Thailand Elite Long Stay Visa Membership Privileges

[JayBird]

Oh, btw, if they ever say they can not do it, it does *not* mean they cannot do it. One thing I learned here is:

No have = I don't know if we have it or not.

Can not = I don't know if we can do it or not.

So if they say they can not do it, it may simply mean they don't know how to do it or are not aware they can do it (lack of training perhaps). So next best option is to find an account manager who is adequately trained to be able to help you. As mentioned above, the ones that are in the main expat/touristy areas probably have more experience. Likewise, maybe going to headquarters or setting up an appointment ahead of time will yield better luck?

[anotheruser]

I have no idea regarding a credit card as I never asked for one. The last time (Before yesterday) I opened an account was 3 years ago and just a passport was asked for and 500 bt to open the account and a further 200 bt if you required an ATM card. Nothing else apart from a home or hotel address was needed.

I wonder if now the banks here have started to apply the Western culture where it is becoming virtually impossible to open an account without some evidence to back up who you really are (Credit checks, electoral role etc) because of money laundering? It is even becoming harder now to do electronic transfers from the UK without firm evidence of where the money is actually going.

Yesterday,Kasikorn had me filling in a form to do with Income Tax should I of been a US citizen. As a non US citizen, you just tick 'NO' to each answer then sign and date the form. There was nothing else on the form other than something the USA now requires.

I have to say that it did surprise me yesterday that they was adamant that a WP was needed. I certainly wouldn't be to confident that an METV would of been accepted at that particular branch anyway.

As I said, you could walk around and I suppose and eventually find somewhere that will help you but it does seem much more difficult to open an account than it once was.

Oh yes, good point: I'm not American, and that could hinder you. I know some banks do *not* want to deal with any americans due to American rules & regs (taxes and reporting). So if your G7 ex-USA, you might be okey

Which brings me to another reason I like the PE visa. As an American even if I were eligible for a retirement visa I need to show so much in an account which would make me have to file a FBAR. Anything more than $10,000 in an account and the IRS comes sniffing.

There is also a difference if they say "will not do it" as opposed "to can not do it". They were adamant at both banks I tried. It seems like it is just hit and miss these days. It also seems like BKK banks are less likely than others. Anyway from what I have been reading is it is not getting easier to open accounts these days.

Edited July 26, 2016 by anotheruser

[Ronuk]

Right on time I got a text yesterday from Kasikorn Bank with a password for Internet banking. It was a bit awkward to set it up due to all the instructions being written on the welcome pack in Thai (I only noticed that bit yesterday) for security you need to change everything at least twice. It's pretty impressive once you have set it up though.

Just make sure you have pen and paper to hand to write down the changed passwords and if it is your user name or password lol

You will need your mobile phone at hand because everytime you need to change something, they text a code to input for security reasons.

[ubonjoe]

I think it is time to end the bank account discussion. The first couple of posts were OK but now there are almost two pages of them.

After spending a lot of time removing over 200 posts when I did the clean up I am not looking forward to doing it again.

[Ronuk]

Back to the Thai Elite Visa.

I had an interesting conversation last week with the people at Thai Elite. They are in the process of negotiations with the Government and immigration of being able to operate from Don Muang airport.They say it can take a while but hope to be up and running in the next 12 months.

That would be good as myself and others often use Air Asia flying out of Don Muang for International short haul to KL etc.

[anotheruser]

Just got the latest Elite newsletter. they have a small blurb about new 90 day reporting requirements. While this is not exclusive to the TE program thought I would paste what they said just so people see it.

Elite Notice
The 90-day reporting and the extension of stay in Thailand

If you are a regular of our newsletter you may recall that a few months ago I wrote about a very necessary regulation that all visitors are required to carry out, and that is the 90-day report. Very recently the Immigration Department has released a notice in regards to an additional form that is required to be filled up when completing the 90-day reporting and the extension of stay in Thailand with details as follow:

“This form shall be used for the recording of information of every alien entering and staying in the Kingdom of Thailand and shall be submitted with the notification of residences for aliens (section 37, 38 of Immigration Act, BE, 2522), or 90-days notification, or Extension of Stays (all purposes), or Re-entry Permits, or in all cases involving alien labor.”

Section 1 is for the recording officer to fill in his own details.
Section 2 is for the information about the “alien”
1. Full name, date of birth, passport number, and names of both father and mother
2. Full address and telephone numbers in home country
3. Full address and telephone numbers of your home and work in Thailand
4. Social media and email (this is optional)
5. Car make, model, colour and license plate
6. Frequently visited places or premises such as clubs, restaurants, shops, hospital etc
7. Emergency contact details for one Thai and one foreign national
8. Bank account details such as bank, branch, account name and account number.
This is only required for certain types of visa applications

Download this form : Click here!

