Check the small print on insurance cover, travellers to Thailand are warned

Travellers are being urged to check the small print on their insurance cover before heading to Thailand

Travellers should check their travel insurance covers claims for hospitalisation and/or other related quarantine in the event they test positive for COVID19 while in Thailand, the Tourism Authority has said.

Travellers in Thailand could also face quarantine or hospitalisation even if they test negative.

Thailand’s public health regulations state that people who have been in close contact with someone who tests positive are also deemed to be ‘high risk’.

For travellers, if a passenger they sat next to on a plane or someone they shared a hotel room with, test positive, then they can also be put in quarantine or hospitalised even though they themselves have not recorded a positive test.

For foreigners, quarantine and hospitalisation due to COVID-19 needs to be paid for at their own expense.

While all foreigners who travel to Thailand are required to have health insurance which provides coverage no less than US$50,000, travellers need to make sure that covers not only medical treatment but also hospital isolation and even quarantine.

An updated notice posted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand reads:

TAT recommends that travellers make sure to check the small print of any COVID-19 insurance policy before purchasing. Ultimately, the policy should cover the cost of treatment and other medical expenses associated with being infected with COVID-19, including in-patient hospitalisation, hospital isolation, hotel isolation, or related quarantine. The insurance policy should also cover the whole duration that travellers are planning to stay in Thailand, plus at least 10 extra days as a precautionary measure in the event that the traveller’s second swab test result returns as positive.

People whose travel insurance policy does not cover the above face the prospect of being hit with a hefty bill.

Hospitalisation would likely be for between 7 and 10 days and could cost in the region 10,000 baht per day when medical fees and additional COVID-19 tests are factor into the cost.

Source