Breaking News:

Thailand Elite Card is abandoned

BANGKOK: -- The loss-making Thailand Elite Card, launched in 2003 to lure wealthy tourists and business people to Thailand, will be scrapped, a government spokesman said. Only 2,570 were members in 2008.

-- Reuters/Bangkok Post 2009-01-29

Little fancied Elite card is abandoned

-- Bangkok Post (printed edition) 2009-01-29

Anyone complaining about their card becoming worthless wasn't ELITE to begin with.

WELL WELL WELL (3 Wells),

Looks like that should put an end of all the speculation.

What a bargin card to own. I guess the only thing we need to wait and see is how much compensation the members are going to get? Hope no-one holds their breath.

Edited January 29, 200917 yr by neverdie

Let just hope that those who actually bought the card, got the value they hoped for.

This has been coming for a number of weeks, although a number of "Elite" card holders have been burying their head in the sand, and even the "noted" Sunbelt jumped to it's defence.

No surprise, only that it's lasted this long. 2,800 members, not exactly a success. The next question though, is where have the membership fees gone?

WELL WELL WELL (3 Wells),

Looks like that should put an end of all the speculation.

What a bargin card to own. I guess the only thing we need to wait and see is how much compensation the members are going to get? Hope no-one holds their breath.

I think we all know the answer to that.

Ah, well at least I have my TOPS SPOT card, probably more value than the Elite card these days.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had instructed his ministry to work out compensation for the small number of members or find other ways to take care of them.

Perhaps as a show of their good nature, Thaksin's formerly-owned AIS's competitor DTAC will be offering complimentary 600 baht pre-paid mobile phone service cards to compensate for the 1.5 Million baht spend on the Elite Card. That's a fair "way to take care of them."

=

Edited January 29, 200917 yr by sriracha john

No wonder they kept their inner-workings more private than a clandestine CIA operation:

The state-owned Thailand Privilege Card, which issues the cards and runs the scheme, posted accumulated losses of up to 1.14 Billion Baht as of 2006.

Nasty stuff to laugh at someone else's misfortune!

to work out compensation for the small numbers of members or find other ways to take care of them

sounds ominous , images of cement overcoats and cold nights on the hudson riverbank spring to mind.

No wonder they kept their inner-workings more private than a clandestine CIA operation:

The state-owned Thailand Privilege Card, which issues the cards and runs the scheme, posted accumulated losses of up to 1.14 Billion Baht as of 2006.

Its pretty special to loose that kind a money on such a scheme

2570 is less than one million

Edited January 29, 200917 yr by monkeyofdoom

Nasty stuff to laugh at someone else's misfortune!

I agree, but it really was a risk paying for a service, that really came with no guarantees, and was always at the mercy of the changing political landscape.

I'd guess that there are some pretty pissed off folk out there, although this has been quietly happening for the past few weeks, what with the cancellation of the Visa privilages and reduction in services. I also know that a number of companies had been refusing to work with Elite, becasuse of unpaid bills, which was one of the reasons for the cut in services.

As anyone knows, never invest more.............

Maybe they could compensate the members by sending them a tiny plastic replica of a Lotus Elite, made by slave laborer Buddhist monks in Myanmar.

A chap was recently trying to offload his card on Thaivisa, I wonder if he was successful.

I presume the government will reimburse all those that were sucked into this con.

No wonder they kept their inner-workings more private than a clandestine CIA operation:

The state-owned Thailand Privilege Card, which issues the cards and runs the scheme, posted accumulated losses of up to 1.14 Billion Baht as of 2006.

That loss after the scheme had been running 3 years, so probably double that now and equivalent to 1 million Bt per member. Another case where these losses should be investigated. Did some cash get diverted somewhere along the way?

Nasty stuff to laugh at someone else's misfortune!

Yeah my heart bleeds for those <snip>

Edited January 29, 200917 yr by soundman
No name calling.

Nasty stuff to laugh at someone else's misfortune!

I couldn't agree more.

Let's hope those who are affected get sorted out to their satisfaction.

This has been coming for a number of weeks, although a number of "Elite" card holders have been burying their head in the sand, and even the "noted" Sunbelt jumped to it's defence.

No surprise, only that it's lasted this long. 2,800 members, not exactly a success. The next question though, is where have the membership fees gone?

Could it be spelled t-h-a-k-s-i-n or crony? Just a thought.........

This could be a long thread. Must be over 2,000 Thai Visa members with this card, no?

This could be a long thread. Must be over 2,000 Thai Visa members with this card, no?

Which card SPOT or "Elite"?

ouch... and such a short news report, no mention of refund or if people with existing 5 year visas will still get their 90 days extensions at suan plu..

Yeah my heart bleeds for those <snip>

care to explain why ??

One should not be mean spirited, but there is something fundamentally sad and inviting of bad karma to try to buy prestige, the root of it might have been in Thaksin himself.

Swelters

how much did they overcharge again for this joke card ?

well, I guess the ones who bought can afford to go find a better country where there are less regulations AGAINST farangs

Just reinforces the fact that you can't trust the Thai government. I'll be amazed if the members get any more than a token compensation (I can see the 'certificate of appreciation' and welcome drink vouchers now

The annoying thing is that the programme could have worked - give members small concessions such as the ability to buy a block of land for a house, a decent shot at residency or a *real* long term visa, aka a bit of security, and they'd be lining up. Unfortunately Thai governments of all persuasions just want to take and give nothing back.

Anyone takers for the government's next big foreign investment scheme?

No one should be surprised. I just hope there is some compensation for the Elite Card holders. The lesson: This is Thailand. If you have low expectations you will never be disappointed. If you are the recipient of competent or excellent service from time to time it is an unexpected pleasure.

>>Did some cash get diverted somewhere along the way?

Ya think?  I'm just curious as to HOW MUCH got diverted and to whom?

2,570 members

x 1,000,000 baht per head membership....

2,570,000,000

2.57 Billion baht

why should any of these services cost more than that.

2 and half BILLION baht... and then a loss of 1.4 billion baht on TOP.. hello.

Who was getting paid for what?

Total scam from SOMEBODY on the Thaksin team...

who started this up in the first place.

A sop for the egos of the overly rich, who don't like to wait,

but typically these are the worst people to screw over,

because they ARE investors one and all...

These people paid for long term visas,

why should they be charged 1,900 baht for a visa now...

It's all rotten to the Nth degree

Edited January 29, 200917 yr by animatic