Thinking about retirement. Can I get health insurance ar age 77

I am lookong at health insurance options at the moment. I'm 66 this year. Can anyone explain what 'srlf-insurance' means. Is it a specified amount in a dedicated accouny? TIA

Been reading through more of the posts in this group, May I say you lot are amazing, sound advice (ok, sometimes misguided) usually in a polite way

Someone earlier asked about the 5yr elite visa and the responses you gave were very interesting, the elite visa was going to be our ticket to Thailand but a lot of you on here have kinda suggested it might not be the best way for us

So, May I ask which visa you would recommend based on the below requirements

We will be retirees

We do not want to have to have private medical insurance (we will be self insuring ourselves)

We want to be able to leave Thailand whenever we want and return whenever we want (purely to visit our children in Australia and New Zealand)

Putting a quantity of cash into an leaving it in a Thai Bank is absolutely fine

We will both be over 55

As little admin/ paperwork/ reporting as possible

Thank you as always for views

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

*EDIT*

Thank You All For Your Invaluable Advice, Decision Pretty Much Made, We will most likely Self Insure

Comments Now Turned Off

A few years ago I suffered from something called a spontaneous internal carotid artery dissection, I did not suffer a stroke and I have not had any medical intervention (no stents fitted etc) but as a result of my dissection, I now take multiple prescribed medication to try to control my blood pressure and it has left me with neurological issues (short term memory issues being one example)

Must say, to look at me, I look perfectly ‘normal’

Within the next 18 months we (myself and my wife) are planning on selling up (from the UK) and moving to Thailand to retire on a permanent basis, I will be 55 and my wife will be 61

Medical Insurance…

I have just read an article that insurance providers will not cover any pre-existing conditions, so with having high blood pressure, if I was to suffer from a stroke/ heart attack etc, I would not be covered as that could be linked to my blood pressure

I also appreciate, as we age, the premiums will increase substantially

So, based on the above, if I was to simply put a lump sum of money away and, in the event of a medical emergency, go to a public hospital and pay for any required treatment, would this be a viable option?

Has anyone got any experience on using the public hospitals?

As always, thank you in advance