BANGKOK (NNT) - The Cabinet this week approved in principle tax incentives for foreigners working in targeted industries or economic zones.

 

According to Deputy Government Spokesperson Trisulee Traisoranakul, the measure is expected to attract at least a million of foreigners on long-term resident visas (LTR visa) to the Kingdom. He also said it should help strengthen the domestic economy and contribute to technical development.

 

Foreigners with specialized skills who operate in specific Thai industries will pay a flat rate of 17% on their personal income.

 

To be eligible for the LTR visa, foreigners must invest in Thai government bonds or in real estate in Thailand worth a minimum of US$500,000 through foreign direct investment (FDI). Their personal annual income must also have been at least $80,000 for the past two years, with assets worth at least one million dollars.

 

Foreign retirees who qualify for an LTR visa must be at least 50 years old, have invested in Thai government bonds via FDI or in Thai real estate totaling at least $250,000. They must also have annual income of at least $40,000, or receive an annual pension of at least $80,000.

 

The third category of LTR applicants comprises those who wish to work in Thailand and have earned at least $80,000 in the past two years, or $40,000 if they have a Master’s degree, own an intellectual property right, or have received "Series A" funding with at least five years of work experience.

 

Foreigners in the fourth category are those with specialized skills who have earned at least $80,000 annually for the past two years, or a minimum of $40,000 if they have completed post-graduate education and have five years of work experience in industries targeted by the Thai government.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2022-02-23

 

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4 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

is expected to attract at least a million of foreigners on long-term resident visas (LTR visa) to the Kingdom.

I see they are using the same broken crystal ball as TAT!

 

 

 

I am confident the queue is forming.....

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

According to Deputy Government Spokesperson Trisulee Traisoranakul, the measure is expected to attract at least a million of foreigners on long-term resident visas (LTR visa) to the Kingdom.

100% delusional.

Cabinet offers a complexity of tax incentives for LTR's that at first glance appear extreme.

Thailand is competing against many other countries for LTR's. While Thailand considers itself the Hub of Everything in Southeast Asia, it is not the Hub of the Industrial World.

It would behoove the Cabinet to compare the reasonableness of its plan of incentives with other industrial countries to attract LTR's. If it should prove world data is lacking for such  comparison, other parameters should be consider rather than go blindly into the dark.

The OP is missing this paragraph, which I have seen in other sources today :

 

 

“The National Economic and Social Development Council projects that this tax incentive scheme will attract as many as a million foreigners to stay in Thailand for a long period.”

 

????????????

 

That is all…

The one thing I can say with certainty is that they will be attracting nowhere near one million foreigners meeting those requirements. If for no other reason than those cohorts having many options.

 

Like with the original SMART visa, they will probably get a few thousand applications, or maybe 10,000s max if many existing (!) non-immigrant visa holders switch over.

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

According to Deputy Government Spokesperson Trisulee Traisoranakul, the measure is expected to attract at least a million of foreigners on long-term resident visas (LTR visa) to the Kingdom.

555

They are lucky if they get 1000.

As much as I love Thailand for all its faults and issues. One that has always annoyed me is the one that people like in the cabinet have no real idea of what the country is like compared to the rest of the world.

 

The amount of times I hear Thailand comparing itself to Singapore which is absolutely ridiculous on so many levels, especially infrastructure.

 

I am all for being positive but constantly sprouting nonsense, does get tedious. Thailand is a great place for sure but has so many problems compared to many other countries.

 

These ministers are like having the Jones as neighbours who are always trying to trump and do better than you put really they haven't a pot to p in.

 

I wonder when the masses in the country will wake up and realise that the idiots leading them have no idea what the rest of the world is like and that they are continually failing them and just don't care.

 

As a guest in the country when I am there, I have no say and just shake my head and wonder with disbelief.

There is no rest of the World as many Thais are taught.

Quite a while back, I was speaking to a Teacher friend of mine, and he told me he once worked in a School up country.

He told me, that in his Classroom was a Globe on a shelf at the back of the room. ( complete with Gov,t stock number written on it )

All the Countries on the Globe had been painted over with a Permanent Marker Pen , except one.

Guess which Country had not been erased ?

This is the mindset within the Country

Late last year, I had a choice of moving back to Thailand or to another country (I was in Laos at the time).

 

I considered availability of long term visa, climate, requirement to invest, tax liability, legality of online work etc.

 

Thailand scored good points for climate, and that was all..

 

I chose to move (at least for the next few years until my retirement) to Mauritius.  Free long term visa for remote workers, minimal financial requirement ($1,500/month), no personal or business or tax levied etc etc.

 

Thailand is in cloud cuckoo land!

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Foreign retirees who qualify for an LTR visa must be at least 50 years old, have invested in Thai government bonds via FDI or in Thai real estate totaling at least $250,000. They must also have annual income of at least $40,000, or receive an annual pension of at least $80,000.

$80,000 pension per year? What is that per month...Oh coincidentally $6666 ????

I just spit my coffee out all over the floor reading this article.