Thai privilege (Elite) visa

[A free man]

Hello, can we expect them to drop the increased price on the elite since they have problems with tourism and the new DTV? Or should we forget about that? Just curious about your opinions, please share..

Edited 20 hours ago by A free man

[Gaccha]

5 minutes ago, A free man said:

problems with tourism and the new DTV

 

What problems with tourism and what issues with the DTV?

 

I think there will be a huge price drop of the Privilege Visa as they have certainly overestimated its desirability. The only issue is how they will do this while trying to save face.

[DrJack54]

10 minutes ago, Gaccha said:

What problems with tourism and what issues with the DTV?

You make a good point..

Even agents are advertising DTV for a price..

Granted it requires trip outside of Thailand.

My thinking PE visa dead in the water unless huge price reduction.

Trim off the fringe benefits would help eg golf

[freedomnow]

28 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Even agents are advertising DTV for a price..

Which I guess would be some workaround method for people who don't qualify.

 

I see you are the new 'Ubonjoe' on AN now....

RIP Joe.

[A free man]

57 minutes ago, Gaccha said:

 

What problems with tourism and what issues with the DTV?

 

I meant the decreased tourism in Thailand and the release of the new DTV visa which automatically reduces the desire of the Elite for certain group of people. My bad for phrasing it incorrectly. Anyways, thanks for your insight, I hope they do reduce the price. If it currently had an old price I would snatch that visa at this moment. 

[A free man]

47 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

 

Even agents are advertising DTV for a price..

 

Would you be kind enough to PM me the advertisements you've seen? I would be interested to see the actual AD. 

[Liquorice]

38 minutes ago, A free man said:

I meant the decreased tourism in Thailand

Tourism is booming since the VE was changed to 60 days on arrival.

Thai baht has strengthened against other currencies for that reason, just look at current exchange rates.

[goldenbrwn1]

6 hours ago, Liquorice said:

Tourism is booming since the VE was changed to 60 days on arrival.

Thai baht has strengthened against other currencies for that reason, just look at current exchange rates.

The US dollar has weakened and will prob continue to weaken at this stage of the cycle now with Interest rates coming down. This is why the Thai baht is stronger , absolutely nothing to do with the Thai tourism sector.

Edited 12 hours ago by goldenbrwn1

[Presnock]

9 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

You make a good point..

Even agents are advertising DTV for a price..

Granted it requires trip outside of Thailand.

My thinking PE visa dead in the water unless huge price reduction.

Trim off the fringe benefits would help eg golf

The free golf is one of the tangible benefits in my opinion.   If one is an avid golfer it could even save money over the length of the visa.  My opinion anyway though I believe this visa if over priced - and they could drop the price just like they did with the LTR by 50% as they were not getting the numbers of people wanting such visa.

[Presnock]

9 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

You make a good point..

Even agents are advertising DTV for a price..

Granted it requires trip outside of Thailand.

My thinking PE visa dead in the water unless huge price reduction.

Trim off the fringe benefits would help eg golf

Yes, possibly like the LTR as they dropped the price 50% to attract more people.

[mstevens]

9 hours ago, A free man said:

 

I meant the decreased tourism in Thailand and the release of the new DTV visa which automatically reduces the desire of the Elite for certain group of people. My bad for phrasing it incorrectly. Anyways, thanks for your insight, I hope they do reduce the price. If it currently had an old price I would snatch that visa at this moment. 

 

Decreased tourism? Where did you get that idea from?

[Sheist]

9 hours ago, freedomnow said:

Which I guess would be some workaround method for people who don't qualify.

 

I see you are the new 'Ubonjoe' on AN now....

RIP Joe.

 

Joe died?  When did this happen?

[Upnotover]

9 minutes ago, Sheist said:

 

Joe died?  When did this happen?

 

[ujayujay]

Because this Privilege Visa is not worth the Money?!

[renaissanc]

The 5-Year 900,000 Baht fee is horrendous, in my opinion. I've had a Marriage Visa for 37 of my 40 years here. 1,900 Baht per year now.  2,500,000 Baht for 10 years! Wow! But if the foreigner is very rich, then why not? There must be more desirable and cheaper countries to move to though.

[JamesPhuket10]

5 hours ago, mstevens said:

 

Decreased tourism? Where did you get that idea from?

 

It was in a Thai news article a few days ago, that the number of Chinese tourists who would normally have booked by now for the Chinese National Day have not booked, the numbers are down 30%.

 

Also, there was an article stating the strength of the Baht against many major countries is putting off tourists due to increased costs, I have notice the £ has gone down from 45 to 42.5 baht, small but it makes a difference. 

[Rob Browder]

14 hours ago, freedomnow said:

Which I guess would be some workaround method for people who don't qualify.

Never underestimate how lazy people can be.  It is not hard to "qualify" for the DTV by booking some dental appointments or similar, then follow the proven process documented in the DTV thread on this site and elsewhere.  Go to the agent, and they will "figure it all out" for you (for a fee). 

 

I don't know why anyone under 50 + not working in Thailand would not use the DTV.  If I was still under 50, I'd be dumping my old PITA marriage-based extensions or ME-Non-O Visa to go with the DTV.  But, retirement-based is simple, inexpensive, and reliable, so sticking with that.

[black tabby12345]

Thai Elite Visa.

Is it rapidly becoming the unsellable Dead Stock to Thai govt?

Because of their recent introduction of DTV(destination Thailand visa).

Valid for 5 yrs with 180 days yearly stay permit(extendable further 6 months after initial entry?).

And it costs  only  THB50000, far below the Elite Visa.

And no need for  the  large amount fund transfer into Thai bank account.

As it is issue by the Thai embassies abroad, the applicants only have to prove their account balance at home.

Edited 1 hour ago by black tabby12345

[Rob Browder]

10 minutes ago, black tabby12345 said:

Thai Elite Visa.

Is it rapidly becoming the unsellable Dead Stock to Thai govt?

The Elite visa is not a "Thai Govt" visa, issued by the MFA - is run by a separate organization, who "contribute" part of the money they take-in to Immigration, etc, to allow it to operate. 

 

Some have speculated that increasing problems under-50s had staying in Thailand in the past were, at least in-part, related to these "contributions" - also, online-trolls bashing those who were trying to find other ways to stay in Thailand under-50.  But we all know people never do things "for money" - is just crazy-talk, amirite? /s.

 

Evidently, the pros of having thousands of people spending foreign-earned money here (ideally, taxed, from their POV) have outweighed such considerations - hence the DTV.

[mokwit]

Just now, Rob Browder said:

Some have speculated that increasing problems under-50s had staying in Thailand in the past were, at least in-part, related to these "contributions"

Shortly after The Elite visa was introduced after Thaksin claimed it would raise billions and they sold just 6, things started to tighten up on the visa front.

[black tabby12345]

19 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

 

Even agents are advertising DTV for a price..

----------------------------------------------------------------

Fast selling brand than the pricy dead stock.

 

[Ben Zioner]

19 hours ago, A free man said:

Hello, can we expect them to drop the increased price on the elite since they have problems with tourism and the new DTV? Or should we forget about that? Just curious about your opinions, please share..

No.

[A free man]

Really nice to see people discussing, I see this forum has a lot of older expats who must have gone through a lot of <deleted> with this crappy visa system. I myself am just a young newbie trying to grasp some valuable information.