All field notes
Medical
The cost of being uninsured
For a refugee, a hospital charges the same as it would a tourist, and there's no insurance to soften it. A single visit can be the difference between getting care and going without.
Medical care in Thailand is much more expensive for foreigners than for citizens. A refugee is billed at that same foreigner rate, as if they were a tourist on holiday. And there is no insurance for refugees to fall back on.
So a fever, an injury, a worrying symptom in a child. Things that should mean a quick trip to a clinic instead become a calculation about money the family doesn't have.
What support changes
- It covers the bill that would otherwise be impossible.
- It pays for the transport to reach the hospital in the first place.
- It leaves a little behind for the urgent days that follow.
None of this is complicated. It's simply the difference between a person getting care and going without, and it's exactly what your giving makes possible.