Thailand Elite Card Is Abandoned

[rick66]

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."

=

Now that's what I call a happy ending.

[nick2k]

if thailand cannot honor this "elite" card, what does that say about one's investment in other investments here like homes, condos, businesses, factories, etc? people, this is NOT the west. remember that.

[richard_smith237]

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've been sitting back on this one as I am one of those who purchased the card.

I ignored the previous thread on this subject because I was well aware that with each change in government the program was re-evaluated with regards to visa status.

I am of the impression that this worry is more real. I have spoke with Thai Elite head office and I am told that an official statement will be released this afternoon, and that I shall receive an e-mail. I have no idea what this statement will consist of or what my remaining status with Thai Elite will be.

For me, the card was a huge convenience, I am not married, well below retirement age and wouldn't have missed 1MB - Nevertheless I don't like loosing out on any risks that I take. However, where other investments have paid off this one might not. Without some risk little is gained. I considered the Thai Elite card an investment in the manner that in addition to significant convenience after 7-8 years the card will have paid for itself.

Now that its looking as though this risk will not pay off. Do I feel as though I have made a mistake? My answer to that is.. 'you win some you loose some'...

If the card is indeed cancelled I am left wondering what other options are available. There are some Thai Elite members who are also influential members of the international business community (who I know were not given the card) I am watching this space to see if any what level of compensation, reimbursement or alternative is offered.

As for other schemes; it was suggested as an example (by another poster) that 100,000 B for a 5 year visa could be an option.... As I understand it, its illegal to sell visa rights to foreigners which is why the card in the first place was sold with benefits such as free golf, massage, airport transfers etc and the visa was an additional perk.

I'm still using the Elite card to play golf later today, I'll post the official statement from Thai Elite when I have it.

(Edited - for a mistake in my post - corrected 100 MB to 100,000

Edited January 29, 2009 by richard_smith237

[midas]

.

As for other schemes; it was suggested that 100 MB for a 5 year visa.... As I understand it, its illegal to sell visa rights to foreigners which is why the card in the first place was sold with benefits such as free golf, massage, airport transfers etc and the visa was an additional perk.

I'm still using the Elite card to play golf later today, I'll post the official statement from Thai Elite when I have it.

I hope Elite members dont jump immediately into this one

[foolwholaughsatdeath]

Man what a ripoff.

[richard_smith237]

.

As for other schemes; it was suggested that 100 MB for a 5 year visa.... As I understand it, its illegal to sell visa rights to foreigners which is why the card in the first place was sold with benefits such as free golf, massage, airport transfers etc and the visa was an additional perk.

I'm still using the Elite card to play golf later today, I'll post the official statement from Thai Elite when I have it.

I hope Elite members dont jump immediately into this one

That was a mistake in my post - apologies for the error...

I was referring to a suggestion made by another member whereby an alternative of 100,000 B for a 5 year visa was suggested as a viable alternative to the Elite card.

[neverdie]

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. <deleted>?= what the farong?

[Acharn]

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

Maybe, but only a couple of hundred of the cardholders actually paid for them. The rest were given out free for "promotional" purposes. And as far as I know the few who did pay anything are large multinational corporations who already wrote the fee off as an expense of doing business in Thailand. Even so, it's extraordinary the amount they lost on this. Whoever was in charge had better make sure his PAD membership dues are paid up.

[mrtoad]

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. <deleted>?= what the farong?

My thoughts exactly Neverdie.

[Dap]

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

Egggzactly!

[Navalator]

It is not at all mean spirited to say that prestige cannot be purchased but has to be earned through deed and honorable results, not purchased in order to be superior and privileged. It is no wonder that the scheme was a failure as most intelligent and ethical people saw through it as an unearned perk and therefor ethically dodgy. Somehow I do not feel much sympathy for those who got conned by the scheme. Simple association with Thaksin should have been the first clue that something was too good to be true. However greed and status seeking motivated the purchase of the card. Thus the ultimate payoff. One has to wonder just how Thaksin benefited from the scheme as he did nothing in the public good without some kind of reward. Probably the majority of card holders are entrepreneurs and with capitalism comes risk. Why exactly benefited from all of this? Now these poor devils will have to stand in the immigration line the rest of us peasants.

