Medical Insurance - A must have for your holiday.

The events of some weeks ago reminded me of how important it is for holidaymakers to have a robust health insurance.
One of our regular guests was back in Pattaya for a few weeks. Like many, he had a few days enjoying the nightlife. 

Early one morning, about 10 a.m. he came down from his room and whilst sitting chatting collapsed. Thinking it was nothing more than a spot of light-headed-ness, after resting for a few minutes he went to the gents. No sooner was he standing talking to me again than he dropped to the floor once more but this time he was bringing up blood.

To cut to the chase we got an ambulance organized and he was whisked off to hospital. The following day when I visited him he told me it was a recurrence of a previous condition. He received medical attention and was going to be released that evening.

Ambulance, with the emergency staff and the additional emergency treatment in the hospital as well as his stay there, diagnosis and medication came to a tidy sum of over 100,000 Baht. Fortunately he had medical insurance to cover this cost.

Now, I know some will say that he was robbed, they could see him coming, he was ripped off because he had insurance and was a foreigner, etc. My point is that whether he was or wasn't fleeced is irrelevant. The condition could have resulted in his demise. Survival and recovery, enabling him to continue his vacation although at a slower pace, meant the fee of 100,000 Baht was meaningless.

Others will say I should have picked a cheaper hospital. Well, I'm sorry but when we have to request medical assistance we do not check prices but get the best medical care as fast as possible for the guest to fulfill our duty of care obligations.

The bottom line: please spend that little bit extra and take out health insurance before you leave home. The gent I speak of here is not the first for whom we've had to get medical assistance and will very likely not be the last. Medical cover is cheap, even if unused, compared with the huge bills you could be confronted with.

End of.