blorg

I don't think that will work as the announcement in the Royal Gazette specifically states stamps are not to exceed the visa validity period. They tightened this up with other visas as well, used be you could get an extra year on Elite if you did your last re-entry just before it expired, you'd get stamped in for 1 year even if it was the last day of the visa. But now with Elite they will only stamp/extend you up to the end of the visa.

It's a multi-entry visa. A multi-entry visa is multi-entry, with no additional fees, for the duration of the visa, that is how they work. The price is stated, 10,000B. Other examples would be the METV, Elite, or the non-immigrant "O-X" retirement visa, these are all multi-entry and work the same way, multiple entries for the life of the visa. You need a re-entry permit with either (1) a single entry visa or (2) an extension of stay which is what most retirees are on. An extension of stay is not a visa. If you were on a multi-entry visa like the O-X, you would not need this. That you personally need a re-entry permit just means you are not on a multi-entry visa. It doesn't mean they don't exist. This is a visa, valid for five years, and is explicitly multi-entry. As for eligibility, I'm sure there will be eligibility criteria. It's entirely possible the eligibility criteria will be ridiculous, they have form with this. But none of this has anything to do with whether it's a multi-entry visa, which was your issue with "It doesn't say anything about this being a multi-entry". In fact it does, as confirmed by the MFA.

It is multi-entry. https://thailand.prd.go.th/en/content/category/detail/id/48/iid/293120 https://www.mfa.go.th/en/content/presscon300524-2?cate=5d5bcb4e15e39c306000683e

Also, agents are still answering the phone, which Elite reportedly isn't at the moment ????

Unlikely, they are launching the new packages October 1 and have informed existing members that if they don't upgrade by August 15, it will be January 2024 before they can upgrade to the new packages. So there does seem to be a deliberate effort to get in the upgrades/applications before they formally announce the new prices. The prices floated (unofficial) are 900k for the cheapest 5 year to 5m for the most expensive 20 year. This is presumably with perks, there may be a cheaper 20 year (like now, there's a 2m+VAT 20 year with a 20k annual fee, and a 1m no perk 20 year). It looks pretty likely that they are going up substantially.