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This article was written for foreigners that will relocate to Thailand and need to find an expat insurance. In this article, we provide information that will educate you and make it easier for you to decide whether a medical insurance policy is the right thing for you and how you can choose one.<\/p>\n
Therefore, we will cover the below topics (you can click on the index to jump directly to the section that you are interested in and want to read about).<\/p>\n
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If you only want to read about travel insurance suitable for Thailand, please check this article<\/a> instead. <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Thailand provides public healthcare through three different programs, including:<\/p>\n Thanks to the introduction of the universal coverage scheme (see third bullet point) around 99.5% of all Thai citizens are covered by public healthcare. Before that, the country suffered from an inefficient healthcare system with coverage beyond the reach of low-income citizens.<\/p>\n Due to this, around 25% of its population was left uninsured. Nowadays, public hospitals offer treatment completely free of charge to local citizens with Universal Coverage Health Cards (except on Saturdays).<\/p>\n Yet, even if public hospitals and health facilities offer decent medical care in Thailand, it\u2019s not on par with hospitals in Western countries, or in Japan and Korea. The hospitals are often crowded and the waiting time can be lengthy.<\/p>\n At the same time, doctors often prescribe Thai-medicines that you find little to no information about online. This is not good as you might end up with serious side effects (I got a blood clot in my leg after eating 6-7 different medicines in Thailand).<\/p>\n You should also be careful hospitals that try to convince you of staying overnight for treatment, even for minor issues. Oftentimes, they ask whether you have insurance or not first, as they believe that your insurance company will pay.<\/p>\n Over the years, we\u2019ve also seen increasingly more private hospitals popping up in Bangkok and other major cities, making Thailand one of the world’s leading medical tourism destinations<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is something we see in countries like Malaysia as well, where foreigners get access to superior healthcare for a fraction of the cost compared to Western countries.<\/p>\n If you move to Thailand to work, you need to pay 5% of your salary to its social security scheme, which gives you access to public hospitals. However, as mentioned, these can be overcrowded and don\u2019t take for granted that nurses and doctors speak English. <\/p>\n Therefore, companies generally allow expats to opt-in for insurances that give access to private and international and hospitals, not only the public ones. If you\u2019re not working in Thailand and don\u2019t contribute with monthly payments to its social security program, you can also pay for medical services out-of-pocket or buy medical insurance yourself.<\/p>\n Lengthy treatments for unpredictable illnesses and diseases can be costly and I would never live in Thailand without having proper insurance. Not to forget, facing a serious accident might result in a scenario where you have to be evacuated to Singapore, for example. <\/p>\n And as we all know, Singapore is not the cheapest place on earth to receive medical treatment\u2026<\/p>\n There are three different kinds of hospitals available in Thailand. Let\u2019s review each one and what the benefits and disadvantages are when choosing one. <\/p>\n Public hospitals might be cheaper than the private and international dittos, but they also come with significant drawbacks. Worth reiterating, the hospitals are often crowded and it can take a long time to get treatment. <\/p>\n On top of that, not all doctors and nurses speak English, which can be a hustle, of course, if you don\u2019t speak Thai. The hospitals also have greater sanitary problems and equipment that don\u2019t reach the standards of the private and international hospitals\u2019.<\/p>\n Even if there are around 10 times more public hospitals compared to private ones, staying as an in-patient in a public hospital is not a preferred option among many foreigners.<\/p>\n Private international hospitals offer a higher quality of medical care and often meet Western standards. These are the kinds of hospitals that foreigners visit for plastic surgeries, cancer treatments, that can be comparatively costly back home. <\/p>\n Many of the doctors in these hospitals are fluent in English and received education from renowned faculties abroad. The waiting time is also way shorter and you can expect attention 24\/7. <\/p>\nMedical attention in Thailand<\/h2>\n
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Why do I need health insurance in Thailand?<\/h2>\n
Hospitals in Thailand<\/h2>\n
Public hospitals<\/h3>\n
Private international hospitals<\/h3>\n