Bangkok - It was supposed to be the perfect dream vacation in Thailand - but for a man from Australia it ended in a nightmare.

As the Australian daily newspaper The Age reports, Steven Stenton was looking forward to his long-awaited vacation, which his wife and children had given him for Father's Day.

But the trip quickly took a dramatic turn when the father of the family suddenly suffered a heart attack and needed immediate life-saving surgery.

Despite taking out health insurance with travel insurer 1Cover, which promised unlimited medical assistance and 24/7 emergency care on its website, Steven had to pay the full 30,000 Australian dollars (around 18,300 euros) for the first operation out of his own pocket.

The Thai hospital insisted that the amount be paid immediately, even though the insurer was already aware of Steven's condition and should have covered the costs.

But the stress didn't stop there: Before the second, more complicated operation, the hospital pressed for another 50,000 dollars.

Although the insurance company finally covered the costs of the second operation after a long back and forth, the family was asked to reclaim the 30,000 dollars for the first operation themselves - a process that could take months.

Steven has since been discharged from hospital and hopes to return to Melbourne soon.

However, the incident is likely to remain in the family's memory for a long time to come and has severely shaken their faith in travel insurance.