The explanation is simple.......make more money for Thai companies, do you not think these companies lobbied the powers that be?
I'm So Confused - O or OA
- Undaunted
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Re: I'm So Confused - O or OA
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
- Gaybutton
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Re: I'm So Confused - O or OA
I'm sure you are correct, but I meant an explanation coming from the Thai authorities. Since they are unlikely to be honest about it, apparently they simply avoid trying to publicly explain it at all.
Re: I'm So Confused - O or OA
Surely they just buy insurance without making any declarations?Undaunted wrote: ↑Fri Nov 08, 2019 10:43 pmI think at the moment they’re fucked and it is only a matter of time till all long stay visas will require proof of approved Thai insurance coverage.
Just imagine expats who have moved to Thailand, sold residences abroad, established lives here and will be forced in their elder years to uproot themselves and find a life elsewhere.
Then they are “covered” for visa purposes....and in exactly the same situation as they were before?
- Undaunted
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Re: I'm So Confused - O or OA
They need not declare their age
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
Re: I'm So Confused - O or OA
I was a bit surprised reading a message from the US State department which indicated that the required long-stay insurance (currently for new O-A visa holders and apparently for prior O-A visa holders too) could be obtained from either a Thai or foreign insurance company...provided the policy would cover the annual amounts (400,000 baht or about $13,333.00 basic coverage and 40,000 baht or about $1,333.00 outpatient coverage). Not quite believing that (the police order seems to say only insurance from one of the 12 blessed Thai companies is acceptable), I checked out the US Thai embassy website. There the language was identical to that in the US State department message. It reads:
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.
The cost of the long-stay insurance from the 12 approved Thai companies, at least for me (71), would currently be about $3,000.00 per year (presuming any of those companies would insure me). That's a bit much for the paltry coverage (for example, I currently have coverage via IMG for an 8+ month time period which cost under $1,400.00 and that coverage is for over $100,000 (more than 3,000,000 baht). Now, as to how one works out deductibles and co-pays within the new insurance scheme is beyond my guessing ability.
But, given the actually rather low coverage requirements (400k baht and 40k baht for outpatient), it would seem to me that just about any foreign insurance company could issue that kind of coverage for far less than any of the 12 Thai companies. Hopefully a couple of the foreign companies will seize the opportunity to issue "Thai tailored" health insurance policies for a price far less than what the approved Thai companies are offering.
[Edit: GB, just responding to your comment but, if you feel these comments better belong to the other thread specifically on topic, please feel free to move it there.]
- Gaybutton
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Re: I'm So Confused - O or OA
Absolutely!
If you review the backgrounds of these "Approved Health Insurance Company's" you'll see that, with the exception of one, they are all owned by very wealthy and influential Thai/Chinese families, who are almost certainly tied in all the way to the top. A few of these company''s didn't even sell health insurance policies before this corrupt strategy got put into motion. One company I researched sold home insurance, and another sold personal liability and fire insurance. Miraculously, these company's were chosen to reap the billions of baht each year that this new mandate will generate, and none of the other Thai insurance company's, who actually sell health insurance, were even considered...and there's hundreds of them.
Forcing a person to buy anything , including health insurance, from a mandated company, isn't about to fly in my opinion
This corrupt strategy that the Police conjured up reminds me of an old joke:
A father bull and his son were standing on the top of a hill watching a herd of young cows grazing below. The son says to his father, "Dad, why don't we charge down the hill and fuck one of em". His father replied, "Why don't we walk down the hill and fuck all of em".
Re: I'm So Confused - O or OA
Bob, thanks so much for posting this.
With the Thai Embassy and U.S. State department being in lock-step over this, that only leaves the Immigration Police to get their heads out of their asses.
Re: I'm So Confused - O or OA
I wonder what are the rules for recently introduced 10 year retirement visa. Of course, it was considered nonstarter because of high required deposit in Thai bank but it may be worth considering in light of new health insurance requirements.
- 2lz2p
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Re: I'm So Confused - O or OA
The stamps I have been shown by some friends that are on subsequent passports and entered initially using a Non-OA Visa, it shows "Non-RE" rather than "Non-OA".