Elite Visa now a serious alternative to 800k in bank?

[MadMuhammad]

10 minutes ago, charliebadenhop said:

I do not currently have al Elite visa but I am thinking about it-

 

Here is my thinking- I have a fund I have been investing in that has been returning 10-12% per year for several years now Let's say 10% for easy calculations. 

 

B800,000 = roughly US$25,000 these says. 

So if I invest that in the fund I have my other money in, or research another fund, I can likely make $2,500 a year on the $25,000, but of course no guarantees.

$2,500 = roughly B75,000. 

 

Keeping to five years for the Elite visa at B500K, my first year would be close to a wash, since I had to pay B500K all in one clump, as compared to keeping it i the bank and getting close to zero interest. After that, I make about $2,500 in investing my $25,000, while averaging a yearly spend of $3,000 with Thai Elite. Close to a wash depending on a lot of unknowns. 

 

So for such a small difference in money, Thai Elite is starting to make a good deal more sense to me.

 

What do you think?

 

 

 

You haven’t deducted taxes and exchange rates from your gains, small oversight. 

 

Personally for the simplicity and low cost I’d go for it.

 

im looking @ the 20 year Thai Elite ya the moment. If I don’t marry my gf in the next 12-18 months that is what I’ll be going for 

[onera1961]

I don't think it makes any financial sense. With 800K bank in a fixed deposit, you will at least get 12,500 per/year. And it is for perpetuity. 500K is only for five year. You can always bequeath the money when you no longer need (presumably at the time of your death). Elite only makes sense for perpetual tourists. 

Edited February 3, 2019 by onera1961

[Sheryl]

On 2/2/2019 at 12:39 PM, New beginnings said:

Firstly if you pop out of Thailand just before the 5 year expiration date and re-enter before the elite visa expires you will get another full year on entry thus total 6 years.  Secondly you only have to go to immigration to extend if you do not leave Thailand for the full year as you automatically get 12 month renewal on each re-entry to Thailand. Still have to do 90 day reporting but these can be done on-line or depending where you live Thai Elite will do these for you if you drop of your passport to there local office.

 

I looked up the details of Thai Elite and it seems they will do the 90 day reporting for you only if you drop your passport and paperwork off with them at one of their (comparatively few) offices.  For the many of us not living near one of their offices, clearly a non-starter. Even for those living in a city with a Thai Elite office it is questionable how having to travel to their office is any easier than just going to Immigration. In short, no benefit.

 

And other than express lanes on arrival in the airport I did nto see a single other meaningful benefit to it. A  lot of fluff and nonsense. they clearly did not do any formative market research when they developed this.

 

If you on the other hand put 400/800K in a fixed deposit you will at least get some interest on it.

[aussieinphuket]

so seems my decision to take Thai Elite for my wife and i 2 years ago is turning out an excellent idea even though costly..

 

yes most of the comments are correct even though you still have to do the 90 days reporting if you have not been in or out of the country in that period you can do online, also your 24 hr residential reporting done online i did it 2 week s ago easy.

 

no money in the bank, no worrying about bank letters or minimum balances.... only thing to need to watch is that you do leave the country and return prior to a 12 month period so the visa is reset for a further 12 months so simple or if you don't do this Thai Elite will sort out for you...

 

peace and mind even thou as i repeatedly said before not for all due to the expense..

 

i just wish this country and its authorities would cease moving the goal posts and making it more and more difficult each time we have to visit immigration they obviously want to see farangs jump through hoops like monkeys....

 

good luck and i hope it works out for the others who need to maintain funds or get guarantees of incomes....

[myshem]

On 2/2/2019 at 12:39 PM, New beginnings said:

Firstly if you pop out of Thailand just before the 5 year expiration date and re-enter before the elite visa expires you will get another full year on entry thus total 6 years.  Secondly you only have to go to immigration to extend if you do not leave Thailand for the full year as you automatically get 12 month renewal on each re-entry to Thailand. Still have to do 90 day reporting but these can be done on-line or depending where you live Thai Elite will do these for you if you drop of your passport to there local office.

 

hello, please do you know ?

For someone who lives in Bangkok and Pattaya (2 addresses), where is it easier to have someone do the 3 months report for me without having to go to immigration ? Cheers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[natway09]

Please ,,, can anyone tell me of any person that has deposited 800,000 Bht in one 

of the "big 5" banks & lost it ????????   And you get minimal interest.

What is the matter with you people grizzling about this ?

