Finding the Right Insurance as a Dive Professional in Thailand

Health insurance, accident cover, diving exclusions and DAN diving insurance – what I learned after actually going through medical underwriting with several insurers in Thailand.

When I first started looking for private health insurance in Thailand, I honestly thought it would take a few days.

It took several months.

During that time I contacted multiple insurance companies and brokers, compared policies, studied policy wordings, completed medical questionnaires, submitted medical records and went through actual underwriting with several insurers.

The experience taught me one important lesson:

Choosing health insurance in Thailand is not about finding the highest advertised coverage. It is about understanding what the insurer will actually cover for you after underwriting.

A policy may advertise THB 10 million, THB 30 million or even THB 100 million of medical coverage. But that number means surprisingly little until you know the exclusions, premium loadings, occupational restrictions and renewal conditions that apply to you personally.

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Why This Matters for Dive Professionals

Working as a dive professional in Thailand is very different from having an office job.

A dive professional may spend hundreds of hours underwater every year while also operating or working around boats, handling heavy scuba equipment, travelling by road, working in wet and physically demanding environments and accepting a certain level of occupational risk.

In my own case, I make approximately 420 dives per year, with an average underwater time of around 50 minutes per dive and regular depths of up to approximately 32 metres.

That works out at roughly 350 hours underwater per year.

This turned out to matter considerably during insurance underwriting.

Some insurers were prepared to assess the risk individually. Others excluded certain diving-related risks. Some personal accident products would not accept professional divers at all, and one health insurance product could not accept an applicant whose occupation included professional scuba diving.

You will not discover these things simply by comparing premiums on an insurance website.

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My Situation

I am 46 years old, have lived in Thailand since 2011 and own Chang Diving Center on Koh Chang.

I am a professional diving instructor and instructor trainer.

Like many people in their forties, I also have controlled hypertension and treated elevated cholesterol.

During the application process I provided insurers with extensive medical documentation, including blood tests, medical reports and imaging.

My approach was simple:

Tell the insurer everything before buying the policy.

I would rather receive an exclusion, premium loading or even a rejection before paying for insurance than discover during a major claim that the insurer considers something undeclared.

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The Most Important Lesson: Get Underwritten Before Comparing

An insurance quotation and an underwriting offer are not the same thing.

A quotation tells you what the policy costs for a standard applicant.

Underwriting tells you what the policy actually costs for you and what it actually covers for you.

The difference can be enormous.

One insurer may initially look cheaper but add a 25% or 50% risk loading after reviewing your medical history.

Another may accept you at a reasonable premium but exclude certain medical conditions and their complications.

Another may offer excellent medical coverage but reject the application because professional scuba diving is part of your occupation.

My preferred process therefore became:

Quotation → Application → Full Medical Disclosure → Underwriting → Written Acceptance Terms → Comparison → Decision → Payment

Not:

Quotation → Cheapest Premium → Buy

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My Real-World Insurance Comparison

The following table reflects my own application and underwriting experience. It is not a statement that another applicant will receive the same decision.

Medical underwriting is individual and may depend on age, medical history, occupation, BMI, previous treatment and many other factors.

Separate Personal Accident insurance: During this comparison I also investigated standalone Personal Accident insurance. Pacific Cross did not accept my occupation as a professional scuba diver for its PA product. This is particularly interesting because Pacific Cross was nevertheless prepared to offer me its Maxima Plus health insurance, including outpatient accident treatment subject to the policy conditions.

Important: These are the underwriting decisions and conditions offered to me personally. They should not be interpreted as universal underwriting rules of these companies.

Allianz Ayudhya’s Double Care benefit increases the annual health coverage from THB 8 million to THB 16 million following the first qualifying Critical Illness diagnosis, with the increased limit continuing for the following four policy years.

A separate Allianz product – Superior Health Plus from Allianz Ayudhya General Insurance PCL (AAGI) – is also listed in the table. It is a standalone health insurance product and must not be confused with My Health Plus Double Care.

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What Pacific Cross Taught Me About Diving Exclusions

One of the most useful clarifications during this process came from Pacific Cross.

