Latest developments and discussion of recent events in the Ukraine War

[DULEROY]

9 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

Le visa de dix ans tel que décrit pour la dernière fois dans les médias n'était pas attrayant (un visa de 5 ans que vous pouviez renouveler une fois). Le problème avec le visa thaïlandais n'est pas le voyage d'un an à l'immigration pour le prolonger, c'est le reportage de 90 ans. Le visa de 10 ans nécessite-t-il toujours un rapport de 90 jours ?

90 DAY REPORTING EXEMPTION

 

 

[Walker88]

I think this is what the bureaucrats are really after:

"I spend a million baht a month just on bargirls....and the rest of my money I waste".

[herfiehandbag]

2 hours ago, Orinoco said:

That's a lot of suits, sir

True, but they only hold together for three weeks so they will soon get through them!

[Mywayboy]

16 hours ago, Lingba said:

give us your money...oh please we want your money...we dont crae about anything else..just give us your money so we can scam you in the end

RNow we will accept Dirty Farang with loss of cash too splash.

 

[rupert the bear]

if you reach these criteria or even half way why would u come here?its insane.you can go to many places where red tapes minimal,you can own property and businesses,have certain rights to stay ,be part of the health programme,no reporting,no racist pricing....the list goes on.more self delusional nonsense.from what im seeing and hearing many expats wanna leave as the covids shown quite clearly the future for foreigners and the govt strategy,they wish to be a china clone so they can rule indefinately and perpetuate the corrupt feudal autocracy that is thailand,many thais have had enough they wanna leave or will go at it with this form of govt which means more instability,unless u have a family,wife,business here the rest are considering a move in fairly large nos.

[spidermike007]

Never gonna happen. Not in a hundred years. They keep droning on and on and on about wanting rich tourists. What sacrifices are the ministers willing to make, to get them? Rich tourists like to spend money when they travel. And they cannot do that here, as they do not like getting taken for a ride. Most wealthy people are smart with their money. Thailand could be making a fortune on a 25% luxury tax. Instead of the 100% or more, which discourages most people from buying. How many people do you see in the luxury stores here? They are almost always completely empty. Inane. Beyond inane.

Some regressive nimwits do not understand basic economics. By reducing taxes you stimulate the economy. In addition, if Thailand reduces its punitive wine and luxury taxes, they might be able to attract more of those rich tourists they keep talking about. The rich are smart with their money. And not only do they enjoy a nice bottle of wine with dinner, their wives also love to spend alot of money on luxury goods while they vacation. Impossible here. Who would buy a Prada handbag for $12,000 here, when you can get it for $4,800 in most world capitals? Same goes for wine. Who would spend $700 for a bottle of wine they could get for $125 at home. How many people do you see in the luxury boutiques in Bangkok? No doubt they are flagship stores, that lose money. And what about world class sommelier service that rich people expect? Deep cellars, with outstanding vintages? Helicopter service for easy access, as well as high speed rail options? Thailand is truly a third world nation, once you leave the major parts of Bangkok, and a few other towns. Lacking most of the conveniences rich people expect. They talk about luring super rich Chinese. China has over 30,000 km. of high speed rail. Thailand does not have one km. Zero!

It is referred to as self sabotage, or idiotic policy. An extreme lack of creativity forces retrograde politicians to become overly dependent on import taxes. Dumb and dumber. And, are they addressing critical issues, like the air and water quality, traffic safety, public transportation on the southern islands, rapid rail transport, and the lack of law enforcement? They have had 18 months to focus on improving the nation, yet what has been done? Nothing, and I mean less than zero is being done.

 

Prayuth and his clowns. Never willing to make a sacrifice for the benefit of the nation. The less than zero, do nothing men. Moving Thailand backwards at a pace that could not be imagined 20 years ago. 

Edited September 15, 2021 by spidermike007

[Zack61]

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Thats only 1 million baht per foreigner over 5 years. 

(1,000,000 foreigners x 1,000,000 baht = 1,000,000,000,000 Baht (1 trillion).

Which is a little less than 17,000 per month. Wow!!!!!! Real big spenders 

[spidermike007]

12 hours ago, djayz said:

What about those foreigners who have lived here for years, have families, jobs, cars, houses, etc., stay out of trouble, support the local community and are here for the long term, not just to move money about, invest and then do a runner as soon as things get ugly? 

