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Visa Elite best option ? (vs retirement or marriage)


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9 hours ago, Sambotte said:

That's the main point imo.

I am a traveller, but find Thailand the best place, and want to be able to live in maybe 6-8 months a year, variable, free (no planning).

 

And the Elite visa is not necesarely more costly in fact.

 

Could some "Elite members" confirm there is absolutely no known problem with this Visa ? 

It is basically a glorified tourist visa. Officially you can not get a 5 year driver's license renewal is one con.

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2 hours ago, jackdd said:

Only if they need to fake documents (but then it also costs more than 5-10k)

If you fulfill all requirements it's not illegal to use an agent to handle the paperwork for you.

So the agents don't give tea money to immigration?

Of course it's illegal, but so are many things here, the law is not enforced.

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I'm over 50 and married to a Thai. So I have two conventional possibilities right there. Yet I am seriously considering the Elite visa for the reduced hassles. I'm not rich, but 1M baht is affordable. Only downside is that the full benefits are only available to you if you live in Bangkok. If you are going to be in Chiang Rai for example you miss out. 

 

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, toolpush said:

It is basically a glorified tourist visa. Officially you can not get a 5 year driver's license renewal is one con.

Holding a Thai Elite visa I got a 5 year Driving License renewal last month. 
 

 

But... 2 years ago I was only able to secure a 2 yr temp DL. 
 

I’m not sure if last month the DLT overlooked the visa type or not or if the EliteVisas are now considered a resident visa (at least by the DLT in Bkk). 

As always clarity & consistency are questionable traits where bureaucracy in Thailand is concerned. 

Edited by richard_smith237
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7 hours ago, jackdd said:

Paying 5-10k per year to an agent has the same result, it's just way cheaper.

Fast track can be bought at 1k a time.

So people who have the option to get a retirement or marriage visa/extension, but get the elite instead, are just overpaying for a similar service.

 

I guess nearly everybody who buys the elite visa just doesn't quality for a non-immigrant visa (and they don't want an ed visa).

Where can i buy fast track for 1000 baht?

I think your information is a little dated.

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21 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

Where can i buy fast track for 1000 baht?

I think your information is a little dated.

Yes, seems this was scrapped, can't be purchased on a case by case basis when flying economy anymore.

 

But an alternative: https://www.thailongstay.co.th/promotion.html

They basically do everything which Thai Elite does, just for a fraction of the cost and not 20 years upfront:

Get the extension, a re entry permit, do 90 day reports and fast track.

If somebody has money to burn, sure go for Thai Elite ????

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21 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Yes, seems this was scrapped, can't be purchased on a case by case basis when flying economy anymore.

 

But an alternative: https://www.thailongstay.co.th/promotion.html

They basically do everything which Thai Elite does, just for a fraction of the cost and not 20 years upfront:

Get the extension, a re entry permit, do 90 day reports and fast track.

If somebody has money to burn, sure go for Thai Elite ????

Can you do that if you're under 50 and not married or working?

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1 hour ago, Tuvoc said:

I'm over 50 and married to a Thai. So I have two conventional possibilities right there. Yet I am seriously considering the Elite visa for the reduced hassles. I'm not rich, but 1M baht is affordable. Only downside is that the full benefits are only available to you if you live in Bangkok. If you are going to be in Chiang Rai for example you miss out. 

If you’re talking about the 20 year 1M baht visa, you don’t get the full benefits such as limousine airport transfer and golfing in any case. You have to pay 2M baht to have those benefits included, which I think very few people do.

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10 hours ago, Sambotte said:

Well... 5 years 500K It's 100K a year, 8.000 a month... I am not rich but i can afford that.

Or less if 20 years visa.

Or that's the price of a good car, dead money too including maybe you ????

 

Marriage well it cost in itself if i may say so ????. I don't know for the changes or not.

But retirement : problems with pensions, or a not cheap semi-permanent deposit in bank... And lease. And health assurance. And what next ?

Student : are checked.

Exemption or tourist : problem if often, and schedules to make.

 

IMO Thailand does not want Cheap Charlies anymore, sorry guys ????

Just kidding... Somehow...

Not only Thailand, no country wants the Cheap Charlies, but so far we manage to hang around ????

 

 

8k baht is more than 10 boxes of Chang, that's 240 beers, and I have to hand them over every month just to stay here?

 

On more serious note not everyone has the same circumstances, I consider myself a tourist here and so far prefer not to have any long term commitments. For an year and a half I've done only one 90 days reporting, as I'm traveling quite a bit. Year on year renewals are just fine for me. I may skip an year or two, living somewhere else and coming back again.

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16 hours ago, Sambotte said:

That's the main point imo.

I am a traveller, but find Thailand the best place, and want to be able to live in maybe 6-8 months a year, variable, free (no planning).

 

And the Elite visa is not necesarely more costly in fact.

 

Could some "Elite members" confirm there is absolutely no known problem with this Visa ? 

I just quote myself from another thread:

 

  

On 1/31/2020 at 2:22 AM, rabang said:

Depends on the case. If you want to spend 5 years living full-time in Thailand or just with short breaks, then yes. Otherwise I am not so sure. I could fly in and out twice a year in Business class from Europe and pay roughly same or a bit more than EV over five years. Get two SETVs per year and extensions and spend six months each year in Thailand. Or just fly Business on arrival and Economy going back home, that would be clearly cheaper than EV.