[DUS]

Thanks to khunerik´s find and thread, I would like to add the new "fact sheet" to this thread as well, as some people might only visit the "sticky thread" especially once khuneric´s thread slips down the pages on TV.

Some interesting new options, ...

Edited July 30, 2016 by DUS

[anotheruser]

Nice improvements. One thing of note is they are not offering shorter than 5 years and I don't think they should or ever will. Doesn't change the package I have but it is interesting I could add a partner for 300,000 more. Nice step forward for Thai Elite. So for all the people wanting no fringe options here they are. I am pretty much certain they will never offer anything under 500,000 based upon these adjustments. 

[DUS]

I quite like the new 800k for 10 years offer. I mean, as I pointed out before, the way I´d go around re-newing visas every 2-3 months (as I am under 50 yrs) I would spend at least somewhere around 50-60k p.a. anyway. So the price difference to the 80k/year membership now on offer becomes really, really small.

Edited August 1, 2016 by DUS

[anotheruser]

If you need ten years it is a good deal.

[anotheruser]

I will be curious if current members will be able to upgrade and if so is there a time frame to do so? I don't need 10 years as I am not that confident in staying in Thailand that long. However for those that want to change their minds if they gave say a 90 day grace period to do so that would be pretty sweet. 

[JayBird]

The difference between the Elite Superiority Extension and the Thailand Elite Access:
Pay 2x the amount (1M) and get 4x the validity (20 years)

The only benefits you loose:
24 short haul transfers / year

Am I missing something? Seems too good to be true.

 

The difference between Elite Superiority Extension and Elite Privilege Access:
Pay the same amount and get 2x the validity (20 years)

The only benefits you loose:
18 short haul transfers/year
1 annual health check/year

It seems the difference between Elite Privilege Access and Elite Superiority Extension is:
You can choose: 10 years extra *OR* Short Haul & Annual Health Check

Am I missing something here?  Not sure why one would opt for Elite Privilege Access over Elite Superiority Extension

Maths time:
20 years at 1M.  Let's presume it's 20 years of visa and you can't time it perfectly to get the 21st.
This comes to 50,000 THB/year

None of my previous numbers on doing SETV Vacations (comfortable week long trips, not economical van runs overnight) can beat that 50k/year. 

Therefore it's safe to say that the 20 year at 1M is more economical than SETV runs unless you *really* *really* can economize
on SETV runs (maybe someone who lives near the border and can walk back/forth might do it for less).

So this gets my personal thumbs up.

Granted 1M may be a sizeable chunk of coin to pay up at one time but when it's paired with a 20 year you can basically pay and not
worry about visas until your senile

 

 

[JayBird]

For those interested, calculating fees only, and excluding any associated costs for 'peace of mind' or 'ease' on Elite Superiority Access:

4x SETV + 30 Day Extension (12 months)
Estimated fee for SETV: 1500 THB
Estimated fee for extension: 2700
Total: 4200
Per year: 16,800

Membership Fee (annualized) : 50,000
Excess Amount: 50,000 - 16,800 = 33,200 / year

33k/year for:
Fast track through immigration
90-day reporting on your behalf
Concierge assistance

I would say they are still generating profit on this, but not a huge margin.  The amount in excess of raw cost of
services obtained is very small.  Therefore, there is not much in the way of profit taking care.

So from that perspective, I would say it's a fair deal (price wise).

The up-front of 1M serves as a fast cash-injection into the program.  If 1,000 people say: Woooah, yes!, that's, that's a
sudden 1Bn injected.  Which is a good way for them to generate revenue with very little concern for outlay.

 

It's really hard to argue against the Elite Superiority Access.  Yes, the argument of 1Mn upfront is a valid argument, but to be fair it's good value for money.

I doubt they will consider smaller durations or smaller amounts, I really think they want the big fast cash injections.

 

[anotheruser]

I don't think they have the margins after paying everybody else to offer a deal for less money. That is why I think you will not see a deal less than 5 years. They can't pay immigration in installments. 

[JayBird]

I agree.  Plus doing it on a yearly basis kinda steps on the toes of 1-year visas (or even METV).  You'd have to really price it the same, and that would be hard to profit off of.  They are entitled to make *some* money after all.

 

 

 

 

[Ronuk]

As far as I am aware, you cannot squeeze the extra year from any of these programmes. You cease to be a member on the date your visa runs out and you will only receive a stamp until that expiry date. That was how it was explained. If you entered say 2 weeks before the visa expires, you will only receive 2 weeks entry stamp...apparently.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, Ronuk said:

As far as I am aware, you cannot squeeze the extra year from any of these programmes. You cease to be a member on the date your visa runs out and you will only receive a stamp until that expiry date. That was how it was explained. If you entered say 2 weeks before the visa expires, you will only receive 2 weeks entry stamp...apparently.