[Dap]

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."

=

HAHAHAHAHA !! Nice concept

[A_Traveller]

Firstly, there was a disconnect from day one about the whole visa issue, which was in part caused by the differing opinions on the card. In brief, the politicos wanted 'a result' primarily to show and tell based on the perceived free publicity around APEC 2003, and the 'traditionalists' who took the view that visa issuance was a serious national [dare one add security] issue.

The individual card only offered a 5 year tourist visa, originally, and such a visa specifically forbade work [remember the very broad definition of that word in the Thai regulatory framework]. If IIRC this was amended subsequently, but the visa issuance was never under the company's control.

The corporate card which was designed to meet the legal visa/work permit issuance requirement [a non immigrant visa] was intentionally, again at least at inception a separate entity.

At all times, to be fair to the company it was always stated that issuance of the visa was dependent upon the legislative framework in place at the time of renewal [and for that matter entry into the Kingdom]. It was/is a private entity with only, at best, lobbying rights to the government of the day.

On recommence, compensation etc., following the last point to its logical [but not rational PR perspective] conclusion, they could claim, with some justification, that the government was instructing the company to cease trading, and therefore such an act was beyond their control, from a legal perspective, and that compensation would not be forthcoming. On this the devil will most assuredly be in the detail of the membership agreement. I am pretty sure the agreements are subject to Thai law.

Regards

Edited January 29, 2009 by A_Traveller

[yumidesign]

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

I don't think so. It was such an obvious con. Another of Dr, Toxins rip of schemes implodes

[yumidesign]

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

[yumidesign]

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

Sorry, the figures above made my hand press the wrong key.

So that means about 4 billion baht evaporated. But how many were actually sold?

[MaiChai]

You know what they say"Don't spend more than you can afford to loose..."

Thailand is like a pit where farangs come and pour all their wealth into, never to be seen again.

For some farang:

while [ "Love Thailand" ]

do

go home and earn money

come to thailand and spend money

break on "common sense" or "broke" or "death" or "ill health"

done

[samgrowth]

The rival PAD should come up with their own card.

It should be called "Thailand Untouchable Elite Yellow card".

Minimum donation is 1 million / card.

Member must be a Bangkok Elite to qualigy (sorry no farang).

[Dap]

Nasty stuff to laugh at someone else's misfortune!

Hahahahahahaha ! Oh, sorry Neverdie, no offence intended, it's just too funny how things work in this Toontown that I have lived in for the past 15 years.

Dap

[Dap]

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.

Exactly. "I wonder if he was successful."

[Dap]

Working Mr neverdie! got the topic notified to my email inbox, so was worth a look.

Ask yourself and I'm sure you'll get a good answer:

How many of the responses to the raised topic actually pertain to the subject with a "reasonable" comment or advice 'vs' How many of the responses are just slinging off? many at others misfortune with absolute no-use comments.

Time for some really just to "Get A Life" .......and yes this is a flame!

Thank you Mr. Fishhooks ... for your flame.

[jayjayjayjay]

It is not at all mean spirited to say that prestige cannot be purchased but has to be earned through deed and honorable results, not purchased in order to be superior and privileged. It is no wonder that the scheme was a failure as most intelligent and ethical people saw through it as an unearned perk and therefor ethically dodgy. Somehow I do not feel much sympathy for those who got conned by the scheme. Simple association with Thaksin should have been the first clue that something was too good to be true. However greed and status seeking motivated the purchase of the card. Thus the ultimate payoff. One has to wonder just how Thaksin benefited from the scheme as he did nothing in the public good without some kind of reward. Probably the majority of card holders are entrepreneurs and with capitalism comes risk. Why exactly benefited from all of this? Now these poor devils will have to stand in the immigration line the rest of us peasants.

Just a dumb post!

[Dap]

2570 is less than one million

Yes, but it's still at least 2.57 billion baht in collected fees not taking into consideration that some may have paid 1.5 million for their cards.

Also, I thought that the Thai government (Taksin's), gave away a number of cards (free) to selected VIPs. Not sure how many or if they are counted in the 2570 people....

