A first for Thailand: Buying property with a 20-year visa

[gerry1011]

Very clever promotion to attract the attention to their property project.

To attract attention in a new project, developers offer discounts, guarantied % return, free iphones, free cars, plane tickets... It is a competitive market indeed.

In this case, by offering a Thailand Elite membership, the developer aims at those foreigners who don't feel comfortable to buy a condo because of visa concerns.

Instead of giving a discount, the developer buys a 20 year Thailand Elite membership to his client. Good idea.

The offer most probably does not come with the cheap units.

By the way, I am a Thailand Elite member since 12 years.

It is just great !!!

[Anthony5]

Very clever promotion to attract the attention to their property project.

To attract attention in a new project, developers offer discounts, guarantied % return, free iphones, free cars, plane tickets... It is a competitive market indeed.

In this case, by offering a Thailand Elite membership, the developer aims at those foreigners who don't feel comfortable to buy a condo because of visa concerns.

Instead of giving a discount, the developer buys a 20 year Thailand Elite membership to his client. Good idea.

The offer most probably does not come with the cheap units.

By the way, I am a Thailand Elite member since 12 years.

It is just great !!!

Ufun is was also great.

[specialist]

what was UFUN?

[specialist]

Very clever promotion to attract the attention to their property project.

To attract attention in a new project, developers offer discounts, guarantied % return, free iphones, free cars, plane tickets... It is a competitive market indeed.

In this case, by offering a Thailand Elite membership, the developer aims at those foreigners who don't feel comfortable to buy a condo because of visa concerns.

Instead of giving a discount, the developer buys a 20 year Thailand Elite membership to his client. Good idea.

The offer most probably does not come with the cheap units.

By the way, I am a Thailand Elite member since 12 years.

It is just great !!!

what did it cost you in total?

[micmichd]

what was UFUN?

something like EU.

[gerry1011]

Very clever promotion to attract the attention to their property project.

To attract attention in a new project, developers offer discounts, guarantied % return, free iphones, free cars, plane tickets... It is a competitive market indeed.

In this case, by offering a Thailand Elite membership, the developer aims at those foreigners who don't feel comfortable to buy a condo because of visa concerns.

Instead of giving a discount, the developer buys a 20 year Thailand Elite membership to his client. Good idea.

The offer most probably does not come with the cheap units.

By the way, I am a Thailand Elite member since 12 years.

It is just great !!!

what did it cost you in total?

The Thailand Elite card?

1 million baht.

That was the original membership fee 12 years ago.

I did not buy a condo at the property we are talking about. I have never been to Pattaya.

Just wanted to say that it is a promotion from the developer that is as good as any other promotion...

... and that the Thailand Elite program is a very good program

Most on here who criticize Thailand Elite just cannot buy themselves such a membership... without even speaking about an expensive condo.

Edited June 12, 2015 by gerry1011

[gerry1011]

By the way, just to broaden your perspective about the Thailand Elite card...

A friend of mine bought a sizable yacht.

He has a foreign captain on the yacht.

To be sure that the captain has no problem when the yacht is in Thailand often, or for longer periods... the company that sold him the yacht bought a Thailand Elite card for the captain.

It is a rather big boat, of course, and registered abroad.

So, I think it is very nice from the condo developer to buy such a membership for the customers buying an expensive unit.

Very nice gift

Edited June 12, 2015 by gerry1011

[JOC]

Very clever promotion to attract the attention to their property project.

To attract attention in a new project, developers offer discounts, guarantied % return, free iphones, free cars, plane tickets... It is a competitive market indeed.

In this case, by offering a Thailand Elite membership, the developer aims at those foreigners who don't feel comfortable to buy a condo because of visa concerns.

Instead of giving a discount, the developer buys a 20 year Thailand Elite membership to his client. Good idea.

The offer most probably does not come with the cheap units.

By the way, I am a Thailand Elite member since 12 years.

It is just great !!!

what did it cost you in total?

The Thailand Elite card?

1 million baht.

That was the original membership fee 12 years ago.

I did not buy a condo at the property we are talking about. I have never been to Pattaya.

Just wanted to say that it is a promotion from the developer that is as good as any other promotion...

... and that the Thailand Elite program is a very good program

Most on here who criticize Thailand Elite just cannot buy themselves such a membership... without even speaking about an expensive condo.