Their health insurance exclusion refers to diving-related disorders and illnesses rather than simply excluding me because I work as a diving instructor.

After requesting clarification, diving-related medical conditions were explained as including conditions such as:

• decompression sickness (DCS),
• barotrauma,
• arterial gas embolism (AGE),
• nitrogen narcosis,
• oxygen toxicity,
• and secondary complications resulting from these conditions.

The important distinction is causation.

A decompression accident after a dive would fall within the diving exclusion.

An unrelated medical condition would not automatically become a diving-related condition simply because I work as a diving instructor.

This is particularly important for me because I maintain specialist diving accident insurance separately through DAN.

Health Insurance Accepted – Personal Accident Insurance Rejected

Pacific Cross also demonstrated something else that dive professionals should understand:

The company was prepared to offer me health insurance, but its Personal Accident insurance was not available to me because of my scuba diving occupation.

In other words, even products from the same insurance group can assess your occupation very differently.

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LUMA: When the Occupation Itself Becomes the Problem

LUMA was a useful example of a completely different underwriting issue.

The problem was not simply whether decompression sickness or another diving accident would be excluded.

The product excluded practising sport professionally, and after clarification I was informed that the application could not be accepted under this product if scuba diving or diving instruction was my occupation.

That immediately ended the application for me.

This taught me that every professional diver should ask two separate questions:

Is scuba diving covered?
and
Will you accept me if professional scuba diving or diving instruction is my occupation?

Those are not the same question.

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Krungthai-AXA: Accepted – But at What Cost?

Krungthai-AXA demonstrated another reason why underwriting needs to happen before comparing prices.

My application was accepted, but the proposed underwriting conditions included a 50% risk-based premium surcharge because of BMI.

The proposed exclusions also included hypertension, coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease caused by high blood pressure, as well as high blood lipid levels.

One positive point was that I was informed that the high blood lipid exclusion could potentially be reviewed and removed after maintaining normal lipid levels for three years.

Nevertheless, paying 150% of the standard premium while simultaneously accepting significant medical exclusions did not make financial sense to me at this stage.

This does not mean Krungthai-AXA is a bad insurer.

It simply means that its underwriting decision did not suit my individual situation at this time.

Losing additional weight and applying again in the future may produce a very different result.

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Allianz Ayudhya: A Surprisingly Strong Underwriting Result

Allianz Ayudhya has now completed the underwriting of my application and issued a formal counter-offer.

The result was significantly better than I expected.

The final offer is based on My Health Plus Double Care and provides:

• THB 8 million annual health coverage
• up to THB 16 million annual coverage following the first qualifying Critical Illness diagnosis, continuing for the following four policy years
• 0 THB deductible
• ordinary outpatient accident treatment included under the health policy
• professional scuba diving accepted after full occupational disclosure

Professional scuba diving was not hidden or treated as an informal detail. The insurer was specifically informed that I work in the diving business on Koh Chang and regularly dive to approximately 100 ft / 30 m.

After underwriting, my occupational risk classification was adjusted to Class 4, compared with Class 1 for a normal low-risk occupation. Rather than excluding my occupation, Allianz incorporated the additional occupational risk into the premium.

This is particularly interesting for dive professionals because it demonstrates an important difference between insurers: some products may reject professional diving completely, while others may accept the occupation after individual risk assessment.

Medical Underwriting

The underwriting result is also important medically.

My controlled hypertension was fully declared and additional medical information was requested during underwriting. Allianz subsequently accepted the IPD health coverage without adding an individual hypertension exclusion.

The counter-offer also does not contain individual exclusions for cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease or hyperlipidemia.

The only individual medical exclusion stated in the final offer relates to:

Cervical spine conditions and related muscular / neurological symptoms.

This wording is important. It should not be interpreted as excluding all muscle or neurological diseases generally. The exclusion relates to the existing cervical-spine condition and associated symptoms.

Final Premium

The original comparison premium without the optional OPD rider was approximately THB 49,903 per year.

