Misty

It's true that the LTR visa isn't for everyone. For one, tourists are definitely not the target market. But for those who qualify and wish to work, the LTR and its digital work permit is a very favorable alternative to the NonB visa/work permit combination or the Elite card which doesn't even allow work. And as a true Long Term Residency visa, on many measures it also compares favorably to the old Permanent Residency program and is more "popular." To say it's the program is a failure because "millions" haven't been granted is pretty much missing the point. BoI has said no one ever expected millions, the targets were exaggerated to get the program approved and in place. I'm thankful it is in place, it is such an improvement over the alternatives.

Thanks, Pib, having owned and run a US Thai Amity Treaty company for nearly 20 year, your post above is in line with my understanding as well. Strictly based on the Thai Amity treaty, 4 Thai employees are needed per foreign employee. There may be exceptions to the employee rule, such as NonO supporting Thai dependent or LTR visa, but these have nothing to do with the Amity Treaty itself. However as @BritTim notes above, the employee rules may be different in the case of Thai Amity Treaty sole proprietorship. This may indeed be true, I have no experience with a sole proprietorship and so can't comment.

He once was highly ambitious and focused. He's never been that smart. And now he's a nut case.

Agreed on hypocrisy of libertarians, and that the parties (paid by lobbyists) who slashed regulations are real culprits. Also, bank management is directly responsible. Besides losing their jobs, let's see if management has their bonuses, paid on 10 March, clawed back.

Great idea, as long as she doesn't plan to work.

Ummm, I think something got lost in translation. Are you saying I should not want to be 'hired' by my Thai Amity Treaty company, but should instead do freelance work for it?

Yes, we will all pay but much less than if this had snowballed into a contagion situation. Most of us remember 2008 and Lehman. And I'll never forget 1997 Thailand.

Definitely understand the outrage. But I'm not sure I'd call this a bailout of rich, connected people. Make no mistake: contagion would have been really ugly for everyone. And it's not really a bailout: taxpayer money isn't used to make depositors whole: the banking sector will bear that cost through higher cost of FDIC insurance. First to lose everything in a bankruptcy is shareholders (already done), then bondholders (my guess is also done). Depositors would be last on that list to bear the costs. If not enough left for depositors, FDIC insurance kicks in. If not enough FDIC insurance, then a benefit-cost determination is made. In this case the cost of freezing deposits until assets could be sold was determined to be too great. It was better for everyone to make the cash readily available to depositors and avoid systemic contagion.

Interesting Guardian story: Silicon Valley Bank chief pressed Congress to weaken risk regulations CEO Greg Becker personally led the bank’s half-million-dollar push to reduce scrutiny of his institution – and lawmakers obliged https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/11/silicon-valley-bank-weaken-risk-regulations-svb

It sounds like SVB deposit holders were pretty much going to get their money back anyway, and the "systemic risk exemption" being applied in this case is really to calm things down and prevent the situation from snowballing. The only advantage to deposit holders is they will get their money back sooner rather than later. I have no doubt some of the deposit holders could be people such as you mention, but some are also companies with employees whose paycheck money would have been caught up in the mess, as well as SVB branches in other countries. SVB reportedly pretty much had enough assets to cover its liabilities. Its problem was a duration mismatch due to poor bank management decisions, followed by a very rapid run on deposits. In taking over the bank on Friday, the feds have wiped out shareholders and made an orderly work out possible. Deposit holders would have gotten their money back anyways (as there's apparently pretty much enough to cover them) so quelling the markets and preventing a systemic contagion situation is worth it. In the aftermath of this fiasco, hopefully bank stress tests will be expanded to include the likes of banks the size of SVB. Also, hopefully the bank management will pay a real price for the mess that was created.

Rare though LTR visas may be, even in the program's initial stages last year, many more Americans received LTR visas than received Permanent Residency (PR) for the entire year. PR should, in theory, be a good program. However, having prepared applications for both PR and LTR (and now having an LTR visa and work permit), I think the LTR is a much better program than PR. Not to mention that having the BoI oversee it removes a lot of the games that go on at Immigration with PR.

Many thanks, that could be the case for a sole proprietorship. My direct experience is with a Thai Amity treaty company only - so not a sole proprietorship. I don't think Thai Amity treaty companies can hire foreigners with NonB or NonO visas and work permits and not employ Thais.

Definitely agree that this type of service might not be worth it for someone with a relatively uncomplicated situation or who already lives in Thailand. But I'm guessing that the intermediary would do all the chasing up with the BoI, as well as handle other details such as helping get a bank account, helping invest in a Thai gov't bond, etc. Might be worth it for someone overseas, relatively unfamiliar with Thailand, and maybe can't easily do these things themselves.

Can you post more information about American Treaty of Amity companies not requiring Thai employees for foreigners with work permits? I'm not saying this isn't true, but I've owned and run such a company for many years. The Thai employee requirement has always been necessary. We've had solid legal advice. I've never heard of these "complicated rules" and so am a bit skeptical if the complicated rules from a Thai lawyer don't just involve some kind of "VIP service fee."

