THAILAND · INSURANCE
This guide contains affiliate links. If you buy through them I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you, and I only recommend things I have used myself.
Currency: amounts I paid are given in the currency I paid them in. Conversions use the Bank of Japan’s official rate for August 2026 — ¥161 to US$1 and 100 THB to US$3.04, which puts 1 THB at about 4.89 yen — and are there for scale only. Ranges, quotes and future budgets are estimates, not payments.
The travel insurance on my two Japanese credit cards stops long before a stay on the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV), which allows up to 180 days at a time: both ran 90 days from the day I left Japan. Other cards use different limits and different reset rules, so check your own policy wording rather than borrowing my number. If you are moving to Chiang Mai rather than visiting it, that number is the thing most likely to catch you out, and it caught my own family out on a date I can point to. Below: what happens when the cover ends, the four kinds of health insurance we compared, roughly what each costs, what we chose, and what it has been like since. This is one family’s decision with the numbers we were quoted, not a survey of the market. If you just want a number for your own age and dates, run a SafetyWing quote before you take my word for any of this.
The 90-day wall, with real dates
Our departure dates made the time limit clear.
I hold two Japanese credit cards. Both include travel insurance, and both stop at 90 days from the day you leave Japan.
My 90 days began when I left Japan on 3 July 2026; my wife and daughter’s began on 21 May. Those were departure dates, not the dates cover ended. Ninety days after each one, if nothing changed, that person would be living in Thailand with no health cover at all.
None of this was hidden. It is in the policy wording, in plain language, and I had never needed to read that part before, because I had never stayed anywhere for six months. Nobody emails you on day 89. Your cover ends while your life carries on as before.
We ended up with two different answers. Mine was to keep going home: on my cards, a new 90 days starts each time I leave Japan again, and since June I have been back roughly once a month, so each of my stays has ended before the limit. My wife and daughter stay much longer, so for them we needed real cover. The rest of this article is about that.
If you are moving rather than travelling, work out your own day 91 before you do anything else. Count from the date you left, not from the date you arrived.
90 days is my Japanese-card number, not a universal one
I started out assuming 90 days was simply how card travel insurance worked. It is the number on the two Japanese cards I hold, and I had never had reason to look further than my own wallet.
I have only read the wording of those two cards. Cards issued elsewhere are written differently, and I have not read those policies, so go to your own issuer’s terms and find the actual figure and the rule for when it resets. The questions below still apply, but check the activation rules, benefits, exclusions and time limits on your own cards, not just the number of days. If your trip is short and you only want to know what a card or trip policy covers, my travel-insurance guide is the better place to start.
What healthcare here actually looks like
Before the options, it helps to know what you are insuring against. Most guides describe two choices, cheap clinics or expensive international hospitals. On the ground we found three layers, and knowing which one you are planning for changes what you should buy.
Neighbourhood clinics. The photo above is ours: a pharmacy counter, a GP, a dentist at the back. Prices are posted on the wall; orthodontic treatment was advertised at 36,000–54,000 THB while I was there. For a consultation, a prescription or a filling, this is where we go, and it costs little enough that insurance barely comes into it.
Mid-range private hospitals. This is the layer I had the hardest time finding written down, and it is the one we would use ourselves. Ten minutes from us there is a private hospital with a 24-hour emergency room, outpatient and inpatient buildings, a check-up centre, CT scanning, mammography, endoscopy, orthopaedics and obstetrics, plus an evening clinic open until 23:00. Signage is in Thai and English. It is a full hospital, and it is not priced like an international one.
International hospitals. At the top sit places like Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai and Chiang Mai Ram. The ones I looked at offer English-language care; prices and waiting times vary. This is where you would go for something complicated, and where an insurer’s direct-billing arrangements are most likely to matter.
That structure matters for how you choose. Our routine clinic visits have been cheap enough for us to pay ourselves. What you are insuring is the day a clinic visit turns into a hospital admission. I have never paid an uninsured admission bill here, so I cannot tell you what that costs.
The four kinds of health insurance we compared, and what they cost
| Option | Rough cost | What it is for |
| Credit-card travel insurance | Included with the card | Built for trips rather than for living somewhere. The cover on my two Japanese cards stops well before a DTV stay does (90 days from departure); other cards use different limits |
| Nomad insurance (e.g. SafetyWing) | From about US$63 per 4 weeks, rising with age | Long, flexible stays; paid every 28 days or for a fixed period up to 364 days; can be started after you have flown |
| Thai local health insurance | 98,154 THB a year for my wife and daughter (real quote, July 2026) | A Thai-issued policy for living here full-time; the quote we received included worldwide cover outside the US |
| Japanese expat cover | Well over ¥1.2 million a year for a family | Broad cover with Japanese-language support; compare the actual benefits and exclusions |
These figures are what we were quoted and the advertised starting price, not what every reader would pay. Insurance pricing moves with age, family size, dates and the specific plan, so your own numbers will differ. They show roughly what separates the tiers before you get your own quote.
