A Guide to Buying Health Insurance for Expats in Thailand

Introduction

I recently decided it’s time to get some health insurance while I live in Thailand. Prior to this, I have been self insuring, knowing that the cost for most treatments are reasonable. Plus, I have maintained health insurance in my home country (USA) so I figured if I got very ill (e.g, cancer), I would fly home and get treated there. For various reasons, I decided that it makes more sense to invest in insurance here so I can stay here to get treatment for anything that comes my way. Thus, I had to do some research to find some options.

I am no expert. I have never worked in the insurance industry. I am just a regular guy living long-term in Thailand. I did a lot of research and I thought I could share what I learned with you to hopefully save you some time. Even after my research, I can’t say if I made the best choice possible (or even a good one) and I haven’t really had a chance to use it, so I can’t say much about it at all. For that reason, I won’t mention who I am choosing, but I may do so in the future if I get some useful experience using it that I can share.

Things to Consider and Questions to Ask

As I was interacting with agents and reviewing websites and online forums for plan details, I came up with some issues to consider and questions to ask. Some were relevant to a specific company or plan and some were more general. This isn’t a complete list, but it might point you to things you hadn’t considered before.

Age Restrictions

This is probably a coverage issue but since so many people who are looking for insurance in Thailand are doing so as retirees, age limits are an important consideration worth mentioning separately. If you are getting older and/or plan to be living in Thailand until you are much older, be sure to research any relevant age restrictions. Typically, there are two to consider. First, the maximum age to purchase a plan, which is often pretty low, (e.g., 65). Second, the maximum age to be covered with a continuing/ongoing plan, which is often much higher (80 is common, some go even higher).

International vs. Regional vs. Local Providers

Further down, I will list the most common companies I came across and I will separate them into international and local lists. The most important consideration is where you actually plan to spend most of your time. A local provider is mostly just a good option if you are committed to living for a long time in Thailand. Of course, in theory, you could just get a new policy if you decide to relocate to another country, but if you are a retiree you need to consider the age restrictions and concerns mentioned above. If you can imagine yourself deciding to live somewhere else after 65, you may not be able to get a new policy. On the other hand, if you already have an international policy that also covers Thailand, you can probably just change the primary coverage location without needing to apply for a new policy (though check to be sure).

Note that if you do opt for an international plan, it will have restrictions. The most common is that you will have to choose a plan that includes or excludes the United States. That’s because everything related to healthcare in that country is crazy expensive and if you don’t plan to visit, there’s no reason to pay more for coverage you don’t need. Besides that, most plans require you to specify a base country and then there are limitations on how long you can be covered when out of that country (either per trip, per year, or both). If you take extended trips to one place outside your base country, this could be a problem.

Another reason the local/international issue is relevant is because a company’s legal obligations will be governed by the laws where it is based. I don’t have enough knowledge/expertise to comment on this in any detail, but there were two potential issues I came across:

1. A Thai agent/broker that I interacted with said that many foreigners on social media promote their wives and girlfriends because foreigners cannot get a license to sell health insurance in Thailand. I think, but am not sure, that what this person meant is that foreigners cannot be brokers for Thai insurance companies. If that is true (it may not be), I am not sure of the implications, but it may be the case that if you use a foreign broker, you’ll probably be recommended foreign plans whereas a Thai broker will probably recommend Thai plans. Or perhaps a foreigner will interact with potential customers as a “front” for their wife/girlfriend, who will do the actual paperwork? I am just musing on this.
2. One foreign broker I interacted with did make a possibly important/relevant comment: “One of the things I don’t like about these [Thai] Companies is they all state in their policy we reserve the right to renew your policy year on year. So if you were to have a big claim, they could refuse renewal or even double your premium. International providers guarantee renewal, and will not penalize you for claiming.” Similarly, an online comment I came across said: “most policies, if you read the fine print, allow them to base increases upon previous utilization, and what they call ‘medical costs inflation.’ I have known fellow expats who simply could no longer afford the annual premiums as they got older.”

Pricing (Premiums) and Eligibility

Here are some useful questions to consider about premiums and eligibility.

