Health insurance now mandatory for long-stay foreigners

[HHTel]

From the Thai Embassy:

Effective from 31 October 2019 , the applicant must be medically insured for the entire period of stay in Thailand with the following coverage:

– Outpatient benefit with a sum insured of not less than 40,000 THB, and

– Inpatient benefit with a sum insured of not less than 400,000 THB

The applicants must submit the following:

8.1. Health insurance policy document issued by a Thai or foreign insurance company, stating that the applicant is medically insured for the period and with coverage as mentioned above:

(a) In case of a foreign insurance company, the applicant must submit the original insurance policy document with 2 copies;

(b) In case of a Thai insurance company, the applicant must submit 2 copies of the insurance policy document or, if available, the original insurance policy document with 2 copies. A list of Thai insurance companies participating in the scheme can be found here: http://longstay.tgia.org

8.2. Foreign Insurance Certificate as stipulated by the Office of Insurance Commission and Health Insurance of Thailand, which must be completed, signed and stamped by the insurance company. The form can be downloaded here: Foreign Insurance Certificate Form

[HHTel]

If only Thai insurance companies are accepted, then why produce this BS form for foreign insurance companies to complete.
Seems like another case where individual offices are making up their own rules.

It was announced by the cabinet on April 2nd 2019.

[oakdale160]

Some years ago a long-time ex-pat explained to me that Laws in Thai are like the Ten Comandments. They are a statement of how things would be in an ideal society but have little to do with everyday reality. So, now you Farangs, the govt would really appreciate it if you could obtain some Health Insurance.

[Scout]

edit: Also I believe, if they happen to be here before this insurance requirement, and then made an exit, they would not be allowed re-entry without insurance.

I just reentered Thailand on December 3rd at Suwannapumi after a 3 week journey to Malaysia and Singapore. Had no problem re-entering on a Re-Entry Permit and it wasn’t until visiting Hua Hin Immigration 4 days later to renew my permission to stay that my O-A visa without Thai health insurance became a problem.

[Nereus]

edit: Also I believe, if they happen to be here before this insurance requirement, and then made an exit, they would not be allowed re-entry without insurance.

I asked this very question when doing my 90 day report and I was specifically told that is not the case. You have to have insurance in place before you next extend your stay, that's it. That is also quite clear in some of the official docs that have been posted here.

Good luck with that! It will be the same as everything else connected with it. Up to how the individual officers interprets it!

Please post where the official docs are posted.

[Nereus]

edit: Also I believe, if they happen to be here before this insurance requirement, and then made an exit, they would not be allowed re-entry without insurance.

I just reentered Thailand on December 3rd at Suwannapumi after a 3 week journey to Malaysia and Singapore. Had no problem re-entering on a Re-Entry Permit and it wasn’t until visiting Hua Hin Immigration 4 days later to renew my permission to stay that my O-A visa without Thai health insurance became a problem.

More confusion! An "0-A" visa is supposed to be multiple entry, so why do you need a re-entry permit? Or do the conditions change after you make an extension?

[Scout]

edit: Also I believe, if they happen to be here before this insurance requirement, and then made an exit, they would not be allowed re-entry without insurance.

I just reentered Thailand on December 3rd at Suwannapumi after a 3 week journey to Malaysia and Singapore. Had no problem re-entering on a Re-Entry Permit and it wasn’t until visiting Hua Hin Immigration 4 days later to renew my permission to stay that my O-A visa without Thai health insurance became a problem.

More confusion! An "0-A" visa is supposed to be multiple entry, so why do you need a re-entry permit? Or do the conditions change after you make an extension?

The initial visa application form asks you to tick the box for type of visa requested ( my choice was “Non-immigrant VISA” ) then immediately following asks how many entries you are requesting ( I originally requested “Multiple” ). When I did my first renewal I had the same choice and selected “single” as I don’t leave the country often and it isn’t until your 4th re-entry that you save any money (and then it’s only 200 baht). Of course you save the full 1000 baht on the 5th and subsequent re-entries.

[Scout]

I’ll try to post an image of the visa request form.

