This week there was another fatality in an accident in Hua Hin. A speeding tuk-tuk hit the victim. For holidaymakers it cannot be stressed enough that they must first look to the RIGHT for oncoming traffic in Thailand.
Another point is absolutely not to travel without insurance. Not only for accidents, but also for cases of illness. How can one identify someone who is unconscious or in a coma? Can any of this be found in the patient? How can the family, the embassy and other authorities be informed, such as the travel insurance?
In case of transport back to the home country (repatriation), someone must give permission for this. Time is of the essence here. Separate arrangements are required for horizontal transport. In 2014, the German ADAC transported no fewer than 4500 holidaymakers to their home country. For this worldwide transport, the ADAC has three aircraft, which are permanently "standby".
Heart attacks and cerebral haemorrhages occur in 70 percent of German holidaymakers. The costs of this airlift from Egypt, for example, amount to 45.000 euros. A number of necessary additional emergency services are therefore ready, such as an ambulance from the airport to the hospital. There are other official rules in the event of a death. Often an autopsy and then the release of the deceased for further processing by authorities and next of kin.
Parasol flights
The Dutch emergency centers are also ready to bring injured and sick tourists home. Emergency center SOS International carries out so-called 'parasol flights' in collaboration with TAA. This organization has a fleet of 6 aircraft, including 2 Dornier 328 with space for 30 passengers or 6 stretchers and with options for various configurations, for example for patients with leg injuries (see photo). All specially equipped ambulance planes, with all the necessary medical facilities on board and well-trained doctors and nurses.
The fact that the Dornier 328 can transport several patients at the same time is unique in the world of air ambulances. Those who are more seriously injured, or who pose a risk of infection to other patients, are brought to the Netherlands individually with a smaller device. The costs for this transport are fully borne by your travel insurance. If you do not have travel insurance, you must pay these costs yourself and that can amount to 50.000 euros!
There is no such thing as a life without risk, but doing something well prepared should almost become mandatory. A (travel) insurance could be part of that.
Commercialization in healthcare has also been elevated to priority no. 1 in the Netherlands.
For example, on average an ambulance ride (emergency) costs 600 Euro! (source College Rates Health Care}
The result is that due to a deductible in the Netherlands of almost 400 euros, some people refuse the ambulance.
But in Thailand you will be taken by ambulance to a hospital of your choice free of charge.
That is why you can imagine that companies use planes to pick people up from afar. Nice revenue model for these companies. May be charged a multiple of the actual cost. And because of this, travel insurance premiums are rising again.
Your last comments are not based on facts. No insurer is waiting to just spend 50.000 euros for an ambulance flight, so what you write is nonsense. Premiums up? Then come up with examples. The fact is that travel insurance premiums have not gone up for years. There is a lot of competition and that keeps the price low.
Moderator: Please do not chat.
Regarding those parasol flights,... is there no insurance just for that necessity? (repatriation flight...), could possibly be interesting as many expats have almost free care in their home country... this is more than a small thing for larger cases.
Ps: I know that the general insurance / mutuality / health insurance funds have this in a total package. What I mean is ONLY that repatriation flight
A few years after their retirement and moving to the Isaan, two friends have already been returned to the sender in lurid packaging. The cause: not the traffic, but an excessive consumption of Olifant beer as a result of an almost pathological boredom.
I don't quite understand. There is written about repatriation with specially equipped aircraft. Every year you see in the news that such aircraft – including the Dornier 328 – are used to bring injured people from skiing holidays back to their home country. But these planes are only suitable for short-haul flights and maybe also medium-haul flights.
Thailand is 10.000 km from the Benelux and large aircraft are usually used for this. Are injured people also specially picked up with these specially equipped aircraft and flown to their home country or is that done with the scheduled flights?
No idea really, but I think it probably depends on the severity as well.
If very serious and permanent monitoring is required, I think a special aircraft will be necessary. Possibly with intermediate stops if it is not possible in one go.
If less serious, normal supervision by medical personnel may suffice and it can be done with a scheduled flight.
Comparing it with ski holidays may not be appropriate. From ski resorts, a plane is quickly filled with broken bones. From Thailand you don't easily end up with a plane full of broken bones.