• Is there any premium pricing with deductible and/or co-pay options?
• How do pricing and price increases work? Is it a fixed schedule based on age or age bucket? Does it get adjusted based on your usage?
• What will the premium be for the next # of years? This is especially useful to see what kind of annual increase to expect (if policy is based on age) or what kind of increase to expect when you age into the next age bucket. It could also be worth asking about price increases when you pass the maximum age limit for buying a policy (does the rise in premium reflect a continuous rise as with younger ages or is there a sharp increase?).
• Are there any renewal and/or pricing guarantees if you actually use the coverage? For example, if you have to get expensive treatment for cancer, can they then refuse to renew your plan or drastically increase the premium?
• Are there any relevant discounts? For example, if you are insuring your entire family.
• What are the daily room coverage limits? This is a common differentiating factor (there is a page that lists the room costs at various hospitals around Thailand and most are less than 3,000 for non-ICU)
   

Coverage

• What is the coverage limit and is it an annual, per illness/incident/event? If the latter, how is an incident/event defined and is there an annual limit?
  Healthcare costs in Thailand are cheaper than many Western countries, but it is still difficult to assess what limits you want or need. I don’t have any specific advice to offer, but I came across the following online comment during my research: “There’s a good discussion on a Thai cancer Facebook group about the required coverage limit for cancer treatment. Many people shared their experiences there, saying that the average cost of cancer treatment in a private hospital in Thailand for initial cancer stages is 2 million to 3 million baht.” I also saw an online discussion about a torn rotator cuff surgery and the price seemed to be around THB 200,000. You can probably find similar discussions on the various Facebook expat groups for other surgeries or treatments if you are curious about any in particular and Bangkok Hospital has extensive price lists for major procedures (Bangkok Hospital is one of the most expensive options and public hospitals often perform procedures for people who want to pay privately at a much lower price, so this should be considered high-end pricing).
  NOTE: some plans, especially from Thai companies, have very low annual coverage limits and/or very high deductibles (e.g., THB 200k). These are usually quite affordable and may be a good option if you are in good health and just want catastrophic coverage (or you have good coverage in your home country and would just return there for anything serious), but they are probably not a good option for most long-term residents.
• Is there a different limit for specific issues (e.g., cancer has a separate/lower limit)?
• Are there any specific things that are excluded? Two exclusions I saw more than once are kidney disease and organ transplants. Most plans exclude maternity, dental, and vision care, but usually there is an option to add those for a higher premium.
• Is an ambulance fee covered, covered to a limit, or excluded? In general, some treatments also offer either full cost coverage or a maximum. For the latter, you might need to do some research to see if the coverage limit is reasonable or not.
• Is this an inpatient (IPD) only or inpatient and outpatient (OPD) policy? If it is only for IPD, is there any outpatient coverage offered? Some policies do include limited OPD coverage within 24 hours of an accident, if it is for something that ends up needing IPD treatment or outpatient surgery, or related to post-operation treatment, and some do not. If there is limited OPD coverage, what are the details (e.g., number of days and/or treatments post-surgery that are covered, physical rehabilitation included or excluded)?
  NOTE: Most people recommend just getting IPD coverage and self-insuring for outpatient issues. At first, this seemed like a bad idea to me, but after learning more I realized that outpatient care is usually covered for IPD only plans when they are related to an inpatient issue (e.g., accident, surgery), a critical illness (CI) like cancer, or outpatient surgery. The reason people recommend this is the price goes up a lot for extra OPD coverage but most outpatient costs in Thailand are not expensive.
• What are any relevant waiting periods before coverage starts? This is common for serious illnesses (e.g., cancer).
• For plans that cover personal accidents, are there any exclusions (especially for motorbike accidents in general, or more specifically if you are driving drunk or without a license/helmet, etc.)?
• Pre-existing conditions. I don’t think there is a single company/plan I came across that will cover pre-existing conditions, though some may do so if that condition hasn’t needed treatment for a certain amount of time.
• What additional or add-on plans (riders) are available? Some common options (e.g., personal accident, dental, vision, maternity, psychiatric, chronic illnesses, travel, etc.) are available because they are usually not included with standard plans.
• Is there any international coverage for travel? If so, what countries are included and what restrictions apply?
  NOTE: If you live in Thailand most of the year and you don’t travel much (or, possibly even if you do), you can probably can save money by getting a plan that only covers Thailand, or which provides only emergency coverage outside of Thailand (usually for a limited number of days). Simply supplement this plan with travel insurance if/when you travel. Your existing provider may offer separate travel plans you can choose, or there are other companies that specialize in this (one I have personally used and seen recommended often is Genki). Whatever you choose, keep in mind that international coverage you will usually have a choice that either includes or excludes the US (with a big pricing difference, for obvious reasons). Also keep in mind my earlier comments about age limits if those might be an issue for you.
• What hospitals have direct billing? Are there any restrictions on which hospitals you can use (e.g., only in-network hospitals)?
• Does the policy cover emergency evacuation and/or repatriation of remains if you die? I couldn’t see any identifiable pattern of plans that include or exclude this. Some do and some don’t. If you maintain insurance in your home country and would likely want to be evacuated there for a serious accident or illness, this may be important coverage to include.
• Is there any telemedicine service? I think I only noticed one company (I forgot which, but I believe one of the international plans) that mentioned this. Others may include it and I just didn’t notice.
• What does ___ mean? If there is a coverage item listed that you don’t understand, ask about it. For example, one policy lists “hospital cash benefit,” which I didn’t understand. After asking, I was told it is a rare situation (most common in China), where hospital expenses like meals are not included in the room fee, so the policy will reimburse you for these expenses up to the daily limit specified.
• Is it possible to change plans or deductible level at renewal?

