Thailand Allows Foreigners To Access Public Health System.

[Banjo]

The Thai government has initiated a new system which allows foreigners living in Thailand to enroll in the UC (AKA “30 baht”) scheme on a fee basis. The directive issued thus far, which involves a premium of only 2,200 baht a year plus another 600 for initial medical screening, was aimed at migrant workers, but the directive failed to specify this clearly, rather stating only “foreigner”. As a result many up-country hospitals are issuing the cards to resident resident expats. We have confirmed that this was not the original intent of the MoPH, and that they plan on introducing something for resident expats subsequently which would have a different premium, as yet to be established (it will be based on analyses of age, expected utilization etc). It will surely be more than 2,000 baht a year but also almost certainly still be much less than private insurance. Meanwhile, many resident expats are getting the cards at the 2,000 baht rate. So far there are no reports of any hospital in the Bangkok area doing this, but up-country it seems more common than not.

www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/674734-the-new-government-health-insurance-info-for-tv-members-in-chiang-mai/

This is the Thai equivalent of a Medicare card.
Obviously some sort of residency qualification is necessary, apparently some are accepting a lease document.
This is NOT recommended for people without Indefinite Portability.

[Banjo]

This is about $75 a year, a lot cheaper than any private insurance.