 

Perhaps ex-pats should be given a bit more credit, in this formula? We do bring in alot of stable income.  Even the rural folks benefit. Alot of the nicer houses in the poorer farming areas were built with money from expats. Alot of trucks, cars and income is from expats. Countless business employing many. Most of us are honest, we do not beat our wives, we are not killers or criminals, and we bring alot to the table. To say we are insignificant, is a blatant misunderstanding of Thai economics. Thousands of hotels, restaurants, countless airlines and many tour companies, also benefit from us. An average ex-pat spends how much per month? I would say alot of us spend 50,000 to upwards of 100,000 baht a month. I know I do. No value in that? I know some live on less. However, since the average GDP of the nation is around $570, that means about 18,000 baht a month?

I think xenophobia is utterly rampant, in all segments of the government here, from the feds right on down to the local amphur. However, I do not think most Thai people are that way. I think most either like us, or are indifferent to us. Which I can handle. 

I think ex-pats should be treated with the kind of respect and acknowledgement we deserve. So, how about some positive changes?

"We have decided to change our policies, and we now realize how much you guys bring to the table. An immigration officer will now come to your home to renew your visa, to show our appreciation, of your continued support. You will only be required to sign one form, and we will give you a five year, multiple entry visa. Free of charge. And we will include a 10,000 baht voucher, good for any hotel in the country, for one year. Sound ok to you guys? Are we adapting to an ever changing world?"
 
Princely treatment. Now that we are utterly broke and on our knees as a nation, we want to thank you so much for helping to rescue our economy and our people. We appreciate it, and aim to show it for a change! We are past the era of thugs like the big joke. And we apologize for all of his abuse. We realize we have been moving the country backwards. And Covid has given us all some time to reflect. We are going to start changing things, and attempt to move the nation forward, instead of backwards. 

Edited September 15, 2021 by spidermike007

[Misty]

Reportedly McKinsey & Co was one of the advisors to the Thai government on this program.  If so, I do hope they were paid up front, and not on a % take up basis.

[rwill]

From the linked article:  "The NESDC has also been assigned to assess this scheme every five years, including all the incentives, and consider extending any of the incentives as it thinks fit."

 

5 years later.  Sorry that property is no longer yours.

[Misterwhisper]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

a measure to attract “high potential” foreigners

"High potential" for what? Being fleeced and stripped down to their last shirt so they can "inject" up to 1 trillion baht into the local economy? As always, it only ever about 1 thing, isn't it? The big M.

 

It's always oh so telling that these schemes are tied to substantial financial pre-requisites. 

[ThomasThBKK]

Nice visa sheme, might apply for it after PE visa expires.

 

Bonus points for pissing off the whole forum here for barely not even yet existing.

 

 

 

[Skypirate]

For christ's sake...how many times have we seen this gimmick?

Prayut's pals are use to telling the Thai's any line of BS they can dream-up and expect them to believe in their "wet-dreams".    My wife and her family think he is next to immortal and grasp everything the Thai political clan puts out into the media.  Makes me want to puke.   

 

The Politicals are really saying..."we need someone else to screw-over, because our cash reserves are running short.   It's got nothing to do with developmental economics for the Country.  It's all about hoseing someone over for their own personal gain.  Then they inflate the numbers to appease the media.   Fricken criminal.   Welcome to the "land-of-fake-smiles".

[Harveyboy]

17 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Several incentives approved to attract poverty stricken UK expats trying to survive on one of the poorest OAP in the developed world.

 

That's the headline I'm waiting for.

well said sir ...

[Oxx]

Wealthy people don't like being told what to do with their money.  Being ordered to buy significant amounts of Thai government bonds (with their pathetic yield) is offensive, as is the requirement to buy insurance.  The rich don't need insurance; they can pay out of their own pockets.

 

This is another case of the government imposing pointless conditions, leading to a scheme that will fail - very much like the scheme for foreigners to visit Thailand under Covid.

[Raphael Hythlodaeus]

They think wealthy foreigners would want to come here to pay taxes???

Er, No, not even for that really juicy incentive of not having to do the ridiculous 90-day reporting.

[Uroller]

Instead of all these pie in the sky ideas why don’t they first focus on getting control of Covid and their vaccination problems????????????

 

Edited September 15, 2021 by metisdead
Trolling image removed.

[crazykopite]

Who in there right mind would spend a colossal amount of money then five years down the road the administration review the situation and decide to backtrack on all the promises ,they the administration must think all foreigners are mugs 

[khunpa]

I have the money to invest, but I just can’t see any benefits of doing it…

 

- Political instability. Rules can change at any moment. They could take the land/house away from you at anytime.

