Thailand traditionally tops the May holiday rankings of countries where Russian tourists request medical assistance most often.
Other counties include Turkey, Cyprus and Vietnam. Together with Thailand, they account for 70% of all cases of medical care requests. Most of them are related to respiratory infections, food poisoning, car accident injuries and sunburns, says Sberbank Insurance company.
Russians spending the May Day holidays in Thailand request medical care in 28% of cases. Every fifth vacationer requires assistance in Turkey; 11% of tourists asked for medical advice in Vietnam and Cyprus. The most common complaints are related to respiratory infections and colds, which, according to experts, are often caused by a change of climate, air conditioners in hotels and buses, and from having cold drinks.
Thailand and Vietnam tourists can also suffer from food and drink poisoning and get bitten by insects, jellyfish and sea snakes. Russians often get injured in car accidents there, because local roads cannot be called safe. Sunburns are also quite common.
Interestingly, the number of medical insurance policies purchased for May Day holidays increases by 200% every year. Vacations are also becoming longer. According to Sberbank Insurance, in 2017 Russians purchased 8-day medical insurance policies. In 2019, they purchase 10-day policies.