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

[DREW99]

Pure profiteering

Illogical while visitors are still restricted

 

[Ebbe Hermansson]

12 hours ago, Natai Beach said:

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

How did you calculate that??? 5 years is the same as 365 x 5 = 1825 days. 600 000 Bath divided by 1825 days is 328 Bath/day = same as dinner for 2, each day for 5 years

 

[crazygreg44]

12 hours ago, Natai Beach said:

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

5 years is 1825 days.  

 

600.000 THB  divided by 1825 days =   328.76 THB

 

60 Bahts are peanuts, but your mathematical skills are peanuts, too 

[bkkcanuck8]

4 minutes ago, crazygreg44 said:

5 years is 1825 days.  

 

600.000 THB  divided by 1825 days =   328.76 THB

 

60 Bahts are peanuts, but your mathematical skills are peanuts, too 

So are yours.... there has to be at least one leap year in that calculation so at least 1826 days. ????

[Albert Zweistein]

Can I apply for asylum ?

[Raphus]

All you moaners and groaners.

this is what they are doing. Get real and deal with it.

all Thai Gisa forum is about moaning and groaning. There is NEVER any constructive thoughts about a government is trying to attract other investors.

just old spank stains of people that cannot accept change as they are over 45.. Hertzburg. Mintzberg. Porter, and even Henry Ford warned of people like you that are against any movement forward. Well guys that have. <deleted> load of money in Thailand. DeL with it or jump out.

[BigC]

I was  hoping  to read  the opposite  

that prices would go down to attract tourism for to compensate  for  lack of covid tourist's 

 

come on us locals need tourists please help

[Sametboy2019]

Thai business increment.

[Ernest at heart]

From what I understand from several media reports the increased demand is not only in Thailand but also other SE Asian countries. Specifically I refer to the Philippines where they've just scrapped the current visa programme as they were being inundated with request from China. If you were Chinese living under the CPP regime in China that alone is a huge incentive to flee the country for a freer and no doubt better existance than under the CPP. No doubt many Chinese with cash and there are many of them were also applying en masse for elite visas to Thailand.  I believe the so called coronavirus-free country is not at all the major motivation.   

 

ve

[mike787]

Farang need to suck it up, and put on big boy panties.  Th eElite visa is the best thing going.  Can't afford it, go home to your country...Thailand is more than worth it.

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm.... increasing price will certainly increase demand

[Salerno]

11 hours ago, ItoroK said:

How can you run a loss on selling a simple plastic card and some stamps for 15000$ a piece? Let that sink in

 

11 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

I thought the same thing, how can you loose money selling something that costs next to nothing to make ?

 

Best guess, they miscalculated the costs across all the packages (golf, spa, limo, medical, cooking, muay Thai, skimming off the top etc.).

[lkv]

59 minutes ago, Ernest at heart said:

No doubt many Chinese with cash and there are many of them were also applying en masse for elite visas to Thailand

I generally don't tend to reply to people with a low count of posts in months (4), because I perceive them as potential Central Comittee trolls, similar to how CCP conducts its online business in China.

 

That said, I would not call 2,149 approved applicants in 2019, out of which perhaps only 30-40% Chinese, en masse.

 

I would also venture to guess that, in the first 8 months of 2020 or so, the number of new applicants was zero.

[Happyman567]

Only 20% increase The Ubon immigration did better than that . They increased there 2month extension by 100% 1900-3900 So 20% is peanuts

[ezzra]

The story of the goose who laid the golden eggs comes immediately to minds... with the premise being if there are no tourists coming let's than milk the one that are already here shall we...

[Happyman567]

1 minute ago, ezzra said:

The story of the goose who laid the golden eggs comes immediately to minds...

Or at the end of a  rainbow there is always a pot of gold

[MadMuhammad]

600000?! That’s preposterous! Who would be stupid enough to pay that kind of money For sometime so uses less. The 30K a month salary I give my bar girl ‘gf’ is far better valu.... oh wait ???? 

[ChrisY1]

20 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

I 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.

 

They put it out of its misery in 2008 due to complete and abject failure and then, completely out of the blue, they resurrected it, painted it a different colour and expected different results!

 

It is nothing more that a gravy train for a select few former civil servants to sit on the board, swan about, play golf and feel self-important, which is probably why it was resurrected. 

 

Another classic Thai boondoggle!

Not a "boondoggie".....but a cash cow....!

[ChakaKhan]

16 hours ago, animatic said:

Oh, go peel me a grape!

do i get the inside or the outside?..will a raisin suffice?

[ChakaKhan]

13 hours ago, onebir said:

A peanut for ChakaKhan's elephant?

peanut is for me...I donated my elephant to cher.....I will surely miss Stampy

[Darkside Gray]

21 hours ago, Captain_Bob said:

Thai gov't again revealing its black hearted contempt for farang. Jai dam. 

And greed!

[thailand49]

14 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Why should they care.  Thailand is the center of the Universe, and all will arrive sooner or later to the same conclusion.  How else can you explain the enlightenment obtained through the immigration offices different stances, the Governments corruption and the daily TAT posts.

Right, it is all smoke and mirrors in front of the cameras but once the photo op is done " we are one nation " it is everyone for themselves.????

[agood1963]

On 12/2/2020 at 7:33 AM, webfact said:

BANGKOK -- Thailand plans to raise the price of its bestselling five-year residency permit by 20% in January, after the program dubbed "elite" visas drew record new memberships this year as people sought to stay in the largely coronavirus-free country.

If they only new .

[sandyf]

21 hours ago, Surelynot said:

555...they just cannot help themselves.

 

Went to a bar in Nana, Singha was 165 Baht for a small bottle........asked the mamasan why so expensive?......because we have no customers.

Of course they can help themselves, and their customers, Nana is not Thailand.

 

We went to a small food shop last week, large Chang was 70 baht, but with the 50/50, only paid 35 baht and 20 baht for a kapaow. What's not to like, place was busy.

When I went to Laem Sing a couple of weeks ago, the bar I go to there had dropped the price of a large Chang from 70 to 65, you should look around a bit more.

[Tonypandy]

On 12/2/2020 at 10:01 AM, EricTh said:

I predict the requirement for the retirement extensions will also be increased in the future along with the strengthening in baht currency.

 

Too many foreigners want to come to Thailand to live. Where there is demand, there will be a price increase.

Who says to many foreigners want to live in Thailand, that was in the past. Demand will be low for years, even Chinese will avoid even if the borders opened tomorrow. 

[Jiggo]

On 12/2/2020 at 10:11 AM, Jingthing said:

What's 60 baht a day?

A pack of Peanuts, must be a big pack.

[mikebell]

23 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Makes sense to me! Back during the tsunami recovery period of 2005, hotel prices went up in Phuket!

Thai economics.

If demand is down, put the price up. 

If demand is up, put the price up.

[Dominion]

A cunning way to recover last year's losses. 

[Truth Will Set You Free]

On 12/2/2020 at 7:33 AM, webfact said:

Thailand Privilege Card, a company under the Tourism Authority of Thailand, added 2,674 members during its fiscal 2020 ended in September, a 24.8% increase. This brought in fees of 1.6 billion baht, or nearly $53 million. Over 60% of the new members were Easy Access holders.

Where they at?..????????????????

[Truth Will Set You Free]

On 12/2/2020 at 10:01 AM, EricTh said:

I predict the requirement for the retirement extensions will also be increased in the future along with the strengthening in baht currency.

 

Too many foreigners want to come to Thailand to live. Where there is demand, there will be a price increase.

Thailand has drop to # 30 on the world list of designation for retirement. I don’t think that many foreigners wants to come now unless they Chineses.