A note on the third row. That is not an estimate. It is the annual premium on a quote we took in July 2026 from Allianz Ayudhya, for my wife and our four-year-old, on a plan with a 5 million baht ceiling per hospitalisation and worldwide cover outside the US. Two details in that document mattered more than the headline number.
First, outpatient care was not included. It was an optional extra, and without it the policy does not pay for an ordinary GP visit at all. On that policy, everyday medicine was ours to pay for, which is where the clinic layer above comes in.
Second, children under 11 carry a 30% co-payment. Our daughter’s own premium was 34,502 THB for the year, and on top of that we would still pay 30% of any covered expense. An adult on this policy can cut the premium by as much as 60% by accepting a deductible; a child under 11 cannot choose one at all. If you are pricing family cover anywhere, that is the pair of clauses to look for. Neither is hidden, but both sit in the footnotes.
A note on the fourth row. We also had formal quotes from two Japanese insurers for our family. Both came back far above the nomad plans and well beyond what we wanted to spend, which settled that question for us.
Why we ended up with SafetyWing
Among the cheaper options, two things decided it for us.
Essential renews every 28 days, not annually. Annual expat policies want a decision and a payment for the whole year, and we were still working out how our year would split between Japan and Thailand. Being able to start after we had already flown, and to stop at the end of any 28-day period, was worth more to us than a discount. SafetyWing says you can stop an Essential subscription at any time from your dashboard; cover then runs to the end of the period already paid for. A fixed-date plan, or a cancellation on a specific date, goes through SafetyWing’s team. This flexibility is an Essential feature. Complete is a twelve-month commitment; its cancellation rules include exceptions and have changed for some policyholders, so check the terms issued with your policy.
Our daughter is on my wife’s plan at no extra premium. For us, that is the difference between one premium and two. The rule is narrower than it sounds. SafetyWing’s FAQ allows one child older than 14 days and younger than 10 per adult, or two per family, at no added cost, and a group member can only be added at the point of purchase, not later. As of August 2026, Complete had no free-child rule: each family member paid their own age-banded price. These terms have changed before, so confirm them on your own quote. (Checked 11 November 2026.)
One more clause to know before you buy: cover in your home country is limited, and the limit depends on the version of Essential and how you pay for it. SafetyWing’s general FAQ says that for every 90 days you are covered for up to 30 days in your home country (15 days if that is the US). Its help page for the updated Essential plan describes longer limits for plans paid 364 days up front, and a condition on how long you must have been insured before a claim from home is reimbursed. The two pages do not describe one single rule, and I have not confirmed which applies to our own policy. If the person on the plan goes home often, read the wording issued with your policy before you plan a stay at home around it. (Checked 11 November 2026.)
- Essential renews every 28 days, can be started after you have left, and can be cancelled from the dashboard. Complete is a twelve-month contract.
- It keeps going past the 90-day limit on my Japanese cards.
- Paying up front for 364 days is shown as 10% cheaper than renewing every 4 weeks.
- One child under 10 can be added free to an insured adult’s Essential plan, at the point of purchase only (two per family; confirm on your quote).
Reader offer: new SafetyWing members can get 8 weeks of electronics-theft cover free with the code CROSSSHORECHIANGMAI. Click the pink camera icon on the Nomad Insurance page and apply the code before you create your account. It works on 28-day or annual Nomad Essential subscriptions, for new members only. After the eight weeks, the add-on renews as a paid extra unless you cancel it, so set a reminder if you do not want to keep it. My ambassador dashboard showed the code as Active on 11 November 2026. Before buying, check that the offer appears in your quote, and review the eligible plan, the free period and any recurring charge.
What we pay
The plan is in my wife’s name, with our daughter on it; I am not on it. SafetyWing’s headline price is US$62.72 per 4 weeks, but that is for ages 10–39 (as published in November 2026), and prices rise with age. This is what we were quoted for the two of them.
| Plan | Our quote (August 2026) |
| Essential, renewing every 28 days | US$102.76 per 4 weeks |
| Essential, 364 days paid up front | About US$92.48 per 4 weeks as an equivalent rate, paid as one sum |
The second line is 10% below the first: 102.76 less ten per cent is 92.48. Over a year, that is about US$1,202 paid up front against US$1,335.88 for thirteen 28-day renewals. Confirm the actual annual total on a current quote.