Claims | Customer Service Issues

• If a hospital doesn’t have direct billing with this company/plan, what is involved in filing a claim?
• How useful/good is the online user/member account?
• Is there a mobile app?
• Is there any appeals process if a claim is denied?
• If multiple plans (main plan plus add-on plans) are purchased, are they all consolidated into one member account/ID or are they kept separate?

Brokers and Agents

• Is the person an agent or a broker? I don’t even know if someone can be both. If an agent, I think they would just represent one company. If a broker, ask which companies he or she works with.

Reviews

You probably already know how useless online reviews can often be, but sometimes they are useful with some careful reading/parsing. Furthermore, reviews can be more reliable for some things than others. In the case of health insurance, I find online reviews (e.g., TrustPilot, Squaremouth) to be almost useless for a few reasons.

First, most reviews are by “shills” who post 5 stars or by disgruntled people who post 1 star. The problem with the latter is that there’s rarely enough detail to know if the review is legitimate or reflective of the experience you will have. For example, maybe the person was denied coverage because it was for something they thought was or should be covered but isn’t. For example, it might have been for a preexisting condition that they hid from the provider. That’s probably unfair, but is a topic for a different discussion and doesn’t, IMHO, accurately reflect on the true usefulness or value of a provider plan.

Second, many (I would guess most) positive reviews are people who are not actually reviewing the experience of using their plan (i.e., getting treatment and filing a claim or getting it paid directly). Instead, they are simply reviewing the purchase experience. Well, naturally, that’s likely to be good regardless of the provider, as they all want the sale, but it doesn’t say much about what you can expect when the rubber hits the road.

Third, the nature of customer feedback and reviews is that most people that have a good or neutral experience never post a review. There may be many satisfied customers but you probably aren’t hearing from them.

Places to Get Insurance

Here is a list of the most common places where you can shop for insurance.

• Local Thai insurers
• International insurers
• From a broker/agent (for either local or Thai insurers)
• From life insurance companies
• From your work
• From your bank

Major Insurance Companies

Below are the major insurance providers I came across in my research, along with any useful/random notes I made about them. There are probably many more, especially global providers, but if they aren’t listed here, it’s simply because I didn’t see any online chatter about them. I will break the list into Thai companies and international companies. Before listing the companies, here’s a possibly useful table produced by Quinn Miller at EB Asia.

Of the companies in that table, I never saw any mentions during my research for Morgan Price, Optimum Global, VUMI, Insured Nomads, Now Health, Sunday, or Viriyah. That may just be a reflection of my insufficient research or it may mean they aren’t that popular. Either way, I don’t include them in my list, but by all mean, do research them for yourself if interested. If you do so, please leave any useful information you learn about them in the comments.