You would think they want to steal it.

I fully understand the exchange rate problem but take that up with your home country,,,

It is not Thailand's fault.

For you long term stayers who refused put the 800,000 Bht away in a holding account

you are going to end up paying more anyway .

You cannot always have the chicken & the egg

[Asianrider]

I bought a 20 year Elite visa 3 years ago for 1m baht, been very happy with their service. Its issued in 5 year stickers and makes travelling in / out of Thailand a doddle. I don't worry about Immigration moving the goalposts with retirement / marriage rules etc.

[Retiredandhappyhere]

On 2/2/2019 at 2:18 PM, wazzadg44 said:

I'm fully aware that I could lose all 500,000 under certain circumstances. Under certain circumstances,not necessarily the same ones, you could lose 800,000. I'm not specifying how or when it would happen,just that it COULD.

So, you are suggesting that the Government's guarantee that foreigners who have cash in Thai banks will be safe currently up to several million bahts (but possibly limited eventually to just one million) is worthless? I think that even a Thai government would think twice about reneging on that particular guarantee.

[Speedhump]

Seems a dumb question. If you are rich enough to afford the elite visa purely to avoid yearly hassle then there's no question. Just blow c the money and brag. If you're not, then what's the point of the question?

[New beginnings]

5 hours ago, charliebadenhop said:

I do not currently have al Elite visa but I am thinking about it-

 

Here is my thinking- I have a fund I have been investing in that has been returning 10-12% per year for several years now Let's say 10% for easy calculations. 

 

B800,000 = roughly US$25,000 these says. 

So if I invest that in the fund I have my other money in, or research another fund, I can likely make $2,500 a year on the $25,000, but of course no guarantees.

$2,500 = roughly B75,000. 

 

Keeping to five years for the Elite visa at B500K, my first year would be close to a wash, since I had to pay B500K all in one clump, as compared to keeping it i the bank and getting close to zero interest. After that, I make about $2,500 in investing my $25,000, while averaging a yearly spend of $3,000 with Thai Elite. Close to a wash depending on a lot of unknowns. 

 

So for such a small difference in money, Thai Elite is starting to make a good deal more sense to me.

 

What do you think?

 

 

 

 

Taking into account that you can actually get up to 6 years by leaving Thailand and re-entering just before the expiry date, automatically renewed 12 months on entering Thailand, this may help in your assessment.

 

This point has actually been confirmed by Ubonjoe the fount of all knowledge when it comes to a Thai Immigration issues.

Edited February 3, 2019 by New beginnings

[moe666]

The elite visa I believe was developed for a different group of people than the retirement extension. It was developed during the Shinawat government to lure in high rollers who didn't want to deal with extension of stays. There was free golfing offered and a whole range of other goodies than eventually evaporated

[ozmeldo]

On 2/2/2019 at 12:37 PM, ubonjoe said:

They only have to do 90 day reports unless they never leave the country for a year they do not have to go to immigration for anything else.

If they don't leave and re-enter the country to get a new one year entry they would need to apply for a one year extension.

It's bloody ironic that they can make all the headaches disappear...

 

for a huge sum of money.

[moe666]

4 hours ago, aussieinphuket said:

so seems my decision to take Thai Elite for my wife and i 2 years ago is turning out an excellent idea even though costly..

 

yes most of the comments are correct even though you still have to do the 90 days reporting if you have not been in or out of the country in that period you can do online, also your 24 hr residential reporting done online i did it 2 week s ago easy.

 

no money in the bank, no worrying about bank letters or minimum balances.... only thing to need to watch is that you do leave the country and return prior to a 12 month period so the visa is reset for a further 12 months so simple or if you don't do this Thai Elite will sort out for you...

 

peace and mind even thou as i repeatedly said before not for all due to the expense..

 

i just wish this country and its authorities would cease moving the goal posts and making it more and more difficult each time we have to visit immigration they obviously want to see farangs jump through hoops like monkeys....

 

good luck and i hope it works out for the others who need to maintain funds or get guarantees of incomes....

Why have they come up with the new regs. how about the people who have been scamming the system. Yes easy to blame Thailand for protecting there immigration laws. When the first change came about there were people openly discussing how to scam the new rules. Well guess what there will be new goal post erected to cover the new scams. Respect the laws of the country and there should not be a need to change the rules. The new change of 800,000 in the bank 3 months after extension is issued is just that to stop the scam of people using a agent to float their extension. Blame the cheaters not the people protecting there laws.

