Do expats get free healthcare in Thailand?

Only through the Social Security scheme, and only if you hold a work permit and are formally employed. Foreign employees with a valid work permit are enrolled under Section 33 on the same basis as Thai nationals and receive treatment at one designated hospital, with no prepayment required at network hospitals. Self-employed, unemployed and retired foreigners are outside the scheme.

How much do Thai Social Security contributions cost?

Employee and employer each contribute 5% of monthly wages. The statutory wage ceiling rose from THB 15,000 to THB 17,500 on 1 January 2026, which raised the maximum monthly contribution from THB 750 to THB 875 per party. Further increases are scheduled for 2029 and 2032.

Is health insurance mandatory for expats in Thailand?

Employment with a work permit brings mandatory Social Security enrolment rather than mandatory private insurance. Some long stay visa categories carry their own insurance requirements, so check the current rules for your visa class with the Immigration Bureau before you rely on any figure.

Can I use international hospitals in Bangkok on Social Security?

No. Social Security entitles you to treatment at one designated hospital that you nominate, and international hospitals are not part of that entitlement. If you intend to use them, that is what private cover is for, and the annual limit is the number to check first.

Does expat health insurance in Thailand pay me directly or pay the hospital?

International private medical insurance in Thailand either settles directly with the hospital or reimburses you against submitted medical bills, depending on your insurer and the hospital. It does not pay a lump sum. Critical illness insurance is the separate product that pays a fixed sum on diagnosis, with no bills required.

What happens to my cover if I change jobs?

Employer group cover ends with the employment. Social Security enrolment is also tied to the employment, so a gap between jobs is a gap in cover. A personal policy is the only one of the four routes that is unaffected.

What happens to my cover if I leave Thailand?

International private medical insurance continues, subject to your cover area, and that portability is its main advantage. Thai local plans are anchored here. Employer cover and Social Security both end with the employment.

Expat Health Insurance Thailand: Costs & Plans 2026

Expat health insurance in Thailand is private medical cover bought by foreigners who sit outside the Social Security scheme, or who need more than it provides. A foreign national employed by a Thai company with a valid work permit is enrolled under Section 33 on the same basis as a Thai employee, contributing 5% of wages with the employer matching, and receives treatment at one designated hospital. Self-employed, retired and unemployed foreigners are outside the scheme entirely and carry the whole cost themselves.

This guide explains which side of that line you are on, what the scheme actually buys, and how to cover what it does not.

ExpatMedicare has arranged international medical cover for expatriates since 2001, and compares plans from 25+ international insurers. About us.

Thailand expat health insurance at a glance

Hold a work permit and are employed: You are in Social Security already. Insure what it does not reach
Are self-employed or freelance: You are outside the scheme entirely. Private cover is the whole answer
Are retired on a long stay visa: Outside the scheme, and visa rules may require cover in their own right
Use international hospitals in Bangkok: Check the annual limit first. International hospital pricing is the risk
Are planning a pregnancy: Start before conception. Waiting periods run 12 to 24 months
Expect to leave Thailand: International cover, because it moves with you

In short

Thailand splits foreigners by employment status, not by nationality. A foreign national employed by a Thai company with a valid work permit is enrolled under Section 33 of the Social Security Act on exactly the same basis as a Thai employee, with no exemption for nationality. Employee and employer each contribute 5% of monthly wages against a statutory ceiling that rose from THB 15,000 to THB 17,500 on 1 January 2026, taking the maximum contribution from THB 750 to THB 875 a month per party. That buys treatment at one designated hospital, with no prepayment required at network hospitals. Self-employed, unemployed and retired foreigners are outside the scheme and need private cover in full. The realistic routes are international private medical insurance, local Thai private cover, employer group cover, and the Social Security scheme where you qualify for it.

Which side of the line are you on?

Thailand splits foreigners by employment status, not by nationality. A work permit puts you inside the scheme. A retirement visa does not.

Bangkok skyline at sunset — Bangkok. A work permit enrols you under Section 33, on the same basis as a Thai employee.

Aerial view of a luxury tropical beach resort in Thailand — Retired or self-employed? You are outside the scheme entirely.

