Insurance companies “hesitate” to give Covid-19 insurance to foreign tourists
After facing losses from Covid-19 claims from local cases, many Thai insurance companies are indicating that they are hesitant to provide Covid-19 insurance for foreign tourists entering Thailand under the current regulations.
The deputy governor of marketing communications at the Tourism Authority of Thailand said only a few companies are now interested in joining the Test & Go programme, the most popular choice out of the three entry options. He said companies are unsure about possible situations if they offer coverage to foreign tourists, especially with reimbursement.
Even though Test & Go resumed on February 1, there haven’t been as many tourists as there were in November when the programme first started.
Isolation for travellers in Thailand can be expensive. The deputy governor said the 10-day hotel isolation price starts at 20,000 baht. This includes three meals a day and telemedicine from a partner hospital. He told the Bangkok Post…
“While waiting for the OIC to conclude an insurance package, we have to increase affordable hotel isolation as an option for infected tourists so they don’t have to pay more than 100,000 baht for treatment, as happened before.”
The Public Health Ministry is letting hotel operators in major provinces have isolation rooms on their properties for asymptomatic guests. This is to help with hospitals not having enough beds, or beds being too expensive.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
