FlyingThai

10 minutes ago, 2530Ubon said:

do VIP visa also take care of the 90 day reports?

They did offer this to us and even said it would be free.

However VIP Visa is in Pattaya/Jomtien and we're in BKK so not sure how she will do her reporting (I did give VIP the address in BKK to put forward on the application or whatever process is running in the background). From what I understand the first time has to be at an office and the second time forward can be done online?

Going down to Pattaya just to get the reporting done (free or otherwise) is a bit of a pain.

6 minutes ago, Phillip9 said:

Japan

I lived in Japan for 5 years and have never come across a person younger than 60 who can't use fork and knife. Same goes for Korea. Let's try again.

4 hours ago, yellowboat said:

A real welcome to Thailand photo.  They need commando's to arrest a couple of lost and confused border jumpers?  Overwhelming force and underwhelming guile courtesy of junta: inept government, Thailand wide. 

How do you want to welcome illegal border crossers to Thailand?

With a bucket of cold Leos and some somtam?

Does this extension require a re-entry permit? IF so you have to get it and then you're good to go.

27 minutes ago, Phillip9 said:

You need to get out of Thailand and see a bit more of the world.  Many of the most elite, refined people in the world can't use a fork and knife.  

Examples?

9 minutes ago, Swedenlars said:

I know a case from Sweden. A guy met a girl in a hotel bar. They had a few drinks, then the girl said can we continue our chat in your room ? He agreed. To cut the story short, they had sex and some hours later the girl called the police from her room claiming she was raped. In the court the bartender witnessed that he heard the girl asking the guy if they could go to his room. Didn't help. He got convicted. So that really means before you have sex with a new  lady, make her sign a form. I hereby confirm, bla bla bla. I really miss the old times. We didn't need this BS.

Or have a camera/audio in your room. ????

26 minutes ago, david555 said:

That doesn't look much "Elite kind"???? ….. more...., I think proposing something like this would disqualify immediate the application , or any scam agent just eat your first deposit ….

 

Seems more people get desperate each day ????

As if ponying up a ridiculous sum of 16 grand (US$) would have anything to do with being "Elite".

The entire premise of this program is a bunch of BS. It's basically a system to bag as much money as possible in exchange for services that are worth pennies. As soon as you live outside the vicinity of Bangkok even the package including the limousines is useless.

I got my money's worth because I value convenience and at the time of purchase didn't care much about money but to suggest that just because of it's name the program is reserved for the "Elite" is laughable. They sell these memberships to thousands of Chinese who can't even use fork and knife.

7 minutes ago, ThaiVisaCentreGrace said:

Will they really be able to secure a loan for this type of purchase?

What percent is a "low interest" credit card?

I guess this would differ quite a bit depending on what country it is from.

I was merely saying that it is a bad idea to take a loan out to pay for a Elite Visa.

I can only speak for the countries I've lived in but it was always possible to get a personal/all purpose loan without providing any particular reasons what I need it for. The interest on a proper bank loan is usually ~8%. Credit card could have a 0% APR for new purchases between 12-24 months.

Totally agree with you, I don't like buying anything except a home on credit except a bad situation forces you to do so. But in limited circumstances I could see how financing especially the 20 year no frills Thailand Elite Visa for 1 Mio would be worth it IF you have a way of paying it off. The 5 year visa isn't a great deal although still much cheaper than doing a monthly visa run, let alone state quarantine.

IMHO It would have been better having approached a visa agent at the proper time (1-2 weeks ago) and look at a more cost sensitive visa solution for 40/60k per year.

33 minutes ago, WhateverDude said:

Anything else, dolt?

As I said, put the bottle away.

2 hours ago, Borzandy said:

What kind of visa did he have? And her? Were they sexual tourists?

Thailand has Sex Tourist Visas now?

Must be multiple entry for sure!

29 minutes ago, Raphael Hythlodaeus said:

The point is you have to go to an IO every year and pay 1,900 baht to extend the Elite Visa for 1-year.

 

I would he interested in the Elite Visa if they did everything for 5-years without me having to go to an IO (I'm lazy). 

But I checked with Elite Visa and they made it crystal clear I must extend the visa every year myself by attending the IO.

 

So no advantage to me whatsoever, over extending my Non Imm "O" Visa for 1-year based on retirement.

I use the Prority Channel at the airport for the over 70s to zip through Immigration.

 

Here we go again. As mentioned in the other thread, It's not about you so not sure why you always try to make TE applicable to your specific case of a 70+ year old person. The validity of the Elite Visa will likely outlive you.

Plus you're talking about international travel. As long as you travel internationally at least once a year you will NEVER set foot to any immigration office because you get a nice new 1 year stamp with each entry.

19 minutes ago, ThaiVisaCentreGrace said:

Elite Visa is designed for those who have the money to spare, it is not around so people can go into debt.

It would make little sense to loan someone 500,000 THB, and have them disappear to their home country because they couldn't foot the bill.

However if they must make a poor financial decision they could possibly put it on their credit card, and pay fees ranging from 10-22% a year.

There are plenty of ways to do financing at very low rates when using a proper loan or low interest credit card.

It won't make sense for any company or bank to borrow money to a customer without guarantees which is one of the reasons why it's pretty difficult to get a credit card in Thailand for foreigners.