BET they are counted. Numbers in the right direction mean everything, no matter what country. AND I gotta' figure, the "giveaways" are substantial. DUH!

[JoeThePoster]

I thought the memberships were valid for a lifetime.

As in political lifetime of the originator of this idea?

[neverdie]

Nasty stuff to laugh at someone else's misfortune!

Hahahahahahaha ! Oh, sorry Neverdie, no offence intended, it's just too funny how things work in this Toontown that I have lived in for the past 15 years.

Dap

Thats alright Dap, your not the only one being naughty in the room! You should all stand in the corner for 5 minutes.

Its amazing how bitter some people are becoming about this, honestly unless you have an elite card you shouldnt be jumping up and down about this & critising the people that did have one. UP TO THEM! Its amazing how many people that are worried about what is going on, next door!

[Dap]

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

It really took 29 posts before somebody made this calculation.

And for your homework:

How many farang have 800K for one 15 months or so on a saving account?

How much is the total amount on thesesaving accounts?

How much interest do the Thai banks pay to these people?

How much profit do these banks make on this capital when they lend it to people who buy a car or a house?

Next week:

What is the legal minimum salary in Thailand. How many people who should get one, get one?

Why is the Thai Baht so strong?

And, class: dDo not forget to bring your little calculators (minimum 12 digits)

I asked a question about Thailand Elite many times but no one-( particularly

any card holders ) ever answered me... The first reaction I had was WHY did

a company that only sold pieces of plastic from an office NEED to charge

all the money UPFRONT ? Surely that should have set the alarm bells ringing on its own ?

Why doesn't American Express or Diners Club charge a lifetime fee ?

Any company that wants all the money upfront suggests to me that from day one-

THEY HAD NO REAL FAITH IN THEIR OWN LONG TERM SURVIVAL

Just another scam brought about by your neighborhood friendly folk doing you BIG favors

[mgjackson69]

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.

:D

[brahmburgers]

2570 is less than one million

Yes, but it's still at least 2.57 billion baht in collected fees not taking into consideration that some may have paid 1.5 million for their cards.

but totally forgetting the hundreds who paid zero. There was no 2.57 billion baht collected on this scam.

Siracha john beat me to the punchline. I have also strongly suspected that many cards were given free to VIP's - those whom Thai elitists looked up to: like David Beckham, other sports big shots, celebrities and biz tycoons - farang and Asian.

I also suspect that the ease of maintaining visas was a major draw (the earlier promise of land in a farang's name dried up early on). Maintaining the granting of hassle free visas for card holders is something current and future governments could easily keep going. Is the current government so tight-fisted and anal that they can't even keep the 5 year visa renewal aspect going? I'm not a card member, but I briefly thought of getting one for the ease of visa renewal. Glad I didn't. Thailand's credibility just got lowered a few notches.

[Crash999]

Let's look at this from another angle. Even if only half the cards were paid for (which I think is conservative considering the marketing efforts from affiliates in regional cities like Hong Kong) that means that there's a US$7m+/yr market for long-term visas and the various mini-perks associated with the card. The perks themselves couldn't be putting too much of a financial drain on the company. Likewise the 5yr visa processing is just a small incremental cost to the Ministry.

Thus the idea itself I think is a profitable one.

One has to think that the revenue brought in from the current cardholders has been siphoned off, leaving the current government with only cost to service current members- something they aren't willing to bear. As such I wouldn't be surprised to see a rebranded, scaled-down version of the current program relaunched at a later date (so long as the government holds long enough).

Edited January 29, 2009 by Crash999

[euroflash]

I am another one of those "rich, ignorant" members. Only I am not rich... I spent a large part of my savings on this card. Not because I wanted to be elite or prestige - I have been to the spa twice in two years and haven't played golf even once - but because I wanted the peace of mind of being able to stay here for a prolonged time.

Yes, I may be ignorant. But I bought something from a state enterprise. Just like a government-issued bond. Shouldn't you be able to trust that?

I have all along been aware that the programme could be changed or cancelled, as it was a political idea, but then all I ask for is a fair compensation.