Foreign travellers will be included in Thailand’s emergency medical care programme, which requires all hospitals to provide free emergency care to patients.
Accidents on Thailand’s water and roads are a significant source of injury for foreign travellers, often caused by car rental agencies and tourists who ignore safety rules.
Officials from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the National Institute of Emergency Medicine intend to explore expanding the universal coverage programme for emergency patients to include foreign tourists.
The current universal health insurance policy for emergency patients obliges Thai hospitals, both private and public, to provide free emergency medical care within 72 hours of admission to a patient with a Thai social insurance card.
Hospitals are reimbursed by the insurance fund in which the person is insured. After three days, the patient is transferred to the medical facility, where they are treated under the insurance policy.
Tourism and Sports Minister Sudawan Wangsupkhakijkosol said the ministry had discussed expanding the programme to foreigners with the Health Ministry and is awaiting detailed plans.
The initiative is part of the government’s strategy to boost Thailand’s status as a top tourist destination next year. The minister emphasised that emergency medical treatment for foreigners in Thai hospitals is essential to attract foreign tourists to the kingdom.
The situation of a Taiwanese tourist who was seriously injured in a car accident last December and a private hospital abandoned has outraged the public and attracted media attention.
From the beginning of the year to March 31, 128 tourists have already been injured in Thailand, including 64 deaths. Eighty-two of the injuries were caused by road accidents,’ according to the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Tourism.
The number of tourists killed in accidents while on water holidays was 18 people. Fifteen road accident victims follow this, 12 personal health-related accidents and two suicides. In 2023, 400 foreign tourists were reported injured, and 185 foreigners died, according to reports.
Sudawan said including international tourists in the programme will improve safety by complementing the current assistance programme for tourist injuries or fatalities.
From January 1 to August 31, the assistance programme offers up to 1 million baht for deaths and 500,000 baht for injuries. The government has allocated 50 million baht for this support programme, which will run for eight months of the current fiscal year.
The Minister of Tourism and Sports said the ministry intends to review the compensation amounts during a trial period before recommending extending the programme from September. By March, 2 million baht had been paid to tourists eligible for compensation under the programme.
An anonymous official from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports said some injury issues affected other government departments.
The official suggested that the Ministry of Commerce regulate car and motorbike rental companies to ensure compliance. For example, they checked driver’s licences before renting and offering insurance to tourists.
The official also noted that some tourists must pay more attention to safety measures, such as using motorbike helmets when riding motorbikes and scooters.
Some countries have been concerned about the safety of tourists in Thailand, including Saudi Arabia, which has inquired about the high rate of motorbike accidents among Saudi nationals visiting Phuket and Pattaya, mostly among 20-35-year-olds.
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