wasabi

Am I the only one who expected a post about a different type of moaning?

Yes Keir is so afraid of offending anyone he will let rapists and terrorists have free reign.

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.

I've still got 15 years left on my 20-year Thailand Privilege visa, and other than the goofy marketing attempts as described above which I'm choosing to ignore, I'm happy with it. When those 15 years are over if I qualify for the Long-term Resident visa (which I mentioned above as LTR) and it's the best option, I'd consider it.

It was already confusing having the old Special Entry and newer Privilege Entry Thailand Elite tiers with each having their own benefits and quotas to use them (sometimes unlimited). Now, adding a point scheme and new tiers does not add value, only more confusion. I've felt that my benefits with Thailand Elite are similar to those I get with my credit card for simply having it. These benefits were easy to understand and use. The point system makes it seem like they want to be somewhere between an airline, hotel chain and visa concierge service. The duck-billed platypus of visas. If they wanted to enhance value, they should've found a way to get rid of 90 day reporting for holders of the visa in the same manner the LTR visa holders do not need to bother with that annoying process.

I am certain it is not. Because I saw brochures mentioning the same new tiers at their Headquarters. The email is from them and the website is https secure.

I recently got an email from Thailand Privilege pointing me to the following link. Membership Upgrade Information (thailandprivilege.co.th) In the email, I was told I had the "opportunity" to upgrade. As a valued member of Thailand Privilege Card, you can consider upgrading your membership to a new card scheme to experience endless benefits and privileges from hundreds of vendors that fit your lifestyle. They further stated regardless of choosing to upgrade or not, all tiers would change names as follows: The current members in Elite Ultimate Privilege, Elite Family Premium, Elite Superiority Extension, Elite Family Alternative, Elite Privilege Access, Elite Family Excursion, Elite Easy Access, and Lifetime members have the option to remain in the same categories and enjoy their current benefits. However, there will be an automatic card name change as follows: •Elite Easy Access Card will change to “Gold Elite Easy Access Card” •Elite Family Excursion Card will Change to “Gold Elite Family Excursion Card” •Elite Family Alternative Card will change to “Platinum Elite Family Alternative” Card •Elite Privilege Access Card will change to “Platinum Elite Privilege Access Card” •Elite Superiority Extension Card will change to “Platinum Elite Superiority Extension Card” •Elite Ultimate Privilege Card will change to “Diamond Elite Ultimate Privilege Card” •Elite Family Premium Card will change to “Diamond Elite Family Premium Card” •Lifetime Card will change to “Diamond Lifetime Card” Other than the initial fee I paid to purchase my visa, I don't pay any recurring fees for my visa and am happy with my current benefits. But I was curious, so I followed the link which opens as a PDF that lists the tiers and upgrade options. All come with costs and recurring fees beyond what I currently (don't) pay. They mention "endless benefits and privileges", but I don't see any such thing in the documents they provided. Only additional costs. They've also implemented a point system which I don't know the utility of either. As I said I don't plan to upgrade but was wondering if anyone else will and what are the advantages of doing so. **** Update. I see on the following website there are a few benefits I don't have in the new tiers but they are not worth the extra money I'd need to pay to upgrade and get them. Thailand Privilege - Diamond Membership Reservation

Thanks. That site currently says status not available but I registered for alerts.

I just mailed my passport to the US embassy in BKK using this process 2 days ago using Thai post. I received a tracking number for that and know they have received it. I also purchased a return envelope as instructed using ThailandPostMart.com. I received two emails both of which gave me a THP # like you have above but no mail tracking number that I can use here Track And Trace : EMS : Thailand Post I printed and included those emails but I have no idea how to track my return envelope. How do I get a tracking number for it?

After 137 pages is it still correct that no one can say with is happening with foreigner taxation in Thailand any better than they could when this thread began?

The only update my landlord had to make was to add her gender.