Insurers avoid travellers after heavy Covid losses

Insurance companies have become reluctant to offer Covid-19 coverage to foreign tourists as the industry was beset by a liquidity crunch after issuing many policies and experiencing a high number of cases the past year.

Tourists remain interested in the country, as new registrations for the Test & Go programme reached 231,216 as of Feb 8.

Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, deputy governor for marketing communications at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said following discussions with the Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) over optional Covid-19 insurance for international tourists, only a few companies expressed an interest in joining the programme. Only 4% of inbound tourists have tested positive for Covid-19, most of which have been mild cases.

Many insurance companies are facing losses from Covid-19 claims from local cases and are unsure about offering policies to foreign tourists, particularly in terms of reimbursement based on possible scenarios, he said.

The Public Health Ministry is dealing with insufficient or expensive hospital beds in major provinces by allowing each provincial communicable disease committee to grant permission to hotel operators to establish isolation rooms on their properties to host asymptomatic guests.

Mr Siripakorn said the 10-day hotel isolation price starts from 20,000 baht, including three meals a day and telemedicine from a partner hospital.

"While waiting for the OIC to conclude an insurance package, we have to increase affordable hotel isolation as an option for infected tourists so they don't have to pay more than 100,000 baht for treatment, as happened before," he said.

Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said hotels in many provinces have not yet applied for isolation rooms as they are unsure about the procedures. Hotels in Bangkok are still waiting to hear from the Department of Health Service Support regarding rules, she said.

"We were told there is an act that grants permission to hotels to serve as isolation centres, but according to provincial authorities, the partner hospital has to take charge of this process, not hotels. At present, few hospitals are aware of this rule," said Mrs Marisa.

She said the obstacles of Covid-19 insurance and hotel isolation are weighing on the domestic situation, with local cases rising sharply to 13,182 yesterday. After Test & Go resumed on Feb 1, the flow of tourists has not been as strong as in November, when the scheme was first introduced.

"The fifth-day compulsory Covid test is hampering tourism," Mrs Marisa said. "Locals may hesitate to book trips if infections spike."

Thailand's anti-nightlife, anti-alcohol public health minister appears to have won an internal argument over further relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions, with the ministry announcing it has "no plans" to propose any such thing.

Following public comments that he is against relaxing restrictions and doesn't see nightlife fully reopening "anytime soon," Anutin Charnvirakul's ministry said it would not, at this week's Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration meeting, propose any relaxation of coronavirus prohibitions.

The statement comes as daily coronavirus cases on Wednesday jumped nearly 30 percent to 13,182 confirmed cases – not including hundreds of more positive antigen tests – and 24 deaths.

Anutin, who does not sit on the CCSA and has no vote, may not prevail, however. The CCSA has its own experts and could relax rules on its own. There was widespread speculation that one measure to be approved was extending alcohol-sales hours in restaurants another hour to midnight.

There is no chance bars, nightclubs and other nightlife will be given the official OK to reopen fully.

Anutin's bull-headed will appears to have won out over saner minds, including DR. Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, who, on Monday, said the ministry was preparing a relaxation proposal for the CCSA meeting, arguing that getting Thais back to work and normal life was more important.

Opas said Thailand was moving in line with trends of many other countries and that he believes the country should no longer use lockdowns as people need to learn to cope and live with Covid-19, which will soon be considered endemic.

Despite the high transmission rate of the omicron coronavirus variant, the disease effects are less severe than earlier variants such as delta, Opas said.

Meanwhile, the situation in Thailand in terms of new daily cases was still considered safe, he noted on the day Thailand hit 10,000 cases for the first time since October.

Opas said home isolation for patients with mild symptoms has proven effective as it can reserve hospital beds for patients showing more severe symptoms.