Maybe with broken hearts, but that's something else 😉
There is no skiing in Thailand, but broken hearts are certainly there!
It is true that in some very touristic areas renting a motorcycle is very popular.
In other areas, renting a jet ski is very popular.
Then you have the adventurous trips with rafting, the 'flights of the gibbon' and so on.
Then you can indeed have broken bones…
Can you then be looked after in Thailand until you are able to return on a normal scheduled flight?
But what about the visa if you have to stay longer in the hospital?
Or are there other measures for passengers with a leg or arm in a cast?
What if you travel alone? Who then packs your bags and takes care of your luggage? What about your luggage in the hotel while you are in hospital? Or does someone ensure that your luggage is packed for you and ends up in the hospital? Even though you are there in a dormitory? That must be quite a sight for those Thais there… “Look over there! Farang on vacation in the hospital!”…
Now I'm starting to ask myself even more questions...
Does anyone already have experience with this?
If you are in hospital, the hospital can arrange for a visa extension. If you have travel insurance, all you have to do is call the emergency center and they will arrange everything. So you always come back neatly, lying or walking, if necessary with a special flight. Emergency centers use a network of local agents. So in Thailand they can call in aid workers on the spot to ensure that you return home.
Before the flight itself:
There is a certain amount of assistance at the airports, which assist the passenger from arrival to boarding, usually in a wheelchair, and the same will probably be the case upon arrival. This will also be solved with your luggage.
This must be communicated at the time of booking.
After that it will be ambulance / Taxi or family assistance I think.
So it is possible
as far as visas are concerned…, I suppose there is a solution for this, provided a doctor's certificate from the hospital.
Hospitals will also have a social service that can assist you, perhaps for a fee, or a Thai can also assist you for a fee.
That's the practical thing here in Thailand, that there is always someone to find, only there is the language barrier.....!
Of course there may be broken bones, but you won't have a peak like in skiing where they have a full plane almost every day.
Your return will depend on whether the doctor decides whether you are transportable or not.
That's a medical decision.
Whether you can stay for the rest of your leave will depend on your insurance, I think.
Do they want to bear the medical costs for further care there or do they decide that you should be cared for in your own country?
Your luggage or whatever you will have to find a solution for yourself when you are alone.
Hotel might keep that somewhere until you get back or they charge the hotel room.
I do not know.
Still enough who want to take care of you differently… maybe for a fee
As for the visa
In brief
– In the case of medical treatment, rehabilitation or taking care of a patient
– Each permit is granted for no more than 90 days.
– The total length of stay will not exceed one year, and this from entry into the Kingdom.
– Must be proof of hospital or treating doctor.
– 1 family member/carer can also receive the same extension for that reason.
On scheduled services, a tent can be built in by removing 3 rows of seats. If necessary, a doctor and a nurse will fly with you. Has been on TV. Might be on youtube somewhere. Then the costs add up considerably. I myself was shipped to the Netherlands with a broken part of my landing gear in a good business class. Perhaps looked too much at the passing traffic instead of where I was walking. The most important thing for me was that I was helped in a foreign country. With painkillers their English was a bit less than I am used to in such a hospital. But my family also had many questions and had a sounding board.
Best Butcher Shop in Kampen Not everyone has the corpse flown back to the Netherlands, but can be cremated here. There are also many expats in Isaan who have a pleasant and active life and consume the drink in moderation.
Good article, the importance of good travel insurance cannot be emphasized enough. I experienced this firsthand in 2013. Ended up in intensive care at Bangkok Hospital in the city of the same name in 2013. Fortunately, I was well insured, so everything was arranged perfectly, and the ANWB in particular deserves a big compliment in this context!!!!
Everything was well arranged, including the return flight with an escorted airliner, the ambulance was ready at Schiphol, just perfect. This story would have ended very differently without proper insurance.
So take the good advice to heart and insure yourself well, the amount you would otherwise have to pay in the event of such a disaster is enormous.
It's all so hard now. You pay a lot of money for the flight and your stay in Thailand. Now you have those people who fall over 1 euro when they have to take out travel insurance.
