Your thought about the Visa Crack down

[brianp0803]

I agree. Go after the owners of businesses making money from employing illegal teachers at lower than allowed wages.

Put pressure for them to hire qualified teachers at good salary with proper work permit.

Raid language schools visa farms.

Schools with lower than average 75% attendance for a day is a visa farm and the owner fined based on attendance.

But most probably give large white envelopes to officials and won't have problems.

Let the country get the money instead of a few rich owners.

Legimite businesses have no problems and not effect true tourism.

[Digitalnomade]

It 's easy to live or retire in Thailand.

Let's say you have a house in USA. Worth 300k $, sell it and place it on stock with a return of 6 percent, you make 18k a year.

Live cheap, and don't touch the rest, it s called compound interest. Jeez! Now you know my deepest secret!

Need a visa? Get a tourist visa show your interest to thai embassy, and ask for 2 entries. Once in thailand, go Lao and ask for another 2 entries,... You got now 4 entries, repeat the process for 2 to 3 years, the time you have done that, compound interest is working for you. My god, you just reached over 1 million dollars at 50 with a tourist visa only.... Time to retire.!

Edited September 25, 2014 by Digitalnomade

[cacruden]

The elite card is hardly specially designed for them, how did you come to the conclusion that a PRODUCT for the wealthy is an appropriate avenue for the discussed demographic. Or is this a case of money talks and therefore the ability to stay at length is reserved for high liquidity individuals.

However more to the point, it would be extremely poor policy to have such a taxpayers burden as the elite card make up a component of the visa system. Now outside that single product which is not apart of the regular visa system, what options are available?

How does one go about obtaining a visa for extended long stay, that will avoid doing u-turns, so that one may not risk being tarnished being around the have nots??

The elite card works out to an average of 100,000 or $3,100 / year. That is not "a product for the wealthy", but easily attainable for those that work online/remotely. For a wealthy person that $3,100 is equivalent to a few days stay in a posh hotel suite. If it were designed for the wealthy it would cost a lot more and include a lot more.

Immigration does not care about people working remotely - they are not taking work from locals. It has been stated by senior immigration officials that working online/remote is not an issue with them.... you just have to make sure you get a visa to allow you to stay here.

For someone that is working online/remotely $3,100 per year is worth it. You make it back easily just in the cost of living (assuming you don't spend each night out at a farang oriented bar). It might not have been "designed" for that purpose, but it definitely fits the bill.

[jspill]

As much as people like to point it out it it's hardly relevant that the TE card 'only' averages $3k/year, or 273 Baht 'less than minimum' wage' per day or whatever it is. It's paid as a $15k lump sum.

In anything, paying in instalments is much easier than paying up front, you are still earning while paying, no huge sunk cost. It's the whole basis of the credit card industry. No one wants to buy a $15k visa, or rather not a visa but an agreement between a private company founded by Thaksin and immigration to let you live in this politically unstable country.

The TE card used to be much maligned on these forums, now everyone's singing its praises. May have something to do with it giving commissions to affiliates (including ThaiVisa) that refer customers.

[cacruden]

As much as people like to point it out it it's hardly relevant that the TE card 'only' averages $3k/year, or 273 Baht 'less than minimum' wage' per day or whatever it is. It's paid as a $15k lump sum.

In anything, paying in instalments is much easier than paying up front, you are still earning while paying, no huge sunk cost. It's the whole basis of the credit card industry. No one wants to buy a $15k visa, or rather not a visa but an agreement between a private company founded by Thaksin and immigration to let you live in this politically unstable country.

The TE card used to be much maligned on these forums, now everyone's singing its praises. May have something to do with it giving commissions to affiliates (including ThaiVisa) that refer customers.

I am not an employee, I don't receive commissions etc. I also believe the original maligned visa did not include the "low cost" PE beginner visa. It is 15k upfront, not a small amount upfront (also not transferrable) but as an individual that works remotely. The annual expense works out to what I would spend at a food court in a major city in a given year of working at the office. I save on many other things than just that....

If you don't like this politically unstable country, then yes by all means the expense is not worth it. I save more than 15k per year working from here than living in a major western city. (not to mention the added bonus of not having to freeze my a** off 6 months of the year).

Edited September 25, 2014 by cacruden

[cacruden]

I do agree with you though that they probably should do this visa directly and not through a "related" company. Drop all the extras and just have immigration issue the PE visa for 5 years -- no company.... just the special immigration line and a limo would make it worthwhile. Again, not sure why such a scheme would lose money.

[brianp0803]

With a TE visa can you legally be in Thailand working online?

Same question about tourist and education visa.

Is the TE visa main advantage there is not an implied requirement that you probably should consider thinking about occasionally attending a few classes?

With TE visa you don't need to go to immigration every 3 months.

The upfront cost of TE visa is similar to buying a long term gym membership. They know many people won't use the full membership.

[khunerik]

It 's easy to live or retire in Thailand.

Let's say you have a house in USA. Worth 300k $, sell it and place it on stock with a return of 6 percent, you make 18k a year.

Live cheap, and don't touch the rest, it s called compound interest. Jeez! Now you know my deepest secret!

Need a visa? Get a tourist visa show your interest to thai embassy, and ask for 2 entries. Once in thailand, go Lao and ask for another 2 entries,... You got now 4 entries, repeat the process for 2 to 3 years, the time you have done that, compound interest is working for you. My god, you just reached over 1 million dollars at 50 with a tourist visa only.... Time to retire.!

Why would anyone with 300k $ to 1 million $ do visa runs every second month for the rest of his life? When he can afford visas that let him stay in the country........

[Spoonman]

It 's easy to live or retire in Thailand.

Let's say you have a house in USA. Worth 300k $, sell it and place it on stock with a return of 6 percent, you make 18k a year.

Live cheap, and don't touch the rest, it s called compound interest. Jeez! Now you know my deepest secret!

Need a visa? Get a tourist visa show your interest to thai embassy, and ask for 2 entries. Once in thailand, go Lao and ask for another 2 entries,... You got now 4 entries, repeat the process for 2 to 3 years, the time you have done that, compound interest is working for you. My god, you just reached over 1 million dollars at 50 with a tourist visa only.... Time to retire.!

How does the compound interest thing work when you are spending that 18k (6 percent) to live on ?

[brianp0803]

Good point.

Your investment would not be compounding nor reducing if you could live off interest.

This year the US Market not good to me and up and down a lot but still up 7% for year.

Stock market not dependable over short term but great over long term.

$1,000,000 6% interest plus social security plus pension. I could live comfortably on that. (But my lifestyle is modest)

Good goal.

[arthurwait]

The OP seems to be confusing the army and law makers with border officers.