Thai Companies

• AIA is a well-known and I think pretty popular company. Their primary plan is called Health Happy. Toward the end of this guide you will see that it isn’t recommended by one person at a local hospital. I also was turned off by the fact that there is no English version of their website (there is an English product listing and hospital network listing) and that neither of the two main multi-insurer quote search sites include it, though Bangkok Bank does offer it and shows some price ranges. I also mostly read good things about different AIA agents (e.g., they went to the hospital in person to help) but I don’t consider that a plus. I would prefer a plan that is easy to use without assistance.
• April International offers both international and Thailand plans. The two main options are “MyHealth International” and “MyHealth TH.” I have mostly read good things about this company, but it’s not one of the less expensive options and also seems to have pretty high deductibles. There is also an “Easy Claim” app that claims you simply take a photo of your bill to submit a claim in case no direct billing is available. They also advertise a 24/7 TeleHEALTH service.
• AXA (Facebook, LINE: @axathailand) is a large multinational insurance company that also has a local company in Thailand. You can purchase international plans from the main company or a Thailand focused plan from the Thai subsidiary. For Thailand, there are seven plans in four categories (Easy Protection, Classic Cover, Total Cover, and International). There is a PDF comparing the three main plans.
  
  The plan that seems most relevant is SmartCare Essential (online quotation page), which has four plan coverage levels (THB 1M, 2M, 5M, or 10M) and five deductible levels (THB 0, 20k, 40k, 100k, 200k). It doesn’t offer evacuation/repatriation coverage so if you are planning to rely on home country coverage for catastrophic or serious illnesses, that might be an issue. The online brochure says it includes OPD up to THB 3,000 per visit up to 30 visits/year (capped at THB 50,000 per year). There is also a teleconsultation service that lets you consult a doctor online via a mobile application in three easy steps. You can also see the AXA cashless hospital network.
  
  You can get price quotes directly online (they ask you to provide personal information but even if you provide fake info you will still be shown the prices) and it lets you toggle between deductible amounts to quickly see the change in price. There is also a 5% renewal discount after each claim-free year.
  
  There are also plans for infectious diseases (Hello Health), an OA visa (Easycare), total coverage (SwitchCare, which covers IPD and OPD + some international), and full international coverage (International Exclusive). The SmartCare Essential plan is mostly a Thailand plan but it seems like it does offer 90 days emergency international coverage for accidents. You can also get travel insurance or a personal accident policy (Sabuyjai PA).
  
  NOTE: If you buy an AXA plan online, check the site for promotional coupons as there seems to be one regularly offered. For example, as I am writing this there is a “GoWabi” promotion (e-Coupon code: AXAGOWABI) that offers up to a THB 3,500 discount (amount depends on the plan you choose)
  
