if they are dealing with people who are only here for 30 days, I think it is very safe to presume that people who are in Thailand on an extended retirement status, they are going to want Compulsory Insurance for those folks as well. 

It all remains to be seen until we see the regulations rolled out but we will keep you updated as things progress on this channel so stay tuned.