Thailand is to issue health and travel insurance for foreign tourists in a bid to ease the financial burden on its state hospitals.
The proposal was unveiled by the Thai public health ministry at a meeting with representatives from the Airports of Thailand (AoT), the Royal Thai Police and other government ministries.
Malaysian travel agencies welcomed the proposal to make health and travel insurance mandatory for tourists, although new rule should be better communicated as many visitors were not aware of it.
Deraz Travels and Tours Sdn Bhd manager Mohammad Imran sees it “as a good move by the Thai government.”
“Travel insurance is a must for every tourist. I’ve advised my customers to take up travel insurance before they embark on their travel to another country. “The Thai government must be doing this for security purposes and I laud such a move,” said Imran. A source within the industry feels it may be unfair to the customers.
“Some of the customers buy travel insurance from us and if the government implements the travel insurance in the near future, customers might have to pay twice for separate insurance schemes,” she said.
Many tour agencies recommend travel insurance for customers when they travel overseas especially to Europe and Asia.
According to the Bangkok Post, the ministry called a meeting with state agencies after the cabinet proposed to set up a health care system for foreigners.
The government was concerned about the financial burden on the state hospitals which provide free medical services to foreign tourists.
