wasabi

Agreed with most of what you wrote except the bit about abortion. I think having the abortion pill and aborting a fetus very early in the pregnancy are sane and realistic options society needs. Ripping a full term baby out of the womb is not abortion, that would be murder. I do believe there is a difference. Conflating the two is like calling illegal aliens, immigrants.

Politicians are corrupt liars? Say it ain't so!

Looking forward to voting for Trump and liberals whining what a bad person I am for the next 4 years.

Correct a juicy arsenic laced Steak resolves the problem peacefully. Don't like it? Don't care. I will be sleeping soundly.

I'm very happy with my 20 year Elite Visa which my wife and I have had for 5 years. The upfront cost was high, but in that time the visa has already paid for itself by allowing us to live in Thailand continuously hassle free. I figured out how to do my 90 day reporting online, and with at least one international trip a year I never have to deal with immigration. It's always possible something better will come along, but the ease of living here has been priceless and I don't care.

While this might be unfair to those who followed the law and have waited their turn, if these new citizens pay into social security that could be beneficial. Quite frankly I think they should have to pay in arears too, if they haven't already.

It is not a bad idea as long as it is not built or maintained by Thai people.

In an era of artificial intelligence and self-driving cars (flying cars soon) Thailand wishes to open a casino. I think they should start with better education and a greater focus on intellectual rigor than casinos.

There is an economic balancing act between the older and younger generations supporting each other, but I personally wouldn't mind less people around. It seems like mostly billionaires are worried about it because they won't have enough people to wait on them.

I agree that this is not new. My wife and I had the same experience on a METV about 5 years ago and after being treated like criminals when we tried to reenter on our legally issued Thai visas we questioned if we wanted to continue visiting Thailand. We decided we wouldn't let that experience stop us from all the other things we love about Thailand, so we got Thailand Elite visas and are now whisked through immigration hassle-free. Not cheap but membership has its privileges.

The precedent up to now, as another poster mentioned, is for current visa holders to be grandfathered into their various visa schemes. Thailand Privilege can try to entice us with new schemes, but all visa holders have signed contracts with them which should prevent them from requiring us to change. There was a brief period around 2008 when Thailand Elite nearly went bankrupt and there was uncertainty if the scheme would endure but even then, no one was forced to give up their rights to the visa because the government stepped in and supported the program.

Once we elected to change from SE to PE visas, we were briefly converted to the SE and then the PE visas. It was not possible to go straight from the lifetime version to PE, but the process was done seamlessly on our end. My wife and I retain the right to sell our visas one time, but the next person would only receive our remaining years. We have no plans to sell them. Thailand Privilege has a flat rate they charge for eligible transfers, and that fee is non-negotiable. I don't remember what portion of the total we paid that was. Whoever is selling the visas sets their own rates in addition to the flat rate. The couple were eager to return to Russia, which affected our price. We purchased both visas for a total price of 1.5 million THB (which included the couple's fee and the Thailand Elite fee) That was an exceptional deal as far as I can tell, given that the Priority extension, 20-year visas were 1 million THB each at the time, which itself was a good deal too. At the time, the Elite Ultimate Privilege (EUP) visas, which is what we now have, were 2 million each. So that's a 2.5 million THB savings. One other detail is we were required to pay in cash which was a little odd but not a big deal since the transaction took place at Bangkok Bank. I was ignorant about how all of this worked until I discovered the secondhand visas on the website BahtSold.com. At first, I thought my wife and I would be getting lifetime visas, too, and did not expect any further benefit. We were lucky to have a very knowledgeable Thailand Elite Staff member who explained all the options clearly. Once I understood everything, I realized this was the best deal I'd get, and we went for it. I had not planned on receiving the "benefits" and likely would not have paid extra for them, but my wife and I enjoy them immensely, so it all worked out in the end.

My wife and I purchased our Thailand Elite visas from a couple who had the lifetime TE visas and were leaving Thailand. Some classes of the visa then and now can be resold. Thailand Elite told us we could obtain a 30-year Special Entry visa or a 20-Year Privilege Entry visa. At first it seemed like a "no-brainer" to go with the Special Entry version but that required not only 90-day reporting but 90-day extensions as well. That'd involve getting our photo taken, paying the 1900 THB fee, and going to immigration or leaving and reentering Thailand every 90 days in addition to 90-day reporting. Thailand does not offer their visa concierge services for 90-day reporting with the SE version. However, the 20-year PE version comes with yearly extensions and the various concierge services. One last wrinkle is with the SE family visas we had to choose a primary member. If that member died then the other would lose their visa. The PE version does not have that restriction either. Basically, they really wanted to get people away from the SE versions of the visa and due to the hassle, the SE visas would have caused us we elected to go with the 20-year version. These are equal to the EUP class that has massages and transfer service etc. but cost us less than the 20-year superiority extension would have so that was the "no-brainer" for us.

I'm fairly sure that the link you've shared is not for the official Thailand Elite visa site even though at first glance it looks like it is. I believe that it's from a vendor wishing to act as an agent selling the visas (who may now be defunct). This is the official site. https://www.thailandprivilege.co.th/ I've read some people who said they were promised tax advantages by having the Thailand Privilege visa. I would certainly like that but I've never seen or been offered that myself.