Thailand is trying to solve the problem of Covid-19 positive tourists who refuse to pay hospital fees or run away from hotels.
Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said the government is discussing with the Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) the possibility of offering Covid-19 insurance options to vaccinated tourists. whose travel insurance does not cover medical expenses for hospitalization or hotel isolation for mild asymptomatic cases.
Last week, a new ruling from the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) stated that if a tourist’s insurance does not cover all medical expenses related to Covid-19 infection , he is responsible for these expenses himself.
According to Mr. Yuthasak, this means that hotels that evade customers through the screening process and customers who refuse to pay their medical bills will be prosecuted.
The CCSA subcommittee has yet to discuss insurance options and sanctions in detail.
In principle, insurance premiums could start from 800 baht (21.43 euros) per person to cover hotel isolation costs, which start at 30,000 baht (803.67 euros), a- he said.
“We previously requested the cooperation of hotels to look after guests during the health screening process.
The new rule requires strict compliance with health measures.
Hotels cannot be careless in the process or risk being removed from the Thailand Pass registration list, which would prevent them from accommodating incoming guests,” Yuthasak said.
Travelers who find themselves in difficult situations
Over the past few months of the Test & Go program, there have been several reports of infected tourists disappearing from hotels.
See: A tourist infected with Covid-19 who had disappeared in Thailand surrenders to the police
Some hotel guests refused to be taken to hospital because they were worried about the expense, said Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, chairwoman of the Thai Hotel Association (THA).
According to hotel reports, the main problems are the lack of hospital beds and high medical expenses in hospitals.
Some tourists also worried that their insurance claims would be rejected because their policies did not cover medical treatment in hospitals or isolation in hotels, although these options have become popular for asymptomatic patients in Thailand.
“Insurance options will cover expenses in case tourists become infected with Covid-19 or have high-risk contacts requiring isolation,” she said.
The THA disagrees with the sanctions imposed on hotels in the new CCSA ruling, as hotel operations are very difficult during the pandemic due to the higher costs of hiring additional staff for health checks in their properties.
This rule will hurt small operators who have tight operational budgets and cannot afford to increase their staff immediately, unlike large hoteliers, Ms Marisa said.
Source : Bangkok Post
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