News Forum - Thailand News Today | Thailand Offering Long Term Visas up to 10 years

[Thaiger]

Measures aimed at attracting wealthy long-stay foreigners to Thailand have been approved in principle by Cabinet. Seems to be a bit of deja vu, but the government says it’s targeting foreign investors, highly-skilled professionals and wealthy retirees in a bid to develop the Covid-battered economy. Long-term residence visas of up to 10 years are on offer, along with work permits for those who qualify.A government spokesperson explains that while the visa issued to qualifying people will be a 10-year visa, it must be extended after year 5. The extension will be good for another 5 years only. Foreign nationals who believe they […]

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[Cabra]

Way too early to get excited about a plan with no details. 

[palooka]

Coming to their senses on 90 day report farce, hopefully they'll extend this to others.

[AussieBob]

Seems to me that the Junta is very slowly recognising the benefits of Expats living in Thailand long term, and very very slowly staring to introduce Visa to attract them to live/stay in Thailand.  Once the pandemic is over and out (2023?) there will be a lot of pent up demand from 'western' people (that includes Korea and Japan)  who are interested in retiring overseas. I hope by then Thailand has a reasonable long term Visa that does not require all the reporting and annual renewals and all the constant changes.

In the past (2010) Thailand was always one of the top 3 recommended locations on the websites catering for people looking to retire overseas.  Now on the UK and USA and EU sites Thailand is not even listed on some and usually down low. Malaysia was one of the most recommended locations in Aust, but they recently cancelled their MM2H program and have decided to up all the money numbers (also going for the wealthy 'escaping' their money from China) - but worse than that, they are going to backdate the changes to those already retired there - they are now 'black-balled' as a recommended country.  Vietnam is getting a lot of airtime in Australia - people are waiting to see what they and the Philippines offer for Expats - Thailand not so popular as it once was for retirees.

[Rain]

Remember the romantic days when Expat [whatever that is] was an ideal and not a promoted industry.....

[Fundok]

Thailand authorities seem desperate to attract wealthy visitors. However, just because someone is wealthy doesn't necessarily mean that all that money is spent in TH. Likewise, I doubt that so-called digital nomads make top $$$, and for those few who do: who is so naive to believe that they pay income tax in TH? Wishful thinking in my eyes, but hey, that's only me.

I wish that there would be common sense, i.e. with certain provisions of the sandbox program. It is simply beyond my understanding why I had to stay on Phuket after my 2nd test (after 4 days) yielded a negative result for a total of 7 days. Defies any logic for me. 

[Rain]

Real experienced old hands can't be fooled easily.

[Fundok]

It is indeed scandalous to dish outba fine for "overstaying" if the late departure is attributed to a quarantine. No one voluntarily chooses a 10-day extra stay in a quarantine facility where this person is unable to show up at an immigration office to apply for a visa extension.

With this sort of attitude, do Thai authorities really think they can attract wealthy people to commit themselves to stay for a longer stretch of time?

[Vince]

1 hour ago, Fundok said:

Thailand authorities seem desperate to attract wealthy visitors. However, just because someone is wealthy doesn't necessarily mean that all that money is spent in TH. Likewise, I doubt that so-called digital nomads make top $$$, and for those few who do: who is so naive to believe that they pay income tax in TH? Wishful thinking in my eyes, but hey, that's only me.

I wish that there would be common sense, i.e. with certain provisions of the sandbox program. It is simply beyond my understanding why I had to stay on Phuket after my 2nd test (after 4 days) yielded a negative result for a total of 7 days. Defies any logic for me. 

People in Thailand - even 'digital nomads - spend money in Thailand - pad Thai, board shorts, ugly t-shirts, tuk tuk rides, and massages aren't free. 

They may not spend all of their money in Thailand, but doesn't everyone buy the occasional Japanese ramen noodle or Chinese made toy? 

Making top dollar is not relevant at all.

The salary range cut off I saw ($80kUSD for single and $40kUSD for married to Thai) was enough to ensure they contribute to the economy and aren't a burden. That's enough I think? 

The quality tourist goal is to reduce impacts on beaches, ecosystems, reduce trash, decrease traffic, etc.

Volume tourism has had it's day. Time to try something new. 

Be patient with COVID restrictions and tests etc. It's not perfect but no country has done it perfectly (well, except maybe Sweden). 

Soon it will all go away. 

[Fundok]

10 hours ago, Vince said:

People in Thailand - even 'digital nomads - spend money in Thailand - pad Thai, board shorts, ugly t-shirts, tuk tuk rides, and massages aren't free. 

They may not spend all of their money in Thailand, but doesn't everyone buy the occasional Japanese ramen noodle or Chinese made toy? 

Making top dollar is not relevant at all.

The salary range cut off I saw ($80kUSD for single and $40kUSD for married to Thai) was enough to ensure they contribute to the economy and aren't a burden. That's enough I think? 

The quality tourist goal is to reduce impacts on beaches, ecosystems, reduce trash, decrease traffic, etc.

Volume tourism has had it's day. Time to try something new. 

Be patient with COVID restrictions and tests etc. It's not perfect but no country has done it perfectly (well, except maybe Sweden). 

Soon it will all go away. 

With all due respect: I disagree. If TH wants to lure "digital nomads" into the country, I fail to see the economic benefit if those DN's buy Pad Thai and ugly T-Shirts. Isn't this what plain vanilla tourists also do?

[Vince]

Just now, Fundok said:

With all due respect: I disagree. If TH wants to lure "digital nomads" into the country, I fail to see the economic benefit if those DN's buy Pad Thai and ugly T-Shirts. Isn't this what plain vanilla tourists also do?

Yes but there's one big difference. 

A tourist spends their £2200GBP/THB100000 in one trip over a few days or a week. 

The long stay visitor ("digital nomad") spends their £2200GBP/THB100000 again and again, month after month. 

Persistent revenue adds up. And the long stay visitor might be a better, well  behaved, guest. Might not. Who knows? 

[MelBurn]

@Vince. We were "long stay visitors" and our expenses were around the same as in the US. Based on our last couple of years experience, I don't think that doing any business with Thailand (long term visa, buying property) makes any sense. You can lose access at any time. It is my opinion that there will be long term financial consequences due to volatility of the country.

[Fundok]

Indeed, the political and economic stability of Thailand (or rather: the lack thereof) is the largest obstacle and I fail to see that much progress is made to remedy this.