 

If six months is not enough, you could get one METV per year (assuming the Embassy will cooperate) and stay up to 8 or 9 months per year, go back home for the summer and repeat when the cold creeps back again. Do a couple of visa runs and use land borders for arrival or fly Business in regional flights on return leg, not too expensive. Everything included that could be just a bit over 50% of the cost of EV. Normal Business class perks would obviously apply in terms of travel comfort and accumulating more miles to use for upgrades so there wouldn't be always even the need to buy the ticket outright.

 

Of course each case is individual so you are free to feel that the Elite Visa would be the best option for you. I don't deny also that the EV has some benefits and doesn't require border hopping unlike tourist visas if you're not so keen on them. I do usually however welcome the idea of taking a break from Thailand every two months or so.

 

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1 hour ago, emptypockets said:

Where can i buy fast track for 1000 baht?

I think your information is a little dated.

 

59 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Yes, seems this was scrapped, can't be purchased on a case by case basis when flying economy anymore.

 

1250 Bht from this mob - only ones that can do it now: https://www.limousine.in.th/fast-track-immigration.php

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I'm leaning towards the 5 year Elite Visa.

 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the 10 and 20 year EV need to be renewed, and if the price has gone up then I would need to pay the new price to renew... so getting a 20 year isn't really locking in a set rate.

 

So why even bother with a 10 year or 20 year when I could just get a 5 year, renew at the end of the 5 year and offer myself more flexibility to not renew if I grow tired of los?

 

source: https://nomadcapitalist.com/2018/01/22/thai-elite-visa/

"And, even if the program isn’t canceled, if the price has gone up 10x by the time you need to renew, you pay the higher price. You cannot argue that you got in at the lower price and should be grandfathered in. You have to pay for the membership at the current price as if you are a new customer, no argument."

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1 hour ago, jackdd said:

Yes, seems this was scrapped, can't be purchased on a case by case basis when flying economy anymore.

 

But an alternative: https://www.thailongstay.co.th/promotion.html

They basically do everything which Thai Elite does, just for a fraction of the cost and not 20 years upfront:

Get the extension, a re entry permit, do 90 day reports and fast track.

If somebody has money to burn, sure go for Thai Elite ????

Does using this mob avoid the compulsory health insurance issue?

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7 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

 

No that's incorrect.


The 1 mio THB 20 year visa gives you 4 x 5 year visas that get attached to your passport either when they run out. You don't pay more even if the price changes.

 

Why 20 year visa? Because it's half the price per 5 year period more or less excluding airport transfer simply as that. 

 

Nomadcapistalist talks about what happens if your current membership runs out. That's why the 20 year one makes most sense.

Great info! thanks so much!

That changes everything then for my situation.

 

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Thanks for many wise advices.

I will think about it (EV) anyway a little more, and about 5 years vs 20 years (but i think i would take the 5 years, i just don't make plans for so far as 20 years in my life, and in this world ????).

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13 hours ago, BritTim said:

The main options are 500,000 baht for five years or 1,000,000 baht for 20 years.

But what should be noted, if the visa is extended just before the 5 year expiration date is reached, you can add pretty much a whole year, making it 500.000 THB for close to 6 years.

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Thanks for all the (mostly thoughtful) input here!

 

I am considering the Elite but probably going to do a METV first to test the waters.

 

I only wish to add: as an American who's lived in Europe half his life, the idea of about 3K EUR per year in order to come and go as you please as long as you don't "work" locally, is, well, sort of an impossibly great bargain!  (And that's for the more expensive 5Y one.)

 

My only hesitation is due to the minimum 5-year commitment, since I've not spent that much time in the Kingdom and not when the air was really bad.  Think I should probably do METV first to test my conviction.  But there's also something to be said for over-committing if you like an idea. ????

 

 

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20 hours ago, spinner2020 said:

Come to think of it, if I had that money to spare, I could find better countries to spend it in.

So if you had more money you would live in another country....  ?

Surely you should have a better opinion of a country that allows a poor alien person to live in it. 

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On 2/23/2020 at 11:35 AM, Sambotte said:

you will not spend the money for something else, since it's STUCK IN BANK AS LONG AS YOU NEED EXTENSION.

 

On 2/23/2020 at 11:23 AM, Bob12345 said:

- go under 400k: just put it in a bank account (plus a few k extra) and dont use that account. Bank book + atm card in a drawer and no internet banking for that account. Surprise: a year later your money is still there minus a few hundred baht of cost deductions

Stick your money in a fixed term deposit. Mine is making a higher rate of interest than I can get in the US or Hong Kong, even after taxes. It's a rational part of an overall portfolio strategy. My money is both guaranteeing the ability to live in Thailand and earning money for me. I fail to see the problem.

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5 hours ago, mcl2504 said:

 

Stick your money in a fixed term deposit. Mine is making a higher rate of interest than I can get in the US or Hong Kong, even after taxes. It's a rational part of an overall portfolio strategy. My money is both guaranteeing the ability to live in Thailand and earning money for me. I fail to see the problem.

You are allowed to use that for your visa application? If so, i will switch asap i guess as i now get 0%

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