Tourism Ministry Revives Controversial Elite Card

[khunron13]

Thailand, the Hub of Reviving Failed Schemes!

[BuffaloRescue]

If they offered one, with all the visa privaleges for 500k id buy one. You can keep the golf courses and limo hire etc

[Reasonableman]

BANGKOK: -- Tourism Ministry agrees to recapitalise Thailand Privilege Card by Bt500mn. More info as we have it.

So, no info available for the revamped scheme, ( perhaps it's not even going to be revamped ) no details given so far and yet 23 posts of condemnation..............................

It's all very predictable.

Must be the historic background...

[bkkjames]

BANGKOK: -- Tourism Ministry agrees to recapitalise Thailand Privilege Card by Bt500mn. More info as we have it.

So, no info available for the revamped scheme, ( perhaps it's not even going to be revamped ) no details given so far and yet 23 posts of condemnation..............................

It's all very predictable.

Must be the historic background...

perhaps Phil bought one the first time around and looking for company to share his misery? jk

[givenall]

At 40% rakeoff I suppose there is no limit to the number of times you can flog a dead horse.

I would call them the fools, that is if any one enroll in this scheme Ops I mean scam

[Greer]

Actually, to say they could not sell them is simply not true. I resent that anyone would say such a barefaced lie........................

......................I do like the idea of the less elite card. I think it could be a PLEB card and costs 1b and you get entry to the best beer bars and a free greeting of "Hello Sir where you go, I go with you?" in Pattaya. In fact, if you will all give me 1 billion baht, I think I can make it happen!

Really excellent - very entertaining...!

Eh? Sorry...what.....? You weren't kidding...

..............oh....

[moe666]

Big T is like a very badly scratched record and the needle is stuck in one groove playing the same old tune. No new ideas or changes from this bunch. You would have thought being out of power for a few years they could have come up with new ways to scam the tax payer.

[uptheos]

Will I get Thai price at a National Park?

If so......go for it.

[mrdome]

As Jerry Seinfeld would have said "Oh yes, that can't fail!"

[bigbamboo]

At 40% rakeoff I suppose there is no limit to the number of times you can flog a dead horse.

Or in this case a white elephant.

[eezergood]

Here we go, again!

[gerry1011]

What a nice day for you guys !

Now you have something more to spit your venom on

Don't forget to go on with your predictions (which we read since so many years already) : When will the TE program be finally scrapped?

Edited August 29, 2012 by gerry1011

[animatic]

Hey, why kill a good thing? a good thing that is for the leaches, cronies, the idle job positions

holders with the bombastic titles that this revival will bring to the close circle of people that need to be looked after,

nothing here is done for the country or the consumer,,,

There will always be a market for people with lots of money to stash abroad... just not enough of them to make the scheme economically viable for the Thai taxpayer, unfortunately, who gets to kick the can again to the tune of half a billion Baht. LOS, "Hub of Elite Safe Havens".

Except it was NOT, and never was economically viable for the Thai Taxpayers.

It was a net loss in the 000,000,000 and up brackets. All going to Thaksin cronies.

But here it is again just like the 30 baht Healthcare scam.

[xray]

i thought they had ALREADY spent huge amounts paying off the original card holders!!!!!!

Mr. Ponzi is turning in his grave; he has a big smile on his face.

[Rama]

Glad to hear that it is being revived. The US has a program that will give you a green card if you put at least $500K into a commercial venture that keeps 10 jobs for Americans or hires 10 new American workers. Many Chinese are heading to America with their money to have a residency permit outside China. There are a lot of Chinese that are currently looking to park some of their money outside China, this allows Thailand to compete for those Yuan.

First, the money payed by a new Elite member goes to the government. It's a government program to attract high end people that are willing to pay more to be pampered in small ways and get a residency permit. Granted, the money they pay in doesn't offset the monies paid out by the government, but as with any infrarstructure project you have to look at what it does in general for the economy. Those who join typically spend a lot more than the average tourist and expat on living quarters, hotels, shopping, restaurants, etc, etc. Chinese will find this attractive as they have a place that they can live and invest in with a guaranteed residency, not far from China. They will be paying a lot into the economy over an extended period. Glad to hear.

[Soutpeel]

Glad to hear that it is being revived. The US has a program that will give you a green card if you put at least $500K into a commercial venture that keeps 10 jobs for Americans or hires 10 new American workers. Many Chinese are heading to America with their money to have a residency permit outside China. There are a lot of Chinese that are currently looking to park some of their money outside China, this allows Thailand to compete for those Yuan.