After underwriting, an additional health / occupational risk premium of THB 8,747 per year was applied.

The final underwriting counter-offer is:

THB 58,050 per year

This includes:

• Life insurance premium: THB 7,030
• My Health Plus health premium: THB 42,273
• Additional health / occupational risk premium: THB 8,747

The optional OPD rider was not approved because of medical history / health condition. For my insurance strategy this is not a major disadvantage, because I was already considering self-paying routine outpatient expenses and the health policy includes outpatient accident treatment separately.

Status: Underwriting completed – currently my strongest candidate.

These are my personal underwriting conditions and should not be interpreted as general Allianz Ayudhya underwriting rules for other applicants.

Superior Health Plus – A Separate Allianz Alternative

In parallel, I am also looking at a second Allianz product: Superior Health Plus, underwritten by Allianz Ayudhya General Insurance PCL (AAGI).

This is structurally different from My Health Plus Double Care. Superior Health Plus is standalone general health insurance. It is not a health rider attached to a life insurance policy, and no life insurance policy is required.

For comparison I am focusing on Plan 3:

• THB 10,000,000 maximum cover per confinement
• room & board up to THB 12,000/day
• ICU up to THB 24,000/day, subject to policy limits
• surgery, day surgery, cancer treatment, kidney dialysis and organ transplantation according to the benefit schedule / policy terms
• emergency ambulance covered
• outpatient treatment following an accident included according to policy terms
• worldwide coverage excluding USA, subject to individual benefit restrictions
• optional general OPD cover is separate
• 10% No-Claim Bonus according to Superior Health Plus terms
• lifetime renewal available when first purchased before age 60 and continuously renewed, subject to policy terms

The maximum benefit is structured per confinement, not as one annual aggregate limit. Deductible options include THB 30,000, 50,000, 100,000 and 200,000 – also per confinement, not per policy year.

For the main comparison table I am using the 0-deductible list/standard premium for age 46: THB 48,663/year for Plan 3 / 10M. That is not an individual final underwriting premium.

Superior Health Plus is currently being considered as an alternative to My Health Plus Double Care. I have already completed medical and occupational underwriting with Allianz Ayudhya Assurance for Double Care. It is being clarified whether the separate Allianz Ayudhya General Insurance underwriting team can reuse or recognise this assessment. No individual Superior Health Plus underwriting decision has yet been issued.

Professional diving, personal exclusions, premium loading and the final premium for Superior Health Plus therefore remain pending individual underwriting. Acceptance under Double Care must not be read as confirmation for Superior Health Plus.

Double Care vs Superior Health Plus

Two structurally different Allianz products are now on the shortlist:

1. My Health Plus Double Care (Allianz Ayudhya Assurance PCL) – health rider attached to life insurance; 8M annual cover, up to 16M after qualifying Critical Illness; 0 deductible; individual underwriting completed; final offered premium THB 58,050/year; professional diving declared and accepted; hypertension covered according to the agent; cervical-spine-related exclusion; optional OPD rider declined.
2. Superior Health Plus (Allianz Ayudhya General Insurance PCL) – standalone health insurance; 10M per confinement for Plan 3; no life insurance required; 10% No-Claim Bonus; deductible options available; standard/list premium at age 46 THB 48,663/year for 10M / 0 deductible; individual underwriting not completed yet.

Superior Health Plus is potentially attractive because the standard premium is very close to the pre-underwriting Double Care premium while offering 10M per confinement, a standalone health-insurance structure and a No-Claim Bonus.

The two products cannot yet be ranked against each other for my situation, because Superior Health Plus has not produced an individual underwriting decision. I am not assuming that hypertension or professional diving will be accepted under Superior Health Plus until AAGI confirms that in writing.

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APRIL MyHEALTH Thailand / Sompo

APRIL International proposed its MyHEALTH Thailand Essential plan.

The current quotation I am evaluating is approximately:

• THB 10,000,000 annual limit
• THB 32,750 annual deductible
• approximately THB 61,233 annual premium before final underwriting

The product is underwritten by Sompo Insurance (Thailand) PCL, while APRIL arranges and administers the policy.