We chose the 28-day plan anyway. Next spring, around March and April 2027, my wife and daughter plan to spend about a month in Japan, where they are covered by Japan’s national health insurance, and on the 28-day plan we can stop paying for that stretch. Here is the sum we did, as an example; the real figures depend on when you stop and restart. Skipping one 28-day period brings our year to US$1,233.12, still about US$31 more than paying up front. Skipping two brings it to US$1,130.36, about US$72 less. The money is close either way. What decided it was that our plans for next year are not fixed, and the 28-day plan lets us stop at any renewal. If your year has a long stretch at home in it, do the same sum with your own quote before taking the discount. As of November 2026 the renewal is still US$102.76 every 28 days, the same as our original quote.
One thing to check before you stop and restart: buying again later is a new purchase. A child can only be added at the point of purchase, so add them again then, and ask SafetyWing how anything treated in the gap would count under the pre-existing-condition rule.
There is also an electronics-theft add-on, available on the 28-day plan as well, covering up to US$1,000 per item. If you work from a laptop in cafés, price it in.
| Essential | Complete | |
| Contract | 28-day subscription: stop future renewals in the dashboard, and cover ends at the end of the current period. Fixed-date plan of up to 364 days: contact SafetyWing to cancel | Twelve months; cancellation rules have exceptions, so check your policy |
| Children | One child under 10 free per adult (two per family), added at purchase | No free-child rule; each person pays an age-banded price |
| Pre-existing conditions | Generally excluded; narrow exceptions vary by version | Generally excluded; see the definition below |
| Cancer | Not covered | Tests and treatment up to the plan’s limit (checked 11 November 2026) |
| Maternity | Routine care not covered; limited emergency pregnancy cover may apply | Up to US$2,500, after a ten-month waiting period (checked 11 November 2026) |
Know what Essential is for. It is built for emergencies, not for managing an existing condition. Essential does not cover routine maternity care or cancer treatment; limited emergency pregnancy cover may apply under the policy’s specific conditions. On 11 November 2026, SafetyWing’s product page showed Complete covering cancer tests and treatment up to its limit, and maternity care up to US$2,500 after a ten-month waiting period, so it is not a plan to build a birth around. Pre-existing-condition rules differ between Complete and the different versions of Essential, and both have narrow exceptions. For Complete, SafetyWing defines a pre-existing condition as any illness or injury you have been treated for or diagnosed with in your life, plus anything you have had symptoms of in the last two years. Read the definition in the policy you are buying. If you need ongoing care or cover for an existing condition, compare full health policies and check their exclusions and underwriting terms one by one.
Our insurance calendar, date by date
Put together, this is how the cover in our house has run since we moved. The dates are ours; yours will be different, but the shape is worth copying onto your own calendar.
| When | What happened to our cover |
| 21 May 2026 | My wife and daughter leave Japan. The 90 days on my wife’s card start |
| 3 July 2026 | I leave Japan. Since June I have been back roughly once a month, and each trip out starts a new 90 days on my card |
| August 2026 | My wife’s card cover reaches day 90. SafetyWing Essential starts for her and our daughter |
| Every 28 days since | The plan renews at US$102.76. No claims so far |
| One evening since then | Our daughter may have a temperature. We find a nearby hospital and check how a claim would work: normally pay first, then claim. We do not go |
| March–April 2027 (planned) | About a month in Japan on national health insurance. We plan to stop the 28-day plan for that stretch |
Living with it: the night we nearly used it
We bought the plan in August, timed so that it started around the day the 90 days on my wife’s card ran out. Since then it has renewed every 28 days without anything for us to do. We have not made a claim, so I cannot yet tell you how SafetyWing handles one.
We came close once. One evening our daughter seemed to be running a temperature, and before deciding what to do, my wife and I looked up our options. We found a nearby hospital we could go to and checked how the insurance would work there. That is where we found the part I had not thought about: we would normally pay the bill ourselves at the desk first, and then submit a claim to SafetyWing for eligible expenses. In the end we did not go to the hospital, so we have not tested the process ourselves.
That matches what SafetyWing publishes for Essential. Its FAQ says that for most situations you pay yourself and claim later, through the dashboard; that you can ask the team whether direct billing can be arranged with a hospital; and that if you are admitted, you should tell them by email or chat before you are discharged. Once a plan ends, you have up to 60 days to file claims for expenses from when it was active. (Checked 11 November 2026.)
Three things I would do before you need it, based on that evening:
- Pick your hospital now, while nobody is ill, and check how it handles foreign insurance.