The membership and visa are two separate things. Your membership can end but you could still have a valid entry you did just before the enter before date on the visa just like any other multiple entry visa. You will get a one year entry up to the date the visa expires and then you would need to get a re-entry permit to keep that entry valid when you travel.

[Ronuk]

7 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The membership and visa are two separate things. Your membership can end but you could still have a valid entry you did just before the enter before date on the visa just like any other multiple entry visa. You will get a one year entry up to the date the visa expires and then you would need to get a re-entry permit to keep that entry valid when you travel.

I understand exactly what you are saying. In the case of this programme, I am not so certain it is correct. Do you know of anyone who has actually done it?

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, Ronuk said:

I understand exactly what you are saying. In the case of this programme, I am not so certain it is correct. Do you know of anyone who has actually done it?

I don't think anybody that has the PE visa has gotten to the 5 year point yet. The visa before it that some people still have only gave 90 day entries.

The PE visa will be treated like any other multiple entry visa. I can vaguely recall a post stating that TE had confirmed that.

[Ronuk]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't think anybody that has the PE visa has gotten to the 5 year point yet. The visa before it that some people still have only gave 90 day entries.

The PE visa will be treated like any other multiple entry visa. I can vaguely recall a post stating that TE had confirmed that.

Thanks for your reply Joe. It will be interesting to see what happens if at the end of someone's membership they decide not to renew and try for the extra year.

Off topic but at the moment it's hard to post a reply on here using Android. You try to reply and get a box to attach files but nowhere to type 99% of the time. Hopefully it will all come good again.

[ubonjoe]

Unpinned  this topic to make room for this new one, 

Thailand Privilege Card is pleased to announce the release of four new membership programs

[DUS]

I hope this thread will continue to receive relevant posts in the future because it contains the most concise information on TE so far. I also hope that the 4 new levels and its pros & cons (if any) will be discussed in this thread rather than the new one. Well, just imho. :-)))

[returnofthailand]

10 years elite visa is still more expensive than taking a flight, go embassy and back.
soon there will flights from Bangkok to Vientiane for less 1000 baht , stay one night in Lao, have a few beers, have fun and back.

I just saved 800k baths plus compound interest

[JB300]

How does the expediated immigration work?

Do you have to inform TE so they can have somebody meet your flight or can you just join a "Special" queue?

[anotheruser]

You tell them you are coming and they meet your flight with a golf cart and take you through.

[ubonjoe]

Just now, JB300 said:

How does the expediated immigration work?

Do you have to inform TE so they can have somebody meet your flight or can you just join a "Special" queue?

Send an email with your arrival details and they will meet you at the gate wit a cart and escort you until you get in your limo.

Or call them with the info.

[Ronuk]

6 minutes ago, JB300 said:

How does the expediated immigration work?

Do you have to inform TE so they can have somebody meet your flight or can you just join a "Special" queue?

There is no queue. There is a dedicated lane for TE members next door to the Immigration office. As Joe said, you are escorted throughout the whole procedure from the gate right through until you get in the Limo. Nobody bothers you and wants to know anything. They even collect your Luggage while you have a cool drink supplied by TE.

[lkn]

On 8/7/2016 at 11:15 AM, ubonjoe said:

Send an email with your arrival details and they will meet you at the gate wit a cart and escort you until you get in your limo.

Or call them with the info.

 

So if you do not call in advance, you cannot go through fast track?

 

I ask because I don’t want to be driven around in a golf cart, but I read another poster had problems getting fast track immigration and it took a TE staffer 10 minutes to clear it up. Not sure if this person had announced his arrival in advance.

[Ronuk]

1 minute ago, lkn said:

 

So if you do not call in advance, you cannot go through fast track?

 

I ask because I don’t want to be driven around in a golf cart, but I read another poster had problems getting fast track immigration and it took a TE staffer 10 minutes to clear it up. Not sure if this person had announced his arrival in advance.

If you fly in Business class you will have a fast track pass anyway. You don't actually have a fast track pass issued to you by TE although you do have your membership card. I an not sure if that alone will get you through the Premium lane, I have never tried as I use the services of TE as that is what I paid for although invariably, I will have a Premium pass issued by the airline too.

[jonw8uk]

Question for current members:

 

does having the membership card and/or the PE visa stamp alone gain access to the fast track immigration both in and out?

 

or must you pre arrange the meet and greet and they then give you the fast track card?

 

Which airport lounge can you access? This just at suvarnaphumi?