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

[newatthis]

Thanks ubonjoe

 

[paz]

On 10/16/2016 at 3:38 PM, Ronuk said:

The PE visa is for 5 years. Nothing less.

You are confusing "visa duration" with "permission to stay". Even a TE visa hold would have to pay thb 1,900 every year. Of course, that's small money compared to the 30K USD pay initially. By the way do you have a TE visa?

[Ronuk]

2 hours ago, paz said:

You are confusing "visa duration" with "permission to stay". Even a TE visa hold would have to pay thb 1,900 every year. Of course, that's small money compared to the 30K USD pay initially. By the way do you have a TE visa?

I'm Confusing nothing. I have a PE visa stamped in my passport for 5 years. That's exactly what it is....A 5 year visa. No need to pay 1900bht if your not in the country more than 12 months. You get a 12 month stamp each and every time you enter the country. You can go in and out every day and get a new 12 month stamp.

[mania]

3 hours ago, Ronuk said:

..A 5 year visa. No need to pay 1900bht if your not in the country more than 12 months.

 

 

Paz is right....You need to pay 1900 baht per year

 

You are right you do not need to pay if you leave before 12 month cutoff

 

 

[gerry1011]

The attached picture was uploaded by another Thailand Elite member.

I believe that the very vast majority of members don't stay inside the country for a full year. But if they do, the PE visa is very useful.

- Each time the member enters the country he gets a 1 year stamp.

- Even with a 1 year stamp, the member must do the 90 day report, if he does not leave the country before to reach that 90 days' deadline (as everyone else). That report can be done by TE, on behalf of the member, in several cities, including Bangkok, Phuket, Chiangmai, etc...

- If the member does not leave the country for a full year, he will get an extension for another year, at the negligible cost of 1900b.

- So, in theory, a member could stay inside the country, without ever leaving, for up to 20 years (the full membership).

As said above, most of the members never reach the 365th day of the year inside the country, but, if I don't make a mistake, at least two members who posted on this forum did. So, there must certainly be more...

Isn't this PE visa wonderful?




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[MartinBKK]

The visa is great but in the last 2 days i have tried to open a joint bank account with my wife and as yet have been unable to. I have been told by numerous banks and branches i need a work permit, a retirement visa or a student visa. It seems the privilege entry visa is not a suitable visa for a bank account in Thailand.

 

From reading around I believe that Thailand Elite has some sort of arrangement with BKK Bank. I already have an account with BKK Bank though (and i am not sure if i would be able to open a joint account?) so i was keen to establish a relationship with a new bank.

[gk10002000]

14 hours ago, mania said:

 

 

Paz is right....You need to pay 1900 baht per year

 

You are right you do not need to pay if you leave before 12 month cutoff

 

 

Thank you for clarifying the difference between having to pay a bit if you never left the country for 12 months or paying nothing if you happen to have left the country then came back.  

[anotheruser]

38 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

Thank you for clarifying the difference between having to pay a bit if you never left the country for 12 months or paying nothing if you happen to have left the country then came back.  

 

If I did ever have to go in because I stayed more than a year I would probably bring a TE representative with me and pay the 2,000 Baht. I am pretty certain if you choose this option you will not wait in line at all. The TE rep won't want to sit around all day and to pay that amount to spend as little time as possible in the grim purgatory we all know as CW is priceless.

 

[elviajero]

3 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

If I did ever have to go in because I stayed more than a year I would probably bring a TE representative with me and pay the 2,000 Baht. I am pretty certain if you choose this option you will not wait in line at all. The TE rep won't want to sit around all day and to pay that amount to spend as little time as possible in the grim purgatory we all know as CW is priceless.

According to the person I spoke to at TE they do not go with you to immigration or do it for you. If you want an extension of stay you queue up like everyone else.

[anotheruser]

5 minutes ago, elviajero said:

According to the person I spoke to at TE they do not go with you to immigration or do it for you. If you want an extension of stay you queue up like everyone else.

 

They go with you initially and you can pay 2,000 Baht for a rep to go with you to any appointment including, setting up bank accounts, immigration, driving license office etc. Please do not comment if you have no idea what you are talking about. 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2016 by anotheruser

[jerojero]

The visa is great but in the last 2 days i have tried to open a joint bank account with my wife and as yet have been unable to. I have been told by numerous banks and branches i need a work permit, a retirement visa or a student visa. It seems the privilege entry visa is not a suitable visa for a bank account in Thailand.
 
From reading around I believe that Thailand Elite has some sort of arrangement with BKK Bank. I already have an account with BKK Bank though (and i am not sure if i would be able to open a joint account?) so i was keen to establish a relationship with a new bank.