First, the money payed by a new Elite member goes to the government. It's a government program to attract high end people that are willing to pay more to be pampered in small ways and get a residency permit. Granted, the money they pay in doesn't offset the monies paid out by the government, but as with any infrarstructure project you have to look at what it does in general for the economy. Those who join typically spend a lot more than the average tourist and expat on living quarters, hotels, shopping, restaurants, etc, etc. Chinese will find this attractive as they have a place that they can live and invest in with a guaranteed residency, not far from China. They will be paying a lot into the economy over an extended period. Glad to hear.

You really dont know the history of the TE card....do you ??...

The TE card bears absolutely no resemblance to an investment visa or similar which gets you PR....it made big promises and in reality delivered very little for the sum of US$ 30k

[mrtoad]

Surely not, or was this Yingluck's idea? Seems DL's grubby paw prints are all over some of the latest announcements.

[terryp]

<get a residency permit>

No sorry wrong scheme ....this TE card was talking about a 5 Year visa, I dont know if that even happened LOL

anyone remember the little box room they opened at Don Muang airport (far right side of dept check- in area) for TE Card holders...That was hilarious

[Dap]

Just line up facing the wall, pull your shorts down and bend over. My question: Shall I bring the vaseline, or is it provided complementary when I purchase the card?

Nah, Still gotta' buy the vasaline, but the card allows for a discount.

[Rama]

know the history. 5 year visa renewable for life = residency permit. Worth the 30K for many Chinese.

Edited August 29, 2012 by Rama

[Reasonableman]

know the history. 5 year visa renewable for life = residency permit. Worth the 30K for many Chinese.

Good luck! Hope you sell lots and Thailand will make trillions (again)!

[xray]

know the history. 5 year visa renewable for life = residency permit. Worth the 30K for many Chinese.

That is what was originally promised with the first generation of these cards, but delivered for only a short period of time. If the original promises could be counted on to remain in effect, unaltered to your detriment for the duration of your life, then yes, these cards would be attractive to some people. My concern, as a potential card buyer, would be weather the promises of the present will be honored in the future. In my case, decades into the future.

[TheGhostWithin]

If the advantages of holding the card were the same as the previoud campaign, how about offering it to all previous holders who actually paid for the card at a discount of what they paid before to restore those important persons opinions on the Thai Political establishment?

I am sure the first wave were the truly infludntial target market, this wave will simply be the newly rich, or those not aware of the previous white elephant and resulting river of tears by the said holders for being given false promises.

Sent from my GT-P7500 using Thaivisa Connect App

[SOTIRIOS]

.......this is really turning into a Woody Allen movie......

[steveromagnino]

Glad to hear that it is being revived. The US has a program that will give you a green card if you put at least $500K into a commercial venture that keeps 10 jobs for Americans or hires 10 new American workers. Many Chinese are heading to America with their money to have a residency permit outside China. There are a lot of Chinese that are currently looking to park some of their money outside China, this allows Thailand to compete for those Yuan.

First, the money payed by a new Elite member goes to the government. It's a government program to attract high end people that are willing to pay more to be pampered in small ways and get a residency permit. Granted, the money they pay in doesn't offset the monies paid out by the government, but as with any infrarstructure project you have to look at what it does in general for the economy. Those who join typically spend a lot more than the average tourist and expat on living quarters, hotels, shopping, restaurants, etc, etc. Chinese will find this attractive as they have a place that they can live and invest in with a guaranteed residency, not far from China. They will be paying a lot into the economy over an extended period. Glad to hear.

It is true that many Chinese are investing outside of China. Especially government officials. However, this is not the right way to attract them to invest in Thailand.

The scheme has little to do with what you outline in USA. The elite card does NOT give you the right to work, invest, own land etc any more than anyone else; it merely means you don't have to queue up for a tourist VISA. Thailand previously did have an investment VISA, if I recall correctly, it was the TRT government who cancelled that program.

As I have already mentioned, they have only ever sold <1500 of these cards in the history of the elite card program. At 1m baht per card, it is hardly elite, that is considerably less than the cost of a half decent car; if USA is $500,000USD for an investment, I doubt Thailand's one time payment $33,000USD card is going to attract the truly elite when the benefits are so poorly presented.

