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Be Insured & Carry It on You!


bumblebee

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Up until about 5 years ago I seldom bothered with travel insurance, my naive reasoning being well I never have accidents at home so why worry when abroad. Then one night I got a minor bite by a dog and went through all the rabies jabs process.  The cost of treatment was about 7000 B overall out of my pocket, but more importantly a wake up call that we are vulnerable and of course it could have been financially worse.  Since then I have always purchased insurance, "just in case".

 

Well just under 2 weeks ago one of those "just in case" situations arose and fortunately my pre planning paid off straight away.

 

First off I ALWAYS have the policy in my pocket,(why buy insurance and keep it in your room or worse the safe if you then cannot access it in an emergency) along with a copy of my passport, the phone number of the insurance company highlighted including country code and enough credit in my Skype account to make international calls.  Also I have the phone number of a local I know can help written on the policy, be it farang or Thai, it's just good to have someone to sort things while I am not 100%.

 

In my case it was a broken arm, the insurance cost me 7000 B for my trip, but if I had not had it the whole experience would have set me back me an eye watering 390,000 B, just under 10,000 Euro.  I did have to pay an excess waiver of 3000 B, small money when you look at the alternative.

 

Seriously guys, if you are not insured or are but have it locked away in the room (almost the same as not having it if you cannot get someone to bring it to the hospital), get it on your person, save yourself a lot of hassle and travel around safely, this is not home.

 

 

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Wow B, that is crazy.  Are you doing well?  They got you in a cast?

 

Good thing you had insurance.  Your friendly reminder is a good thing.  I always have travel insurance, but when I had my ankle sprained a few years ago, I didn't have any of the important documents with me.

 

Petesie, the good friend he is got me back to my hotel after the incident, the Pattaya Bay Resort.  I asked the receptionist if there was an ice machine (yeah good luck).  The owner was there, an ex-paramedic from the States, he took one look at my ankle and said 'we're taking you to the hospital'.  Petesie, my LB, and I hopped in his SUV and drove to the hospital on Soi 4. 

 

When I was filling out the paperwork at the hospital, they asked me about my insurance.  I had it, but didn't have any documentation on me.  At that point all I was taking out with me was a pocket full of cash and my passport.  I was worried as shit, thinking I wouldn't be able to pay the bill, at the time the pain was intense and the swelling was orange size, I thought I had broken it.

 

They brought me back, x-rays, meet with the doctor, off to get the foot medicated and wrapped, one week of prescription meds - turned out to be less than my pocket money for the night. But from then on I always carried the the card and other information with me.

 

I'm shocked that the cost of a broken arm was so much - 12,000 USD sounds like it would be expensive even if I had the treatment done in the U.S.   Excellent advice you posted and sobering reminder.  Hope you are doing ok.

 

 

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EXCELLENT advice!!!! Highlighting your local country number AND carrying it is now added to my always carried copy of the passport and visa. :-)

If you cannot afford comprehensive travel insurance you simply cannot afford the holiday! In most cases it's only a few short/long times

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This could turn out to be very important advice .

 

I too for many years kept my travel insurance locked away with my passport /travel tickets/passport etc until I heard the horror story a few years ago of a guy who had a serious accident and because not carrying any insurance or ID was shipped off to some dump of a place to die .

 

I'm lucky that my current insurer provides a little plastic credit card sized card with the emergency number and policy number on it .

 

Another good tip is instead of carrying your passport or a photo copy go to any of the photography shops ( I used the one at the Second Road end of Soi 13/1) and get an ID sized copy of your passport page .

 

You can get this made into an ID card and laminated very cheaply I think it was around 100 Baht for 2 copies I even use it at home for ID .

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Even if it makes one guy more carry it on him from now on this thread will have been worthwhile.  I am on the mend now Hoot thanks, 2 months to go but not in a cast any longer, just a sling and the stitches covered in waterproof plasters.  The reason the treatment was so expensive is because it was in the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital.  The incident happened about 2 am Wednesday after picking up the missus from work and then after going to the hospital the night doctor put me in plaster and made and appointment to come back 2 days later, Friday morning.  The surgeon showed me the X ray and advised surgery, a pin in my upper arm, total cost about 300,000 including 3 nights in hospital he said.  I was not sure if the insurance were going to cover it, and went home to ponder my options to get money to cover it in a worse case scenario. 

 

One of my friends from home is coming next week, and I arranged that he would bring over the money that could be scrambled together from bank loans if the insurance wiggled out of it somehow.  The weekend was pure misery, physically and mentally, not knowing if the insurance were gonna play ball and I decided to head back to the hospital on Monday regardless, knowing the op had to be done one way or another.   They contacted the insurance again, a second medical report was sent and all was ok.  Somehow another 90,000 got added on but all was covered.  Now the hospital only has single rooms, so hence some of the expense.