[moe666]

6 minutes ago, ozmeldo said:

It's bloody ironic that they can make all the headaches disappear...

 

for a huge sum of money.

Same every where 500,000dollars get you a green card today, no standing in line with all the rest of the poor people

[Accidental Tourist]

On 2/2/2019 at 2:08 PM, sirineou said:

Why would I lose the 800K?

As far as I know Thai banks are pretty safe.  I agree that there is a small chance that for whatever reason I might lose the 800k but I guaranty you are not getting your elite visa money back. 

Mmh. Thai Banks are NOT save as was proofed in 1997 where I lost a substantial amount of USD which I deposit in a Thai Bank which fill for bankruptcy; happen again in 2008 during the global crisis. Live is a risk...but this should not prevent living it.

[moto77]

On 2/2/2019 at 2:08 AM, sirineou said:

Why would I lose the 800K?

As far as I know Thai banks are pretty safe.  I agree that there is a small chance that for whatever reason I might lose the 800k but I guaranty you are not getting your elite visa money back. 

That's not true. I've personally known people who lost their funds (likely because of skimmers). Thai banks did nothing. If they'd kept the money in a US bank they'd have gotten it back. 

Edited February 3, 2019 by moto77

[Lacessit]

Thai Elite visas are fine for those who can afford it.

I can afford to keep 800,000 baht on deposit. My agent costs me 13,500 baht a year. That includes extensions and 90 day reporting. X5 = 67,500 baht  over 5 years. It's a no-brainer for me.

[sirineou]

8 minutes ago, Accidental Tourist said:

Mmh. Thai Banks are NOT save as was proofed in 1997 where I lost a substantial amount of USD which I deposit in a Thai Bank which fill for bankruptcy; happen again in 2008 during the global crisis. Live is a risk...but this should not prevent living it.

The way I understand it, after 2008 there was  a deposit insurance program implemented, If I understand it correctly For the first year deposits up to 25 million bht are protected , the second year only only 15 million reduced progressively until after five years only 1 million bht is covered.

Not sure if it has being changed, I don't keep more than a couple of million in Thai banks so I have not really paid much attention and I am now out of the country to check. 

I would appreciate the input of someone who knows more about this than me. 

[moto77]

2 minutes ago, sirineou said:

The way I understand it, after 2008 there was  a deposit insurance program implemented, If I understand it correctly For the first year deposits up to 25 million bht are protected , the second year only only 15 million reduced progressively until after five years only 1 million bht is covered.

Not sure if it has being changed, I don't keep more than a couple of million in Thai banks so I have not really paid much attention and I am now out of the country to check. 

I would appreciate the input of someone who knows more about this than me. 

The last one I knew of lost the money in 2015.

The program seems to apply to bank defaults, not fraud. 

[Fairynuff]

8 hours ago, JohnnyBKK said:

I have the elite visa and it will be over in 2020, I will not renew it. I think Thailand should welcome people like me with open arms instead of making us pay for the right to be allowed to stay. That's a lot of money for a stamp on a passport that still doesn't allow you to do anything else than to be a long term tourist, you can't even get the 5 year driving license.

 

You still need to make sure the TM30 is correctly filled by the landlord or you could get in troubles, also you still need to do the 90 days report by yourself if you don't stay in Bangkok, the elite office is only available in Bangkok.

 

It's not worth the money in my opinion, also Thailand is twice as expensive as 10 years ago, now there is other better options in the world. For the same price you could live in many good countries and without paying any taxes if you travel enough.

You have the Elite visa and yet it bothers you that the cost of living has doubled and other countries are cheaper. Something in your reasoning doesn’t add up!

[sirineou]

2 minutes ago, moto77 said:

That's not true. I've personally known people who lost their funds (likely because of skimmers). Thai banks did nothing. If they'd kept the money in a US bank they'd have gotten it back. 

 Over ten years , never had a problem.

sure there is always a remote chance that you might not get your money back  . But with the Elite program there is no chance that you will ever get it back

I don't do the retirement or the mariedge extension yet because I still work overseas and never spend more than three months at the time in Thailand, but I am following this because I will be retiring some time between June and September, (estimated time of completion of the project I am involved in) and will have to start the visa extension process, 

Perhaps not even then as I have being offered a consultant position after I retire, but I am tired living out of a suitcase in tiny apartments. 

I will give Thailand a couple of years to see if it is for me full time, any place can be great a few moths at the time, living there full time might be a different story, We will see, if not I have other options. 