  NOTE: I crunched numbers to compare savings relative to the deductible for SmartCare Plan 4, which varies based on your age bucket as follows:
  Age 0-40: 20k – 45%; 40k – 55%; 100k – 75%; 200k – 85%
  Age 41-60: 20k – 30%; 40k – 40%; 100k – 65%; 200k – 75%
  Age 65+: 20k – 10%; 40k – 15%; 100k – 30%; 200k – 35%
  For the 41-60 age bucket, you can save THB 16k per year on a premium with a THB 20k deductible, which is pretty good if you are mostly healthy. But, the incremental savings to go to THB 40k deductible does not come anywhere close to an extra THB 20k (it’s about THB 4k only) so I think 20k deductible is the sweet spot.
• Allianz AYUDHYA is another popular Thai insurance company that offers a variety of plans, including lump sum, basic care, comprehensive worldwide care, and long-term visa options. If anything there are too many plans on offer and understanding the differences is confusing. I didn’t do a full investigation of these options, but it seems like good options to consider include the Smarter Health and Max Health plans for Thailand only, and the Beyond Care and Superior Health plans for worldwide coverage (excluding USA). There are also @BDMS plans that seem to apply to the BDMS network (whatever that is). I didn’t read many comments about this company, but the few I did were positive. It also took over the former Aetna, which also got pretty good reviews on older online posts. You can enter your age and gender to see an immediate initial premium on each relevant plan information page and you can then request a full quote from there. Alternatively, some plans’ prices are available from the quote search tools I mention below.
• FWD is a company I saw mentioned a couple of times but not often, but it was one of the ones recommended by my friend’s hospital (see below) so that by itself probably makes it worth considering. There are 12 plans on offer, some full coverage and some addons and it seems like you can customize some plans to suit your coverage needs (e.g., coverage limit, deductible, OPD coverage, daily compensation). The Easy E-Health and Lump-sum Health plans seem to have three levels (THB 500,000, 1,000,000, and 1,500,000) which is probably not enough, and even with a THB 30,000 deductible the plans aren’t so cheap (you can also get price quotes directly on the site for these plans without needing to fill out any forms or provide contact information, which is good since FWD isn’t included on either of the two quote engines). The Precious Care plans do have much higher coverage limits (up to THB 100M) and has the option of Thailand only coverage or worldwide. Those plans need an inquiry to get a quote and can only be purchased via an agent. I didn’t request a quote, so I don’t know how cost competitive the plans are.
• LMG offers fairly affordable plans for different coverage needs, including those looking for an eligible plan for a Thai retirement visa. While it seems like a pretty affordable option, overall the coverage seems to be less than other companies’ plans. On the other hand, the plans are available to anyone younger than 80, which is higher than other companies, and can be renewed until you are 100 years old (also a bit older than other companies). I did notice that there is a high deductible, which starts at THB 100,000, so that may or may not be an issue for you.
• Luma seems to be a pretty popular local company with many coverage options, though to me their premiums seemed a bit high for what you get. They seem to offer restricted international coverage as well, though their Zone C Asia coverage excludes coverage in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Thus, it’s probably not worth getting simply because it covers more than Thailand, but it might be a nice bonus if you like their plans for Thailand anyway. Another consideration is that, if I read correctly, you must visit a hospital that operates within their network to enjoy the full benefits of direct billing. Most of these hospitals are located in Bangkok, but they do work with hospitals in other provinces as well.
• Muang Thai is a confusing option because there are actually two Muang Thai companies. One company has a pink logo/branding and the other has blue branding. These are life insurance companies that also offer health insurance plans. I think you can’t get one without the other, but it doesn’t seem to increase the rates too noticeably, which actually seem pretty good relative to the competition. According to ExpatDen, the problem with the blue company’s plans is that the cancer coverage is limited to only THB 1M. I think that’s not enough, so I didn’t really do much more digging after I learned that. So, let’s look at the pink company instead. There are two main options. First is D Health Plus, which has 7 plans with different coverage limit and deductible. For example, Plan 3 is THB 5M coverage (per time) with a THB 30k deductible while Plan 4 is THB 5M coverage with no deductible. The second main option is the Elite Health Plus, with Plan 1 offering THB 20M coverage; Plan2 offering THB 40M; Plan 3 offering THB 75 M; and Plan 4 offering THB 100M. There is no deductible for any plan. I didn’t see any way to get an online quote via the site’s menu options, but I did find quote pages for each type of plan by Googling: click through for D Health Plus or Elite Health Plus. You can also compare different D Health Plus and Elite Health Plus plans. Note that both plans have a high maximum age limit for being able to get coverage (90), so it could be a good option if you are an older expat.
• Pacific Cross Thailand is the Thailand arm of Pacific Cross. Four tiers of plans are offered, each with two or three options: Standard, Premier, Maxima, and Ultima. The Standard Extra plan tops out at 780,000 THB total per confinement but only 100,000 THB per confinement surgery, which seems too low to me. Premier offers 1.2M THB coverage (200k for surgery) and Premier Plus offers 3M THB coverage per confinement (full surgery coverage). Maxima offers 5M THB coverage and Maxima Plus offers 10M THB coverage per confinement (both paid full surgery amount). You can get quotes on the CheckDI and Pacific Prime sites.

