What Happens to Your Medicare When You Move to Thailand?

The Short Answer

When you move to Thailand permanently, you effectively lose access to Medicare for most practical purposes.

You don't lose your Medicare number — it stays active. But using it requires being in Australia. If you're living in Thailand, Medicare isn't going to help you when you need a doctor or hospital.

What Medicare Does and Doesn't Cover Overseas

What Medicare covers in Thailand: Almost nothing. Medicare is designed for medical services in Australia.

What Medicare covers if you fly back to Australia: Yes — if you return to Australia and see a doctor or go to hospital, Medicare kicks back in immediately.

What happens to your Medicare card: It stays valid. It just becomes largely useless while you're living overseas.

What About the PBS?

The PBS — which subsidises your prescription medications in Australia — also only works in Australia. The good news: many medications are significantly cheaper in Thailand anyway, even without subsidies.

What You Need Instead

Every Australian moving to Thailand needs private health insurance. The Thai retirement visa actually requires it — so it's not optional anyway.

The Silver Lining

Thai healthcare is genuinely good — particularly in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Khon Kaen. A GP consultation costs roughly $25–$60 AUD. A specialist is $60–$150. Blood tests and scans are a fraction of Australian prices.

What to Do Before You Leave Australia

• •Get a full health check — sort out anything that needs sorting while Medicare covers it
• •See your dentist — dental work is cheap in Thailand but good to start fresh
• •Get your prescriptions sorted and ask your GP for a full medication list
• •Get health insurance before you go — pre-existing conditions get tricky if you wait