 

Having the insurance company phone number on the policy sheet the initial night worked a treat and within an hour of entering the hospital papers were being sent back and forth.  You really cannot make it easy enough for them and yourself to get wheels in motion asap.  Can you imagine if your policy was in the safe and you were trying to get reception to fetch it for you, or worse still you are unconscious/in a coma and no papers on you, blood chilling stuff.

 

I'll say it again as it needs repeating please carry this stuff on you and save yourself a whole world of trouble if all goes tits up some day.  Think of the broken pavements in Pattaya, the motorbikes whizzing by as you walk along roads like Buakhao, jumping on and off a baht bus etc and you know it makes sense.  It only takes one simple tumble to make a financial nightmare a reality.  Has anyone ever successfully sued Pattaya council? :biggrin:

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I have always travelled with insurance and used it in Pattaya a number of times for minor physical ailments. However, I too always left the info locked up in the hotel safe. After reading the above that practice will be abandoned. Going to do what Jimslim suggests. I'll get a wallet sized laminated copy of the passport, visa, and insurance info as soon as I get to Second Rd and 13/1. Once I get to Pattaya I'll try to stay focused and avoid stopping off for a beer and crotch rub first. It will be hard to do but I I'll do my best. 

 

Much thanks for the advice.

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Glad you are on the mend BB, sounds like that was a very serious injury.  When I read broken arm, I wasn't thinking pins and surgery, no wonder it cost so much.  I'll be double checking my documents before liftoff and taking some of the tips in mind, like highlighting the phone numbers and having some Skype credit on my phone.

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I always have travel insurance, purely for peace of mind, I use my bank, as I've been with them years, I could shop around and save a few £££ but I prefer the devil I know rather than the devil I don't know  !! And I always keep a photo copy of my insurance and passport in my wallet at all times !!

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bloody hell BB,thats a bit of bad luck mate.....anyway ,good to hear youre on the mend.....following a similar story you told me last year,(i do pay heed to you)....i went and got myself insured and carry the card around with me.....it was too expensive getting uk insurance imo,so i joined the BKK Bank,and they offer an accident insurance for the princely sum of 2080 baht.....im covered for 20,000 baht (which i was assured was ample for a broken limb!-might have to upgrade!).....

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I just had an incident where l had to go to the hospital on Soi 4. Woke up one morning to find my left eye almost closes and swolen and weeping. I went to the hospital on Soi Baukau and got the ususal diagnosis of pink eye and drops and pills to the tune of 800Bt. Next day it was worst and 360 took me to Soi 4. I saw an eye specialist that evening and after a barage of high teck tests and bag full of creams, drops and meds l was 5000bt lighter.

Point well taaken as next time l will be a card carrying Dude.

Just my 10 cents

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Greetings etgohm !

 

Don't mean to be nosey, but did the doctor say what caused that eye infection ? Coz sometimes im a bit wary of hotel pillows! You never know what they been used for before you use them, I watched to many porn movies to see what pillows can be used for, it may sound stupid, but I never use a pillow, I just puff a beach towel up and use that instead

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I never had travel insurance on any of my trips. <gasp>  I finally decided to get some last trip but I didn't call to buy the insurance until I had already started my trip (overnighted near SFO before going on to Asia). They wouldn't sell me insurance after the trip had started. But I will have travel insurance for the next trip. Guess I have been living dangerously all these years.

 

Kasikorn Bank has two levels of insurance one can add when getting a debit card (I think it is). One covers a fairly substantial amount of baht (50k baht?). But likely not 390k baht? Maybe someone has better details? Also it wouldn't cover an emergency evacualtion to one's home country if necessary. I've never heard of anyone actually having to do that but someone here might have heard of an actual case?

 

Medical care use to be cheap even at Pattaya Bangkok Hospital. But I think the medical tourism articles had an effect on that a few years ago. The farangs get gouged for medical care just like about everything else.   

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Greetings etgohm !

Don't mean to be nosey, but did the doctor say what caused that eye infection ? Coz sometimes im a bit wary of hotel pillows! You never know what they been used for before you use them, I watched to many porn movies to see what pillows can be used for, it may sound stupid, but I never use a pillow, I just puff a beach towel up and use that instead

He didnt say anything about a pillow but did say that so many falangs get ill because they dont know how to control themselves. We had a long chat and both agreed that lack of sleep, too much alcohol and wreckless interaction with multiple partners is a recipe for problems. He asked me if l participate in oral sex, put my fingers in places that could be dirty and possibly rubbed my eyes or experienced any of my partners juices on my face!

Of course the answer was no, no no, but l do suck my thumb!