Shop around different banks or other branches. Got a joint account, Bangkok Bank, before wife and I were married, while I was on one of my many 30-day Exempt visits.

[anotheruser]

1 hour ago, MartinBKK said:

The visa is great but in the last 2 days i have tried to open a joint bank account with my wife and as yet have been unable to. I have been told by numerous banks and branches i need a work permit, a retirement visa or a student visa. It seems the privilege entry visa is not a suitable visa for a bank account in Thailand.

 

From reading around I believe that Thailand Elite has some sort of arrangement with BKK Bank. I already have an account with BKK Bank though (and i am not sure if i would be able to open a joint account?) so i was keen to establish a relationship with a new bank.

 

This happened to me as well. Email TE and tell them you want a letter to set up a bank account. They are partners with Bangkok Bank and you just tell them what branch and what time you want to do it. This information I put earlier into this thread. I am not blaming you for not going through this entire thread but this is why I wish 90% of the nonsense in this thread would be deleted so posts such as mine detailing the process would become more prevalent.

 

I have never seen such a prominent sponsor of TV take so much abuse on the site they pay for. You may notice they are featured on the TV connect app these days. 

 

I think it would be a great idea to restructure this thread and cut out anything that isn't a matter of opinion or not factual. 

 

You certainly can open a Bank account at Bangkok Bank. If you are a member of TE you are much much much better off emailing them instead of coming here to ask questions. They are quick to reply and their responses are based on facts.

 

Ask them to email you the form to give to the bank and you will be out of the bank in a matter of minutes. Not sure if this is standard but when I presented my form they filled in every document for me. I only had to sign and give things like social security number because they didn't have that info. Everything else is handled for you.

 

You will have a time for your appointment with the bank so don't stand in line and take a number go to whoever you think is best and inform them you are expected. 

 

Edited to say in your letter you will have the name of the bank manager. Ask for whoever that happens to be.

Edited October 24, 2016 by anotheruser

[elviajero]

9 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

They go with you initially and you can pay 2,000 Baht for a rep to go with you to any appointment including, setting up bank accounts, immigration, driving license office etc. Please do not comment if you have no idea what you are talking about. 

Let me clarify. Unless you pay extra they will not go with you to immigration. If you do pay them they do not provide a queue jumping service. Unless you can provide evidence to the contrary it's better to keep your assumptions to yourself. Some of you guys are so emotionally invested in this scheme it's laughable.

[Robert24]

The visa is great but in the last 2 days i have tried to open a joint bank account with my wife and as yet have been unable to. I have been told by numerous banks and branches i need a work permit, a retirement visa or a student visa. It seems the privilege entry visa is not a suitable visa for a bank account in Thailand.
 
From reading around I believe that Thailand Elite has some sort of arrangement with BKK Bank. I already have an account with BKK Bank though (and i am not sure if i would be able to open a joint account?) so i was keen to establish a relationship with a new bank.

I have an account in my own name with Kasikorn bank and Bangkok bank. Maybe try Kasikorn instead.


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[anotheruser]

He can open an account easily. It has been explained and he will actually not wait in line to do it if he makes an appointment through TE.

[elviajero]

8 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

He can open an account easily. It has been explained and he will actually not wait in line to do it if he makes an appointment through TE.

 

As long as it's Bangkok Bank. I guess you didn't read his post !

On 10/24/2016 at 5:30 PM, MartinBKK said:

I already have an account with BKK Bank though (and i am not sure if i would be able to open a joint account?) so i was keen to establish a relationship with a new bank.

 

[anotheruser]

Just now, elviajero said:

 

As long as it's Bangkok Bank. I guess you didn't read his post !

 

Well done you managed to make a valid point for a change. 

[4evermaat]

I have a question for those who have PE visa and have stayed in Thailand for >1 year without leaving the country.  When you went for your 1 year extension of stay based on PE status, were you asked for anything beyond the 1900 baht for 'express processing'?  Or did they just give you the extension for the regular price without any additional hassles or paperwork?

 

 

On 10/25/2016 at 0:30 AM, anotheruser said:

 

They go with you initially and you can pay 2,000 Baht for a rep to go with you to any appointment including, setting up bank accounts, immigration, driving license office etc. Please do not comment if you have no idea what you are talking about. 

 

 

 

The liaison that you can use to accompany you, are any # of these liaisons included with the 500k price per year/per membership, or you pay 2k extra each time you use liaison?   Is that for the day (e.g. open up 3 accts at 3 different nearby banks on the same day, or open bank acct, then stop by immigration, etc), or are you paying 2k for each stop?

