Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Thailand mulls compulsory insurance for tourists to 'boost confidence'

BANGKOK — Compulsory travel insurance for foreign visitors at a 20 baht (S$0.89) premium each is expected to debut this year, according to Thailand's Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC).

Compulsory travel insurance for foreign visitors at a 20-baht premium each is expected to debut this year, according to Thailand's Office of the Insurance Commission.

Compulsory travel insurance for foreign visitors at a 20-baht premium each is expected to debut this year, according to Thailand's Office of the Insurance Commission.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

BANGKOK — Compulsory travel insurance for foreign visitors at a 20 baht (S$0.89) premium each is expected to debut this year, according to Thailand's Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC).

Foreign travellers will be required to pay for the compulsory insurance at immigration offices in airports, while the premium will be directed to Thailand's Tourism Promotion Fund for coverage of payments in the event of claims, said OIC secretary-general Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn.

The compulsory travel insurance will offer up to 1 million baht of coverage in cases of death, with a maximum duration of 30 days.

The proposed plan will have to be approved by the Tourism and Sports Ministry, before being forwarded to the cabinet.

The travel insurance coverage is intended to bolster the confidence of foreign tourists when visiting Thailand.

Compulsory travel insurance for inbound tourists was raised after a string of foreign tourist tragedies, including last year's boat catastrophe off Phuket that claimed the lives of 47 Chinese tourists.

China is the biggest market for Thai tourism, making up nearly 10 million visitors out of the overall 38 million international arrivals last year.

The Tourism and Sports Ministry has forecast the number of foreign tourists this year at more than 40 million, contributing 2.13 trillion baht in revenue.

Tourism is one of the Thai economy's few bright spots, generating income that accounts for nearly 18 per cent of the country's GDP.

In a related development, the OIC has launched a peace-of-mind travel programme, a pilot project in Nakhon Nayok province.

Under the scheme, tour operators provide insurance to customers and tour guides.

Mr Suthiphon said Nakorn Nayok is an ideal province for a trial run of the project, as it has plenty of activities for travellers such as rafting, activity at waterfalls, climbing and biking, and these activities carry the risk of accidents.

In 2018, 2.1 million tourists visited Nakhon Nayok province.

"We've encouraged local tour operators to take out insurance for their customers, to provide them protection in case of accidents or death," Mr Suthiphon said.

According to the Tourism Business and Guide Act, tour operators are required to provide tourists insurance coverage of at least 1 million baht per tourist in case of death and 500,000 baht in case of injury.

Any tour operator that fails to comply with the law is liable for up to a 500,000-baht fine. BANGKOK POST

Related topics

Thailand tourism insurance

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.