Thailand hikes price of 5-year visa as foreigners seek COVID haven

[khunpa]

1 minute ago, spidermike007 said:

Wow guys. 500 new members. Let's hike the price. Demand is huuuuuge. 

 

They keep droning on and on and on about wanting high income tourists. And expats apparently. So, why raise the hurdles? Why not make the process easier and simpler? Would not common sense and reason dictate that line of thinking? 

I have been searching for “Common Sense” in Thailand for over a decade. Still no luck...

[ian007]

3 hours ago, MajorTom said:

Can you get the 20 year SE for 1 mill if you are a new member?

I have 2 friends thats currently on the 5 year elite visa for 500K, and they both have plans to renew it. 

I asked why didnt you get the SE 20 year one for 1 mil? They claim its not possible do get one from scratch, it can only be obtained after you have done a 5 year EA membership? I disagree. Which is it?

As far as I can recollect the 20 year costs 2 Million Baht PLUS VAT for some strange reason. The 10 year is or was 1 million Baht.

[EricTh]

3 hours ago, dsj said:

I will just stick with my yearly retirement extensions @14,000 Baht per year (using an agent). I am lucky as I don't have to keep 800,000 Baht in the bank, as I can still get the income verification letter from the Canadian Embassy.

 

How is it possible to just pay 14000 baht per year without keeping 800k or monthly transfer?

 

I didn't see this option on the list.

 

[mjakob007]

7 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Oh I thought you were referring to the total cost. I agree if you're willing to pay 500k you'll pay 600k.

Not Quite...

 

When some of us paid 500k few years back, the conditions of stay were different.

 

I know few of my buddies who will not continue PE visa at 500k, as they have found destination that are more attractive.

 

20% increase will only be a further deterant. 

[mjakob007]

12 minutes ago, ian007 said:

As far as I can recollect the 20 year costs 2 Million Baht PLUS VAT for some strange reason. The 10 year is or was 1 million Baht.

is there not an option for 20 years for 1mill?

[Freigeist365]

Thailand... hub of price hikes with the possibly worst timing.

[from the home of CC]

2 hours ago, ItoroK said:

10k road deaths a year but hey, lets get crazy about 2 local infections. Even most thai people have realized now that this is just a scam to distract from the real problems.

 

People don't care about the disease anymore but about how the restrictions affect everyday life which is much more noticeable than the disease itself. And not matter what, unless they let go of that ridiculous amount of paperwork and 2 weeks quarantine, the demand will not come back as we can see in the numbers. I'm very curious to see the numbers for november, probably not more than 2k which is non existent compared to 2-3 million in normal times.

I'm hoping they keep the restrictions up for at least another year..

[MajorTom]

26 minutes ago, mjakob007 said:

is there not an option for 20 years for 1mill?

Yes there is.

There are two different 20 year memberships: 1 and 2 million. The "cheap" one has no golf memberships, free spa etc..

[Kelsall]

2 hours ago, biggles45 said:

What I find confusing us that they call it a Permanent Residence visa. If this is the case why were Elite holders not allowed back into Thailand.?? 

They were allowed back in.

[Traubert]

A good scheme - if you can afford it - which judging by the response, nobody can.

 

We have the 'alternative venues,' which are never named of course.

[KeeTua]

2 hours ago, ajarnmarc said:

last time I checked over my 21 years here...foreigners; which is the thai word for farang, are anyone not Thai. So defend the statement as you may. Yet it was directed at foreigners, and yes those adorable Chinese fall unfortunately into that category as well.

Directed at foreigners exactly, you'll notice in my post I said this was not specifically directed at farangs. I took exception to the post I replied to by Captain_Bob which was a cheap shot; "Thai gov't again revealing its black hearted contempt for farang. Jai dam."

 

Of course 'the government's contempt for us farangs' is a favorite conspiracy theory here on TV so the post was well received. In fact, according to the article, the (supposedly beloved by the govt) Chinese are more impacted by this than other foreigners including farangs.

[Magenta408]

A covid haven?? Is this now lalaland?

[wwest5829]

11 hours ago, bodga said:

thats it  just keep  increasing everything and then wonder why no ones  coming later

I have mixed feelings concerning those who can afford such Visas. May not make a difference to those who can easily afford. But, in all honesty, my dog is not in that fight. I am a working middle class retiree on the 65K baht a month plan. A comfortable retirement on $2400 USD that I could not afford in the USA. Before retiring to Thailand I looked at four other countries, affordability was a major consideration. Next life I am coming back as a tall, wealthy, healthy, good looking guy. Doin alright but there is room for having things a bit easier!

[RocketDog]

9 hours ago, quake said:

I know what they can do with there visa. 

forum rules prevent any further comment. 

 

I think referring to specific anatomical locations such as rectum and colon is acceptable. These are proper medical terms after all. Rectal thermometer, colon cancer, etc. 

Place, insert, introduce, locate are also valid verbs. 

I guess for some this visa type is advantageous, business people with frequent visits for instance. For most of us though they are just tเtร on a fish. 

[Hwood0606]

I have been considering this arbitrary visa for some time. This has made it some more arbitrary considering the visa that supposedly comes with a condo purchase. 

[Lingba]

This is Thai logic...happens all the time...business is down...you increase prices

[RocketDog]

1 hour ago, kg1947 said:

Killing the Goose that laid the GOLDEN EGG  .... 

then .... there will be NO Goose and NO Golden Egg , maybe

they can sell the " feathers "  .....