- Make sure a card in the household has enough room on it to pay a hospital bill up front.
- Keep every receipt and medical document. Pay-first-claim-later only works if you can show what you paid for.
Does the DTV require insurance?
In my case, no. I applied for the Destination Thailand Visa through the e-Visa portal, processed in Tokyo, and was never asked for proof of cover, and I could not find a published DTV insurance requirement. Do not buy insurance because you think the visa demands it. Buy it because the DTV allows stays of up to 180 days, and my card stopped well before that.
→ How I applied and what has changed since: the DTV visa, first-hand. What our two-base life costs each month is here. For everything else about the move, start with my Chiang Mai relocation guide.
How to decide, in four questions
How long is your longest single stay, and what is your card’s actual cap? Being under the cap answers only the time-limit question; check the benefits and exclusions too. If you are over it, you need something else. Find the number before you compare anything.
Where will you be treated? If it will be mostly in Thailand, a local policy may make sense. If you move between countries, or go home often, compare nomad cover too, and read its home-country rule.
Who is with you? Children change the maths sharply, in both directions. Check what each option charges for them before comparing adult premiums.
What are you actually afraid of? A broken arm and a hospital stay is priced differently from a condition managed over years. We chose cover for the first, and I know that is not the same as being covered for the second.
FAQ
Does credit-card travel insurance work if I live abroad?
Only up to a point. My two Japanese cards cap cover at 90 days from departure, which is fine for travel and not enough for a long stay. That is not a universal rule, so go to your own card issuer’s terms rather than any article, including this one.
How much is health insurance in Chiang Mai?
For us the range ran from nothing extra on a credit card, to US$102.76 per 4 weeks for SafetyWing Essential for my wife and daughter, to 98,154 THB a year for the local Thai policy we were quoted for the same two people, to over ¥1.2 million a year for Japanese expat cover for the family.
Do you have to pay the hospital first with SafetyWing?
In most cases, yes. SafetyWing’s FAQ says you usually pay yourself and claim later through the dashboard, and that you can ask whether direct billing can be arranged with the hospital. We have not used that service. When we looked into it for our daughter, paying first was what we found. We have not made a claim, so I cannot tell you how long repayment takes. (Checked 11 November 2026.)
Can I buy SafetyWing after I have already left home?
On Essential, yes, and that is how we used it: my wife and daughter had been in Thailand for about three months when their cover started. Check the start-date options on your own quote.
Does SafetyWing Essential cover me when I go back to my home country?
Only for a limited time, and the limit depends on your version of Essential and how you pay. SafetyWing’s general FAQ says up to 30 days for every 90 days (15 days in the US); its help page for the updated plan describes longer limits for plans paid 364 days up front. Check the wording issued with your policy. For a long stay at home, as my wife and daughter plan next spring, use the cover you have there. (Checked 11 November 2026.)
Do Thai health insurance policies cover children the same as adults?
Not always. On the policy we were quoted, insured members under 11 carry a 30% co-payment on covered expenses and cannot take a deductible. Check this clause before comparing premiums.
Is SafetyWing enough for living in Thailand?
It depends on what you are insuring against, and I am not in a position to tell you it is enough for you. It is what my wife and daughter use, for emergencies, during a stay whose length we could not fix in advance. Read the exclusions before you decide: Essential does not cover routine maternity care or cancer treatment, and both tiers generally exclude pre-existing conditions, with rules that differ by plan and version. If you need ongoing care, compare full health policies.
Are children covered free on SafetyWing?
On Essential, yes, within limits. SafetyWing publishes “one child (older than 14 days but younger than 10 years old) per adult, or 2 children per group/family can be included in the insurance without added cost”, and “a group member can be added to the plan only at a purchase point”. What you can do if you need to add a child later is not published, so ask before you buy. These terms have changed before, so confirm them on your own quote. (Checked 11 November 2026.)
Does the Thai DTV visa require health insurance?
I was not asked in Tokyo, and I could not find a published DTV insurance requirement. A DTV stay of up to 180 days is longer than the 90-day limit on my two Japanese cards.
What do doctors actually cost in Chiang Mai?
Routine care at a neighbourhood clinic has cost us little enough that we have paid cash each time. Whether that is cheap depends on your household, not on mine. We use insurance for the risk of a private-hospital admission, and I do not have a verified uninsured cost for one.
Is this financial advice?
No. I am not an adviser and I am not qualified to be one. Everything above is what we were quoted and what I decided for my own family, with dates attached so you can see how old it is.
Last updated: 11 November 2026. Insurance terms and prices change, so confirm current details before you buy.
→ More on this: all our money guides — what we pay, how we move it, and how we chose our insurance.