What should I know about medical insurance for a 1-year OA visa in Thailand?

The most popular one for OA visa is AXA.

I used AXA there was a link from the Thai visa site that offered a choice, cost was very reasonable.

Do not under any circumstance use REGENCY. THEY DO NOT PAY CLAIMS. I REPEAT THEY DO NOT PAY CLAIMS. CANCELLED. NO MONEY back

@Michael *********

have a chat with Tenzing, they're experts on expat insurance:

Tenzing Pacific Services

Requires Thai health insurance

40K Thb OP

400K Thb IP

LMG Thai healthcare

Yrly premium 8,000thb

I got an OA visa before I came here and I have no regrets. People tout the non-O as being the best, with the only difference is you don’t need proof of insurance, but I knew I was going to get insurance anyway so that wasn’t a big deal. I got the OA because I wanted a one year visa when I entered Thailand, instead of the 90 days you get with the non-O. I didn’t want to have to rush around to get a bank account and transfer 800,000 baht in it within one month, so it would be in the account for the required 2 months before doing the extension. I had a lot of other stuff to do like finding a good area to live, securing a condo, and buying everything I needed for it. I didn’t want the added stress of worrying about an extension in 90 days when I arrived. It took a lot of stress off me to not have to worry about it for a whole year. As for insurance, I got it mainly for catastrophic incidents like a motorbike accident or a heart attack or stroke that would leave me in a hospital for many weeks or maybe months. That could bankrupt you. Routine exams and tests along with minor outpatient fees are cheap enough that I don’t get outpatient coverage and just pay that out of pocket. I think it’s foolish not to have catastrophic event coverage, but many of these guys on here will tell you that you don’t need it. I say, up to you. You can get a relatively cheap policy from AXA to cover your visa requirement and get the OA visa. If you email them and ask them they’ll know exactly what you need. That’s what I did. But after I got here I wanted a more comprehensive plan so I now have a policy through Pacific Cross. Anyway, many will pop-poo on the OA visa for the insurance requirement of the OA and will push the non-O, but it worked out great for me and I’d do it the same way if I had to do it over again. Good luck with whatever you decide.

When applying for the non oa there are several recommendations for insurance on the visa page, using one of these makes the process easier. I used AXA, the cost is reasonable.

Talk to an insurance broker at

@Tenzing ******************

very helpful and highly recommend

Definitely get the non-o there’s no insurance requirement and the insurance they want you to buy isn’t a very good policy at all

Agent

You’re in the wrong job

Dont use regency

I don't care what the visa you request say about insurance, don't you think that having a medical insurance is a good idea anyway? I would simply make sure that my police meets at least Thaï requirements

Following

I do not recommend starting out on a Non-O/A visa. If you don't mind putting 800,000 THB into a Thai bank account, stick to the Non-Imm-O visa. Another reason is, after the maximum of 2 years on a Non-Imm-O/A visa, you will be forced to make a contract with a Thai private health insurance, and you will have to put a minimum of 800,000 THB into a Thai bank account anyways. Not really recommended. You fare much better if you start out on a Non-Imm-O retirement visa. On a Non-Imm-O visa and the extension out of it, you do NOT need a mandatory health insurance