Wat Arun and Chao Phraya River in Bangkok — Social Security buys one designated hospital. International hospitals are not part of it.

This is the first question, and for a large number of expats in Thailand the answer is yes without them realising it.

If you have a work permit, you are in Section 33

Foreign employees working in Thailand under a valid work permit are subject to the same Social Security Office obligations as Thai nationals. The employer registers you after the work permit is issued, and contributions begin from the first full payroll cycle. Coverage includes outpatient and inpatient care at one designated hospital that you nominate, with no prepayment required at network hospitals, plus maternity and disability benefits.

Table 1. Social Security contributions under Section 33, in Thai baht.

	To 31 Dec 2025	From 1 Jan 2026
Contribution rate, employee	5%	5%
Contribution rate, employer	5%	5%
Monthly wage ceiling	15,000	17,500
Maximum monthly contribution, per party	750	875

The ceiling is scheduled to rise again to THB 20,000 in 2029 and THB 23,000 in 2032. The 2026 change was the first adjustment in roughly three decades. An insured person under Section 33 must be at least 15 and not older than 60.

If you do not have a work permit, you are outside it

The scheme does not reach expats who are self-employed, unemployed, or living in Thailand on a retirement visa. For that group there is no state backstop at all, and private cover is the entire answer rather than a top-up.

Not sure which side of the line you are on? Answer four questions and see real plans from 25+ international insurers, priced for your age and your family. Takes about 15 seconds.

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Three routes, and one of them is not insurance

Thailand's private hospitals are excellent and they expect payment. What differs is who pays, and whether the cover follows you home.

An adviser and clients working through a plan comparison on paper and tablet — International private medical insurancePortable, priced on you, and accepted at the international wings expats actually use.

A magnifying glass resting on the small print of a document — A local Thai policyCheaper, with lower annual limits and Thailand-only cover. Check the licence before the price.

Colleagues reviewing benefit documents in a bright office meeting — Social Security or employer coverTied to a registered Thai employer, and tied to the public hospital you are assigned to.

What are your options for expat health insurance in Thailand?

Table 2. The four routes compared.

	International (IPMI)	Local Thai private	Employer cover	Social Security
Who qualifies	Anyone	Anyone	Employees	Work permit holders in formal employment
Portability	Moves with you, per cover area	Thailand anchored	Ends when the job ends	Ends when the employment ends
Choice of hospital	Per your plan network	Per your plan network	Per the scheme	One designated hospital
International hospital access	Yes, per plan limit	Varies widely	Varies widely	No
Cost to you	Full premium	Full premium	Usually nothing	5% of wage, capped at THB 875 a month
Who controls it	You	You	Your employer	The state

International private medical insurance

International private medical insurance is the route described on our international medical insurance page. It is the only one of the four that follows you out of Thailand, and the only one that reliably reaches Bangkok's international hospitals at a limit that survives a serious claim.

Best for: expats who expect to move again, anyone with a medical history to place, families planning children, and anyone using international hospitals.

Local Thai private cover

Thai insurers write health cover open to foreigners. Local Thai cover is cheaper than global cover and designed around Thai hospital networks. The trade-offs are scope and limits: cover is Thailand anchored, and annual limits are frequently well below the cost of a serious episode at an international hospital in Bangkok.

Best for: expats settled in Thailand long term who use Thai private hospitals rather than international ones.

Employer group cover is the cheapest route for the employee, because the employer pays, and it normally accepts you without underwriting. Social Security is genuinely useful and genuinely narrow: one designated hospital, chosen by you, with no international hospital access and no portability. Both end when the employment does. Employers arranging staff cover should start with group medical insurance and business cover.

Best for: a foundation, not a complete plan.

Bangkok

The widest bill gap of any market we cover

Between a Thai provincial hospital and a Bangkok international hospital. It is why direct settlement is the sharpest question to ask here.

A private hospital ward with a single bed

Direct settlement, or your credit card

The gap between a Thai provincial hospital bill and a Bangkok international hospital bill is the widest of any market we cover.

How do claims work on expat health insurance in Thailand?

