Thailand Elite Card Is Abandoned

[BlueSmurf]

This just goes to show only spend what you can afford to loose in LOS..What ever you buy whether its land , houses or services can be taken back! As if we have'nt been WARNED before....nothing is forever let alone the falling pound in my pocket..The Golden Elite Card another Wolf in Sheeps clothing!

[chowder]

the Elite card wasn't about tourist or long stay or what ever they claim to be, it was set up by Thaksin and who ever he partner with decided it is a good idea to set up this company so they can skim some money from the government coffer, that's why the Thaksin keep inject money into it with tax payer money, even thought the company was in a bad shape and not making any money, they didn't care how many customer they got, from the start there weren't that many to start with, it was all about somewhere to stash the money, this is one of many Thaksin technique to skim government money, how can a company with only a few employee rack up million of baht, which they only sell plastic.

[LivinLOS]

Also goes to show how little honesty is respected in Thailand..

Its only days since Khun Jutaporn and the TAT were denying anything was wrong and that all would continue as planned.

http://nationmultimedia.com/2009/01/17/bus...ss_30093457.php

Lips were moving.. She was Lieing !!

[kangeroo]

yes well i would hate to be the next person trying to get some sort of card of the ground , but then again there will always be someone out there that has more money than they know what to do with ,

[nullx8]

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?

this is actually a very good question ...

calculated net income is by 4.2 Billion

1.14 Billion lost = Destroyed 5.3 billion baht ...

for what ?

the counter's in the Airport, Negotiationg with hotels and golf courses ?

Edited January 29, 2009 by altf4

[david555]

The program is abandoned , so i guess that the actual members will be "grandfathered" as they use to do about former visa regulations

[midas]

The program is abandoned , so i guess that the actual members will be "grandfathered" as they use to do about former visa regulations

For lifetime or for only 5 years ? I cant see much hope of them

getting it for life ?

[macduff]

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

It wont affect me

[PattayaParent]

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong but didn't the card allow the foreigner who owned it to buy a nominal amount of land in their own name? If so I wonder how that will pan out..?

I'll correct you.

The card allowed the foreigner who owned it to buy land in the name of The Thailand Elite Card Company.

And I believe the value of the land had to be in excess of 20 million Baht.

Wonder how many took up that option and what's going to happen to their money and / or land?

[mango66]

Who had the money to buy this card,

should not cry !

There home is now builded in China !

( not in Dubai )

Any one know how big is it ?

( propably for all card holders )

Have any one one heared how many holes have the attached golf course ?

And will they get also a 5 year Visa ?

I prefer farongs which get their visa on honesty !!

[Kerryd]

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. Operating results for 2007 and last year have yet to be reported.

Nor the losses for 2008 obviously !

Anyone who is harbouring even the slightest hope that they will be "grandfathered" in any way (i.e. as far as visas or other privileges) is most likely grasping at straws.

They may get a one-time (small) compensation offer and that's about it. Considering the losses reported thus far, and 2 more years of similar (or higher) losses yet to be reported, I don't think any government will entertain any idea of allowing any privileges to be grandfathered. It wouldn't be worth their time and effort to try and determine which privileges should or shouldn't be grandfathered, and none of them are likely to return much (if anything) in the way of compensation, so why bother ?

For those that currently have a 5 year visa, it will still be valid until it's expiry date, and probably won't be renewed (there's nothing in it for them to keep renewing them).

I'll bet if they offered a card with a 5 year visa and fast track immigration, say for 100k, they'd be swamped with applications. Overhead would be minimal (what does it really cost to put a visa in a passport ? Maybe 3 people earning 500 baht/day max to do the paperwork and issue the visa. Say 1,500 baht total. A couple hundred grand a year to have a couple of Immigration staff at a dedicated booth. Another couple hundred grand a year for the staff to process the applications and pay for the cards to be printed. Add some profit. So maybe what, 500K a year ?)

Sell just 5 cards and your first year's expenses are covered. Sell just 25 cards and all your expenses are covered for the next 5 years.

Sell 2,750 cards ? Minus 25 (5 years expenses) = 2,725 x 100k = 272,500,000 profit.

Even I might be willing to buy into that !

[mich]

Nasty stuff to laugh at someone else's misfortune!

Yeah my heart bleeds for those <snip>

Just because their "rich" its ok to screw them out of 1.5 million baht? I am not rich, but really looked into the card when I was first looking to move to Thailand, after allot of looking around and calculating I figured it was not for me, but came very close to getting the card... And I am not rich, and had I bought the card as my means to stay in the country, to only have it revoked a few years later would have effected me in a very negitave way... I would bet that most members that have the card are not rich, and have purchased it as a means to gain access to the country (under retirement age, but not "working")...

I can't believe they did not grandfather in the card, a responsible government would do one of two things:

1. grandfather in the card (if they can't afford to keep all the perks, it costs them nothing to grandfather in the 5 year visa stamps)

or

2. say the international life expetancy of an adult is X you are X years old, You used the card for X year... simple math we see that you would have used the card for X more years.... here is your X% returned fees for the years we cheated you out of.

Anything other than those two options just show Thailand in a negitave light....

