Ok, I read every reply here.
I think retirement deposits are going up 100%. Probably double.
Now about this Elite visa. Still stupid 90 day reports and if you google hard enough, you will see that there was a guy on this forum who purchased this "Elite" visa thinking it was a 5 year "worry free" stay in Thailand, so he did not do annual renewal. They kicked him out of the country, LOL. Yes, dumb on him, but nothing "Elite" about it.
The new prices do not make any sense. The Russian and Chinese exodus will not last forever and certainly not only to Thailand. Things always change and at 36,000 CAD for a 5 year visa the so called "rich" Chinese and Russians will have other, much better options, one of them being Canada. This amount of money (36K) is enough to hire an agent who will find them a school in Canada to do University and Masters which will lead to Permanent Residency and eventual citizenship. No visa hassles ever with a benefit of free (and once world class) healthcare.
But who wants to live in Canada? It is so cold and miserable, you say. Yes it is, but to Russians and Chinese it makes no difference. They are used to cold and miserable.