International private medical insurance in Thailand pays the actual cost of treatment, either by settling directly with the hospital or by reimbursing you against submitted medical bills. It does not pay a lump sum. Critical illness insurance is a separate product that pays a single fixed sum on diagnosis of a listed condition, with no bills required and no link to what treatment costs. The two are confused because both are sold to the same expatriate buyer.

Invoices being reconciled with a calculator and phone on a desk — Direct billing at the international hospitals, receipts and a claim form everywhere else. Keep every itemised bill.

Direct settlement matters most in Thailand, because the gap between a Thai provincial hospital bill and a Bangkok international hospital bill is the widest of any market ExpatMedicare covers. Ask which specific hospitals your insurer settles with directly, not whether they have a network. Our emergency and inpatient cover page explains how settlement works in practice.

[CLIENT INPUT: name the Thai hospitals where ExpatMedicare's placed insurers settle directly, and state the claim submission window in days.]

How much does expat health insurance cost in Thailand?

Premiums are quoted individually and the spread is wide. Age, cover area, deductible, benefit limit and whether outpatient is included move the number more than anything else.

Why there is no cost table on this page. Thailand does not publish transacted hospital bill data the way Singapore's Ministry of Health does, and it does not gazette a public fee schedule the way Hong Kong's Hospital Authority does. It also has no regulated published rate card for foreigner-eligible cover comparable to Great Eastern's Singapore table or Hong Kong's VHIS dataset. Rather than fill those tables with estimates, this page leaves them out and sends you to a real quote. That is a deliberate choice, and it is why every other number on this page has a government source behind it.

What moves your premium

Cover area: including the United States raises the premium substantially against worldwide-excluding-US or Asia-only. Unless you spend significant time in the US, excluding it is the most effective way to cut cost.
Age: pricing is heavily age-banded and the curve steepens after 50.
Deductible: choosing an annual excess lowers the premium, and it is the fastest single lever.
Outpatient cover: adding GP visits, specialist consultations and diagnostics raises the base premium.
Maternity: a maternity benefit adds cost and carries a waiting period that starts before conception.
Underwriting method: full medical underwriting versus moratorium changes both price and certainty.
Medical history: declared conditions may attract an exclusion or a premium loading.

These are the general drivers. The only number that matters is yours. Run a quote →

What a policy actually pays for

Inpatient care is the core of every plan. The rest is chosen, and the choosing is where the cost and the gaps both sit.

A hospital operating theatre prepared for surgery — Inpatient and surgeryHospital accommodation, surgery, intensive care and specialist fees. The core of every plan.

A doctor reviewing notes during a consultation — Outpatient and GP visitsConsultations, specialist appointments and diagnostics. Adding it raises the base premium.

A newborn baby in a maternity unit — Maternity and newbornCarries a waiting period that starts before conception, typically 12 months and up to 24.

An air ambulance helicopter on a medical transfer — Evacuation and repatriationTransfer to appropriate care, or home. Worth checking the limit rather than assuming it.

Prescription medication and ongoing treatment supplies — Chronic condition managementOngoing treatment for conditions such as hypertension, asthma and diabetes.

A dental treatment room — Dental and opticalRoutine checkups, complex dental work, eye tests and prescription eyewear.

What does expat health insurance cover in Thailand?

Usually covered. Inpatient and day-patient treatment, meaning hospital accommodation, surgery, intensive care and specialist fees. Day surgery for procedures not requiring an overnight stay. Cancer care, covering diagnosis, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. A private room, which most plans cover as a minimum. Medical evacuation and repatriation, meaning transfer to appropriate care, or home — which carries more weight here than in Singapore or Hong Kong, because provincial hospital capacity varies. Diagnostics such as scans, pathology and imaging. And rehabilitation, time-limited after an inpatient episode.

A person working through a checklist on a clipboard beside a laptop — Inpatient and evacuation are the non-negotiables here. Everything else is a question of budget.

Covered only if you add it. Outpatient consultations and GP visits. Maternity and newborn cover, with a waiting period. Dental and optical. Mental health treatment, increasingly included but with limits that vary widely. Chronic condition management. And critical illness, which is a separate lump-sum product rather than a medical insurance benefit.

