Thailand Elite Bronze status?

[sqwakvfr]

Has anyone heard of the new Elite Bronze status?  It is for 5 years and the price is 650,000 Baht.  If this is true does this mean the brains at Thaialnd Elite made a mistake in raising the price fo the Gold Status (also for 5 years) to 900,000 Baht.  TIT. Of course no Thai business or agency makes mistakes.  I apologize for saying such an absurd thing.  If the price for the 5 year had not gone to 900,000 I probably would have bought it.  

[Briggsy]

I doubt they will sell many of either status now the DTV is available for 10,000 to 12,000 Baht (depending where you apply).

[Gaccha]

Their sales must be an absolute freefall. Either it will slowly die or they'll dramatically discount the rates. 

 

They made two errors. They projected forwards the unusual post-Covid demand, and they assumed the Chinese money vein could be tapped for ever. This government's new ultra -liberal visa policy was the final straw.

[Rob Browder]

On 11/19/2024 at 10:19 PM, Gaccha said:

Their sales must be an absolute freefall. Either it will slowly die or they'll dramatically discount the rates. 

 

They made two errors. They projected forwards the unusual post-Covid demand, and they assumed the Chinese money vein could be tapped for ever. This government's new ultra -liberal visa policy was the final straw.

I would say, they didn't foresee the political re-alignment of the Thaksin faction with other parties, in response to FF - and that this would result in a compromises / policy-changes on visas (and other things).  Thaksin was in-power when the "elite" visa was created, and "crackdowns" on visa-exempt entries soon followed, which helped drive sales. 

[simplesimon]

As someone who doesn;t meet the ongoing income requirements for LTR and doesn;t want to invest $250k in Thailand currently, but has plenty of static/invested funds, I have been looking at the privilege visa but the pricing for gold was probably too high.  The new bronze category is back closer to a price point which may make it worthwhile for me due to the hassle it removes for an initial relocation in q2 next year,

 

I am not sure who would contemplate a gold membership now, all I wanted was 5 years guaranteed multi entry, priority lane and 90 day reporting support which are all in bronze.  The other benefits of gold don;t have much value.  I am quite pleased with this development.

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, simplesimon said:

As someone who doesn;t meet the ongoing income requirements for LTR.......

Have you looked into DTV recently introduced visa option. 

Are you 50 yr + 

[anrcaccount]

On 11/19/2024 at 1:25 PM, sqwakvfr said:

Has anyone heard of the new Elite Bronze status?  It is for 5 years and the price is 650,000 Baht.  If this is true does this mean the brains at Thaialnd Elite made a mistake in raising the price fo the Gold Status (also for 5 years) to 900,000 Baht.  TIT. Of course no Thai business or agency makes mistakes.  I apologize for saying such an absurd thing.  If the price for the 5 year had not gone to 900,000 I probably would have bought it.  

 

Yes, this is exactly what has happened.

 

5 year 'Formerly known as Elite now Privilege' back to 650K.

 

[simplesimon]

19 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Have you looked into DTV recently introduced visa option. 

Are you 50 yr + 

Not working and not 50 plus

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, simplesimon said:

Not working and not 50 plus

DTV age requirement is 20+

[Gaccha]

15 hours ago, anrcaccount said:

5 year 'Formerly known as Elite now Privilege' back to 650K.

 

The "easy access" old Elite visa valid for 5 years was 500,000. I suppose taking into account inflation, and the need to save face, I think you've hit the bullseye.

 

I always felt that even that old price was a rip off. The only vaguely reasonable was 20 years at 1 million. But obviously this all depends on our situations and feelings. 

 

I'm intrigued to see if a 20 year "new" visa makes an appearance in the next year.

[sqwakvfr]

3 minutes ago, Gaccha said:

 

The "easy access" old Elite visa valid for 5 years was 500,000. I suppose taking into account inflation, and the need to save face, I think you've hit the bullseye.

 

I always felt that even that old price was a rip off. The only vaguely reasonable was 20 years at 1 million. But obviously this all depends on our situations and feelings. 

 

I'm intrigued to see if a 20 year "new" visa makes an appearance in the next year.

At 500K I was considering it in the past.  But when I saw the new pricing meant an 80% increase I thought "what are these people thinking?".  It seems like they have come back to reality for now.  650K for 5 years seems reasonable to me.  

[andux]

It's a pretty good deal, but I'm surprised that no one is really talking about it. 

 

I guess people don't care much about Thai Elite anymore, considering that the DTV visa exists. Maybe Thai Elite needs a "new" 10-year visa, at the old prices or close. Throw in there an annual health checkup and a couple of golf days a year and things could get interesting.