Thailand's Elite Card Refuses To Die

[YourMomma]

Give me an hour, bottle of Sang Som and the man from Dubai - I'll get your elite card to go away...

[Keesters]

Not worth the plastic it's made of.

[GazR]

Paying 2 Million Baht for a plastic card, sounds to me like being the worst scam in Thailand ever.

Hey - it worked before!

'There's one born every minute.'

[KED]

It is just inconceivable that any Thai government would continue to support this failing scheme. What logic shows that a business that has 2600 members now at 1 million Thai baht (and many of these were free VIP cards), would project that after raising the price to 2 million THB and lowering the beniefit - that it would attract 7500 additional members This is insanity - how more Thai newspapers and government officials do not expose this is fraud- i do not understand.

[sirchai]

Shouldn't TV F members get a free membership automatically?

[kevvy]

Paying 2 Million Baht for a plastic card, sounds to me like being the worst scam in Thailand ever.

look at the rice scheme this card will help pay for it

[Narratio]

I'm not so sure about that KED.

Doesn't that remind you of some other programs here in the LOS? Highways whose costs easily doubled but only half of them being built for the money. The water infrastructure debates and sort-of-construction of the 80's to combat the droughts caused by water mismanagement. <Rinse repeat sentence, replace 80's with 00's and drought with flood> The replacement for Don Muang Airport. which was oddly designed to only equal DM's final passenger capacity but not really expand it?

There's a certain consistent internal logic going on here with doubling the price asked , but halving the benefits offered.

[BarryM]

A scheme similar to the Malaysian MM2H program would be better.

I used MM2H to buy a condo in KL, with a mortgage too.

-Ten years no quibble visa (passport stamped leave to remain till October nn 2020 on arrival).

-Fast track at KLIA.

-You can bring a car in tax free if you've owned it for 6 months before applying.

- allowed to work if over 50

The only downside of the program is the maddening bureacracy, but MM2H agents can handle that for a small fee.

Best of all - at KLIA the immigration officers say "welcome home Mr. xxxxxx)" when they stamp you in, giving the impression that you are actually welcomed, not simply tolerated as a necessary evil, like Thailand.

[BarryM]

I was about to write this thing off until I started combing over their website and found:

Purchase a full fare THAI Royal First Class ticket on international routes,

receive a same class complimentary companion ticket

http://www.thailande.../membership.php

Even still, an initial membershit fee of US$65,000 and yearly fees of US$650. This might just benefit someone who stands to make millions or someone who enjoys throwing their money down the tubes.

A full fare first class ticket to London costs considerably more than the standard on line promotion fare of circa 195k baht. The savings there are very marginal.

An Amex centurion card in the UK costs 1800 quid a year. You get the same benefits 2 for 1 with several partner airlines, plus automatic gold status on some of them, gold Hilton Hons, gold SPG, worldwide Priority Pass airport lounge access, very comprehensive travel insurance for yourself and all supplementary card holders (my dad aged 72 saves a fortune in travel insurance), a 24 hour concierge Brighton based (ie they actually speak English) service who will sort everything from VIP passes at Ibiza clubs to flowers for mum, with a quick phone call, room priveleges at hotels (like stay 2 nts pay1, room upgrade, free wifi and breakfast, comp dinner or afternoon tea), plus it impresses and teases the knickers off vulnerable 18 year olds back home .

Even a Tescos Club Card seems more valuable than the Thai Elite card

Edited November 13, 2012 by BarryM

[Buchholz]

What is it? Is it a credit card? What is it used for, aside from showing off? Sorry, I'm not familiar with the first Elite card either

You're in luck.

There's 423 archived threads that discuss it

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?app=core&module=search&section=search&do=search&fromsearch=1

And 82 current threads that discuss it

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?app=core&module=search&section=search&do=search&fromsearch=1

.

[Asiantravel]

Here we go again upfront lump sum payments - a classic warning bell for a potential scam

Why not make it only annual payments period?

" Fool me once shame on you..... fool me twice shame on me "

Edited November 13, 2012 by Asiantravel

[scorecard]

lol...here we go again, how many people will they be able to fool ? how many cards will be given to "friends" of hiso's who pay 0 baht but take all the advantages....

any advantage? right to own land ? no yearly hassle ? 20 years extention ?

guess not

Bottom line: create or regurgitate anything which creates pools of funds for sticky fingers to play with. Wonder which red shirt or family member is the manager? Logical business models, ethics, not in the picture at all.

Edited November 13, 2012 by scorecard

[Buchholz]

It should take three months to fully launch the project after which the company should have sufficient cash flow from the sales of membership, according to Deputy Government Spokesman Pakdiharn Himathongkam.

One can imagine Pakdiharn explaining further...

See, first we'll start with a large ball of 1,000 baht notes this big from each member and then we'll...

.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Buchholz

[Chupup]

After the first one failed they are looking for still more mugs, wonder just how many they will find.................