Usually excluded. This is the part most guides skip, and it is the one that causes claim disputes. Conditions you had before the policy started, unless specifically accepted. Treatment that is cosmetic rather than medically necessary. Fertility treatment, on most standard plans. Experimental or unproven treatment. Injuries from professional sport or specified hazardous activities. Treatment sought primarily by travelling to another country for it. And costs above your annual benefit limit or outside your cover area.

Read the exclusions before you read the brochure. If an insurer's exclusion list is hard to find, that tells you something.

How are pre-existing conditions, maternity and dependants covered?

A pre-existing condition is any condition you had symptoms of, sought advice for, or received treatment for before the policy began. It does not have to have been formally diagnosed. Under full medical underwriting you declare your history upfront and the insurer accepts it, excludes it, or applies a loading, so you know where you stand from day one. Under moratorium underwriting nothing is declared upfront: conditions from a defined look-back period are excluded, and may become eligible after a continuous run of time without symptoms, treatment or advice. Both windows vary by insurer, so check the wording. What matters is that you disclose honestly, because a non-disclosure discovered at claim stage can void the policy.

Maternity cover is not automatic and cannot be added once you are pregnant. Cigna Global and Allianz Care both apply a 12 month waiting period. The Social Security scheme does include a maternity benefit, which is the one thing it does that surprises people, but it is paid at scheme rates and at your designated hospital. See our maternity and family cover.

Spouses and children living with you in Thailand are not covered by your Section 33 enrolment. They need their own cover or to be added to your policy. Family plans are cheaper than separate individual policies, and children can often be added at any renewal. Older parents joining you are a different question, because cover for seniors is underwritten differently and priced accordingly.

Thailand

Cover that follows you out

Employer cover and Social Security both end with the employment. Only a personal policy is unaffected by a change of job or country.

How do you choose a health insurer in Thailand?

Price is the easiest feature of an expat health insurance policy to compare and the least useful. These are the questions that decide whether a policy works when you need it.

Is renewal guaranteed for life? Some plans reserve the right to decline renewal or re-underwrite you after a claim. That is the difference between insurance and a temporary arrangement.
Does the insurer settle directly with Thai hospitals? Direct billing is the sharpest question in this market. Ask which specific hospitals, not whether they have a network.
How are pre-existing conditions handled? Full underwriting or moratorium, and what exactly the terms are.
What happens if you leave Thailand? For international cover it should continue, subject to your cover area. For local plans it usually ends with your residency.
How do premiums change with age? Ask for the age-banding structure, not just this year's price.
Who handles a disputed claim? With an insurer directly, you do. With a broker, we do, and that is what we are here for.

Who is actually in this market

International insurers: Cigna Global, AXA Global Healthcare, Allianz Care and Bupa Global are the names you will encounter most often for portable cover. Thai insurers: several domestic insurers write health cover open to foreigners, and the Office of Insurance Commission licence register is the authoritative list. Eligibility, annual limits and whether the plan reaches international hospitals differ by insurer, so check those three before comparing price.

[CLIENT INPUT: name the Thai insurers from the Office of Insurance Commission licence register before publishing, rather than from memory.]

A client signing a health insurance agreement in an adviser's office

Disclose everything, in writing, before you sign

A moratorium policy and a full-disclosure policy behave very differently five years in. The difference is decided on the application form.

How do you get expat health insurance in Thailand?

ExpatMedicare provides international health insurance quotes for expatriates in Thailand online, without a phone call. The quote needs three inputs: your age, the number of people to be covered, and your chosen cover area.

A woman on a sofa comparing plans on her laptop — Quote online in about 15 seconds, then complete underwriting. Cover can start on any date you choose.

Answer four questions: your age, who needs cover, where you want to be covered, and your budget. About 15 seconds.
See real plans immediately: the quote engine prices you against 25+ international insurers and returns the plans that match, with premiums attached.
Compare like for like: annual limit, outpatient, maternity, evacuation and direct billing, side by side.
Complete underwriting: full disclosure or moratorium, depending on the plan. We will tell you which is likely to suit your history.
Cover starts on the date you choose, and we stay involved for claims, admissions and renewals.

Get your personalised quote → or speak to an adviser.

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