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Thailand considers compulsory travel insurance for foreign visitors

The Thai Tourism and Sports Ministry plans to make compulsory measures for all foreign tourists to have travel insurance before entering the country because unpaid bills are putting a huge strain on cash-strapped public hospitals.
The Thai Tourism and Sports Ministry plans to make compulsory measuresfor all foreign tourists to have travel insurance before entering thecountry because unpaid bills are putting a huge strain on cash-strappedpublic hospitals.

Tourism and Sports MinisterSomsak Pureesrisak was cited by The Nation that the ministry was readyto implement measures to cut down foreign tourists' unpaid medical billsthat cost the country more than 200 million THB (6.45 million USD)annually.

This will first be applied to tourists who applyfor visa at Thai diplomatic missions overseas, in which each person isrequired to buy a 500 THB insurance package.

However, the ministry has yet to decide whether this will apply to those who do not need a visa to enter the country.

Touristscoming to Thailand on tour packages are also required to buy travelinsurance, which allows them to claim 1 million THB for death and up to500,000 THB for injuries, said President of the Association of DomesticTravel, Yuthachai Soonthronrattnavate.

According to theministry's data, up to 6.19 million tourists, or about 28 percent of thetotal 22.35 million visitors, came to Thailand as part of a tourpackage last year.

The country earned 984 billion THB in revenuefrom tourism in 2012, and expects to earn as much as 2.2 trillion THBfrom visitors in 2015.-VNA
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