Is There Any Real Benefit To Having Thai Residency?

[samran]

Why do Chinese immigrants want UK, US, Canadian or Australian citizenship? Because they live there - duh.

Maybe for the benefits, like social security and so on ?

This is a rather cynical view of things. For most, it is the cementing the new and better life which they have established, rather than the jaded view pushed to readers of The Sun.

[Time Traveller]

I'm not sure what your point is regarding whether or not there is value in Thai PR.

I'm sure that if you asked the majority of PR applicants whether they think it is fair or sensible that a PR still needs a work permit or still needs to jump through many of the same hoops as a non-PR, they would answer no.

But if you ask the same people whether they think the 100k or 200k fee is reasonable, I'm quite sure the majority would tell you that it isn't even a factor in their decision.

Quite simply, for many people who want to make long term plans to stay in Thailand, PR is the best security they can get. How well it compares to other countries or whether 20 x 1900 Baht is more or less than the fee is irrelevant.

If making serious decisions about the future of your life, is USD3000 or 6000 significant?

1.The value is only based upon what each person sees.

2. Ok

3. So their decision is not rational, it is based on emotion.

4. The feeling of security is an emotional bias

5. Some people who base decisions on reason look at ways to measure the value in this case the costs to come to a value based decision, the people that don't care what the costs are are making decisions based off emotions. There is no wrong or right, but this argument that PR is/is not worthwhile is pointless.

I suggested based off of current policies that for most people Thai PR is little more than paying up front for a lifetime worth of annual extensions of stay. (the exception being the people that actually want citizenship and don't qualify otherwise).

Sure those policies could change in the future and everything will get more difficult. Doubting that it will happen is just offering counterbalance to the endless posts on this forum that future immigration policies of thailand will resemble Stalinist North Korea unless you get your PR now.

[Time Traveller]

The most prominent statistics are tourist arrivals. So foreign retirees who arrive and stay don't add much. Those living at subsistence level also drag down the average expenditures per day statistics. Whenever Thais talk about promoting foreign retirees they always talk about putting them in overpriced gerry built "luxury" developments in Swedish, Korean or Japanese ghettos in places in like Hua Hin and ripping them off for service appartment, catering and healthcare services. They never talk about promoting the equivalent of backpacker retirees. In fact there are a lot of exaggerated news stories about khee nok foreign retirees without healthcare insurance putting a strain on government hospitals by leaving unpaid bills for emergency treatment. Remember that Thaksin, the architect of the Thai Elite Card, even hates backpacker tourists.

Maybe you know what thai officials are thinking and planning and reading your post - whether intentially or not - gives the impression that perhaps also you are supporting these ideas, but Arkady you paint a picture where every foreigner will in the future be measured upon their average expenditures per day and those who are not maintaining a minimum standard will be kicked out.

The question I ask are these.

1. Is it likely to happen? I answered No.

2. Would any foreigner - whether they have PR or not - who will be judged by "average expenditure per day standard" constantly as to determine if they are one of the "quality tourists" worthy of being given a visa, decide to continue staying here with a spend spend spend pressure upon them? Some yes, but I think many the answer is no.

3. Has any other country done something similiar? Probably Bhutan and North Korea. Well you can judge yourself if Thailand would ever adopt a policies resembling those 2 countries. If they did, I would not anyway care to live in a country like that PR or no PR.

4. Are newspaper articles based upon sensationalist cases really accurate data indicators?

You did raise some interesting issues, but the whole tone of your comments about PR resembles a salesman. Is it possible you happen to get commission kickbacks from immigration from the number of people who apply for PR ?

[ajarnpot]

What on Earth For?????? unless you are from an even lower standard of 3rd World Country ....I laugh at all the people who want to be Citizens of this insanity..take it from me even if you pass all the idiotic tests YOU WILL ALWAYS BE A FOREIGNER here, the most important thing you need in Thailand is your air fare out

As shown below I say again WHY? ... I did most of this on a 1 year Non B with a 4 million baht company..the rest I dont care about after 40 years here

Benefits of Permanent Residence

• No need to leave the country within 7 days if employment is terminated.
• No need to extend or renew any visa, or report your address every 90 days.

  But you do have to obtain a re-entry visa if you go out of the country.

