5 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Chill Winston, once the cash runs out the requirements will ease and the fake smiles will return.

don't underestimate the greedy bastards, they always find a new pocket of "suckers" to come visit Thailand ????

6 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said:

Is there any reason to actually get a Thailand Elite Membership if you qualify for either the Retirement or Marriage Visas?  Not seeing the appeal...

 

Agreed, if retired or married. The appeal is there for those who are under 50 and unmarried, not working and wish to remain in Thailand indefinitely. 

 

At  32 years old this visa suited me perfectly - I purchased lifetime membership for 1MB. In the decade since I’ve probably consumed more in perks than the cost of visa (Golf, Massage, Airport Transfers, Fast-Track Immigration, Full medical checkup each year)

 

That said: the Visa was not useful to me on my last entry while Thailand was under Emergency Degree. As I am now married I could enter on a Non-Imm O - so the visa is a lot less use to me, that said, membership is for life so I still have the perks.

 

6 hours ago, elliss said:

7 hours ago, billd766 said:

Not me either as I am on a marriage extension that needs renewing in October.

 

However, what a way to treat people who pay 500,000 to 2 million baht.

 

 Thai culture . ..

 

Read the article..  

 

This is simply confirming that ‘anyone’ who’s visa and permission of entry has expired is on over-stay. 

 

Thai Elite S.E. Visa holders have to apply for an extensions every 90 days. 

Thai Elite P.E. Visa holders have to apply for an extensions every year.

 

While under ‘visa amnesty’ some people have let their visa lapse and not applied for their extensions at the end of the amnesty period. 

 

Thai Elite sent out the news to remind people that since November 1st, 2020, if they have not extended their permission of stay, or if their visa has expired and they are on overstay. 

 

These are the same basic overstay rules for everyone - nothing more to see here, but don’t let facts get in the way of some  misunderstood ‘way to treat people’ comments !

 

3 hours ago, Poet said:

To be fair, a crackdown was overdue. These elite visa types have long been abusing the system to spend time in Thailand.

 

Erm...  say what now??  You mean the ‘elite visa types’ have been abusing a system approved by the government to allow them to spend time in Thailand? How can anyone abuse something by doing exactly what its designed for ?

 

Some people have some ridiculous chips on their shoulder about this system and make some rather dumb comments !

 

 

8 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

 

Thailand Elite file photo

Stand here and cough please sir

5 hours ago, Poet said:

To be fair, a crackdown was overdue. These elite visa types have long been abusing the system to spend time in Thailand.

Out with the riff raff.

10 hours ago, Poet said:

What a government! They can't even execute consistently on "Money Number One".

You probably mean, what a dumb bunch not to extend their visa like other people on extensions do. 

11 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said:

Is there any reason to actually get a Thailand Elite Membership if you qualify for either the Retirement or Marriage Visas?  Not seeing the appeal...

If you qualify for retirement or marriage visas then no need, but if you don’t (eg under 50 and not married to a Thai) then it’s a way to stay long term. 

11 hours ago, pixelaoffy said:

Naive stupidity to pay up to 2 million baht and expect to be treated respectfully by Thailand ... I mean cmon you're farang 

? whats with the lowselfesteem and the self victimization?

 

The company that handles the elite visa simply informed everybody to renew their visa on time and that the penalty for overstay can be up to 20k baht fine and (unlikely) a 1 year ban. 

Whatever visa you have, you should take care to renew it, or not overstay. In case of any overstay, its the job of Thai IO to deal with it. 

 

For ppl who dont get it. Some groups of ppl, like digital nomads and younger single ppl who like to stay for a longer time in Thailand, cant do that with a pension visa or a marriage visa. The elite visa is for them, and, its up to them if they are willing to pay for it. Sounds fair to me.

10 hours ago, YetAnother said:

welcome to thailand, give us all your money, thank you, anymore money ?;oh you just have a problem, LEAVE with penalty, NOW

That must be terrible, living in another country (i assume...) and feeling so unwelcome and despised day after day...

 

Maybe time to go back?

 

12 hours ago, ukrules said:

You renew your permission to stay once a year, everyone should know that. The TE visa is all about the '1 year stamp'.

 

You can tell by the stamp in the passport - it has an expiry date on it - that's the date to renew by ????

