Government to make more Covid insurance options available to foreign tourists
The Thai government wants to offer more Covid-19 insurance options to foreign tourists whose own insurance doesn’t cover hospitels or hotel isolation in cases of asymptomatic infection. According to a Bangkok Post report, the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says officials are in talks with the Office of the Insurance Commission. Yuthasak Supasorn says premiums could start at around 800 baht per person to cover the cost of hotel isolation, which usually starts from around 30,000 baht.
The new ruling by the CCSA last week means that if tourists are not fully covered by their own insurance policies, they must cover the expenses themselves. According to Yuthasak, this means that if hotels allow guests to slip through the net, as appears to have happened in a number of recent cases, they – and the runaway tourists – will face legal action.
“We previously sought cooperation from hotels to look after guests during the health screening process. The new rule mandates strict compliance with health measures. Hotels cannot be careless about the process or they risk being delisted from Thailand Pass registration, rendering them unable to welcome any inbound guests.”
The president of the Thai Hotels Association disagrees with hotels being threatened with legal action. Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi says such repercussions will have serious implications for small hotel businesses with limited operating budgets. The THA president says that in the past, some infected guests have refused to go to hospital, concerned about the cost and the likelihood that their insurance wouldn’t cover it, due to them being asymptomatic.
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SOURCE: Bangkok Post