Your bragging about your wealth is almost comical!!

Just proves that money can't buy class...............

And before you get started, been a member as long as you (a complete waste of money)!!

Edited June 12, 2015 by JOC

[specialist]

Very clever promotion to attract the attention to their property project.

To attract attention in a new project, developers offer discounts, guarantied % return, free iphones, free cars, plane tickets... It is a competitive market indeed.

In this case, by offering a Thailand Elite membership, the developer aims at those foreigners who don't feel comfortable to buy a condo because of visa concerns.

Instead of giving a discount, the developer buys a 20 year Thailand Elite membership to his client. Good idea.

The offer most probably does not come with the cheap units.

By the way, I am a Thailand Elite member since 12 years.

It is just great !!!

what did it cost you in total?

The Thailand Elite card?

1 million baht.

That was the original membership fee 12 years ago.

I did not buy a condo at the property we are talking about. I have never been to Pattaya.

Just wanted to say that it is a promotion from the developer that is as good as any other promotion...

... and that the Thailand Elite program is a very good program

Most on here who criticize Thailand Elite just cannot buy themselves such a membership... without even speaking about an expensive condo.

Your bragging about your wealth is almost comical!!

Just proves that money can't buy class...............

And before you get started, been a member as long as you (a complete wast of money)!!

doing a bit of trolling I see!

[gerry1011]

Very clever promotion to attract the attention to their property project.

To attract attention in a new project, developers offer discounts, guarantied % return, free iphones, free cars, plane tickets... It is a competitive market indeed.

In this case, by offering a Thailand Elite membership, the developer aims at those foreigners who don't feel comfortable to buy a condo because of visa concerns.

Instead of giving a discount, the developer buys a 20 year Thailand Elite membership to his client. Good idea.

The offer most probably does not come with the cheap units.

By the way, I am a Thailand Elite member since 12 years.

It is just great !!!

what did it cost you in total?

The Thailand Elite card?

1 million baht.

That was the original membership fee 12 years ago.

I did not buy a condo at the property we are talking about. I have never been to Pattaya.

Just wanted to say that it is a promotion from the developer that is as good as any other promotion...

... and that the Thailand Elite program is a very good program

Most on here who criticize Thailand Elite just cannot buy themselves such a membership... without even speaking about an expensive condo.

Your bragging about your wealth is almost comical!!

Just proves that money can't buy class...............

And before you get started, been a member as long as you (a complete wast of money)!!

My wealth?

Who said that that particular yacht was mine?

Anyway, the funny thing is that you already wrote that some month ago

Same words. I am surprised you come back with the exact same phrase

To come back to the subject, I don't think that any Thailand Elite member on this forum has ever said anything negative about the program.

Great program and interesting offer from the developer...

[JOC]

Gerry 1011 wrote:

>>To come back to the subject, I don't think that any Thailand Elite member on this forum has ever said anything negative about the program.
Great program and interesting offer from the developer... <<

In the post you replied to, this Elite Card member wrote: A complete waste of money............

Just a little negative ?? Or ??

[micmichd]

Good to see TE members got rid of their cognitive dissonance. I would also defend my decision as being one of a genius.

Personally I would prefer to travel and get a new visa every year.

One mistake I would not make: leave my money in a European bank where it gets less and less in THB. I consider the Euro the biggest scam of all scams.

Good if investors' money goes to Thailand, a country with a stable currency.

Edited June 12, 2015 by micmichd

[micmichd]

Gerry 1011 wrote:

>>To come back to the subject, I don't think that any Thailand Elite member on this forum has ever said anything negative about the program.

Great program and interesting offer from the developer... <<

In the post you replied to, this Elite Card member wrote: A complete waste of money............

Just a little negative ?? Or ??

If you leave 800 kb in a Thai bank and get a new visa (or extension of stay) every year, you could save lots of THB. Up to everyone if he prefers to get around the lazy way.

[JOC]

Gerry 1011 wrote:

>>To come back to the subject, I don't think that any Thailand Elite member on this forum has ever said anything negative about the program.

Great program and interesting offer from the developer... <<

In the post you replied to, this Elite Card member wrote: A complete waste of money............

Just a little negative ?? Or ??