The Essential plan includes substantial hospital and surgery benefits. Major hospital expenses such as single-room accommodation, ICU, theatre fees, general hospital costs, surgical implants, diagnostic scans and professional fees are generally covered within the applicable policy limits and conditions.

Cancer treatment is also an important part of the cover, including active inpatient and outpatient cancer treatment subject to the policy terms.

Interestingly, the Essential plan also includes limited routine outpatient benefits without requiring a full OPD module, together with emergency-room treatment for qualifying emergencies.

Professional diving remains one of the key underwriting questions.

APRIL / Sompo requested detailed information about my actual diving exposure, including:

• approximately 420 dives per year,
• around 50 minutes underwater per dive,
• maximum regular depth of approximately 32 metres,
• no history of decompression sickness,
• no history of barotrauma,
• and no diving-related hospitalisation.

The standard policy wording contains restrictions relating to diving depth and certain higher-risk activities, so the final underwriting decision will be particularly important.

Status: Underwriting pending.

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Health Insurance vs Personal Accident Insurance

This is another area where my opinion changed during the research.

Originally, my strategy was:

Health Insurance + Personal Accident Insurance + DAN

I no longer believe a separate Personal Accident policy is automatically necessary.

A good health insurance policy may already cover medical treatment resulting from ordinary accidents.

A separate PA policy may still provide additional benefits such as:

• accidental death benefit,
• permanent disability benefit,
• additional accident medical benefits,
• daily hospital income.

Those benefits can be useful, but the first question should always be:

What does my health insurance already cover after an accident?

Otherwise you may simply be paying for overlapping insurance.

For professional divers there is another complication: some PA products may reject the occupation even when a health insurer is prepared to accept it.

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DAN Diving Accident Insurance

One part of my insurance strategy has not changed.

As a professional dive instructor, I believe every diver – and especially every dive professional – should consider dedicated diving accident insurance.

Standard health insurance may exclude diving completely, impose depth limits, exclude professional diving or exclude specific diving-related illnesses.

DAN – Divers Alert Network – exists specifically for diving-related medical emergencies.

Typical diving-related problems can include:

• decompression sickness (DCS),
• arterial gas embolism (AGE),
• barotrauma,
• hyperbaric chamber treatment,
• diving-related evacuation and emergency assistance.

This makes specialist diving insurance fundamentally different from ordinary health insurance.

We also offer DAN short-term dive insurance for guests visiting Koh Chang.

For current DAN plans, benefits and prices, always check the latest information directly with DAN, as limits and premiums can change.

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Why Full OPD Cover May Not Be Necessary

My thinking about outpatient cover has also changed during this process.

OPD does not simply mean “accident treatment”.

Some health insurance policies already include emergency accident treatment or emergency-room benefits within the main medical plan.

OPD is primarily useful for ordinary outpatient healthcare such as:

• doctor consultations,
• medication,
• diagnostic tests,
• specialist consultations,
• physiotherapy,
• routine treatment where no hospital admission is required.

In Thailand, many smaller outpatient expenses are relatively affordable.

I therefore compare the additional OPD premium with the amount I would realistically expect to spend myself during a normal year.

For me, insurance should primarily protect against medical expenses that could seriously damage my financial future.

Small everyday medical bills are much easier to self-insure.

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The Importance of a Good Insurance Broker

Another major lesson from this process is that the broker can be almost as important as the insurer.

A good broker does not simply send a quotation.

A good broker helps clarify:

• policy wording,
• medical exclusions,
• occupational exclusions,
• deductibles,
• premium development,
• claim procedures,
• renewal conditions,
• and practical examples of how exclusions may work in real life.

During my own application process, repeated questions to insurers produced important clarifications that were not obvious from the original quotation.

This is particularly important for dive professionals because terms such as diving-related, professional sport, occupational risk, causes and complications or pre-existing condition can completely change the practical value of a policy.

In my own case I worked with Global Insurance Thailand throughout this process. My experience was consistently positive: clear explanations of policy wording, patient follow-up with insurers during underwriting, and practical answers to the diving- and occupation-related questions that mattered most to me as a dive professional.