 

There must be some real dummys out there.

 

I also got an email from them today, I rolled my eyes and moved onto the next spam.

 

when you normally travel in and out many times a year you never think about needing to go to immigration.  And most thailand elite members never do their 90 day report either, with no problems from that.  I mean, who is regularly looking at their passport when they can't go anywhere? 

I cannot understand why the Thai government goes about the task of expelling or deterring foreign retirees and tourists with such zeal. If Farang want to spend their dollars and euros in Thailand any sensible business person would be enticing them, not chasing them away. What's the downside for Thailand in giving longer visas and making them easier to get? For example, what's the logic in giving 60 day Tourist visas that can be extended for another 30 days by wasting half a day at an Immigration office? Why not just make it 90 days to start with?

3 minutes ago, Brian Hull said:

I cannot understand why the Thai government goes about the task of expelling or deterring foreign retirees and tourists with such zeal. If Farang want to spend their dollars and euros in Thailand any sensible business person would be enticing them, not chasing them away. What's the downside for Thailand in giving longer visas and making them easier to get? For example, what's the logic in giving 60 day Tourist visas that can be extended for another 30 days by wasting half a day at an Immigration office? Why not just make it 90 days to start with?

 

Agreed.....

 

Give retirees 10 year visas - why not ?

Give Spouses 10 year visas - why not ?

Give tourists 6 month Visas, even 1 year visas - why not?

 

The only reason is the government are fearful people may ‘work here illegally’... but they will anyway when the circumnavigate existing rules and obtain ‘other visa’... 

 

Anyone here long term spends money here long term. Thats surely an advantage to Thailand. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Erm...  say what now??  You mean the ‘elite visa types’ have been abusing a system approved by the government to allow them to spend time in Thailand? How can anyone abuse something by doing exactly what its designed for ?

 

Some people have some ridiculous chips on their shoulder about this system and make some rather dumb comments !

 

 

How is it possible that you didn't realize I was joking?

I was riffing on the perrenial complaints in this forum about border runners, digital nomads etc. Everyone, apart from you and alyx, realized that. If ever in doubt about the intention of a post, check to see if a bunch of other members have reacted with Laugh emojis.

 

16 minutes ago, Poet said:

How is it possible that you didn't realize I was joking?

I was riffing on the perrenial complaints in this forum about border runners, digital nomads etc. Everyone, apart from you and alyx, realized that. If ever in doubt about the intention of a post, check to see if a bunch of other members have reacted with Laugh emojis.

 

 

Fair enough - I completely missed your sarcasm...  I’ll have to go back and add a ‘Haha’ response to your comment !

 

A Thailand Elite visa can only get a 2 year temporary drivers license when applying for a license renewal not a 5 year. All the others get 5 year doesn't make someone feel very "Elite"

 

If you want to switch to a another visa later on like a non immigrant 0 when your visa is about to expire you have to leave the country which normally would be doable but with covid makes it a pain. Why not allow us to change the visa categories in Thailand if we meet the requirements?

 

When you apply for the elite visa the clock starts when you pay for the visa not when you enter the country. So if you paid for the visa then waited 1 month your membership would be already used for 1 month. Why not start the clock when you enter Thailand? 

 

And of course you have to pay the 1900 baht to extend every year. That should be waived. 

 

Also they raised the cost of the visa to 600K baht for the 5 year during a pandemic when it is hard times for a lot of people not happy with that!

1 hour ago, herwin1234 said:

? whats with the lowselfesteem and the self victimization?

 

The company that handles the elite visa simply informed everybody to renew their visa on time and that the penalty for overstay can be up to 20k baht fine and (unlikely) a 1 year ban. 

Whatever visa you have, you should take care to renew it, or not overstay. In case of any overstay, its the job of Thai IO to deal with it. 

 

For ppl who dont get it. Some groups of ppl, like digital nomads and younger single ppl who like to stay for a longer time in Thailand, cant do that with a pension visa or a marriage visa. The elite visa is for them, and, its up to them if they are willing to pay for it. Sounds fair to me.

Exactly what I said, but much better ????

Its the fright visa for certain groups who are eligible and can afford it.