If you leave 800 kb in a Thai bank and get a new visa (or extension of stay) every year, you could save lots of THB. Up to everyone if he prefers to get around the lazy way.

All too aware of that!!

But this sucker bought one of the very first cards, where you according to Thailand Elite was able to buy 10 rai of land in your own name.

2 months after paying 1 million baht into an account in Singapore (probably Mr T's private account) the goalposts were moved, so the right to buy land "disappeared" .

All the other privileges connected with the card were more or less useless to me, so it was a waste of money!!

Lesson learned: Never trust Thai officialdom........................

[gerry1011]

Gerry 1011 wrote:

>>To come back to the subject, I don't think that any Thailand Elite member on this forum has ever said anything negative about the program.

Great program and interesting offer from the developer... <<

In the post you replied to, this Elite Card member wrote: A complete waste of money............

Just a little negative ?? Or ??

If you leave 800 kb in a Thai bank and get a new visa (or extension of stay) every year, you could save lots of THB. Up to everyone if he prefers to get around the lazy way.

All too aware of that!!

But this sucker bought one of the very first cards, where you according to Thailand Elite was able to buy 10 rai of land in your own name.

2 months after paying 1 million baht into an account in Singapore (probably Mr T's private account) the goalposts were moved, so the right to buy land "disappeared" .

All the other privileges connected with the card were more or less useless to me, so it was a waste of money!!

Lesson learned: Never trust Thai officialdom........................

With the kind of language you use, I am surprised you mentioned the word "class"

There has never been the possibility to buy 10 rai of land in your own name with the Elite card. There was a mention about the possibility of owning 1... 13 years ago. But indeed it did not materialize.

At the same time, who would be interested by only one rai...

No member has ever paid the membership fee on an account in Singapore.

It seems that you don't know what you talk about.

But... To come back to the subject of this thread, I think it is a great promotion.

You buy a condo (an expensive one), and you receive a Thailand Elite card for free, with 20 years of PE visa, with one year stamp each time you enter the country.

Even if you qualify for another type of visa, ... If the card is offered, it can only be seen as a very nice gift

[Beetlejuice]

Very clever promotion to attract the attention to their property project.

To attract attention in a new project, developers offer discounts, guarantied % return, free iphones, free cars, plane tickets... It is a competitive market indeed.

In this case, by offering a Thailand Elite membership, the developer aims at those foreigners who don't feel comfortable to buy a condo because of visa concerns.

Instead of giving a discount, the developer buys a 20 year Thailand Elite membership to his client. Good idea.

The offer most probably does not come with the cheap units.

By the way, I am a Thailand Elite member since 12 years.

It is just great !!!

So you`re the one that bought the Thailand Elite card. I was wondering who it was.

[VIPinthailand]

better than the elite card is the tourist visa.

20'000 bahts a year.

4 visa run/year

until you are 50.

now 8 years in Thailand and I have saved enough to buy me several condo and have a nice retirement.

Edited June 12, 2015 by VIPinthailand

[flyingdoc]

Someone has to pay for it ! Guess who ?!!

[gerry1011]

Very clever promotion to attract the attention to their property project.

To attract attention in a new project, developers offer discounts, guarantied % return, free iphones, free cars, plane tickets... It is a competitive market indeed.

In this case, by offering a Thailand Elite membership, the developer aims at those foreigners who don't feel comfortable to buy a condo because of visa concerns.

Instead of giving a discount, the developer buys a 20 year Thailand Elite membership to his client. Good idea.

The offer most probably does not come with the cheap units.

By the way, I am a Thailand Elite member since 12 years.

It is just great !!!

So you`re the one that bought the Thailand Elite card. I was wondering who it was.

Sure I bought one.

And what a great deal.

12 years of comfortable stay with long term 5 years visas, and a few other perks on top of that, ... I can tell you that it is worth it. Especially a that price.

And imagine you receive the card for free when buying a condo, it's even better

[JB300]

Gerry 1011 wrote:

>>To come back to the subject, I don't think that any Thailand Elite member on this forum has ever said anything negative about the program.

Great program and interesting offer from the developer... <<

In the post you replied to, this Elite Card member wrote: A complete waste of money............

Just a little negative ?? Or ??

If you leave 800 kb in a Thai bank and get a new visa (or extension of stay) every year, you could save lots of THB. Up to everyone if he prefers to get around the lazy way.

