Should I Enter Thailand on Another Visa to Obtain Insurance for OA Visa?

My advice. Don't get insurance in Thailand. The website of approved suppliers tend not to answer enquires from email and hang up on you when you call.

But even if you do obtain Thai insurance (as I did eventually using an agent) the junior staff at the Visa department of the embassy may not understand it fully and still make you file as if your insurance was foreign (mine embassy caused a week delay)

This new process for a Non OA is a complete screw up. I had the ministry of health services email my countries consulate with correct information after they clearly did not understand the process and were requesting documents I was not supposed to need having Thai insurance. AND they still insisted on disagreeing with Thai immigration rules and made up their own.

The only reason for a Non OA is if you wish to keep your money in a foreign bank account. In today's world there is no reason to do this. Once there was higher interest rates, now the only reason people give is they don't want so much money in Thailand. Easy enough to transfer half of it out again for 9 months of the year if having money here bothers you. Although the term deposit interest rate now is higher than most other countries

Search the site and read all of the posts and info. Don't ask the same question as many many before you ;)

You should search this site for the process to obtain a non-immigrant O visa while you are in Thailand. There is no insurance requirement but you will have to deposit money in a Thai bank to meet the financial requirements.

If you purchase a non-immigrant OA visa in your home country there is an insurance requirement but you can meet the financial requirement with money in your home country bank account. You can meet the insurance requirement by purchasing insurance from the TGIA website however the plans available are expensive and have poor health coverage. There is a form for foreign insurance to qualify but it is difficult to get them to sign the form. I don’t know if you can get a good Thai policy unless you have lived here a while.

O-A can only be obtained outside of Thailand in your home country.