 

- Difficult paper work - all in Thai and you can’t trust 99.999% of lawyers here. In fact the law changes dependent on what district/area you live in. 
 

- Corruption is everywhere and as a Farang with money, you are an easy target. When will you end up with a plastic bag over your head at the police station…

 

They have to come up with other benefits, than just skipping 90 day reporting. And I can’t see what that would be…??????

 

 

[DefaultName]

So, how many new high-end tourists will this bring?  10?  100?  No more I think.

[ThomasThBKK]

7 minutes ago, Oxx said:

Wealthy people don't like being told what to do with their money.  Being ordered to buy significant amounts of Thai government bonds (with their pathetic yield) is offensive, as is the requirement to buy insurance.  The rich don't need insurance; they can pay out of their own pockets.

 

This is another case of the government imposing pointless conditions, leading to a scheme that will fail - very much like the scheme for foreigners to visit Thailand under Covid.

yeah that why wealthy chinese rush to canada and australia because they hate being told how to invest their money in gov bonds or RE to get residency so much....

 

What u think wealthy people give af about and what they really do are two entirely different things. 

 

These shemes exist in most countries including the united states of america, the uk, australia and co. - and somehow there's plenty of people using them. 

[Rawairat]

Maybe they'll get the rejects that could not get in to Monaco!!!!

[DavisH]

17 hours ago, Almer said:

Im lacking in all there requirements, but i spend my pension here and keep out of trouble, and help the needy in the village if that counts for anything.

It counts to your village, and that's what matters. Who gives the proverbial what this government thinks. I doubt many well heeled rich foreigners will come here. They will go to more developed countries with better infrastructure. I can just picture a guy in a safari suit falling down an open manhole or hobbling across a broken pavement, spilling his perrier everywhere ????

[crazykopite]

In 16 years of living in Thailand I have just carried out a rough calculation and using a proper calculator I estimate that during that time I have spent some  20+ million baht in total that’s a fair amount of money and what do I get in return ! Very little !!!

[Anant72]

Where do they get those pie-in-the-sky figures. They are really delusional. Well, dream on and let's see if they can do better than Thaksin with his Elite card which was supposed to bring in billions and billions….

[Inala]

17 hours ago, Lingba said:

give us your money...oh please we want your money...we dont crae about anything else..just give us your money so we can scam you in the end

that's a bit harsh...

[HeijoshinCool]

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said that Thailand has set a target to attract as many as one million of these classes of foreigners in the next five years, with an expectation that their spending and investments during a five-year period will inject one trillion baht into the Thai economy

.

As well as billions in bribes in the pockets of.....

 

Well, you know.

[redwood1]

3 hours ago, mokwit said:

At least we know what the new retirement extension requirements will be.

 

 

Don't laugh guys look what happened in Malaysia....

[Eric Loh]

2 hours ago, DULEROY said:

At this level of income people do not come to settle in Thailand only to get hit ..... there are places in the world much more beautiful and more comfortable with lots of sun and very beautiful beaches than Thailand. but you have to have the income accordingly......

There are sufficiently large numbers of high net-worth individuals - the same kind that wealth managers and investment bankers target - in the world to settle in the countries that can offer them good health care, nice weather and good array of food. An estimated 200 million retirees worldwide living of pension or savings and looking for a nice country to stay. Enough high income people for the Thai government to target and attract with new incentives. Other countries are doing the same -re-jigging of investment policies. All facing decline in tourist revenues during covid and post covid and needed new policies to appeal to these wealthy folks. . 

[spidermike007]

41 minutes ago, Skypirate said:

For christ's sake...how many times have we seen this gimmick?

Prayut's pals are use to telling the Thai's any line of BS they can dream-up and expect them to believe in their "wet-dreams".    My wife and her family think he is next to immortal and grasp everything the Thai political clan puts out into the media.  Makes me want to puke.   

 

The Politicals are really saying..."we need someone else to screw-over, because our cash reserves are running short.   It's got nothing to do with developmental economics for the Country.  It's all about hoseing someone over for their own personal gain.  Then they inflate the numbers to appease the media.   Fricken criminal.   Welcome to the "land-of-fake-smiles".

What is it like being married to the 1% who still support this guy? I cannot find a single soul who does anymore. Some die hards did, until he blew the vax effort and the response to the latest waves. She needs to get out more. My heart goes out to you.