International Companies

• April MyHealth has both international and Thailand plans. I think the main international plan is called MyHealth International and there is also a MyHealth Asia. I mostly read very good things about this company, but as with such things, you get what you pay for and it’s one of the more expensive options. I also didn’t do a deep dive because it wasn’t one of my shortlist candidates. It seemed like the quotes I saw online had quite high deductibles (sometimes as much as 10% of the coverage limit) but I think those were for the Thailand plans so I am unsure if the same is true for their international plans.
• Cigna is another international coverage option that gets good reviews for use in Thailand. I have actually read good things about this on digital nomad Reddit channels as well, so it seems one of the more solid all-around options. It is not one of the cheaper options, but if I were looking for true global coverage I would definitely consider Cigna highly.
• Foyer Global Health is not, as far as I can tell, one of the more popular companies so I didn’t come across any reviews for it, either good or bad. One thing I noticed, however, is that they have a plan that includes unlimited coverage with outpatient coverage, which is hard to find with other providers. It is located in Luxembourg, so contacting them from Thailand might not be convenient and setting up direct billing in Thai hospitals might be difficult, especially for outpatient care. However, I read that you can contact them in advance and have them pay the hospital directly. Overall, the price seems good for what you get but other than that I have nothing much to say about them one way or the other.
• Healthcare International (HCI) is a company I have only seen mentioned in connection with CNX Insure (see brokers section below). It’s based in UK but has plans that cover Thailand. If you work with Andy at CNX Insure you can get an ongoing 10% discount. The coverage seems good and the price is not bad either for an international plan (with three tiers: Worldwide, Worldwide excluding USA, and Worldwide excluding multiple countries; note that even the countries excluded include 60 days coverage). I couldn’t find much information about HCI online and the hospital connection I asked said she didn’t know about them either, but that’s not necessarily a negative thing. Also, Andy recommended that I get both their regular plan and a separate accident plan, which seems strange to me. and you cannot combine those two plans together administratively, so you would need to order (and bill) them separately. One interesting thing I noted on the website is that there is an option to include pre-existing conditions, which is pretty unusual. There are five plan levels, with the lowest one (Inpatient+ or Emergency) offering US $500,000 coverage, which is pretty good for Thailand. The plans also apparently are acceptable for long-term stay visas. You can get a quote online. It will ask for personal information, but you can use fake details.
• Pacific Cross is an international provider that also has a Thailand option (see above). It offers four international plan tiers: Major Medical, Premier ($500k per event), Standard ($2M per event), and Comprehensive ($3M per event). All plans are worldwide but some let you limit the coverage area to reduce premiums. The Premier Plan seems to be the most popular/relevant. Getting an online quote isn’t straightforward (they want you to fill out a full application form first).
• WR Life is an interesting option and was originally on my short list, but now it is one I would not recommend. It is an international company out of UK (I believe) but with a presence and 24-hour hotline in Thailand (Bangkok). It also seems to be the least expensive and there are some very positive recommendations for it on expat groups, but I noticed that these recommendations all seem to be based on the price without having had to make a claim (having said that, one commenter did specifically say two claims were paid fast and direct). On online review sites, in contrast, there are many bad reviews (not unusual for any insurance company), but what struck me was the very nasty and petty replies by the company to these negative reviews. It left me with a very sour taste and zero interest in using the company. If I’m wrong, so be it, but that’s my take. If you are attracted by the price and don’t see things the way I do, you might be interested in their Serenity plans, which have coverage limits from $100,000 to $1,000,000 for an affordable price. Their other plans have far too low coverage to be good options. Also note that the incremental cost to go from $0 deductible to $500 deductible is $4 per month or $48 per year, so you would need to go 10 years with only using it once to make it worthwhile. I think it best to just go with a $0 deductible.
• William Russell (Elite) is an option I didn’t evaluate too carefully, other than noting their prices seemed high based on quotes I found on the Pacific Prime site (perhaps justifiably so for the coverage amount and area). I did read a few good comments about them, so perhaps they are worth checking out if you want a full international coverage plan. There is an online quote option which works even with fake details.

Two Very Useful Tools

Two of the broker firms offer a very useful multi-provider quote tool. If you don’t have a trusted broker already or are just starting your research, these should be the first places you look.

