Forum menu
Because of the recent stuff going on over there with the protestors i'm finding it difficult to get even basic travel insurance. I've phoned around and either people "think" they can offer it or they are "not sure" and a couple have said it's a no-go and that i won't be covered under any circumstances.
Does anyone know a surefire company that will insure me over the next couple of weeks?
I think if home office advice is 'don't go there' you'll struggle to get cover.
There may be specialist cover available through Lloyds etc but that'll be costly.
[edit] should be foreign office oops
Only Bankok is off limits according to Home Office advice, rest of Thailand is fine as far as I know.
problem is most trips involve a stay in bankok
What a crock of shite, I was there i april. Imagine there being a fight in say wembley london but the bbc reporting its across the whole of london. well thats whats happening there one area there fighting the rest of the place is fine.
Bangkok is a bit grimy anyway get down to the coast.
you can fly to bangkok then directly to chiang mai, phuket, etc if your that bothered. Sad though people dieing just so they get an election.
I've just spoken to 3 people at 'More Than' and each person gave different advice. The first woman offered me a policy, the second said i'd be covered for any part of my holiday other than in Thailand, the third said "no i am sorry i could sell you a policy but it would be no use whatsoever"
🙄
Tails, i know i can do that but the point is if i can't get a policy and then someone steals my camera or i go cliff diving in Koh Phi Phi and break my ankle then without insurance i am buggered
Open a bank account which comes with free travel insurance (e.g. HSBC Advantage).
When you going as it tends to calm down then pick up every couple of weeks so the advice might be different in say 2 weeks. You can get insurance online any time or even say if you were in china for a month get it online out there. Perhaps don't go cliff jumping. can you insure with foreign insurance.
My mate lives out there and whilst it's not free like nhs he hasn't had to pay ££££ when he broke his ankle, couple hundred I think it was and if you really **** yourself monies gonna be the least of your worries.
I don't really have any ideas around insurance as I just took out a cheap one online.
Where else you going?
Mike, the problem with that is that the policy isn't guaranteed to cover me under the current FCO advice. As soon as the FCO say "don't travel there" then a lot of policies become null and void by default.
at the moment i am wading through as many companies as i can think of but as nobody seems to know their asre from their elbow it's very slow progress 🙁
I'm with tails on this one,it's a crock,
One of my mates lives in BKK with his expectant wife and young boy (theirs, not hired for the day!!!),
they live around 3 miles from the City centre on the way to the new airport, I spoke to him at noon today, he said it's all hiped up for our consumption,
I was expecting sandbags and flak jackets after watching the bbc, nothing of the sort, and believe me if there was trouble he would have them,
He's French (garlic munching surrender monkey) 😉
Tails i'm wanting to go next friday. just travelling in and around thailand, Chang Mai, Chang rai, down to Phuket to do a few islands. Not planned too much as i haven't got my flights yet - don't want to book flights until i know i can get insurance....
Its a catch 22!
jesus your flights going to be dear. The situation may have changed in that time. Perhaps see if there are insurance forums?
jesus your flights going to be dear
whys that then?
You should get insurance no problem as long as you don't go into Bankok.
all uk flights go into bangkok so that's a difficult one. I just phoned More Than again and they said they can issue me a policy but if i have to stay a night in Bangkok and something happens while i'm there then they won't cover me. But anywhere outside Bangkok i'll be covered, as long as its not due to civil unrest 😯
BUT... if the FCO extend their advice not to travel to the whole of Thailand while i'm there, the policy will effectively become useless 🙄
which means if someone changes the writing on the FCO web page and i have my bag stolen by a monkey i am up sh*t creek without a paddle.
thai troubles can spread super-fast and last time bbk was a main target for the yellow shirts. frankly, i'd give it a miss at the mo'. the thai army is no respecter of foreigners when the shooting starts.
bangkok is 'tense', whatever your chums say. half the people i know have moved out for the moment until things calm down.
viet nam is nice at this time of year 🙂
If you think the place is safe, just take what medical cover you can get & go
Can't say it's something that's ever over-concerned me but if you can't afford to lose something don't take it with you, if you want to take a camera, take a cheap compact thingy
If the FO change their status on the place whilst you're there, call the ins. co. & make a decision then based on what they tell you
Mike, the problem with that is that the policy isn't guaranteed to cover me under the current FCO advice. As soon as the FCO say "don't travel there" then a lot of policies become null and void by default.
Are they saying that the [i]whole policy[/i] is binned or just that you wouldn't be able to claim anything that was a result of the political disturbances? Because if it were the latter, then you'd still be covered for breaking a leg when you stumble out of a bar and trip over a bemo (or whatever).
ro,
No disrespect intended but my best mate has lived in bkk as a permanant resident for 5 yrs now, he speaks thai better than most thai's and 5 other languages, his wife is thai and heavily preggers, they also have a son,
they live a short distance from the redshirt'camp' (around 5 miles), he his wife and kids are yellow shirts,(they support the king and are buddists), generally a peace loving lot,
if you watch the news, you can see cars buses and people all around getting on with thier daily lives, the army are shooting 12G shotgun rounds and 9mm para from HK carbines mostly into the air, it is contained, my mate really doesn't understand what all the fuss is a about as someone else mentioned its like people saying londons completely locked down after a small riot in brixton,
skiboy, you have all the courage of a man living 12,000 klms away from the trouble.
go read the news. shooting this morning and afternoon. do you know how far bullets travel?
like i said, things change very fast in thailand. everyone i know who has been there long time is now out of bangkok until this sorts itself out. going into bangkok on holiday is just plain dumb.
good luck to your chum.
oh, and don't make foolish and ill-informed comments about the yellow shirts being a 'peace-loving lot'. they're not. and to prove it they're in power because a democratically elected government was removed in a military coup.
not that i think the red shirts are sane, but they are in the majority...
democracy, my friend. democracy.
The trouble may be confined to small areas but the problem is it's unpredictable where and when it's going to flare up, and when it does it's nasty. If you have a choice avoid at the moment, it'll settle down again sometime.
Whats the problem, you've not booked anything - go elsewhere.
And whats this insurance stuff, seems they'll sell you for anything - I booked my son a National Express coach recently, and they offered travel insurance - for t'north to MK!
If you really want to go to Thailand, just make sure you've an empty credit card with a decent credit limit.
Got a friend who has only just left Thailand for Laos. Even in Bangkok she only saw 1 barricade with 1 man on it, no other problems. that was just before the current kick off though, and before the FO advised not to travel to Bangkok/Thailand.
Feel that if the FO says don't, you'd have a big problem getting insurance.
Even in Bangkok she only saw 1 barricade with 1 man on it, no other problems.
Was watching TF1 (French TV) and they had fresh footage of the barricaded area: the barricades were not just symbolic, they were pretty substantial and there were plenty of clubs and men in fatigues on display. Can't imagine that there aren't a fair number of firearms tucked away as well.
There doesn't seem to be any specific anti-foreigner sentiment to this, so I wouldn't have thought a whitey would be at any greater risk than a Thai. But all the same, I know from personal experience of a coup that any city with a lot of pissed off, trigger happy rebels and conscripts can get pretty heavy.
I'm not a worrier and grew up/spent a lot of time in dodgy places, and if I had to go to Bangkok specifically or elsewhere in Thailand, I probably would, but if I didn't have anything booked or planned or a good reason to go to Bangkok right now, I wouldn't.
i TOLD you it would get messy 🙂
did you go? if so, are you still in one piece?
just wondering...