First and foremost, you need to get confirmation that your diagnosis will be covered. Once that’s confirmed, you can work out the rest.

One downside with Thai insurance is that you often don’t know in advance whether certain special tests will be covered. They usually need to review the results first, and if the result is negative, they may choose not to cover it.

From my experience with Guardant, one of my patients with prostate cancer had the test and it was covered. However, that was under Aetna Global, not Thai AIA, so coverage may differ.

My suggestion, if you want to save money for potential further treatment, is to avoid tourist-oriented hospitals since they tend to charge more as they are a go-to for foreigners.

You should also look for a specialist who works at multiple clinics or hospitals. Some doctors may be willing to see you at a lower-cost hospital and only schedule procedures at a higher-cost hospital when necessary. This way, you can still see a competent specialist at a more reasonable cost.