Go to a relevant authority, if not several, and be informed of the ups and downs. Put your plan on the table. Where is your house insured, third party insurance, etc. What to do in the event of an accident, inquire with your health insurer, what to do in the event of death, being called back due to, for example, death. Make sure you are well informed, telephone numbers and WHO you spoke to. Very important! Inform inform. Don't look at those few euros. It is best to have continuous travel and accident insurance. Inquire whether any changes have occurred, for example after a certain period of time. Make personal contact with the advisor, is much better! Yes, real personal contact!
Always everything via the internet does not make any difference. The best is ask and ask.
Take advantage of this. A Thailand traveller. Never say: THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO ME.
Leave details with the person who is a kind of intermediary for you. Also the registration number and brand of your car if you go by car, for example, no Thailand. Did you know that 7 out of 10 drivers do not know the registration number of their car.
Happy Holidays.
In the past year I have been brought to BKK by ambulance three times, but this has just been paid for. Send me the addresses where you think that costs nothing.
What about the many backpackers who go to Thailand Australia and the surrounding area, most of them are not insured. We ourselves have all those insurances for years, you don't use it, but then you need it and we were glad we had taken out that insurance. Recently had to cancel the whole trip due to illness, everything paid to the penny within a week.
A good travel insurance is certainly not an unnecessary luxury and, in relation to what the holiday costs, is a small percentage of the total cost.
Apparently no one has ever heard of this:
http://www.travellersonline.diplomatie.be
You can register there for free and the home front will be kept informed in case of an emergency.
@ Lung addie forgot to add that this is only for Belgians. Greetings from a Dutchman
I have had a CONTINUOUS travel insurance with a cancellation clause with the OHRA for 35 years.
The latter was very nice after the tsunami, could choose another destination.
Accident and broken hip 20 years ago in the middle of nowhere in India.
I didn't trust the local doctor and the x-ray equipment in the nearby clinic was from the fifties.
His conclusion was that I had broken my left hip, it was my RIGHT hip.
Operating there was not an option, then I probably would have had to miss a leg.
OHRA sent a supervisor with all kinds of (traction) equipment and anesthetic syringes.
He arranged everything there and stayed with me until Bronovo The Hague.
A total of 12 days of waiting in India until there was room on the plane.
Ambulance to airport was too small, I stuck out the back door.
Also got a flat tire, plane had to wait for me.
Needed 12 seats on the plane to be transported lying down to NL
Operated + 3 weeks hospital + 3 months physio, something like € 40.000 in total.
I walk like a kivite again.
SO : always insure !!!
Good trip.
I know of a neighbor who had to be transported not from Thailand but from Australia. He was transported to the Netherlands with a regular scheduled service with medical supervision. This of course took up quite a bit of space on the plane, but was perfectly handled by his travel insurance. The ambulance was ready at Schiphol to take him to a Dutch hospital. We ourselves have continuous travel insurance. Because for a few tens of euros a year we don't want to run the risk of incurring high costs. And never think, oh, this will happen to me. doesn't happen, something like that can happen to a person.
Just one more thing, it is indeed recommended to first look to the RIGHT when crossing the road and then to the LEFT. Do this at least three times. This in connection, in particular, with motorcyclists driving against traffic. Also applies if you drive a car, out of or into an STI.
Good travel insurance is always necessary. Before we settled permanently in Thailand, we always had a continuous travel insurance with “De Europeese”. for 2 persons 150 euros per year.
In Europe, although the health insurance fund reimburses most costs, extra expenses such as taxi transport, etc. are reimbursed by the travel insurer. In Thailand we even got a Dutch-speaking person on the phone, who also contacted the doctor. Neatly helped.
It's just a comforting thought to have good travel insurance. And that for 20 cents per person per day-
I will soon be returning to the Netherlands for a month and have taken out travel insurance with Allianz for my girlfriend and me. But do you know that I can only have an insured holiday for three more years. In three years I will be 70 and can no longer take out travel insurance with Allianz.
Good advice to go on holiday well insured, but if the risks are even higher, travel insurance does not give a home. Staying at home for me or uninsured on holiday.