Travel Insurance available in Thailand?

alric

Is it possible(as a UK resident) to buy good travel insurance in Thailand or Malaysia?
Or am I obliged to buy it here in UK?

Any recommended in thailand?
I need some extreme sports cover probably

Sam_Bee

Why would you want to? Travel insurance is very competitive here, and if you're going for 'extreme' sports you can be sure you're covered properly. Even if you could get it out there why take the risk? And also you're missing out on the protection that cancellation cover, missing baggages etc gives you before you fly.

But to answer the question, my belief was no, you can't, however, I remember a post on here disputing that, but i'm not sure what the final outcome was. Maybe someone can dig it out?

alric

Most things like tours etc are cheaper when you get there, e.g. dental work is cheaper, and good quality, and I've no idea of the insurance market.
Saying that, there are a lot of dodgy tour operators about
There are a lot of europeans, americans, japanese, korean tourists that must all have insurance, it would make sense to sell in thailand.
Also I'm not sure of my return date, or curriculum. I may do dirtbike tour in cambodia and scuba diving professionally, or just live somewhere quiet on the beach, so I can't be that accurate on my proposal.
It would be good to know my options.

hook

i agree why would you want to get your insurence when your out there you wont be insured whilst you are travelling to your destination. there are cheap insurence here for backpackers so i dont even think you will save that much and its best that if you have to make a claim you are going to be dealing with someone in your home country rather then 1000 of miles away. take into account the cost of the phne calls ya gonna have to make. be on the safe side and get insurence at home

BubbleFrogette

Hi alric,

I lived and worked in Malaysia for 8 months last year and I can say with absolute certainty - avoid dealings with Malaysian companies altogether, especially for something as important as travel insurance. Myself and my partner had so many problems with Malaysian companies - car insurance, excess baggage firms, the company my partner worked for...even the cable TV company! It's a developing country and commercial operations simply don't adhere to the same standards of practice as they do in the first world.

Another thing - my partner needed emergency eye treatment at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur and they wouldn't accept our travel insurance documents - they wanted cold, hard cash. It was £700 per night - so make sure you have enough spare cash or a clear credit card for emergencies.

Finally, I used Navigator travel insurance (found via moneysupermarket) and they have been very good (I also used them in 2006 when I worked in the Philippines and I claimed for hospital treatment on the policy with no problems). Find them here; http://www.navigatortravel.co.uk/

Hope you have a great holiday!

alric

thanks bubble, I'll try navigator
I want to see more of the (wild)place while it's still there

BubbleFrogette

No problem

If you want to see the 'wild' then I recommend Malaysia over Thailand (Malaysia is good for a holiday, just not so good if you have to live & work there!). We travelled in Thailand for a couple of weeks and while we had a good time, it is very touristy. Malaysian Borneo is great for seeing the rainforest, orang-utans, native tribes and scuba-diving. Look up Sabah and Sarawak. For places to stay, try hostelworld - we used them loads all over Asia and they are great.

Donnie

The cover will be so poor in comparison, you will regret it. Lloyds of London, the best in the world.
Buy here.

alric

bubble, I went to borneo last year,going back in april.
I like malaysia too, hoping I might find some work there
Stayed in a few hstels, some good, some not, but don't think I've tried hostelworld.