Thailand eyes rich expats from Hong Kong, Australia with ‘coronavirus haven’ visa scheme

Thailand is Cambodia's neighbor to the West, and this forum is dedicated to Thai news, stories, reviews, blogs, videos, Thai people and anything else related to the country. A lot of expats have both lived and worked in Cambodia and Thailand, and this area is a place to discuss all aspects of life in Thailand and what's going on there. Most topics are about Bangkok and Pattaya because of their larger populations of expatriates and tourists in those cities, but this is for all things Thai.
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Kung-fu Hillbilly
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Thailand eyes rich expats from Hong Kong, Australia with ‘coronavirus haven’ visa scheme

Post by Kung-fu Hillbilly »

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The Thailand Elite Card is a residential-visa scheme for affluent expats, investors and long-stay groups. Photo: AP

Bloomberg
15 Aug, 2020


The ‘pay to stay’ programme costs up to US$64,000 and comes with perks including jet and yacht charters, medical check-ups and golf at championship courses

Thailand’s “pay to stay” visa programme for wealthy foreigners is seeing an expansion opportunity, with visions of the country becoming a haven for expats from Hong Kong, Australia and farther abroad, thanks to its relative success in containing the coronavirus.

The Thailand Elite Card is a residential-visa scheme for affluent expats, investors and long-stay groups.

Membership, which ranges from 500,000 baht to 2 million baht (US$16,000 to US$64,000), provides for a renewable five-year visa. It also comes with perks, which at the top end include limousine transport, jet and yacht charters, medical check-ups and golf at championship courses in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya.

Expats already living in the country on other types of visas have accounted for 70 per cent of subscriptions this year, having concluded that it’s better than dealing with one-year work, retirement or marriage permits that often require multiple trips to government offices, lawyers and fixed-deposits in local banks.

Membership is essentially open to anyone who is looking for a long-term stay and is willing to “contribute to the economy,” he said.

full.https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeas ... oronavirus
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Re: Thailand eyes rich expats from Hong Kong, Australia with ‘coronavirus haven’ visa scheme

Post by glennb6 »

my god, you couldn't make this stuff up if you were paid to try. perhaps the govt is trying to say that rich people don't get sick? bunch of money grubbing disingenuous scam artists.
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Re: Thailand eyes rich expats from Hong Kong, Australia with ‘coronavirus haven’ visa scheme

Post by Dunderhead »

Best part is that all the money goes to the parasites who are already rich. Oops I just described how the US works, government is and always has been the problem, everywhere.
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Re: Thailand eyes rich expats from Hong Kong, Australia with ‘coronavirus haven’ visa scheme

Post by Anthony's Weiner »

Imagine a country that is so hungry for money...
The United States EB-5 visa, employment-based fifth preference category or EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program, created in 1990 by the Immigration Act of 1990, provides a method for eligible Immigrant Investors to become lawful permanent residents—informally known as “green card” holders—by investing at least $900,000 ...

Poor Thailand is 30 years behind the greediest country
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Re: Thailand eyes rich expats from Hong Kong, Australia with ‘coronavirus haven’ visa scheme

Post by nemo »

They are deluded fools of the first water.
They had best bring back the goobernment opium monopoly, because they are otherwise doomed.
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Re: Thailand eyes rich expats from Hong Kong, Australia with ‘coronavirus haven’ visa scheme

Post by Cowshed Cowboy »

It's optional, no-one is forcing you to go that route. I don't particularly see the attraction when you could just pay a facilitation fee for your visa if you were that wealthy and great deals are always available to be had on hotels and golf courses for example without the need of an Elite Visa.
Yes sir, I can boogie, I can boogie, boogie, boogie all night long.
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Re: Thailand eyes rich expats from Hong Kong, Australia with ‘coronavirus haven’ visa scheme

Post by phuketrichard »

Cowshed Cowboy wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 7:43 am It's optional, no-one is forcing you to go that route. I don't particularly see the attraction when you could just pay a facilitation fee for your visa if you were that wealthy and great deals are always available to be had on hotels and golf courses for example without the need of an Elite Visa.
agree;
800,000 in the bank, pay 1,900 baht/year ( + 3,800 for multiple reentry) for extension.

the only way the elite option would truly be a great deal is if it offered the right to buy & own land as long as ur visa was valid.
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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Re: Thailand eyes rich expats from Hong Kong, Australia with ‘coronavirus haven’ visa scheme

Post by atst »

So 1900+3800=5700 not so bad Cambodia is $290 a year retirement Visa
I'm standing up, so I must be straight.
What's a poor man do when the blues keep following him around.(Smoking Dynamite)
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Re: Thailand eyes rich expats from Hong Kong, Australia with ‘coronavirus haven’ visa scheme

Post by Alex »

Nothing new, just an additional marketing angle for the same old elite visas.
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Re: Thailand eyes rich expats from Hong Kong, Australia with ‘coronavirus haven’ visa scheme

Post by Big Daikon »

phuketrichard wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 8:44 am
Cowshed Cowboy wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2020 7:43 am It's optional, no-one is forcing you to go that route. I don't particularly see the attraction when you could just pay a facilitation fee for your visa if you were that wealthy and great deals are always available to be had on hotels and golf courses for example without the need of an Elite Visa.
agree;
800,000 in the bank, pay 1,900 baht/year ( + 3,800 for multiple reentry) for extension.

the only way the elite option would truly be a great deal is if it offered the right to buy & own land as long as ur visa was valid.
And if you could skip the 90-day reporting.
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