Health insurance mandatory before arriving in Thailand ?

The idea of imposing tourists visiting Thailand to have health insurance is getting stronger. This is a proposal of the Ministry of Health of Thailand to avoid havinf tourists injured or sick during their stay in Thailand unable to afford the care they need. If many government agencies agree on that principle, the question is: how will it work ? The visa exemption for stays of 30 days or less is one of key to the success of tourism in Thailand. It makes it very easy to travel to Thailand, adding the obligation of having an health assurance will surely make it so more complicated.

Several options are being explored. Ask the traveler to buy insurance before arriving in the country but it seems to be the less relevant idea because many will arrive without insurance and rejecting them would dramatically destroy Thailand’s image of welcoming country. Include it in the cost of the visa ? But with the visa exemption, many travelers do not pay any visa fee. Buy the insurance at Immigration desks at airports and borders check points ? Yes, but again, it would go against the fact that we don’t have to pay anything to enter into Thailand less than 30 days (15 days if arriving by land), a principle tourists are very attached to. More subtile, include health insurance in the price of airline tickets. The measure would then pass almost unnoticed. It is probably this option that will be retained even if some entries are made by land. How the insurance will be paid will be decided at the next meeting on the subject with officials and thai government. We’ll keep you updated…