Really? Can you come with me to immigration & tell them that only last time I tried they had this irksome little requirement about being over 50 or something but I'm sure that you can put them straight on this minor little detail. Edited June 12, 2015 by JB300

[Bellacissa]

So, this is just for the well connected Very Rich Bastards ,,,,,, That leaves us normal people High & Dry,Thank you for the News,,,,,,

if I recall looking at the price list on these places, not sure if this include the mark up for the TE or not, the average prices run around 3 -5 million, so hardly very rich bastards buying the places... - as springing 3-5 million on place is hardly very rich bastard territory, not even rich bastard, or even bastard territory, so struggling to understand what you mean by "normal people" ?

But the 2013 price may be a bit different from the 2015 price

There was a member who was gonna email them, anything heard yet?

I'm not sure if my husband got around to emailing them yesterday. I'll check with him this afternoon.

[tingtongfarang]

Very clever promotion to attract the attention to their property project.

To attract attention in a new project, developers offer discounts, guarantied % return, free iphones, free cars, plane tickets... It is a competitive market indeed.

In this case, by offering a Thailand Elite membership, the developer aims at those foreigners who don't feel comfortable to buy a condo because of visa concerns.

Instead of giving a discount, the developer buys a 20 year Thailand Elite membership to his client. Good idea.

The offer most probably does not come with the cheap units.

By the way, I am a Thailand Elite member since 12 years.

It is just great !!!

So you`re the one that bought the Thailand Elite card. I was wondering who it was.

Sure I bought one.

And what a great deal.

12 years of comfortable stay with long term 5 years visas, and a few other perks on top of that, ... I can tell you that it is worth it. Especially a that price.

And imagine you receive the card for free when buying a condo, it's even better

So you think the TE card would be free? Ah well, easy to imagine how you got suckered into the TE card.

[gerry1011]

So, this is just for the well connected Very Rich Bastards ,,,,,, That leaves us normal people High & Dry,Thank you for the News,,,,,,

if I recall looking at the price list on these places, not sure if this include the mark up for the TE or not, the average prices run around 3 -5 million, so hardly very rich bastards buying the places... - as springing 3-5 million on place is hardly very rich bastard territory, not even rich bastard, or even bastard territory, so struggling to understand what you mean by "normal people" ?

But the 2013 price may be a bit different from the 2015 price

There was a member who was gonna email them, anything heard yet?

I'm not sure if my husband got around to emailing them yesterday. I'll check with him this afternoon.

Just by curiosity I went to look at the Southpoint Pattaya website. It is a Kingdom Property development. They indeed advertise a "Secure your 20 year visa" promotion.

Units start at 30 square meters (that must feel really small).

The price starts from 65,000 baht a square meter.

That makes 1,950,000 for a small studio, and is very cheap indeed.

Of course, this is for the smallest of the small units, with view on the parking lot, or maybe no view at all.

The price goes up to 100,000 per square meter, and there are naturally bigger and more interesting units.

Still very cheap though...

They certainly will not offer the Thailand Elite membership for the cheapest units.

There is the "Terms and conditions apply" mention.

But if they offer a Thailand Elite card with the purchase of a, for example, three bedroom unit with the best view, ... it is still a nice gift.

In any case, I think that this offer is a great advertisement for their project.

"Buy our condos and get a 20 year visa" is very catchy. It attracts the attention of all foreigners who want to stay long term. Even the ones who cannot afford the Thailand Elite card, and the ones who cannot afford a larger condo and go for the cheapest units.

It is just about advertisement. Very clever.

For those who reaaaaaaally prefer to queue at immigration for their ED, retirement, or tourist extensions, ... they also have a "Free Furniture" promotion. Not bad either (in a way).

But Personally, I would advise anyone to take the Kingdom Property/Thailand Elite promotion, far better than the free furniture

Edited June 13, 2015 by gerry1011

[bigt3116]

well, i have read all of the current posts, what has me a bit concerned is that all of you are very negative on this scheme. Have anyone of you actually checked out what the real story is?

With all due respect, these experienced Thai expats know what the story is because there is no 20 year visa available to expats. That would require a sea-change in Thai visa policy which would have been all over the news and the grapevine.