[Scott]

Off-topic post and replies removed.   

[Sojuncoke]

If they let you pay annually 30,000 baht or had 1 year plans I would be all up on it. 

[BritTim]

4 hours ago, Sojuncoke said:

If they let you pay annually 30,000 baht or had 1 year plans I would be all up on it. 

 

If they had one year plans, I would expect the cost to be more  then when paying for 5 or 20 years in advance. Your 30,000 baht idea is wishful thinking.

[mania]

On 11/5/2016 at 0:05 AM, Sojuncoke said:

If they let you pay annually 30,000 baht or had 1 year plans I would be all up on it. 

 

Just go hire a Visa agent for no more than 10,000 baht if married or 8000 if single retirement type visa

If you qualify for either of those its a done deal with 90's also done for you.

[lkn]

16 minutes ago, mania said:

Just go hire a Visa agent for no more than 10,000 baht if married or 8000 if single retirement type visa

If you qualify for either of those its a done deal with 90's also done for you.

 

The problem is with those not married to a Thai, not officially working in Thailand, and below 50.

 

For this group, the only alternative to the PE visa is a regular tourist visa which give you 60 days with ability to do a 30 day extension at immigration. Even the METV only gives you 60 days per entry.

 

So it’s either border runs and immigration visits, or a PE visa, no way to pay an agent to handle the inconvenience, but as you can see in this and other threads about the PE visa, some spice up the border run and make it a treat. If you’re on the fence on the PE visa and stay in Thailand only half the year, you should only need a single border run per year, so it’s not hard to justify spending 50,000 baht on this, given that the alternative is 100,000 baht/year (when prepaying for five years).

[anotheruser]

On 11/5/2016 at 0:05 AM, Sojuncoke said:

If they let you pay annually 30,000 baht or had 1 year plans I would be all up on it. 

 

You can always email them and suggest it. They are very responsive.

[Escape4]

Is the passport stamp as big as shown in post #305, and they stamp this every time you enter the country?  My passport fills up already quite quickly and I always need to get a new passport prematurely because it gets full.  If I enter Thailand every month will I get 12 of those big stamps per year?

 

Regarding banking issues, I currently have an account at Bangkok Bank as a regular tourist.  However I was told I could not have online banking.  Several types of transactions require me to be at the home office in BKK in person; if I am out of the country, or if I am in Thailand but not BKK, then I am out of luck.  Will TE remove some of these bank account restrictions?

 

 

[ubonjoe]

57 minutes ago, Escape4 said:

Is the passport stamp as big as shown in post #305, and they stamp this every time you enter the country?  My passport fills up already quite quickly and I always need to get a new passport prematurely because it gets full.  If I enter Thailand every month will I get 12 of those big stamps per year?

 

Regarding banking issues, I currently have an account at Bangkok Bank as a regular tourist.  However I was told I could not have online banking.  Several types of transactions require me to be at the home office in BKK in person; if I am out of the country, or if I am in Thailand but not BKK, then I am out of luck.  Will TE remove some of these bank account restrictions?

 

 

You will get a PE visa that is valid for unlimited one entries for five years that is full page sticker. Then you only get the standard small entry stamp every time you enter the country.

Thai Elite can assist with any banking issues if you contact them about it. They can issue a letter addressed to the branch you are dealing with. Info is here . http://www.thailandelite.com/privilege_list.php?t=9&name=Banking

[lkn]

1 hour ago, Escape4 said:

Regarding banking issues, I currently have an account at Bangkok Bank as a regular tourist.  However I was told I could not have online banking […]

 

That is not true, see this page for how to apply when your visa status is “tourist”: http://www.bangkokbank.com/OnlineBanking/PersonalBanking/iBanking/BualuangiBanking/HowtoApply/Pages/Default.aspx

 

[Mover1]

Can anyone give me a recent timescale for the application process please? I'm about to apply but everyone keeps telling me to wait until after first December, which only leaves me 2 weeks until current visa expires


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[ubonjoe]

8 minutes ago, Mover1 said:

Can anyone give me a recent timescale for the application process please? I'm about to apply but everyone keeps telling me to wait until after first December, which only leaves me 2 weeks until current visa expires

Not sure who is telling you to wait until after December 1st or why.

What kind of entry to the country do you have now (from a tourist or non immigrant visa or extension of stay)?

It should not take more than a week to have your application approved.

[DUS]

52 minutes ago, Mover1 said:

Can anyone give me a recent timescale for the application process please? I'm about to apply but everyone keeps telling me to wait until after first December, which only leaves me 2 weeks until current visa expires
 

 

Who is "everyone"?