• The CheckDI (formerly Mr Prakan) search engine can show quotes for Allianz Ayudhya, April, AXA, Falcon, LMG, and Pacific Cross. I thought it included Muang Thai before but the last time I checked it didn’t so either I remembered incorrectly or they stopped including it. There is also a separate search for plans that meet specific long-stay visa requirements. They ask for an email address, but you can use a fake one. Although the search feature is good, note that there aren’t good filter options. For example, you can’t filter by deductible or total coverage, so you have to wade through a lot of useless results. Having said that, when you do see a plan you are interested in, if it offers multiple deductible options, there will be a dropdown box you can use to change that amount and the premium amount will automatically update.
• Pacific Prime Thailand’s quote search engine covers more providers than CheckDI. It can show quotes for Aetna Thailand (even though that no longer exists so that’s strange), Allianz Ayudhya (BeyondCare, Maxcare, Opal, Ultracare), April MyHealth, AXA Int’l Thailand, AXA SmartCare Essential, AXA SwitchCare, LMG Elite, Luma ACP TH, Luma Thailand, MSH Advanced, NOW Health, Pacific Cross Thailand, Thai Vivat Star, and William Russell Elite. Note that there is an option to select the deductible range but it didn’t seem to work for me. The site asks for an email address but you can use a fake one. They ask for a telephone number as well, but that is optional. The filtering options only include Worldwide and Worldwide excluding USA coverage, but they seem to include Thailand focused plans so I am not sure if that filter is useful or not. If you select all options for results, you will get too many to be convenient. Instead, once you have a shortlist of providers, use the filter option to just show each of those to reduce the number of results to wade through. One useful note is that If you move mouse over each entry’s image it will show you the name of that plan. You can also click on it to pull up a new page with that plan’s details.
  Note: One reason you get so many pages of results is that each deductible amount gets a separate entry, as does a plan that allows, for example, to include another coverage option like dental care.

Tracking the Options

If you want to investigate the different options listed above (and/or others), it might be useful to do so with a simple spreadsheet. As it happens, I made one for my search and you are free to make a copy of it for your own use if so interested. Click the image below to access it.

Brokers and Agents

I’m not really sure the difference between a broker and an agent, but I believe a broker is simply a freelance salesperson that knows about and can act as a middleman with multiple companies. I believe an agent actually works for or has a close relationship with one specific company.

I talked with a few brokers (and one agent), but I didn’t end up working with any of them so I have no opinion about whether you should or shouldn’t. Their commission doesn’t affect what you pay, so if you find a broker you like offering a plan you are happy with, it’s probably worth using. The broker may or may not offer additional support after you purchase. They can also answer any questions you have, but of course, they have an incentive to sell you specific plans that may or may not be best suited to your needs.

A broker/agent may also help you in every step, from application to making a claim and can offer advice on the recommended hospitals. Some may have good relationships with the insurance company and can help you make a claim, especially in cases where your claim might be deemed an exclusion. In certain cases, they may handle the claims process and coordinate with an insurance company on your behalf.

If you are interested in using a broker, here is a very limited list of ones I saw recommended multiple times. I offer no opinion on which, if any, are good and the fact that a broker isn’t listed here should not be construed to mean they are not good.

• AA Insurance Brokers is an insurance brokerage company in Thailand with offices in Bangkok, Pattaya, Huahin, and Phuket.
• Abacus Associates (FB) is a company I saw recommended several times on different expat groups.
• BSI Insurance Broker Limited is a Thai insurance brokerage company that primarily focuses on health insurance for expats who are living in Thailand.  They offer a wide range of local insurance plans including Luma, Aetna, Axa, Thaivivat, and Bangkok Insurance. In addition, they offer offshore plans from William Russell.
• CNXInsure is run by Andy in Chiang Mai (who gets recommended often in the expat groups). His specialty is working with Healthcare International (HCI), and he has partnered with them to offer a 10% discount off the premium (ongoing, not just first year) if you join the Chiang Mai expats club (THB 1,000 for lifetime membership).
• CheckDI, one of the useful quote engines listed above, is also a broker you can use. I have only seen them mentioned in reference to their search engine, so I don’t know much about their broker services. I did notice that on the main page they say they can compare up to 40 insurance companies, but I only saw a fraction of that number in the search results. Perhaps the rest are covered by their broker services.
• Employee Benefits Asia has offices in Pattaya and Bangkok and is an affiliate/reseller of Tenzing Pacific, though the quote I got from them had four options that were different (and more reasonable) then what I got from James Nale at Tenzing.
• Freelance Brokers. There are many individuals acting as agents or brokers. Many are the partners of foreigners so you will see them making recommendations on the various expat groups online. I don’t know if it is my imagination, but it seems like many Thai freelance agents work for AIA. There are also expat freelance brokers who sell international plans that you will sometimes see recommended online (like Andy above) but I was told that foreigners cannot be agents or brokers in Thailand, so I am not sure wherein lies the truth. I think perhaps they cannot be agents for Thai companies, but can for international ones. That would make sense. And perhaps some act more as marketing/sales for their Thai broker/agent partners. I would also say that you should be careful when choosing a freelance broker as not all are experts and some do it as a side job. Likewise, the agents for a specific company might not know or recommend any alternative insurance plans.
• International Citizen Insurance is an American international brokerage company. They partner with leading international insurance companies including Cigna, GeoBlue, Aetna, International Medical Group (IMG), and Now Health to provide international insurance to expats worldwide.
• Pacific Prime Thailand is the company that provides the other quote search engine. Like CheckDI, I don’t know much about how they are as a broker or if they cover more companies than what is found in their search results.

