Thailand signs MoU with neighboring countries on compulsory insurance

BANGKOK, Sept 24 (TNA) – Thailand’s Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC) is cooperating with insurance regulators in the Lao PDR, Vietnam and Cambodia regarding compulsory insurance for cross border vehicles, OIC secretary-general Chandra Purnariksha said on Thursday.

The OIC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Lao PDR’s Department of Fiscal Policy, Vietnam’s Insurance Supervisory Authority and Cambodia’s Department of Financial Industry.

The detail of the MoU is to support the operation of the National Bureau of Insurance (NBI) to set up an Insurance Compulsory Centre for motorists to apply for insurance coverage before leaving to any of the four member countries.

The appropriate insurance agency in each country will proceed with making the necessary contract. The project is expected to start before the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), which is due to be held in Vientiane, Laos, in December.

The OIC secretary general said the agency expected the scheme to promote Thai insurance business to expand an investment base to other countries in the region.

Tourists can buy the insurance at the National Bureau of Insurance (NBI) and will be able to use it in all four countries, she said.

Such cooperation will be expanded to other ASEAN countries such as Singapore and Malaysia to promote tourism, she added.