Didn't Stormy say "like a toadstool." Could put some off.

Peter Thiel's Founders Fund has been specifically mentioned in Bloomberg as one of those VC companies withdrawing all deposits from SVB last week, as well as recommending that other related companies do the same https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-11/thiel-s-founders-fund-withdrew-millions-from-silicon-valley-bank Thiel's Founders Fund famously sold all his cryptocurrency in March last year. Thiel then spoke at a cryptocurrency conference in April, telling small investors that bitcoin would go up 100x: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-backer-peter-thiel-reportedly-131804282.html

Yes, agreed - that's pretty much what BoI staff told me to expect when I asked. And since I've already paid for a 10 year visa, additional fees (if any) shouldn't be much.

Thanks for laying things out clearly. I've seen speculation on why the middle of the business day failure, rather than waiting until Friday after hours. Will be interesting to see how this is explained. The situation seemed to be moving rapidly, but that wouldn't be unusual in this type of situation. SVB apparently did a lot of business in China, so some speculate there are bigger issues at play. Interesting too that banks 1) do not have to mark-to-market their bond holdings and 2) aren't required to maintain a better balance between the duration of their assets and their liabilities. Investors in funds that invest in the same bonds would have already recognized the change in bond prices caused by rising interest rates. Any equity analyst following this bank should have been well aware of the pending issues.

Looks like some good news for those interested in applying for LTRs in the "Highly Skilled Professional" - apparently the categories that qualify are being expanded. From an AMCHAM Thailand email: Cabinet Revises LTR Visa’ Targeted Industries The Cabinet supported revision to the qualifications, criteria, and benefits for Long-Term Resident Visas’, as proposed by Board of Investment (BOI), with the aim of attracting Highly Skilled Professionals, by revising the criteria of targeted industries. As a result: The following industries are newly added: Transport and Logistics, and Petrochemical and Chemical Industry. The following industries have been revised: Automotive Industry, Electronics Industry, Agricultural, Food, and Biotechnology Industry, Aviation, Airport, and Space Industry, International Business Center (IBC), among other revisions. Notably, the BOI will now consider other industries that are served by highly skilled professionals, using one of the following specialized skillsets: Research and development in targeted industries or targeted technology industries such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and advanced materials technology. Human resource development in sciences and technology, at vocational or higher education levels. The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, and/or using automated robotics system in businesses. The planning and development of digital system to elevate the products and services offered by businesses. Providing financial and market consulting services. The management of environment and energy. Managing or providing consultation on incubator and acceleration projects, and providing support to the innovation and ecosystems of startup businesses. Alternative dispute resolution services. Providing support and sponsoring the development of business economics, trade and investments, by foreign chambers of commerce and international trade organizations. Source: March 7 Cabinet Resolutions, Agenda Item no. 24 https://www.thaigov.go.th/news/contents/details/65840

????is there any other kind?

If true, could help to explain this chart https://datacommons.org/place/country/THA?utm_medium=explore&mprop=fertilityRate&popt=Person&cpv=gender%2CFemale&hl=en#

Good to note. I think there's also a sign on the BoI's door about their dress code, no shorts or T-shirts or flip flops if I recall. If it helps any, this type of dress code is the norm in most places I've traveled. So it's not just Thailand, or Thai bureaucracy.

Well, I don't think it's a false claim in the case of the LTR visa. For example, I have an LTR visa. And I have a legally issued work permit. This wouldn't be possible with other visa offerings such as the Elite or retirement NonO.

Having gone through the LTR application process at the beginning, I can say it was rough going. The impression I had is that the BoI more or less had administration of the program foisted on them. BoI was doing their best with limited resources, notably on the IT front. It was what might be considered a "soft opening". I can say that the BoI staff were incredibly courtesy and tried to help pretty much every step of the way, even though they too were struggling with the program design, lack of legal clarity, etc. Many of the initial issues those of us applying last year faced seem to have been worked out now. Perhaps this announcement of introducing intermediaries says the program is ready for prime time. Senior gov't folks in seminars did say that the huge projected numbers for the program were pretty much aspirational. It seem like the only way to get the program started was to have high targets. I am glad they did. For me, it's a huge improvement over what I dealt with before.

My understanding from senior BoI folks is: if you have an LTR visa you can legally work in Thailand. If you work for a Thai company, you do need a work permit, but if you have the LTR visa you can get a long-term digital work permit. That's the case I fall under, so I have the LTR visa and a five year digital work permit, renewable for another 5 years when it expires. BoI senior staff (in seminars and direct meetings) have also told me that those who do not work for a Thai company can still legally work on the LTR visa, without a work permit since the work is being done for an overseas company. Since I do work for a Thai company I'm not in that category, but if I were I'd check into that in more detail. Either way, the LTR visa seems very different from the elite visas in this aspect. It's clear that legally the elite visas do not allow any work. Anyone with an elite visa wishing to work would need to get a new visa that permits work such as a NonB, and a separate work permit. Not the case with LTR.