Possibly Useful Online Resources

• Facebook Groups (there are many, just search for them)
• Reddit (especially r/Thailand)
• ExpatDen offers a few useful articles. First, “Health Insurance in Thailand: What You Need to Know as an Expat in 2024” does a decent job explaining things, including the difference between local and international plans. Two others that might also a useful are “Expat Health Insurance Comparison” and “Insurance Brokers in Thailand: The Very Short List Of People I Would Work With“.
• Thai Expats Club Health Insurance page offers information on plans from Allianz Ayudhya, April, Cigna, and Pacific Cross. I am not sure if they are brokers also but there is an option to request a quote so I think they are.

Previously listed resources repeated for convenience:

• Bangkok Hospital list of surgery prices
• Luma has a a page that lists the room costs at various hospitals around Thailand
• Siam Smiles: 2025 Guide to Expat Health Insurance in Thailand by Quinn Miller | Employee Benefits Asia

A Hospital Opinion

I have a friend that is a nurse at a local hospital and I asked her if she could ask anyone at the hospital what their opinion was about recommended companies. I wasn’t asking about the quality of their coverage or their price. I wanted to know what the hospital thinks about working with those companies. How useful this is I cannot say, but I was thinking that if the hospital finds a company easy to work with then it might stand to reason that the patients will be satisfied as well. This was the reply I got (translated via original Thai).

If we rank them in order of claims, where the documents are not complicated, it would be:

1. AXA
2. Cigna Global
3. Pacific Cross
4. Aetna

** AIA is not recommended because there are many conditions and the documents are complicated.

** HCI. He does not know this company. There are not many patient cases from this company.

** He recommended FWD. (It is a Thai company.) They respond to claims quickly within one day. The documents are not complicated.

An “Out of the Box” Idea

The Thai Citizenship website has an interesting article that explains how Thailand’s social security (SSO) health insurance is available to foreigners who work in the country for at least one full year and is quite inexpensive ($15 per month). It seems to indicate that once you are eligible you can keep renewing even if you stop working and even if you leave the country for an extended time. It can only be used in public and select private hospitals, and the article lists some coverage limits, but it could be a good strategy to get a job and work long enough to get the insurance, even if the pay is lousy, especially if you have aged out or are being priced out of private insurance options covered here. However, the article states that there are “a few exclusions for teachers, civil servants, university employees and company directors” so you would definitely want to make sure any job offer includes this. The article doesn’t mention pre-existing conditions, but as those are never covered by private insurance it would only be upside if they are covered and no difference if not.

NOTE: The big limitation, apparently fairly recent, is that you must be registered on a yellow Tabien Baan (house registration) and have a pink Thai ID. The same website has an article about how to achieve that. Essentially, you’ll need to be married to a Thai or have a close Thai friend that would be willing to add you to their house registration. Possibly a bit of a high hurdle, but worth a try, and being so registered does offer additional benefits (e.g., not needing a residency certificate for the myriad things they are typically required to get, like a Thai driver’s license).

Any Thoughts to Share?

As I stated at the start, what I have written above is just the results of the research I did to get health insurance for myself. Did you notice anything that is incorrect or incomplete? Anything that is missing? Any specific advice or thoughts that you’d like to share? If so, please leave a comment so others can benefit from your knowledge/experience. As I mentioned, I don’t think most reviews (for providers or brokers) is especially useful, but if you have actually needed to use insurance you have and can comment on the experience, especially if it was good, that would be great to hear about. It would also be great to hear from anyone who has had a significant claim and how, if at all, that affected future plan renewals.

It would also be great to hear from anyone who has specific knowledge of the Thai social security insurance, especially regarding prerequisite conditions to qualify, exclusions, ease of use, quality, etc.

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