• Allowed to buy a condominium without having to remit funds from abroad.
• Entitled to apply for citizenship after 5 years.
• Entitled to be appointed a director of a public limited company even if the

  majority of other directors on the Board are non-Thai.

• Supposedly easier to obtain a work permit.
• Allowed to go through the "Thai passports only" channel at airport Immigration.

Sounds like you made the right choice of country to make your home, why are you still here?. wrt third world increasing numbers of students from ]first world countrys' apply to Thai education system,

[Dork]

I'm not sure what your point is regarding whether or not there is value in Thai PR.

I'm sure that if you asked the majority of PR applicants whether they think it is fair or sensible that a PR still needs a work permit or still needs to jump through many of the same hoops as a non-PR, they would answer no.

But if you ask the same people whether they think the 100k or 200k fee is reasonable, I'm quite sure the majority would tell you that it isn't even a factor in their decision.

Quite simply, for many people who want to make long term plans to stay in Thailand, PR is the best security they can get. How well it compares to other countries or whether 20 x 1900 Baht is more or less than the fee is irrelevant.

If making serious decisions about the future of your life, is USD3000 or 6000 significant?

1.The value is only based upon what each person sees.

2. Ok

3. So their decision is not rational, it is based on emotion.

4. The feeling of security is an emotional bias

5. Some people who base decisions on reason look at ways to measure the value in this case the costs to come to a value based decision, the people that don't care what the costs are are making decisions based off emotions. There is no wrong or right, but this argument that PR is/is not worthwhile is pointless.

I suggested based off of current policies that for most people Thai PR is little more than paying up front for a lifetime worth of annual extensions of stay. (the exception being the people that actually want citizenship and don't qualify otherwise).

Sure those policies could change in the future and everything will get more difficult. Doubting that it will happen is just offering counterbalance to the endless posts on this forum that future immigration policies of thailand will resemble Stalinist North Korea unless you get your PR now.

No, nothing to do with emotion whatsoever. It's simply that when making a decision concerning one's future, financially or otherwise, the fee for PR is inconsequential.

[Arkady]

The most prominent statistics are tourist arrivals. So foreign retirees who arrive and stay don't add much. Those living at subsistence level also drag down the average expenditures per day statistics. Whenever Thais talk about promoting foreign retirees they always talk about putting them in overpriced gerry built "luxury" developments in Swedish, Korean or Japanese ghettos in places in like Hua Hin and ripping them off for service appartment, catering and healthcare services. They never talk about promoting the equivalent of backpacker retirees. In fact there are a lot of exaggerated news stories about khee nok foreign retirees without healthcare insurance putting a strain on government hospitals by leaving unpaid bills for emergency treatment. Remember that Thaksin, the architect of the Thai Elite Card, even hates backpacker tourists.

Maybe you know what thai officials are thinking and planning and reading your post - whether intentially or not - gives the impression that perhaps also you are supporting these ideas, but Arkady you paint a picture where every foreigner will in the future be measured upon their average expenditures per day and those who are not maintaining a minimum standard will be kicked out.

The question I ask are these.

1. Is it likely to happen? I answered No.

2. Would any foreigner - whether they have PR or not - who will be judged by "average expenditure per day standard" constantly as to determine if they are one of the "quality tourists" worthy of being given a visa, decide to continue staying here with a spend spend spend pressure upon them? Some yes, but I think many the answer is no.

3. Has any other country done something similiar? Probably Bhutan and North Korea. Well you can judge yourself if Thailand would ever adopt a policies resembling those 2 countries. If they did, I would not anyway care to live in a country like that PR or no PR.

4. Are newspaper articles based upon sensationalist cases really accurate data indicators?

You did raise some interesting issues, but the whole tone of your comments about PR resembles a salesman. Is it possible you happen to get commission kickbacks from immigration from the number of people who apply for PR ?

LOL. I know someone who operated a visa, work permit service and used to do quite well out of PR applications. The documentation process is rather burdensome and many people get a lawyer or agent to do that and also expected some help from their claimed connections at Immigration which she genuinely had. But after the wheels fell off the PR process she complained about having to wait for many years for the final instalment payments from successful applicants who had been happy to agree to a back loaded fee structure. Many refused to pay because it had taken much longer she had told them to expect when they applied back in 2006 and 2007. Others had cleverly changed all their contact details and couldn't be found.

I don't think I will be going into this business!