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Questions Every Dive Professional Should Ask Before Buying Health Insurance

1. Will you accept professional scuba diving or diving instruction as my occupation?
2. Is recreational scuba diving covered?
3. Is professional diving covered?
4. Is there a maximum diving depth?
5. Are decompression sickness, AGE and barotrauma excluded?
6. Does a diving exclusion apply only to injuries caused by diving, or can it also apply to ordinary accidents occurring during diving work?
7. Are ordinary accidents already covered by the health insurance?
8. What pre-existing conditions will be excluded after underwriting?
9. Does an exclusion also include causes, complications or related conditions?
10. Can exclusions be reviewed or removed in the future?
11. Will a medical or occupational premium loading be applied?
12. Can that loading later be reduced or removed?
13. Is the deductible annual, per disability, per admission or per claim?
14. Can co-payment be introduced at renewal?
15. Can the insurer refuse renewal because of claims?
16. Can an individual premium be increased because of future claims?
17. Who is the actual legal insurer or risk carrier?
18. Which country's law governs the policy?
19. Is pre-authorisation required before planned hospitalisation or surgery?

Get important answers in writing.

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The Importance of Full Medical Disclosure

One principle became increasingly important during this process:

Disclose first. Discuss the underwriting decision afterwards.

I provided insurers with extensive medical documentation and, where requested, authorised insurers to obtain additional hospital records directly.

That may result in exclusions or premium loadings.

But I prefer knowing those conditions before I accept the policy.

The worst health insurance is not necessarily a policy with clearly defined exclusions.

A much worse situation is believing you are fully insured for years and only discovering during a major claim that the insurer disputes information from the original application.

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Thailand's New Co-Payment Rules

Another subject worth understanding is co-payment at renewal.

Newer Thai health insurance policies may contain provisions allowing a co-payment to be introduced in a future insurance year under conditions permitted by Thailand's insurance regulator.

This does not mean every insured person automatically pays 30% of every hospital bill.

The important question is whether your policy allows a future co-payment to be triggered following certain claim patterns and what conditions apply.

This is therefore another renewal condition that should be understood before choosing long-term health insurance.

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My Current Shortlist – August 2026

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Final Thoughts – For Now

After months of research, my biggest lesson is surprisingly simple:

Don't choose health insurance from the brochure.

The brochure tells you what the product can cover.

Underwriting tells you what your policy will cover.

For dive professionals, this distinction is particularly important because the occupation itself can change the insurer's decision.

One company may accept you but exclude diving-related illnesses.

Another may impose a maximum diving depth.

Another may provide health insurance but refuse Personal Accident insurance.

And another may refuse the entire health product because professional diving is your occupation.

There is therefore no universal “best health insurance for dive professionals in Thailand”.

The right policy is the one that:

• accepts your real occupation,
• clearly defines its exclusions,
• protects the major financial risks you actually care about,
• has a deductible you can comfortably afford,
• remains reasonably affordable as you get older,
• and gives you confidence that you understand what will happen when you make a claim.

I am currently waiting for the final underwriting decisions from Allianz Ayudhya and APRIL / Sompo.

Once those decisions arrive, I will update this article with the final comparison between Pacific Cross, Allianz Ayudhya and APRIL, including the actual premiums, deductibles, medical exclusions, diving conditions and long-term policy terms.

Then I will explain which insurance I ultimately selected – and why.

If this article helps just one dive professional ask better questions before buying health insurance in Thailand, then all those months of research were worth it.

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Interested in becoming a dive professional? Read more about our professional diving courses or check our short-term diving insurance options for guests visiting Koh Chang.

Disclaimer: This article describes my personal experience researching and applying for health insurance as a dive professional living in Thailand. It is not insurance, legal or financial advice. Insurance premiums, underwriting decisions, exclusions, benefits and policy conditions vary between applicants and may change over time. Always obtain the current policy wording and written underwriting terms from the insurer or a licensed insurance broker before purchasing.