It just goes to show that Thailand only thinks of westeners as walking bank notes, all they do is take take take, and think it is perfectely ok to do so, and whats even worse we let them keep doing it. The westeners keep on going for these thai schemes that we all know will go tits up sooner or later with millions of baht lost but no one ever learns.

[Manou]

I think there will be a replacement with all different conditions and advantages.

My guess is that the current members will be replaced with that one.

[anon467367354]

Who had the money to buy this card,

should not cry !

There home is now builded in China !

( not in Dubai )

Any one know how big is it ?

( propably for all card holders )

Have any one one heared how many holes have the attached golf course ?

And will they get also a 5 year Visa ?

I prefer farongs which get their visa on honesty !!

That's one of the first things I ask, "did jya getcha visa on honesty?" Those that do just make for a much better person. With all non-farongs, it doesn't matter how they got theirs. &lt;deleted&gt;?= what the farong?

[sriracha john]

A historical perspective....

TAT says Elite Card well received

Target of selling 1 Millon cards likely to be met

The project is making a good start and attracting interest from well-to-do foreigners, according to Juthamas Siriwan, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

Brochures outlining privileges and other related services, including offers at 20 top golf courses, 60 luxury hotels, are ready for distribution.

However, the official opening of the programme will be chaired by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as the project is the brainchild of the premier.

Mrs Juthamas said she was confident that One Million Cards would be sold within five years as targeted, generating One Trillion Baht for Thailand.

With the One Trillion Baht in revenue from Cards and One Million Cardholders visiting Thailand, spending and shopping, she estimated that spin-off revenue generated from the activities could reach 20 Trillion Baht.

- Bangkok Post / September 16, 2003

============================================================

Imagine that..... 20 Trillion Baht.... brainchild, indeed.

Edited January 29, 2009 by sriracha john

[wrecker]

So the government is going to reimburse those people their million baht? It seems that Abhisit has received a lot of money from his backers.

[cymruambyth1]

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?

this is actually a very good question ...

calculated net income is by 4.2 Billion

1.14 Billion lost = Destroyed 5.3 billion baht ...

for what ?

the counter's in the Airport, Negotiationg with hotels and golf courses ?

Come come...they had to have office's to work out of!

Haven't you seen the plush, expensively-renovated, head offices on North Satorn Road? (Plus the aforementioned counters and golf course negotiations, of course!)

[midas]

I think there will be a replacement with all different conditions and advantages.

My guess is that the current members will be replaced with that one.

And what do you suggest the " asking price " of that one will be ?

[sriracha john]

[Japhrodisiac]

You may wish to look at page 3 of the classifieds of today's Bangkok Post, where there is a Thai language ad running for a new MD for Thailand Elite (?!?)

[MeetJohnDoe]

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.

And don't forget...asking that the membership fees be paid to a bank account in SINGAPORE...&lt;deleted&gt;!

Looks like some Thai MD has his offshore bank account already open and funded for the day he has to go on the lam

[qualtrough]

They understand the first and only real law of Thailand,

NEVER INVEST MORE HERE THAN YOU CAN WALK AWAY FROM.

I see this all the time here, and it always makes me wonder--In just what countries is it wise to invest more than you can walk away from??

[mrtoad]

I think there will be a replacement with all different conditions and advantages.

My guess is that the current members will be replaced with that one.

And what do you suggest the " asking price " of that one will be ?

76 billion baht.

[somluck]

I thought the memberships were valid for a lifetime. I remembered David Beckham was given free membership

[inthepink]

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

I would have thought the majority of people purchasing this card did so for reasons of convenience, not prestige (?!!) I find it very sad that people wish ill on others, simply because they are financially more successful. This invites its own karma.

[yabaaaa]

They understand the first and only real law of Thailand,

NEVER INVEST MORE HERE THAN YOU CAN WALK AWAY FROM.

I see this all the time here, and it always makes me wonder--In just what countries is it wise to invest more than you can walk away from??

You mean like all those countries with banking problems now??

[neverdie]

Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa said 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.

With the cost of a Life in Thailand valued at 50 000bht I hope the other ways to take care of them don't involve lead, or a dive of a 30th floor balcony.

Thats a very good point rick. They have a special way of taking care of business here in thailand

[yabaaaa]

I thought the memberships were valid for a lifetime. I remembered David Beckham was given free membership

Wouldnt it be great if David turned up and started asking for his priveleges. This is what Thailand needs to kick it into the 22nd century.

[midas]

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

I would have thought the majority of people purchasing this card did so for reasons of convenience, not prestige (?!!) I find it very sad that people wish ill on others, simply because they are financially more successful. This invites its own karma.

I dont think many people on this thread " wish ill on others, simply because they are financially more successful "

I believe most that have posted negative comments have done so because they are referring to how people who are supposedly

astute having made some money in their life could have been so incredibly naive as to be taken in by this scam ?

[LivinLOS]

The program is abandoned , so i guess that the actual members will be "grandfathered" as they use to do about former visa regulations

For lifetime or for only 5 years ? I cant see much hope of them

getting it for life ?

No but look at the timing.. Launched in 03, cancelled now, so all those people except the very first few will get stiffed on even their second 5 year..