Who's this elite card for?

[tinhead]

The one deal breaker for me when dealing with SCB was that they insisted on settling in THB as opposed to USD. Currency loss at their rate at time of conversion on ฿10MM just doesn't make sense. Haven't looked further since.

I'm due to pick up my ABTC when I return back to Canada for an annual visit. My HK friends with ABTC get fast track and 90 days stamped into their UK passports upon arrival at swampy. Will be interesting to see if I get the same as a Canadian. If so, Elite just lost what I feel to be a great advantage.

[bitcoinman]

Better to invest in bit coin than this Elite coin!

[MobileContent]

Having 10 million Baht in an account is good but for farangs not easy to transfer it out of the country and sending it back you loose maybe 0.50%.

[KhnomKhnom]

OP, I'm not going to debate with you, if the Elite card is good or not.

But, I was very surprized with your assumption, that if somebody can spend 500k for the card he could easily afford to invest 10million.

Seems to me that you have no idea not only what 500k is but much more what 10million is.

I presume 1,000 Baht for you is big money and you are jealous of the people that can afford to spend 500k.

So you decided to open this thread to show your feelings and contempt for the others.

Please, grow up.

Sorry, but giving such a condescending reply such as presuming that 1000 baht is a lot to me means that it is you who needs to grow up. This is exactly the Thaivisa poster I am talking about. You do not know me and I do not know you....and I don't really want to know you. I will never know how much money you have and it same goes for you about me.

But I don't think you are very intelligent paying 500k for a visa.

That's all.

Money value is in the eyes of the purse holder. My Porsche took me to exactly the same place my beat van took me only with a cost difference.

The Elite Cards are for people who can afford them and may spend more than that on cigars yearly. Thailand is very clearly aiming at high end foreigners and wants the bottom feeders out and is making it gradually from uncomfortable to illegal for them to stay here. It causes resentment from people who think that somehow Thailand OWES them a cheap long stay here; not true. Suck it up and leave or pony up into the economic class Thailand wants, simple to see that.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Money value is in the eyes of the purse holder. My Porsche took me to exactly the same place my beat van took me only with a cost difference.

The Elite Cards are for people who can afford them and may spend more than that on cigars yearly. Thailand is very clearly aiming at high end foreigners and wants the bottom feeders out and is making it gradually from uncomfortable to illegal for them to stay here. It causes resentment from people who think that somehow Thailand OWES them a cheap long stay here; not true. Suck it up and leave or pony up into the economic class Thailand wants, simple to see that.

In this comparison 10 investment visa is a Porsche while 500k elite visa is your beat up van.

I hope you understand the difference, but yet again I doubt you even own a car.

[Hula Hoops]

[theguyfromanotherforum]

wow.... 8 posts and you already post pictures!

[DogNo1]

I'm not sure how you are playing the VIX but be careful. I sold ten puts early in 2008 and lost so much money that it gave me a headache. Now I only trade spreads to limit my losses (and, of course, my profits.)

[user82374298374]

These well off people would have no problems scraping partly 10 mil for an investment visa. It is clearly the best hassle free visa to get..... and putting it in a bank account is just the simplest example I gave.

Speaking as one of 'these people', I can afford 500KThB, but I can't afford 10MThB.

You simply don't know what you're talking about, and your economic class envy is showing.

[user82374298374]

I mentioned that if you have 500k to drop on a visa, you certainly must have 10 million to invest.

Wrong. I can afford 500KThB, but not 10MThB.

I'm probably going to pull the trigger on the Elite Card next month.

You simply don't know what you're talking about.

[ukrules]

These well off people would have no problems scraping partly 10 mil for an investment visa. It is clearly the best hassle free visa to get..... and putting it in a bank account is just the simplest example I gave.

Speaking as one of 'these people', I can afford 500KThB, but I can't afford 10MThB.

You simply don't know what you're talking about, and your economic class envy is showing.

Same here, it works out to about £2000 / $3000 per year which is well within easy reach of a lot of people.

In the past I've spent more than this each year doing 90 day visa runs just to keep current with immigration. That includes hotels, taxis and flights, not to mention the inconvenience of the whole thing.

[paz]

I mentioned that if you have 500k to drop on a visa, you certainly must have 10 million to invest.

Wrong. I can afford 500KThB, but not 10MThB.

I'm probably going to pull the trigger on the Elite Card next month.

The difference is that the 500K are gone forever in 5 years, but with good investments the 10M can have become 15.

