Thread: Cheapest Health Insurance for Retirement Visa

Could somebody please recommend the cheapest possible health insurance option to obtain a retirement visa for a 76y/o American and his Filipina Wife?

Is it still mandatory post Covid?

He's getting quotes around the $1,000 mark each.

Cheers.

Mine is through Dhipaya and was B69,000 for the year. It is for B3,500,000. I ain’t 76 though.

They have been insuring me for a few months. I have made no claims so can’t vouch for how well they pay or how much premiums rise each year.

Last one on this list.

https://longstay.tgia.org/document/c...ntact_list.pdf

No health insurance requirement for the O retirement visa. The OA retirement visa is the one with the health insurance requirement. I have the O since January.

Thanks SK you beat me to it.

Originally Posted by aging one

Thanks SK you beat me to it.

Tod Daniels is the expert on this stuff. Doesn’t post here anymore but he’s an admin in the Expats in Thailand group on FB. Anybody who searched his name in that group will find anything they want to know about any visa.

Cheers bruh!

At that age and assuming the almost certain fact he will have several existing health issues a premium for a policy indemnifying to a realistic degree would be in the region of £10,000+ per year, although several companies might balk at taking the risk.

There are some mickey mouse policies at a more acceptable level but cover is limited to a total annual in patient care cost of around, say, 600-800,000 baht.

Usually policies for farang are very limited for the over 65s and several impose a requirement of marriage to a Thai spouse together with residence status of retiree etc.

Essentially, for all practical purposes farang over 75s are uninsurable here.

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

No health insurance requirement for the O retirement visa. The OA retirement visa is the one with the health insurance requirement. I have the O since January.

What is the difference between O and OA for retirement purposes?

That is how it should be Katie

They never normally get past 10 posts these health insuramce threads.

My two penneth...

Edmonds ex will be the one to ask about insurance policies in Thailand.

If its serious then just rent a high floored condo in Wongamat for the final swan song/dive or if you really wanna fuck yourself...head to Blackpool

deleted, upon reading not up to date.

As sk said, see Todd Daniels on FB, he knows his stuff.

Originally Posted by dirk diggler

What is the difference between O and OA for retirement purposes?

His wife is a Filipina, right?

Originally Posted by dirk diggler

What is the difference between O and OA for retirement purposes?

My understanding is if you apply outside Thailand for the retirement visa … the OA is what you get and has the insurance requirement.

The O visa without the insurance requirement is what you get if you fly into Thailand on a tourist visa and then apply for the retirement visa.

Here is a cut and paste of one of Tod Daniel’s responses on FB:

I'd still come in on a regular tourist visa, get your bank account opened, get the funds transferred in, then apply first for the 90 day Non-O and after 2 months the year extension. That's more steps but it doesn't require insurance at all.

I’ll be honest and admit I didn’t fully understand and still don’t … but I did the above knowing I was just going to find an agent once I hit the ground and let them do it for me.

From what I’ve read, the non O requires health care and the Non O-A doesn’t.

Originally Posted by dirk diggler

From what I’ve read, the non O requires health care and the Non O-A doesn’t.

No. The opposite. O does not require, OA does.

Originally Posted by Norton

Your friend can apply for O in Thailand after he arrives on either no visa (30 day stay) or tourist visa (60 day, plus 30 with extention to stay).

Proof that you are 50 years or older (your passport will suffice)
Sufficient funds in your Thai Bank account not less than 800,000 THB.
Notification of Residence in Thailand (TM 30 Receipt)

He will get a Non O good for 90 days stay. Then apply for Non O good for 1 year stay.


I would recommend this as well.


Apparently so. Which brings up the question, what long stay visa can she get?

She piggybacks on his visa, they have lived in Thailand for many years previously. It's just a bit different now.

Thanks for all replies, sorry my wifi is limited at the moment.

My reply came out all wrong for some reason.

The info I read was here:

What is the difference between a Non-Immigrant O & Non-Immigrant O-A Visa? - Thai Visa Expert

^ that is the link I deleted as it is not up to date.

Originally Posted by Norton

Your friend can apply for O in Thailand after he arrives on either no visa (30 day stay) or tourist visa (60 day, plus 30 with extention to stay).

Proof that you are 50 years or older (your passport will suffice)
Sufficient funds in your Thai Bank account not less than 800,000 THB.
Notification of Residence in Thailand (TM 30 Receipt)

He will get a Non O good for 90 days stay. Then apply for Non O good for 1 year stay.

That information is for an OA visa.

An O visa requires 400k seasoned for two months when the application is made.

Mine is based on marriage to a Thai.

An OA requires 800k and insurance.

Originally Posted by cyrille

An O visa requires 400k seasoned for two months when the application is made.

I have the O like Norts, it must have 800,000 baht in it. The Marriage visa requires 400,000

Originally Posted by aging one

I have the O like Norts, it must have 800,000 baht in it. The Marriage visa requires 400,000

I had the marriage when I lived in Thailand from 2007-2010. Yep, it was 400K.

Now on the O retirement visa this time with the 800K and no insurance.

Part of the reason I just don’t go to deep in explaining this stuff is because I still don’t fully understand the “seasoning” part of the equation. Especially for those who want to use their monthly pensions for the 40K/65K. Kinda understand but just not knowledgeable enough to explain it. And then there are those who want to use a combination of the 400K/800K combined with their 40K/65K monthly pensions. Sounds like a pain in the arse and just easier to deposit the 400K/800K and not let the balance go below that.

Anyway, all I know is I flew in back in October 2022 on the 60 day tourist visa. Chilled out for a week and then found an agent for 30,000 baht. The agent magically made 800K appear in my account and then immediately it disappeared and somehow the agent used this to get me the 90 day O visa and 12 month extension … 15 months. My renewal month is January 2024.

That’s straight forward enough. No need to pay 30k to an agent if you can show the pension income or the 800k. I don’t think he would have a problem there.

cheers.