12 hours ago, Guderian said:

Given that a normal retirement extension costs just 1,900 baht, perhaps the Elite customers thought that they were entitled to forego the annual extension having already stumped up a million baht, give or take. Understandable, but it just goes to show that no matter how much money you fork out in Thailand, you still need to read the small print. 

and it’s not even in the small print. More fool the person that buys a product they have not researched and understood properly 

6 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Read the article..  

 

This is simply confirming that ‘anyone’ who’s visa and permission of entry has expired is on over-stay. 

 

Thai Elite S.E. Visa holders have to apply for an extensions every 90 days. 

Thai Elite P.E. Visa holders have to apply for an extensions every year.

 

While under ‘visa amnesty’ some people have let their visa lapse and not applied for their extensions at the end of the amnesty period. 

 

Thai Elite sent out the news to remind people that since November 1st, 2020, if they have not extended their permission of stay, or if their visa has expired and they are on overstay. 

 

These are the same basic overstay rules for everyone - nothing more to see here, but don’t let facts get in the way of some  misunderstood ‘way to treat people’ comments !

 

 

You're basically saying there is nothing elite about this visa. 

 

Not a great advertisement. 

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thailand Elite has this week warned its members about the severe penalties for overstaying in Thailand.

Thank you for your past contribution to Thailand... please give us your next million baht.

13 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

She has her hand in the correct position for a warm welcome ???? 

It's like the ladyboy greeting... one in the front, the other in your ar*e pocket 

Can’t wait to see those PR photographs of Elite Card holders shamefaced in the middle of a group of beaming  high ranking Immigration officers posing for the press as if they have just caught a dangerous terrorist. That will be great promotion for the Elite Card floggerss.

13 hours ago, GrandPapillon said:

might be a good idea at the end, the requirements are getting ridiculous for regular long term visa, it's all about making money at the end

 

Apart from how long 800k has to stay in the bank for Non-Imm O retirement, what other requirements have changed?

The amount of money one has has never been an idicator of intelligence

Not so Elite anymore.. 

43 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

Can’t wait to see those PR photographs of Elite Card holders shamefaced in the middle of a group of beaming  high ranking Immigration officers posing for the press as if they have just caught a dangerous terrorist. That will be great promotion for the Elite Card floggerss.

 

Those were my thoughts also. You've paid over a million Baht for a visa, accidentally forgetten a process that you never had to do before because you could travel in and out prior to Covid, then find yourself under the bright lights, being pointed at by 10 uniformed officials for a photo published in The Bangkok Post before being thrown into the immigration detention centre and barred from the country for 1 year.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'd consider one of these visas if my job ends before I'm 50 but seriously, you think they'd show some leniency for Elite card holders under the current conditions. Like I said before, it is fairly typical of Thailand though, the charm quickly disappears once the money changes hands.

Not so Elite after all then, what a waste of money. 

Obviously some people dont take notice of due dates.

 

my wife and i both contacted TE when we knew our 1 year stay was forthcoming and we could not leave the country and return to reset the visa for another year so they arranged and appointment at Phuket Immigration at differing times for both of us and it was a piece of cake in and out around 30 mins only thing was because you do it at immigration here they will charge you around thb2,000 for the process whereas if you leave and come back at airport immigration it is done for free but you of course have all your travel expenses.... still easier then jumping through all the hoops and goal posts when renewing retirement visa which another friend of mine just copped in Phuket.... and the place is empty and no one around yet they keep changing the rules....

The super elite bought in a transfer deal sounds good.  Nit sure it's real name or anything about transfer but it was posted yesterday.    2 massages a month, plus other perks.  I would think most usually travel within a year so it's never had to be renewed.  Change of email address or phone number and didn't get the notice.  

1 minute ago, Elkski said:

The super elite bought in a transfer deal sounds good.  Nit sure it's real name or anything about transfer but it was posted yesterday.    2 massages a month, plus other perks.  I would think most usually travel within a year so it's never had to be renewed.  Change of email address or phone number and didn't get the notice.  

 

That's the thing. During normal times in Thailand I used to travel 4-5 times a year. This is why I wouldn't even put 400k a month for my marriage visa. Easier to take a plane to Laos, KL, even Singapore and have a nice shopping trip than deal with all the stupid trips to immigration and address reporting requirements even when you fart. 

 

This way I take a plane and you get a nice clean reset every 90 days.