As yourself have mentioned, if you have the 500K but not the 10M, you should really think twice before getting it, because it would be a serious dent in your global wealth.

Edited July 30, 2014 by paz

[ukrules]

I mentioned that if you have 500k to drop on a visa, you certainly must have 10 million to invest.

Wrong. I can afford 500KThB, but not 10MThB.

I'm probably going to pull the trigger on the Elite Card next month.

The difference is that the 500K are gone forever in 5 years, but with good investments the 10M can have become 15.

As theguyfrom mentioned, if you have the 500K but not the 10M, you should really think before getting it.

Good advice. If you're planning on being in Thailand for the next 5 years just work out how much it will cost you to keep your immigration status current for the next 5 years using other methods and compare this figure with how much you would save or lose depending on how you travel and do visa runs which may or may not still be available in the future. I doubt people will still be able to do back to back visa runs for many years but who knows, maybe this will be the one area they don't crack down on, I doubt it though.

If it's going to cost you more than 100k a year then maybe it's worthwhile if you really want to stay in Thailand long term. For me this constant visa run figure came to 1.25 Million over the five year period and a load of unwanted travel so I went with the cheapest TE visa and zero visa related travel, a saving of 750k for me and no unnecessary trips abroad.

Just cancelling a recent trip to the UK to get a triple entry tourist visa has saved me 150k Baht which covers 18 months of the TE visa cost and I've only had it for 1 month so far.

[LivinLOS]

The difference is that the 500K are gone forever in 5 years, but with good investments the 10M can have become 15.

But the 10m must remain invested in things which I dont think will be as good as my other investments.. Its a limited subset in a market I dont trust with an FX issues that is going to take a huge hit when an event that happens in the next couple of years, happens..

Sure I could set up an Fx trade to hedge the baht issues v a baseline or basket of currency. But the elite card is chump change where the 10 mil starts to be enough to think on.

[JLCrab]

So the Retirement by investment scheme was a bad deal at 3 million baht and became and even worse bad deal when they raised in to 10 million in 2551 / 2008 -- I wonder how many farang with 10 million baht available in cash or by loan and their financial advisers didn't realize what a bad deal it was and went for it?

Edited July 31, 2014 by JLCrab

[LivinLOS]

I think at 3 mil theres a much closer economic balance.. Your 'lost returns' are lower, your risk is lower, and while I still calculate it costing more than the 500k elite or running (paying someone who runs a real one) a shelf co to employ you or other is still cheaper over the duration.. Its certainly easy. If your the kind of guy who can stomach living in a condo, then again thats a plus..

However at the time it was 3 mil v simply asking for a non imm O in the west, now its about on balance, then it was again behind the times.

If the investor visa put you in line for PR and citizenship down the road it would be another big selling point.. But it doesnt, so..

[ukrules]

So the Retirement by investment scheme was a bad deal at 3 million baht and became and even worse bad deal when they raised in to 10 million in 2551 / 2008 -- I wonder how many farang with 10 million baht available in cash or by loan and their financial advisers didn't realize what a bad deal it was and went for it?

Do you know if they 'grandfathered in' the people who took up the 3 Million investment scheme offer and are they still able to qualify using that investment to this day or were they suddenly told they must increase the investment from 3 Million to 10 Million or 'get a proper visa now the rules have changed' ?

[JLCrab]

Like I said, I would just like to know how many have actually secured an extension of stay based upon Section 2.5 of the 777/2551 Police Order whereby I guess they would have figured the opportunity gained to stay in Thailand for 10 or 20 years or so outweighs any opportunity cost lost.

BTW it just says in 2.5 that the 3 million investment had to be before 1 OCT 2006 and the investor has been continually allowed to remain in Thailand since then.

Edited July 31, 2014 by JLCrab

[LivinLOS]

So the Retirement by investment scheme was a bad deal at 3 million baht and became and even worse bad deal when they raised in to 10 million in 2551 / 2008 -- I wonder how many farang with 10 million baht available in cash or by loan and their financial advisers didn't realize what a bad deal it was and went for it?

Do you know if they 'grandfathered in' the people who took up the 3 Million investment scheme offer and are they still able to qualify using that investment to this day or were they suddenly told they must increase the investment from 3 Million to 10 Million or 'get a proper visa now the rules have changed' ?

First they said everyone would be grandfathered.. But I remember in the year or two after a few very unhappy people whose grandfathered application was denied for what seemed weak grounds after those exact same grounds were excepted the previous year. My memory isnt clear on what the grounds were I just remember thinking, so much for grandfathering everyone, the moneys here now, deal cancelled.