C436896E-6BF5-4C4F-8D11-5AD19A899980.png (93.72 KiB) Viewed 662 times

[caller]

More confusion! An "0-A" visa is supposed to be multiple entry, so why do you need a re-entry permit? Or do the conditions change after you make an extension?

Yes the conditions change when you extend.

[Scout]

Ok, here is the current reality at Hua Hin Immigration.

I entered Thailand in January 2013 on a Non-Immigrant O-A visa. I have renewed my 1 year permission to stay every year since then. Today I tried to renew it again for the 7th year. After reviewing my renewal package, the Officer informed me about the new health insurance requirements for O-A visa holders and informed me I needed to purchase health insurance from 1 of the 14 approved Thai insurance companies. I informed her I already had a (Cadillac Star Wars Ninja 5 Star) insurance policy through my American company, Blue Cross Blue Shield and that I have read (here in this forum I think) that I can meet the insurance requirement by having my insurance company complete and sign the Thai Immigration form. She consulted with other Immigration Officers then advised me that is NOT true, that I must purchase the policy from one of the 14 pre-approved Thai insurance companies. She said that my other option is to cancel my O-A visa by leaving the country and coming back in on a 30 day tourist exemption, then immediately applying for a Non-Immigrant O visa, for which there is currently no requirement for insurance. My wife also came in on a Non-immigrant O-A visa the same time as me, in 2013, and has renewed her permission to stay the same as I have. This year we had planned on me renewing my visa, then converting hers to be based on marriage and have her visa “follow” mine. I explained this to the Officer and she again consulted with other Officers then confirmed that if I met the insurance requirement and had my permission to stay (visa) extended, my wife could renew hers to “follow” mine and she would NOT need health insurance. After leaving Hua Hin Immigration, I visited Matt at AA Insurance and explained my situation, told him I wanted to purchase the cheapest possible policy. That priced out at just under 38,000 baht, but by accepting a higher deductible (300,000 bt) I would get a 50% discount, around 18,000 total. So that’s where I am, my application for health insurance is being processed and I anticipate being able to go back to Immigration with insurance certificate in hand the middle of next week.

Today I successfully renewed my permission to stay based on my original Nonimmigrant O-A visa. After submitting my application for Health Insurance, it was a little over a week to hear from the Insurance company with a proposed policy, which I immediately accepted and paid for, then a little over a week before I received the document for immigration, for a total of 17 days. It’s a good thing I started my renewal early. Several days ago I met a lady in the same situation, except she didn’t start her renewal process in time, so now she has to leave the country, come back in on a tourist exemption, then start the process to acquire and then extend a Non-immigrant O visa. This is a good example of why a person should apply for their extension as soon as they are within 45 days of the expiration date.

[lomuamart]

Can you say which insurance company you used and how much it cost?

[Scout]

Can you say which insurance company you used and how much it cost?

Pacific cross, the quoted cost was about 38,000 baht, but by accepting a higher deductible of 300,000 baht I got a 50% reduction, so I paid about 19,000 baht.

[Dannie Boy]

Can you say which insurance company you used and how much it cost?

Pacific cross, the quoted cost was about 38,000 baht, but by accepting a higher deductible of 300,000 baht I got a 50% reduction, so I paid about 19,000 baht.

So it seems that you’ve taken our the insurance just as a means of complying with the new regulations and don’t intend to use it. Did you consider changing over to an O visa?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Edmin]

Ok, here is the current reality at Hua Hin Immigration.

Today I successfully renewed my permission to stay based on my original Nonimmigrant O-A visa. After submitting my application for Health Insurance, it was a little over a week to hear from the Insurance company with a proposed policy, which I immediately accepted and paid for, then a little over a week before I received the document for immigration, for a total of 17 days.

Does start of your new insurance policy is matched the end of your O-A visa or the beginning of your new extension to stay?

[Scout]

Yes, I am considering switching to an O visa, but will wait until later in the year to see if they change the requirements. Yes, the term of the Thai insurance policy is matched to the term of my extension.