Thailand contemplates compulsory travel insurance

Thai officials are considering the prospect of making travel insurance compulsory for all visitors.

Travel Insurance News - 08/08/2013

<< British Airways to expand Hyderabad route | Travel News | Hotel prices continue to rise in UK >>

Thai officials are considering the prospect of making travel insurance compulsory for all visitors.

According to a Stuff.co.nz article published at the weekend, the measure has been introduced by the country’s lawmakers in order to help curb a growing trend of visitors leaving the country without paying their medical bills.

Chatuwon Pakdiwanit, a spokesperson for the Southeast Asian nation’s ministry of tourism and sports, told reporters last week that the proposal is currently being studied and that it would take awhile before the results were complete.

Meanwhile, the ministry’s head official Somsak Pureerisak said that Thai hospitals are being shorted nearly 200 million baht (£4.1 million) each year by injured tourists that head abroad without settling up for their treatment.

However, the proposal has not been received well by many in the local and regional travel industry. Luzi Matzig, head official for the New Zealand-based Asian Trails tour company, called the proposal a “ridiculous project”.

<< British Airways to expand Hyderabad route | Travel News | Hotel prices continue to rise in UK >>