They do. They are called 1 year permission to stay for 1900฿.

[bkkcanuck8]

9 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

"Thailand Privilege Card had a cumulative loss of 555 million baht as of fiscal 2019. The price increase for the cash cow package comes as the company aims to reach a profit within two years."

 

????

 

Over half a billion Baht loss last year alone. Just let that sink in...

 

Yet they keep on trying to con people into buying it. 

I suspect -- The problem is the program is designed to give the private company that runs it a nice profitable package, but not the Thai government.

 

The existing private partnership should be split from the visa part.  The government runs the visa part and charges 500,000 for the 5 year elite visa, and all the additional perks such as car service offered by private (companies) - to which 500,000 of their price goes to the government (and suddenly the government program is nice and profitable).  The private companies can package their own services in to their bundled package and charge what they want.  I think you will find the majority would not really care about a bundled package... might buy a car service package separately... but my guess is most of those on the elite visa pretty much care mostly about the visa not about the bundled perks.

[Dexxter]

Thailand and China seem to be made for each other. Both experts at scamming their victims.

[Jonathan Swift]

12 hours ago, bodga said:

thats it  just keep  increasing everything and then wonder why no ones  coming later

After 8 years of observation it just seems that Thailand lacks basic economic sense. It's baffling, really, because it's not a difficult concept. Economics is like a seesaw of supply and demand. Money takes the path of least resistance. That's what it boils down to. Lower prices and you get increased cash flow. Lower interest rates and you get more borrowers. Raise prices faster than demand grows, people stop buying, cash flow dries up. If there's a buying frenzy for Apple stock it price surges up. If there's a selloff price plummets. If you lower prices and demand increases enough you can start to edge prices up until you reach equilibrium. But if you lose your customer base because you went crazy raising prices, you won't get them back. Bangkok is losing with expats on the world stage, and when the old timers leave, they're not coming back, and there will be no newcomers at those prices. My opinion is they are clinging to beliefs that are not based in reality, and stubbornness keeps them from actually learning from the real world. Maybe a combination of that and they are hiring the wrong people for the wrong reasons to do the job. It's sad that in a crisis like the pandemic, which Thailand has handled well, they won't bring in some top advisors perhaps from some of the wealthier countries. 

[herfiehandbag]

10 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

wonder this too. I also wonder how a company that does nothing but issue visas can lose over half a billion Baht in a 12-month period! What overheads could possibly lead to those amounts of losses.

Stationery costs are  often wildly underestimated when conducting initial budgeting. Of all the budgetary envelopes it is the one, in such ventures, most likely to exceed income available, plunging cash flow into, if not the red, definitely the brown...

 

It is known, in certain circles, as the manilla effect!

Edited December 2, 2020 by herfiehandbag

[shackleton]

Well there must be a demand for the 5 year visas if they are are putting  up the price by 10%

This is not going to make the people on here  happy as they want to read negative comments  on why people want to come to Thailand and retire ect 

This is a excellent news  on why people want to retire  here

more positve feedback required from those who are retiring here in the future

 

[hobobo]

11 hours ago, Natai Beach said:

only 60 baht per day. Nothing that us elites will worry about.
A pack of peanuts.

Your calculator must be be a 5G one; my figure is well over 25 times your bag of peanuts

[whaleboneman]

7 hours ago, Thaifly88 said:

It’s actually 55 baht per day. the visa cost increase over 5 years (55 x 365 x 5 = approx 100,000)

The "elites" aren't always good at math. They have accountants for that.

[jkcjag]

14 hours ago, bodga said:

thats it  just keep  increasing everything and then wonder why no ones  coming later

They report that record new memberships...that’s the point

[jkcjag]

1 hour ago, Jonathan Swift said:

After 8 years of observation it just seems that Thailand lacks basic economic sense. It's baffling, really, because it's not a difficult concept. Economics is like a seesaw of supply and demand. Money takes the path of least resistance. That's what it boils down to. Lower prices and you get increased cash flow. Lower interest rates and you get more borrowers. Raise prices faster than demand grows, people stop buying, cash flow dries up. If there's a buying frenzy for Apple stock it price surges up. If there's a selloff price plummets. If you lower prices and demand increases enough you can start to edge prices up until you reach equilibrium. But if you lose your customer base because you went crazy raising prices, you won't get them back. Bangkok is losing with expats on the world stage, and when the old timers leave, they're not coming back, and there will be no newcomers at those prices. My opinion is they are clinging to beliefs that are not based in reality, and stubbornness keeps them from actually learning from the real world. Maybe a combination of that and they are hiring the wrong people for the wrong reasons to do the job. It's sad that in a crisis like the pandemic, which Thailand has handled well, they won't bring in some top advisors perhaps from some of the wealthier countries. 

They are reporting membership is up...that’s the point

[jkcjag]

2 hours ago, Lingba said:

This is Thai logic...happens all the time...business is down...you increase prices

They report that business is up...so it’s supply and demand 

[jkcjag]

To all the cynics...consider for a Thai national..just try getting a visa to live in the UK or Oz

[david555]

Not only about the money .... but if all come to Thailand because a Covid  haven ..... it wont stay a safe Covid haven ....

[kevin612]

I want the baht plummeted, everything is getting more expensive.