What there is that you can get without buying a condo is an elite visa good for five years and renewable. It costs 500,000 baht for each five years at purchase and at each renewal. 20 years would cost you 2 million baht or about 60,000 USD. That's IF Thailand continues to offer it and at the same price each time.

There is no such thing as a free lunch meaning this thing can't be free. It's either included in an inflated price for the condo or they simply help you buy it, which help you don't need.

If you want a "20 year visa for Thailand" rock up and pay 500,000 baht (15,000 USD) for the first five years for an elite visa and then keep renewing it. Then buy the condo of your choice or better yet IMHO rent.

Cheers

Yes there is ; http://www.thailandelite.com/glimpse.php

[micmichd]

Gerry 1011 wrote:

>>To come back to the subject, I don't think that any Thailand Elite member on this forum has ever said anything negative about the program.

Great program and interesting offer from the developer... <<

In the post you replied to, this Elite Card member wrote: A complete waste of money............

Just a little negative ?? Or ??

If you leave 800 kb in a Thai bank and get a new visa (or extension of stay) every year, you could save lots of THB. Up to everyone if he prefers to get around the lazy way.

Really? Can you come with me to immigration & tell them that only last time I tried they had this irksome little requirement about being over 50 or something but I'm sure that you can put them straight on this minor little detail.

Sorry, I forgot. Yes, you have to be over 50 to qualify for an O-visa.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

In any case, I think that this offer is a great advertisement for their project.

"Buy our condos and get a 20 year visa" is very catchy. It attracts the attention of all foreigners who want to stay long term. Even the ones who cannot afford the Thailand Elite card, and the ones who cannot afford a larger condo and go for the cheapest units.

It is just about advertisement. Very clever.

Except, it's NOT a 20-year visa, despite whatever the developer is saying on their website or other PR activities.

It's a series of 5-year TE visas that can be renewed up to 4 times for a total of 20 years -- if the TE program survives that long.

Even the OP article clarifies that by saying: "five-year multiple-entry visa that is renewable every four years."

Also, you can pretty much bet that the developer is NOT including the visa benefit in his condo sales "for free". Almost certainly, the cost of their participation in the TE program is being passed along via higher purchase prices for the units, or at least, whatever units include the TE visa package.

Edited June 13, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Praematura]

They should liberalize their visa program already. I've friends with multiple properties here having their tourist visas rejected here so they have to go for ED visas. I've a friend on a spouse visa and it took a ridiculous amount of paperwork, time and a person to come vouch for them, but when said witness ID card was expired they had to come back with someone else.

I'm on a multi entry spouse visa but because I paid 3x the amount of a single entry I must by Thai law leave the country every 90 days no exceptions, even though I paid MORE than a single entry (who don't have to leave the country.)

[Soutpeel]

Good to see TE members got rid of their cognitive dissonance. I would also defend my decision as being one of a genius.

Personally I would prefer to travel and get a new visa every year.

One mistake I would not make: leave my money in a European bank where it gets less and less in THB. I consider the Euro the biggest scam of all scams.

Good if investors' money goes to Thailand, a country with a stable currency.

Personally I would prefer to travel and get a new visa every year.

no you wouldn't...got to love the rationalisation some people have...

[Soutpeel]

They should liberalize their visa program already. I've friends with multiple properties here having their tourist visas rejected here so they have to go for ED visas. I've a friend on a spouse visa and it took a ridiculous amount of paperwork, time and a person to come vouch for them, but when said witness ID card was expired they had to come back with someone else.

I'm on a multi entry spouse visa but because I paid 3x the amount of a single entry I must by Thai law leave the country every 90 days no exceptions, even though I paid MORE than a single entry (who don't have to leave the country.)

What ever your smoking I want some

Thailand has some of the easiest and most liberal visa rules on the planet, and that's a fact

lets put it this way, if Thailand brought their visa's on par with most countries in farangistan, most of the people complaining about Thailands "restrictive" visa rules, would have a problem, simply because they wouldn't qualify to stay long term in Thailand anyway

and if your on a spouse visa, you don't have to leave the country every 90 days if you qualify for the extension, so stop citing Thai law, as quite obvious you don't understand what your quoting or the rules/laws

[micmichd]

Hmm, you're right.

It makes a difference whether I'm free to travel or forced to travel.

It's a permit to stay in Thailand I'm after, not so much a visa. Maybe someone understands the difference here one day