In the end it doesn't matter at all what the Elite Visa is "designed for" - as long as the applicant can come up with the money they don't care where it came from, be it savings or borrowed from the bank. Someone could have 500,001 Banht in the bank and would be pretty much broke after paying for the TE. He's still gonna get the visa.

You can leave pretty much daily (Qatar Airways, KLM, Lufthansa) but remember that right now there isn't any mechanism for retirement visas to return to Thailand. So once you're out... you're out!

Avoid Emirates as they require a Covid test.

Having an intermediate stop doesn't absolve you from being subjected to quarantine.

28 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

Only thing french about him is maybe his passport and it looks like he is on steroids !

Nafri for sure.

5 minutes ago, WhateverDude said:

You're right, you don't know. I've been talking with ACS at the embassy on almost a weekly basis over the past 3 months. You've been reading their "announcements".

They were sticking to that tune until about the middle/end of August. That's when they finally figured out that telling Americans to fly back to the US in its hot zone state was essentially a stupid idea. They figured out that it would come back to haunt them later.

Why do you think that they finally started issuing letters again? Rest assured that it was because of people like me who had been bugging them about it for months.

What else don't you know?

I just showed this post to my friend who works at ACS here in Bangkok. I'm not gonna repeat what he said about you because it'd breach forum rules. Stop drinking dude!

26 minutes ago, WhateverDude said:

Why would I or anyone else in their right mind want to repatriate to a country that's a hot zone? My embassy issued me and other Americans letters because they came to the realization that for us to try to repatriate now would be just plain STUPID.

And there you go again with that hilariously stupid farang bs. Making positively idiotic judgement calls on things that you know absolutely NOTHING about.

I've been trying to effectively leave Thailand to get to any place that can be deemed "safe" to arrive and without having to go through any unnecessary quarantine or any other bs for months now. Hasn't panned out. Again, I'm not going to take any unnecessary risks just because I would like to go somewhere else.

And what the HELL are you talking about regarding "repatriation efforts going on for half a year now"? Are you drunk or something? ????

Most of the developed world was in LOCKDOWN for at least 3-4 months starting in March. Europe only started reopening in early June and by most accounts it has been a dismal failure. Most of the US reopened way too soon in most of the country, thus causing a massive spike in cases/deaths with no end in sight. Any repatriation efforts going on at that time were a joke at best.

So yeah... just stop. You're making an idiot of yourself out here.
 

It's not Thailand's problem what's going on in your home country so stop being a baby and take some responsibility for yourself like an adult.

YOU didn't make any effort to go back home. I personally know at least a dozen people who flew back to the U.S. which they organized themselves without any problems so stop lying, saying you are "stuck" in Thailand. You chose to not move. Laughable!

PS: Learn reading because none of the U.S. Embassy letters say what you believe is printed on them.

40 minutes ago, ThaiVisaCentreGrace said:

EDIT: Also to answer the original question, I have not heard of any agents offering such a thing. And the interest on such an arrangement would make very little sense ????.

It would make a lot of sense if the interest rate for the 500,000 Baht is high enough and the agency would have some form of collateral. But this means a visa agency would in the end become a pawn shop/loan agency/financier and that's highly regulated by Thai law.

1) Thailand Elite expects full payment of the 500,000 before they have that visa affixed at immigration. Never heard of a sales agent offering financing.

2) Not sure what country you're originally from but you can pay Thailand Elite by credit card (either in full or in part) so that might help you. Many banks offer interest free cards for the first 12/24 months but that depends on the card type/promotion. Obviously you'd need to be eligible for credit and have a local address in the country where you apply.

3) You can't get a Thailand Elite visa "last minute" in respect to the Sep 26th Amnesty. TE requires a background check and processing by immigration/MFA and this takes ~ 6 weeks. Your current visa/stay permit under which you are in the country needs to be valid on the day the visa is changed to TE.

4) As mentioned by others the Special Tourist Visa 90x3 was announced yesterday but this only affects people outside the country

5) Education visas take a lot of time and require paperwork from MOE. Schools and agents have stopped taking customers for charade-ED Visas and legitimate universities just started their academic year so likely no more intake and visa processing possible. Maybe some agents can still make a volunteer visa work but I'd inquire about this rather today than tomorrow and have the 55-60k cash in hand, ready to pay. IF they even take you at this point.

Hope it helps!

His first mistake: Going on a date (even a Tinder date) with a British woman. In Thailand nevertheless.

Of course she went to his room to admire the wallpaper.

1 hour ago, WhateverDude said:

Maybe because there's a global pandemic going on and a lot of people (like me) are essentially stuck where they are because of it?

Have you been in contact with your embassy since March trying to get a repatriation flight?

At this point there shouldn't be a single legitimate individual "stuck" in Thailand as repatriation efforts have been going on for half a year now. All that remain do so because they didn't take action.

5 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Might be good time to visit one or call to access your options. I'm not familiar with agents however would use one in a blink in these difficult times. 

Also even if I had plans to leave Thailand when borders open I would still go the 12 month option. The agents can be creative, for example they may just suggest retirement if your 50+.

Good luck

Especially with the difference in price being so small. You'll pay 25k for 3 months or 40k for 12 months (55k for 15 months). Leaving a year of options on the table to save one grand isn't really a wise investment.

50 minutes ago, mousset said:

There is the paper side of things and the social (family etc) side. 
I hope you can understand that.

No I can't. You are married when you have a marriage certificate and not a moment before. Otherwise you're a common law spouse at best.