Thailand won't give you a long-stay visa without health insurance.
Most people find that out late, then buy the wrong policy twice. This site sets out what the rules actually require, which cover qualifies, and what it costs.
Non-Immigrant O-A — long stay, applied for abroad
- Coverage
- ฿3,000,000 per policy year · ≈ US$100,000
- Must include
- Inpatient and outpatient treatment
- Insurer
- Generally must be approved by Thailand's Office of Insurance Commission (OIC)
- Valid for
- The whole period of stay, not just the application date
Figures as published by Thai embassy guidance at the date shown. Requirements change and individual embassies apply them differently — confirm with the post you are applying through before you buy a policy. Nothing here is legal or insurance advice.
Subjects
Health insurance
Which policies satisfy which visa, what OIC approval means, and where the cheap plans fall short.
วีซ่าVisas & extensions
O-A, O and DTV compared. What each demands, and which one fits which situation.
โรงพยาบาลHospitals & treatment
Public versus private, what a stay really costs, and how direct billing works with an insurer.
ค่าครองชีพCost of living
What a month runs in Chiang Mai, Bangkok and the coast — with every figure dated.
การเงินMoney & banking
Who can still open an account, and how to move the money the visa demands.
การตั้งถิ่นฐานSettling in
TM30, 90-day reports and the driving licence — and the order they depend on.
All eight pages
- Does your health insurance qualify for a Thailand O-A visa? The three tests a policy has to pass, and the one that catches most people.
- What OIC approval means — and why your policy probably lacks it Why a bigger, better foreign policy can be refused where a modest Thai one is accepted.
- O-A, O and DTV: which Thailand long-stay visa fits Three routes, three completely different gates. Age, marriage, or bank statement.
- The ฿800,000 requirement: seasoning, timing, and getting the money there The calendar rules that refuse applications, and what happens to the money afterwards.
- Opening a Thai bank account as a foreigner Tourist, exempt and DTV holders are now effectively shut out. What still works.
- Cost of living in Thailand: Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the coast Why published budgets mislead, and the three lines that actually decide yours.
- Thai hospitals: public, private, and what treatment costs An eightfold price gap on the same operation, and why direct billing decides your insurer.
- TM30, 90-day reports and a Thai driving licence The paperwork chain, and the one filing your landlord makes that gates all of it.
How this site works
- Everything is dated Visa rules and premiums go stale fast. Every figure carries the date it was last checked, so you can judge it yourself instead of trusting it blind.
- Sources are named Requirements link to embassy or OIC material, not to a forum post from 2019 quoting another forum post.
- No invented experience Nobody here pretends to have held every policy on the market. Where first-hand experience matters and we don't have it, the page says so.
- Some links pay us A few outbound links are affiliate links, and they're marked where they appear. They don't decide what is recommended or in what order.
- Not advice This is reference material, not legal or insurance advice. Confirm anything that carries a cost with your embassy, insurer or a licensed broker.