There is skant evidence that those who have bought the card spend more than the average tourist; I know that the Elite card themselves do not have such data (I have spoken to them at length several times on their program); in fact they might even tend to spend less in general, since the elite card for the most part directs card holders to specific golf courses (which the government pays for rather than bringing in actual currency), to specific spas (which the government pays for) and so forth.

The data of the elite card is very limited admittedly, because many of the card holders were given cards free and anyhow the total number of cards is so few as to not even be a pimple on the buttocks of Thai commerce. Even if the buttocks of Thai commerce look as nice as the finely toned oversized derriere of a Russian lady of the night working the strip in front of the Grace hotel with legs akimbo and a mini skirt made out of the smallest possible piece of cloth barely covering the pale skin herpes rash brought on by the last 'client' who claimed to be part of the "elite card holders".

Chinese may NOT necessarily find this attractive since it is not a guaranteed residency, confers no rights to work, and as a business that deals substantially with China, it is not an issue for Chinese who are truly elite to carry a 2nd passport anyhow; Thailand is in their top 10 destinations for visiting (by some measures), but certainly not top 5...and the reason for this is they are often looking for:

- trade hubs with direct flights and good proximity to China (HK, Singapore rank well in this regard)

- places for family education (USA, UK, Australia, NZ rank well in this regard)

- easy buy a passport (Cyprus, etc rank well in this regard as they get an EU passport) or residency (USA, Canada)

However, my knowledge is based on a recent survey of high net worth Chinese considering investing in Thailand n=50 for a client; any methodology with an n<200 for a normally distributed population is likely to carry a substantial room for error.

Since the Elite card only provides access to golf courses, a queue at the airport and no need to get tourist visas which anyone with money can easily get anyhow, the audience is pretty limited.

The ability to make money by taking out ads at full price using government funds, sending card holders to resorts and places where the government will pick up the tab, and giving out cards free to friends, is, however, a great way to make friends and influence people. And get rich quick. After all, the only loser, is the Thai tax payer, and they already lost way more with the last 9+ out of the last 12 years when we have had either Thaksin or a proxy of Thaksin running things and things haven't exactly been controlled have they.

The song I am an innocent man by Billy Joel comes to mind whenever I think of what a tough time it has been for one of Thailand's billionaires, not being allowed to be like his best mate Hun Sen. Poor fella.

Edited August 29, 2012 by steveromagnino

[humbug]

always the same twisted morons spouting their balony on a card they said would never survive, but guys it is suruving, i think to all those over the years who desidied to invest 1 million on girlfriends or bars or homes not in thier name, to have a re-newable 5 year visa for life is far the best bet.

i remember the vitrol by so many loons about this card, telling people it will just go away, how wrong were you anti-taksinites, will you guys take a bow

[kurtmartens]

Funny how nearly everyone who has something negative to say about the Card .... doesn't have one.

[Soutpeel]

Funny how nearly everyone who has something negative to say about the Card .... doesn't have one.

Well comments from people who do have them are welcome as well....but since this went pear shaped the first time round, a lot of the Thai Eliters have been rather quiet on TV

[Soutpeel]

know the history. 5 year visa renewable for life = residency permit. Worth the 30K for many Chinese.

No... a visa is not a residency permit.....not even close, further it was never a 5 year visa either....there are no 5 year visa's in Thailand, didnt Thai Eliters have to visit immigration every year and pay THB 1900 or something for renewal ?

[soi41]

know the history. 5 year visa renewable for life = residency permit. Worth the 30K for many Chinese.

No... a visa is not a residency permit.....not even close, further it was never a 5 year visa either....there are no 5 year visa's in Thailand, didnt Thai Eliters have to visit immigration every year and pay THB 1900 or something for renewal ?

Must have been a busy day at all the 10 baht/hour internetcafes for all the ignorant posters here to spew their venom on a subject, they clearly know very little about.

I bought the card 2003, paid 1M bath. Ever since then I have heard from all the barstoolguys, that it was only a question about time before the card would be cancelled. Nine years on still alive and kicking (?). First a 3 year visa (passport expired) and after that 2 times 5 years. Current one expires 2016. So there ARE 5 year visas in Thailand! No yearly renewal, but like anyone else 3 months reporting. So so far visas with no headache for 13 years. Less than 80.000 a year. IMO money well spent. If the Thai taxpayers have to foot the bill for running the thing, couldn't care less I thaought i my naivity that my fellow expats should applaud that some farang are actually getting their moneys worth here. BTW this is not a second batch, just business as usual.

So guys order another beer and join your friends outside 7/11 and leave the TE to the cardholders and the Thai government.