What Your School's Repatriation Coverage Actually Looks Like (and Why It Matters More Than You Think)

A colleague of mine at a mid-tier school in Chiang Mai found out the hard way what "emergency coverage" meant in her contract. She needed emergency surgery after a motorbike accident on a weekend trip to Pai, and the school's insurance covered the hospital stay in Chiang Mai just fine. But when complications set in and doctors recommended transfer to Bumrungrad in Bangkok, she discovered her plan didn't cover domestic medical evacuation. The school offered to "help coordinate" the transfer, which meant she booked her own flight and paid out of pocket. Total cost for what should have been a covered emergency: around 180,000 baht.

That story isn't unusual. And it's the kind of thing that separates top-tier international schools in Thailand from budget operations; not the glossy brochures or the campus facilities, but what happens when something actually goes wrong. If you're evaluating schools here, the insurance package deserves as much scrutiny as the salary number. Maybe more.

The Tier System and What It Means for Your Coverage

Thailand's international schools fall into roughly three tiers, and the differences in emergency coverage between them are significant. Tier 1 schools like ISB, NIST, and Bangkok Patana are typically parent-owned or foundation-operated, carry multiple international accreditations (CIS, NEASC), and employ predominantly Western-qualified teachers [1]. Tier 2 schools, think Harrow, Shrewsbury, and similar investor-backed operations, have strong reputations but operate differently under the hood. Tier 3 schools are usually family-owned, locally accredited at best, and staffed with a mix of qualified and unqualified teachers.

The insurance gap between these tiers is where things get real. At a Tier 1 school, you're typically looking at full-spectrum international health insurance through providers like Cigna Global or Aetna International, with coverage that includes emergency medical evacuation, repatriation of remains, and worldwide coverage that follows you on holidays [2]. At Tier 3 schools, you might get a local Thai insurance plan that covers inpatient care at government hospitals and not much else.

What "Repatriation Coverage" Actually Means

I've sat in enough contract negotiations to know that most teachers glaze over when they hit the insurance section. They shouldn't. There are three distinct types of emergency coverage that matter, and many schools bundle them together under vague language like "full health benefits."

Medical evacuation covers transport to the nearest appropriate medical facility when local care isn't adequate. In Thailand, this might mean a helicopter from Koh Samui to Bangkok, or an air ambulance from Chiang Rai to a specialist hospital. Without coverage, an air ambulance within Southeast Asia runs $180,000 to $250,000 or more [3]. Even a commercial flight with a medical escort costs $25,000 to $30,000. Repatriation of remains is the coverage nobody wants to think about but everyone needs. If the worst happens, transporting remains back to your home country costs between $3,250 and $26,010 depending on the destination and logistics involved [4]. Schools that skip this coverage are essentially telling you that if you die abroad, your family figures it out. Emergency repatriation (or medical repatriation) covers getting you back to your home country for treatment when local options aren't sufficient. This is the big one, and it's the coverage most likely to be missing from budget school packages.

Top-Tier Schools: What Good Coverage Looks Like

Schools like ISB and NIST don't just provide insurance; they provide insurance ecosystems. A typical Tier 1 package in Bangkok includes international coverage through a major provider with evacuation benefits ranging from $200,000 to $750,000 [3]. NIST, for example, provides housing allowances between 42,800 and 64,200 THB monthly depending on dependent status, and their health coverage matches that level of investment in their staff [5].

At these schools, the insurance typically includes a 24/7 medical assistance helpline, companion travel coverage (so your partner can fly with you during an evacuation), medical translation services, and coordination with hospitals worldwide [6]. The provider handles logistics. You don't book your own emergency flight.

The key difference isn't just the coverage ceiling. It's the infrastructure behind it. Tier 1 schools have HR departments that understand the policies, administrators who've actually processed emergency claims before, and relationships with hospitals like Bumrungrad and Bangkok Hospital that smooth the process. When I worked with a school leadership team at a top Bangkok school, we had a binder (yes, a physical binder) with protocols for every type of medical emergency, including which hospitals had helipads.

Budget Schools: Where the Gaps Hide

Tier 3 schools and many Tier 2 schools cut costs on insurance in ways that aren't obvious until you read the fine print. Here's what to watch for.

Local-only coverage. Some schools provide Thai insurance policies that cover treatment within Thailand but nothing beyond that. If you need specialist care that's only available in Singapore or your home country, you're on your own. A local Thai health plan through AIA might cover inpatient treatment up to 1 million to 25 million baht domestically, which sounds generous until you realize a single international air ambulance transfer costs more than the lower end of that range. No evacuation benefit. This is the most common gap. The school's insurance covers your hospital stay, but not getting you to the right hospital. In a country where the best medical facilities are concentrated in Bangkok, this matters enormously if you're teaching in Phuket, Chiang Mai, or anywhere outside the capital. Low repatriation caps. Some policies technically include repatriation but cap it at amounts that wouldn't cover the actual cost. I've seen contracts where the repatriation benefit was capped at $10,000. The average cost of repatriating remains from Southeast Asia to North America or Europe is double that at minimum [4]. Exclusions that gut the policy. Pre-existing conditions excluded with no review period. Mental health excluded entirely. Coverage voided if the incident happened during "adventure activities," which some policies define broadly enough to include riding a motorbike (something nearly every teacher in Thailand does daily).

The Questions You Need to Ask Before Signing

Here's what the job posting won't tell you, and what you need to ask directly during the interview process or contract negotiation:

| Question | Why It Matters |

|----------|----------------|

| Who is the insurance provider? | Named international providers (Cigna, Aetna, Allianz) vs. "local coverage" is a red flag indicator |

| What is the medical evacuation coverage limit? | Should be minimum $250,000 for Southeast Asia; $500,000 is better [3] |

| Does coverage include international evacuation? | Domestic-only evacuation leaves huge gaps |

| Is repatriation of remains covered, and at what limit? | Below $15,000 is inadequate for most home countries |

| Does coverage extend to holidays and travel? | Some plans only cover you within Thailand or while "on duty" |

| What's the process if I need emergency care at 2 AM? | 24/7 helpline vs. "call the school office on Monday" |

| Can I see the policy document before signing? | Any school that refuses this is hiding something |

What to Do If Your School's Coverage Falls Short

Some teachers love everything about a school except the insurance package. That's a solvable problem, but you need to factor the cost into your total compensation calculation.

Supplemental medical evacuation insurance runs roughly $10 to $20 per day for full coverage in Southeast Asia, or about $5 to $8 daily for more limited plans [3]. MedjetAssist and Global Rescue are two providers popular with expats in the region. Standalone international health insurance through Cigna Global or similar providers offers tiered plans from basic to platinum, with the mid-range options typically including evacuation benefits that fill the gaps in school-provided local coverage.

But here's the honest truth: if a school is cutting corners on your insurance, they're probably cutting corners elsewhere too. The insurance package is one of the clearest signals of how a school values its teachers. Tier 1 schools spend heavily on coverage because they've calculated that protecting their staff is cheaper than replacing them. Budget schools that skimp on insurance are making a different calculation about your replaceability.

Conclusion

Before you sign anything, request the actual policy document, not the summary. Read the evacuation and repatriation sections specifically, and if those words don't appear anywhere in the paperwork, you've got your answer about where you stand.