Thoughts On A Way To Pr Through Investment

[Khun Bob]

Been thinking for a while about a way to get permanent residence through the investment route. Plan is as follows :

* Get a 1 year non-imm o visa

* Transfer just over 3 Million baht to a goverment bank ie Krung Thai, which would be converted to baht in Thailand and come with the message for investment and/or property purchase

* Purchase best interest paying fixed deposit/bond etc - was in krung thai today and they have a 9 month fixed deposit paying 4.25% and they have a 3 year paying the same amount. The 9 month deposiit pay interest monthly and from what i ewas told today there was no tax to pay.

* Get 1 year extension of stay based on investment in goverment bank

* Live in Thailand for some of the year - when leaving get re-entry permit and do 90 day reporting when in thailand for 90 days.

* Make sure I am back in thailand before 1 year extension of stay terminates and get a further extension based on same situation above for 2 further years - but not necessarily being in thailand for all of the 2 years.

Once I have 3 years extension of stay, apply for permanent residence. I understand that PR is quota based and not neccessarily given after the third year. Also I dont know just how important the unofficial tax`payed rule is and how much this would play against me as I dont think that I would be working in Thailand.

This is becoming more attractive as the baht strengthens and the interest rates are rising in Thailand.

My main concerns are that in any one year i may be out of thailand for up to 9 months - but this depends on what work i can get elsewhere that pays well. Would this really work against me as I dont know how long a re-entry permit is valid for. Also am I right in thinking that so long as i have a peice of paper stating investment/property purchase in Thailand I can also take the money out of Thailand as well, should I want to in the future.

I have read elsewhere here that Sunbelt can get extension of stay based on 3M investment and he mentioned that Krung Thai also offers a deposit/bond offerring 4.5% Interestingly talking to Krung Thai today they wont pay interest on my savings account as i am a foregner but they will pay interest to me on a fixed depost/bond - which is nice to know.

Look forward to your comments

Edited March 14, 2006 by Khun Bob

[lopburi3]

Unless you have other positive factors I would not count on receiving PR on the basis of your investment. This normally requires a record of higher than average tax payments from reports.

[Digger]

I think I have posted this before, but when applying for my last work permit when I used the one stop centre (for big and/or BOI approved companies) the immigration partner of our company lawyer advised me after asking him about residency (this was my 3rd year B visa extension then) - he basically said, in his experience of handling these applications, the single biggest factor that is considered is how much income tax you pay in those previous years. I spoke to him about the language issue and he replied he has had PR applications go through where the guy could hardly mutter two words of Thai, purely on the basis of salary that the applicant was earning in Thailand. Now this lawyer charged out his time at US$300 per hour - he's pretty much at the top of the tree for what he did and so are clients that can afford and choose to pay those kind of fee's. Therefore I'd put quite a lot of credibility in what he told me. He said the process is not corrupt per say, but someone paying over 1,000,000 baht a year in income tax is more likely to gain residency than someone paying the minimum amounts regardless of their ability to speak Thai, be married etc etc

[Khun Bob]

So paying tax is important - i know i can get a tax code - just goto the tax office and ask for one - beleive i just need my passport. So question is how much tax needs to be paid ?

I guess thet someone who has allready been through this will have an idea, but like alot of things in thailand it is very changeable and it depends on who you are dealing with. And three or more years in the future is quite a while.

Any further words of wisdom or experience would be appreciated....

[Khun Bob]

Edit timed out...

So paying tax is important - i know i can get a tax code - just goto the tax office and ask for one - beleive i just need my passport. So question is how much tax needs to be paid ? And can i just pay tax voluntarily and not have a job in Thailand ?

I guess thet someone who has allready been through this will have an idea, but like alot of things in thailand it is very changeable and it depends on who you are dealing with. And three or more years in the future is quite a while.

Any further words of wisdom or experience would be appreciated....

[rishi]

Can't say, I have much personal experience with PR application, but I found quite a bit inspiration in this thread from last month. In between the usual one-liners, you'll find a couple of reports on first-hand experiences.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...anent+residency

You'll see examples on other things, than tax, that might influence the outcome. If I should add a thought of my own, it would be that the scenario, described in your OP, where you hardly even want to spend much time in Thailand, would require even a very substantial amount of tax before a Thai would grant you the huge honour of a PR - but that's just a guess..

[Khun Bob]

Read some of the other threads on PR and most seem tobe based on work or mariage to a thai - seems that investment isnt mentioned - but having said that i havent looked that far.

Would be interested to know what the citeria for PR based on investment is ?

Also there is the basis for PR on being considered an expert. Has anybody gone through this route. It would be nice to think that having a PhD and getting three years or more extension of stay may satisfy this criteria... Of course there is the tax to be paid, but how much ?

[Digger]

I think your not looking on this in the "Thai' way. Basically they want people who 'contribute' something to Thailand. Marrying a former bar girl, is not really what they mean although many farang seem to think that they should be treated as gods for doing just that.

Basically its what they (Thai officials) think of you as a person and what you are contributing. For example, setting up a business, having many staff, paying income tax for yourself, VAT, withholding taxes, corporation taxes etc is all looked upon favourably. Ultimately, its all about money going into Thailand Inc - but money that is recorded - if its not 'official' it aint being counted.

Personally, I think the liklihood of getting these 'professional' or 'academic' types of residency would not be utilised very often and is more likely to be where someone has done something for the Thai government and the residency is more of a reward and thanks. That would take connections, however odds are if you are a farang professor at Chula, you will likely already know these people anyway.

[Khun Bob]

Some of the themes coming out here are :

* Connections

* Contributions - not just financial

* How much the people you deal with like you

* Oh and official and receipted/recorded tax paid

Your right i wasnt looking at this in a thai way - I'm just testing the water, and I am no where near making an application yet. I just want to understand the requirements and how to have a good chance of succeeding.

Nevertheless - 3M in a gov bank will get me year extensions, with the help of say Sunbelt. Question now is how long is a re-entry permit good for ?