Tuvoc

That is incorrect. Yes there was a bare-bones 1M 20 year package. But comparing apples with apples, the old 20 year package with all the privileges was 2M baht. The replacement for that package is now 5M baht, which is "only" a 150% increase, not 400%.

Moving, or an additional office ?

OK so 9 weeks in total then, plus however long you waited before making the payment. I must check my application form - I keep seeing 30 days for that, but from memory the application form said 7 days.

I'd have expected that they would process them in the order they receive them. Who knows. Maybe some applications take longer than others.

That is fast ! But I bet they've had a significant volume since then.

Yes I'm not clear either. I'm pretty sure that the application form says payment is due in 7 days, but agents say 30 days. Anyway the funds are in my Bangkok Bank account already so there is no issue either way. I don't mind the 2 months or longer for it to get approved, I don't need it before then.

Which is unattainable for 99.9% of foreigners, and for which you would also have to spend large on legal fees to maximize chances of success.

On this point, there is a clause in the agreement to say that if the program is cancelled, you will receive a refund of the "remaining membership fee". I assume that is pro-rated.

I submitted my application online today. On the one hand I feel like I'm completely mad - I could just continue to get retirement extensions or marriage extensions, so why am I squandering 1 million baht ?? On the other hand, it makes sense: - for a retirement extension 800k baht is locked away anyway until I die, and the Elite fee is not a lot more than that. The only real difference there is that the 1M Elite fee is gone, whereas the 800k would go to my wife on my death. She will have plenty without that. And then, I think of it as 50k baht per year and that doesn't seem like a lot. Worth it to me for easier dealings with immigration for the next 20 years, if I live that long. Having been sitting on the fence for a while, I'm at peace with my decision to go for it.

I got my re-entry permit in June at the airport for the first time, instead of having to get it at the immigration office beforehand. It was after security but before passport control as you would expect. I had the form already filled out and the photo, so after a brief check I was directed straight to the officers to affix the stamp. Then on to passport control as normal. I was a little concerned that I would miss it, but bottom line was that I knew that I had to get it done before passport control. And having done it once, you know where it is for next time.

Yes, I will be getting my application together over the weekend. The upfront cost is off-putting but when you convert to an annual number it isn't too bad.

Oh I didn't realize it could be done online directly with them. I think I'm going to go ahead. At the moment I'm still going backwards and forwards between NZ and Thailand, and I'm not always in control of the timing. So it is very possible that I may not be in Thailand at the right time to do the annual retirement renewal and it would lapse. Guess I could just rely on visa exempt with extension, but that will become a hassle. So Elite does actually work quite well for me.

Did you do it directly, or through one of the many agents ?

In my case, there are no agents in Chiang Rai, or at least that was the case 2 years ago. Out of province agents and extensions are not a good idea in my humble opinion.

I'm not interested in the benefits, the value for me is in completely hassle free dealings with immigration. Either you don't have to visit them at all for 5 yrs if you go out of the country once a year, or if you don't then the annual visit to immigration is simply a rubber-stamp I believe, minimal or no document or forms. However, I am still totally conflicted about the 1 million baht price tag. I can do either retirement extensions or marriage extensions, my choice - and I think marriage extensions will always be "protected". Is it worth 50,000 per year (x 20 yrs = 1.000.000 baht) just to avoid hassle once a year with immigration ? I'm struggling to answer that question !

As I understand it, the welcome letter to the scheme. So if you get it earlier than needed then you're wasting some of the 20 years - which will certainly be the case for me.

Yes I saw that you don't have to pay until approved, and you can just back out at that point if you change your mind. So I think I'll apply next week for the 20 yr one, nothing to lose.

I don't think there are any visa agents in Chaing Rai. Closest is Chiang Mai. The Non-OA that you obtain abroad has an insurance requirement but the standard in-country Non-O does not. What is your current status ?

Probably cashflow more than reported profits. If the Thai government takes out all the cash as it is generated, then yes they have to continue to sell to survive.

They are potentially going to be very busy before Aug 15th and Sept 15th. One could hope that it is more than just a price increase - that there could be other benefits. For example, maybe they could do away with the 90-day report. Maybe it will be a genuine 5 year VISA and not a 1-year visa that has to be renewed 5 times, for which if you fail to do so (assuming you haven't left the country in-between) then you are on overstay and could be deported. There is a small hope that the new packages could be attractive despite the price increase and you might actually want to wait and get one of the new ones. Dreams are free though.... Actual legislative changes could be needed for more radical changes.

Yes I've been delaying buying it until I'm reasonably sure that I won't live more then 20 years more ! I had planned to buy two years from now at 65. I'll either buy it now ASAP or just save the money and continue to use retirement extensions - which have been really easy for me - or switch to marriage extensions instead, if for some reason they make retirement extensions more onerous than they are now, or change the eligibility criteria. The 800k for retirement extensions is surely due for a big increase - it is years old and if they updated it for inflation since it was originally set, it would be a much bigger number now.

In my case, either the Elite visa or switch to marriage extension instead of retirement. I currently use retirement extensions because it is much easier. I could be completely wrong, but I think they will "protect" marriage extensions if that is the right word. Always extra scrutiny to avoid scams of course.

Found it on the Thai Elite website itself: Discontinuation of Current Thailand Elite Visa Membership programs by 15th September 2023 (thailand-elite.com)

I think that the price increase is as a result of the extra demand that they have now. All about making money. To me there do seem to be too many packages at the moment and simplifying that would be a good thing. I had planned to buy the 20 yr one at 1 million baht about 2 years from now. If that will go up by 20-30% then I have some thinking to do, it may make sense to buy now.

I saw on a youtube video that the ability to do that is in the contract that you signed, but that the contract also says that they reserved the right to change the price to do so.