Cheers,

ET

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One thing I really missed in the 5 days between the accident and the operation was my mobility.  While it was my upper arm, I was unable to stand because it just hung there and the pain was unbearable.  A simple visit to the bathroom was a 30 to 40 min roundtrip, 5 mins to carefully slide off the bed onto the floor, 5 mins to bum across the room, resting the bad arm on my chest to lessen the pain while I supported myself on my right arm.  A wash and whatever else had to be done and then another 10 mins to get back to being on the bed.  I did this once a day as it was such an effort, otherwise I was stuck in the one position on the bed.  Not a fun time and so glad it's behind me.  Having the missus with me made all the difference ..ahh. :biggrin:

 

 

Did my first walk to the north end of Beach Road yesterday from my room on Thep Praya road and it just felt so liberating to be able to do so.  It's certainly the simple things in life we appreciate.  I know it's a cliche but never take your health for granted.

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One thing I really missed in the 5 days between the accident and the operation was my mobility.  While it was my upper arm, I was unable to stand because it just hung there and the pain was unbearable.  A simple visit to the bathroom was a 30 to 40 min roundtrip, 5 mins to carefully slide off the bed onto the floor, 5 mins to bum across the room, resting the bad arm on my chest to lessen the pain while I supported myself on my right arm.  A wash and whatever else had to be done and then another 10 mins to get back to being on the bed.  I did this once a day as it was such an effort, otherwise I was stuck in the one position on the bed.  Not a fun time and so glad it's behind me.  Having the missus with me made all the difference ..ahh. :biggrin:

 

 

Did my first walk to the north end of Beach Road yesterday from my room on Thep Praya road and it just felt so liberating to be able to do so.  It's certainly the simple things in life we appreciate.  I know it's a cliche but never take your health for granted.

Holy cow, bumblebee. Sounds horrible. I got travel insurance through Lonely Planet's affiliate, WorldNomads.com, for my trip to Cambodia and Thailand last summer. It cost about $250 US for three months. I don't remember the exact amount of coverage, but it was more than enough to cover a major injury, and inlcuded emergency evacuation coverage.

 

I didn't carry my policy with me ever last summer but I will definitely do so during my next visit after reading your warning.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Tourists planning a visit to Thailand can now avail of a special online insurance coverage scheme known as the “Thailand Travel Shield”, which will be set up by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in cooperation with four reputed Thai insurance companies, Muang Thai Insurance, Chao Phaya Insurance, Siam City Insurance, and Krungthai Panich Insurance. All are reputable, publicly-listed companies.

Effective July 25, 2014, visitors will be able to buy the insurance coverage online for a broad range of unforeseen events ranging from accidents, trip cancellation, loss or damage of baggage / personal belongings, emergency hotel accommodation, etc.

These travel insurance policies provide instant coverage up to the value of 1,000,000 Baht for the packages starting at 650 Baht, and up to the value of 2,000,000 Baht for the packages starting at 1,100 Baht. The period of coverage ranges up to 60 days, but it can also cover visitors making annual trips to Thailand.

 

The scheme will be publicised worldwide by TAT through its international offices, as well as marketed online through website: www.tourismthailand.org/thailandtravelshield

tourist-insurance_6TAT Governor Thawatchai Arunyik said, “TAT has initiated the creation of an alternative insurance scheme that could be offered by Thai companies. We are now happy to report that such a scheme has now been set in place. This is to ensure that travellers enjoy their visit to the kingdom with great peace of mind, knowing that should anything go wrong, they’ll be covered.”

In addition, everyone purchasing this insurance can take advantage of the 24-hour emergency assistance offered by the well-known Allianz Global Assistance.

The Medical and Travel Assistance Services will allow visitors to get pre-trip information; such as, inoculation, weather, exchange rates, telephone medical advice, medical service provider referral, assistance in case of loss of luggage/passport assistance, and embassy referral.

Visitors availing of the scheme are also advised to read the fine print to see what is excluded from the coverage; such as, accidents while under the influence of alcohol, indulging in extreme sports, motorcycle riding, getting involved in public brawls, etc.

 

 

http://www.tatnews.org/thailand-launches-tourist-insurance-coverage-scheme/

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I had the scare of my life today as I was walking down Soi 6 in Bangkok. I misjudged a taxi directions. I knew it was behind me but assumed it was making the left turn to continue up the soi towards Sukhumvit. Walking ahead of the taxi and not looking back I too make the turn to head up the soi towards Sukhumvit. Just as I did the taxi missed me by an inch if not closer. My foot was a hair's width away from being run over by his rear tire. He was going straight towards the hotels in the direction of Lolita's and I stupidly assumed he was turning. I have never been that close to  being creamed in my entire life. It scared the tar out of me. Afterwards I just stopped, made the sign of the cross and thanked Jesus for assigning me a Guardian Angel. Whew it was so fucking close...

 

So yes, I thought about INSURANCE. Really stupid not to have it. Shit happens. It's one think to have an accident in your home country and quite another in a foreign land. 

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  • 11 months later...

Jesus H Christ, a year already, where the fook does time go. I was just thinking, it is 3 months exactly since Jimslim and I were down visiting you and 'er indoors, yet it feels like it were a few weeks ago. 

 

Btw, did you ever send the boys round to sort out that kerb that you drunkenly fell over, errr suddenly grew out of nowhere.

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