Plan Trip
Travel insurance for Thailand
Most insurance advice for Thailand is a list of brands. The useful version is a list of clauses, because two policies at the same price can differ by a factor of ten on the one thing that ends up mattering. Here is what to check, and then where the options sit.
Biggest risk
motorbikes
Scooter crashes are the most common serious injury for visitors — and the most commonly excluded.
What decides it
the limit
A week in a Bangkok private ICU can run past a low coverage cap. The number matters more than the brand.
Long stays
read the term
Standard travel policies are built for trips, not months. Check the maximum trip length before you buy.
Five things to check before you buy
Motorbike cover — read this before anything else
Renting a scooter is the single most likely way a Thailand trip turns into a claim, and most standard travel policies exclude it unless you hold a licence valid for that engine size — often an international permit with a motorcycle endorsement. Riding without one can void the medical claim entirely, not just the vehicle part. If you intend to rent a scooter in Pai, Samui, or Phuket, confirm this clause in writing before you pay for a policy.
Coverage limit, against real Thai hospital costs
Thailand has excellent private hospitals — Bumrungrad, Samitivej, Bangkok Hospital — and they are not cheap. A straightforward injury handled at a private hospital can run into thousands; a serious admission with surgery, ICU time, or a medical evacuation home runs far higher. A low cap is fine for a minor illness and useless for the event you actually bought insurance against.
Trip length and whether you can buy while abroad
Many standard policies cap a single trip at 30, 60, or 90 days, and many require you to buy before leaving home. If you are already in Thailand, or staying longer than a season, you need a policy that explicitly allows both — this is the main practical difference between travel insurance and nomad insurance.
Direct billing versus reimbursement
Some insurers settle directly with a network of Thai hospitals; others expect you to pay and claim back. In an emergency the difference is whether you hand over a card or a five-figure deposit. Check which hospitals near where you are staying are in-network.
Whether your visa requires it
Some Thai long-stay categories require proof of medical insurance with a stated minimum, and the rules change. Do not take a figure from any guide, including this one — check the official sources.
Visa rules and required minimums change without notice. See our visa page for the official sources rather than relying on any summary.
Where the options sit
Some links below are partner links. If you book through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects what we recommend or how destinations are ranked.
EKTA
Cheap, quick to buy, and — unusually — you can buy or extend a policy while you are already abroad, entirely online. That solves the two problems that disqualify most standard travel policies for anyone already in Thailand or staying past a season.
The trade-off is the limit.EKTA's plans are published at roughly €25,000 on the basic tier and €100,000 on the premium tier. For comparison, SafetyWing — which is not sold through us — publishes around €250,000. If you want the cheap, flexible option, take the premium tier rather than the basic one, because the basic cap is thin against a serious private-hospital admission in Bangkok. Confirm the current figures on their site; these move.
Worth comparing, though we earn nothing from them
SafetyWing and Genki are the two policies long-stay travellers and remote workers most often end up on. Both are built around open-ended stays and much higher medical limits, and both cost more per month than a basic travel policy. We have no commercial relationship with either — if your priority is the size of the limit rather than the price, compare them directly before deciding.
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