[johnbarpic]

Great scheme if the benefits met the price. Life time residency visa & the option to buy one plot of residential land for your own use not to be rented for personal gain or profit other than the index linked property price rises. when you come to move or seell up

Don't for get the UK is still open market any one can come & buy what they wish & since we have such a benevolent govt they will even give folk free hand outs to foreigners. who has it Right????? not UK for sure.

[Crushdepth]

One of the new benefits under the revised scheme is a free lifetime Thaivisa membership, with no need to report to immigration or anything like that. It's a bargain.

[ratcatcher]

After the first one failed they are looking for still more mugs, wonder just how many they will find.................

Will these do ? New Thai Elite Card members

[Thai at Heart]

One major problem is that after the complete fiasco of Elite Card part 1, there is absolutley no credibility in Part 2. What is offered today could easily be withdrawn in a few years time with no more than a "We're sorry and here is some complimentary tickets to Loei Pangolin Park."

Agree it could do OK offering a 10 year or permanent visa option.

The initial offer included that you could buy some land, which would have been great if it wasn't illegal.

I have a mate who loves it, especially getting whisked through immigration.

[hellodolly]

Here we go again upfront lump sum payments - a classic warning bell for a potential scam

Why not make it only annual payments period?

" Fool me once shame on you..... fool me twice shame on me "

Not sure but isn't this the same scam scheme Cal Wow used?

[Misterwhisper]

My renewable 1-year visa costs me 1,900 Baht each year, and I pay 3,900 Baht for a multiple re-entry permit. Why would I want to shell out 2 million PLUS 20,000 Baht in annual membership fees? What's the incentive? Can I own land? No. Do I get tax benefits? No. Can I enter national parks free of charge? No. Do I get permanent residency? No. Will the silly 9-day reporting be scrapped? No. Oh yes, they're saying that scam card will entitle me to meet with one or another high-ranking official once a year. To discuss what? As if I would care...

[reenatinnakor]

If it would enable me to get a lifetime visa, with no silly 90-Day reporting, and no need for a silly Re-entry Visa, it would be of interest to me; otherwise, not a chance of me showing interest.

Yeah me too.

Would this be cheaper than the other option......getting married? Lol.

[timewilltell]

Run don't walk away from this. The first card promised many things that remain undelivered so why would anyone expect delivery on the revival especially at twice the price and half the benefits. And when the whole scheme finally falls flat on it's face what will you get back. More chance of something backed by a Furby than some scheme dreamed up by these corrupt, traitorous successive Thai governments. Give everyone their money back who actually paid for one of these and scrap the whole idea. Let time pass so everyone forgets and then try again.

[Sharp]

Automatic 'Permanent Residence' on payment of the 2 Million or they can forget it ---- AGAIN!

Agreed ....

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

[Sharp]

After the first one failed they are looking for still more mugs, wonder just how many they will find.................

10,000 for sure ...

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

[glanville63]

This stuff sounds a bit TAT TY. It's an almighty scam I would think. Ponsey eat your heart out.

[RogueLeader]

The Thai logic of raising the price to cover fewer sales is counterintuitive.

It's widespread though - Thailand is the only place I know of where the prices for guesthouses goes up when custom goes down. That's fine when you're one of the few guesthouses in town and everyone's operating the cartel, but not when people can just choose not to purchase your service or, more likely, go to Cambodia instead.

Edited November 13, 2012 by RogueLeader

[OzMick]

The Thaksinomics accounting is wonderful:

"It hopes to earn Bt2.016 billion after the first year but the loss remains at Bt 117 million due to the accumulated deficit of Bt1.284 billion."

I doubt my bank manager would accept that my deficit has been reduced to less than 10% because of what I HOPE to earn in the next 12 months.

Put it this way, if you and 999 other idiots join this scheme, you become a member of a club with a debt 0f 1.2 million EACH which they hope to pay off with your investment. Whoopeee!

[asiawatcher]

The original card was 1M. There was no annual fee. you got complimentary limo to the airport and picked up, free golf at participating courses, picked up and taken to immigration and sorted and returned - no issue. As a golf enthusiast, it was a good deal. Then the fee went to 1.5M Baht, then they were going to not honour it and faced a class action for billions of baht. And the accounting reports were at the time were insane in costs (obviously loaded beyond all essential necessities.

Now they are on the path to run it again and at double the price plus annual fees. It will not get ONE taker at that.

Oh and we all forgot the most important point - it was being run at the time by Thaksin's wife! Therein lies the issue...

[midas]

I asked the question several times to those who had paid 1 million for Thailand elite version 1 - why should anyone need to charge all the money upfront for this type of business and not one person was able to justify it?

After people paid 1 million for Thailand elite version 1, they were issued with a piece of plastic and the Thailand elite organisation itself thereafter were only subject to the normal overheads of a service industry.

Not like a manufacturer for example who has to make a large order or purchase of raw material in advance.

There is absolutely no need and no justification for these people to require all the money upfront. In fact it almost suggests that their real motive is at some stage to take the money and run.( again ! )

Edited November 13, 2012 by midas

[OzMick]

Why does Thaksin keep recycling the same old scams - has senility set in, with mental function reduced to fond memories of yesteryear.