Most likely I will go the Retirement route, even though I am married (easier) . I don't care that it will take a couple of hrs out of my time.

What else would I have to do? 

I would probably look forward to doing it as it would get me out of the house.

Anyway, it is all speculation, ask me again when I start doing it.

[Lacessit]

24 minutes ago, moto77 said:

That's not true. I've personally known people who lost their funds (likely because of skimmers). Thai banks did nothing. If they'd kept the money in a US bank they'd have gotten it back. 

You can't be skimmed on a savings passbook. It's only the people who have debit/credit cards with a Thai bank who get scammed.

[Fairynuff]

If you can afford the 500k without any impact on your lifestyle or finances and you want to avoid the “hassles” then why not get the Elite visa. It doesn’t suit the majority but why knock those who have or consider it?

[sirineou]

Just now, Fairynuff said:

If you can afford the 500k without any impact on your lifestyle or finances and you want to avoid the “hassles” then why not get the Elite visa. It doesn’t suit the majority but why knock those who have or consider it?

No one is Knocking anyone who has an Elite visa , what we are knocking is the assertion that  it is a serious alternative to the 800k in the bank for reasons we stated above.

Personally if I had 500k to waste because I did not want to spend a couple of hrs of my time to deal with the extension requirements, I would buy my daughter a new car, or help my sister pay her mortgage. etc,  

[moto77]

18 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

You can't be skimmed on a savings passbook. It's only the people who have debit/credit cards with a Thai bank who get scammed.

Thanks for clarifying that option.

[Sheryl]

6 hours ago, myshem said:

 

hello, please do you know ?

For someone who lives in Bangkok and Pattaya (2 addresses), where is it easier to have someone do the 3 months report for me without having to go to immigration ? Cheers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You need to do the report at the Immigration Office where you received your extension of stay/plan to do your next extension.

 

The easiest way to do it is online, or my mail.  Not all offices accept it online though.

[55Jay]

1 hour ago, moe666 said:

Why have they come up with the new regs. how about the people who have been scamming the system. Yes easy to blame Thailand for protecting there immigration laws. When the first change came about there were people openly discussing how to scam the new rules. Well guess what there will be new goal post erected to cover the new scams. Respect the laws of the country and there should not be a need to change the rules. The new change of 800,000 in the bank 3 months after extension is issued is just that to stop the scam of people using a agent to float their extension. Blame the cheaters not the people protecting there laws.

Often wonder if the marriage extension reqs and procedures were as detailed as they are now.  My bias says no, new reqs were added along the way because farang chancers exploited the benefit of the doubt, and screwed it up for everyone.      

 

No photos to 1, 2 then 3.  Now it's a soft-core porno of you and the wife on the marital bed, with Yai and the village headman in the background giving big thumbs up!  ????

[humbug]

800k sitting in a property fund paying 5-6% neto compounded over 5 years is your 5 elite visa paid

 

not to mention the 20 year elite option. just think what 800k in various property funds neto will make you over 20 years

 

lets see what the nationalists have in store with various changing of the visa goal posts over the next few years if they stay in power. Doesnt look that great for any of us

[crazykopite]

On 2/2/2019 at 12:39 PM, New beginnings said:

Firstly if you pop out of Thailand just before the 5 year expiration date and re-enter before the elite visa expires you will get another full year on entry thus total 6 years.  Secondly you only have to go to immigration to extend if you do not leave Thailand for the full year as you automatically get 12 month renewal on each re-entry to Thailand. Still have to do 90 day reporting but these can be done on-line or depending where you live Thai Elite will do these for you if you drop of your passport to there local office.

Only problem with the elite visa it only covers one individual my wife like me is British for it would cost us 800,000 for the 5 years and let’s face it nothing but nothing is guaranteed in Thailand a new government could come in and scrap it .

[Crisu]

800k sitting in a property fund paying 5-6% neto compounded over 5 years is your 5 elite visa paid
 
not to mention the 20 year elite option. just think what 800k in various property funds neto will make you over 20 years
 
lets see what the nationalists have in store with various changing of the visa goal posts over the next few years if they stay in power. Doesnt look that great for any of us

I dont understand your calculation.

First of all you have to pay 500K for Thai Elite in the beginning.

Additionally you need 800K in a fund for ~5% per year from which you earn 40K/year × 5 years = 200K
wich is not even half enough to pay Thai Elite Visa 5J and you should have 1300K in cash in the beginning.