Of course anyone who is out of the country and or due to timing issues cannot extend precisely in the schedule immigration needs, thats then the extension closed and no more grandfathering.

Grandfathering sounds fair, but once down to the nuts and bolts it doesnt truly mean 'you' can always use 'that rule'..

Edited July 31, 2014 by LivinLOS

[LivinLOS]

Like I said, I would just like to know how many have actually secured an extension of stay based upon Section 2.5 of the 777/2551 Police Order whereby I guess they would have figured the opportunity gained to stay in Thailand for 10 or 20 years or so outweighs any opportunity cost lost.

I am sure its highly popular with those who wish to buy a condo.. With any liveable condo it practically comes for free at 3 mil..

I think its probably a lot less popular with the investment class. But I have no data for that. Anecdotally I have met a handful of people who did the condo side, never met anyone personally who brought the money in just for bonds or whatever.

[JLCrab]

I can only read the legal documents as I don't know anybody or have anecdotal information to offer.. The only real advantage to the financial instrument is that you could sell it and leave Thailand permanently tomorrow.

[noendtoit]

2.75% p.a interest on an investment could hardly be called a profit. Do your maths assuming a mere 3% p.a inflation rate and see how profitable your assumed investment would be.

Wow! you must be a genius to have figured that out! I'll bet the OP never even thought of that (dripping with sarcasm, just in case you didn't get it).

[chrisinth]

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I mentioned that if you have 500k to drop on a visa, you certainly must have 10 million to invest. With 10 million you can stay in Thailand "for free" and Thailand will even reward you - in my case more than a Canadian bank which pays half the interest of a Thai bank.

Again, who bought this 500k visa? Raise your hand!

I'll admit that I haven't and never would. Only because there are different avenues for me to follow to remain in the country.

I believe the subject of the elite card was raised recently as a means to stay in Thailand legally for the under 50 group of people who are financially secure, don't want (or can't get visas for their specialist skills) to work, don't want to attend classes and aren't married. In other words, only for those that can afford it.

In my case, for what its worth, I am working in Thailand (on a WP), I am married to a Thai, I am over 50 and am financially secure for either a dependency visa based on marriage or retirement. No need for the elite card.

Edited July 31, 2014 by chrisinth

[Franky Bear]

I mentioned that if you have 500k to drop on a visa, you certainly must have 10 million to invest.

Wrong. I can afford 500KThB, but not 10MThB.

I'm probably going to pull the trigger on the Elite Card next month.

The difference is that the 500K are gone forever in 5 years, but with good investments the 10M can have become 15.

As yourself have mentioned, if you have the 500K but not the 10M, you should really think twice before getting it, because it would be a serious dent in your global wealth.

I'm not a money man but even i know that is a load of horse poo

[alfalfa19]

Who's this elite card for? To me, it seems rather obvious.

1. Those with more money than brain cells.

2. Those who like to show off.

There may be some practical use for the card, but after cursory review of the "benefits", I don't see any.

[ukrules]

There may be some practical use for the card, but after cursory review of the "benefits", I don't see any.

I find the 5 year visa which gives you a 1 year continuously extendable entry stamp to be useful, maybe I'm an idiot though.

Perhaps one of the more 'enlightened' members who made the above comments could tell me where I'm going wrong.

[Franky Bear]

Who's this elite card for? To me, it seems rather obvious.

1. Those with more money than brain cells.

2. Those who like to show off.

There may be some practical use for the card, but after cursory review of the "benefits", I don't see any.

If you think this then i'm afraid it's yourself that lacks in the grey matter.

[tingtongteesood]

a cunning plan with one minor drawback, Thai banks will not give you interest as you are a foreigner. Unless you have a work permit then they might consider it....

[shaurene]

I think and wish you would all go back to bed, you are all full of rubbish, have you nothing else to do but rant and rave over this Elite Card.

[Thai Travel Bug]

I'm 79 years old and my missus says that I'm getting stranger and stranger everyday. She says she thinks I'm sliding down a hill. (She is only 25......I think) I have 500,000 baht to buy an Elite card,

and I am sure it will see me through to the end of my time here in Thailand.....5 more years.....I'm already having the dribble wiped off my chinned, and my nappies changed... If Ive got to leave Thailand in 5 years in any other way than a puff of smoke down at the temple, I wont even remember having been here. What was I just talking about honey??? What.....I need you to turn up my hearing aid...(Bitch always turns the volume down on my hearing aids when her brother shows up) I'll have one of them there cards.