Thread: Curtains drawn on Thai Elite Card

I meant what potential buyer of the whole scheme would be stupid enough to take on 3 billion debt and be lumbered with the scheme.

Originally Posted by kingwilly

I meant what potential buyer of the whole scheme would be stupid enough to take on 3 billion debt and be lumbered with the scheme.

I'm sure that for some one or some company wealthy enough not to care about the losses there would be a lot of power and prestiege that would come with it, not to mention the friends they would make in high places by taking it off their hands and helping everyone save face. That's the only rational reason I could think of.

Originally Posted by BobR

I'm sure that for some one or some company wealthy enough not to care about the losses there would be a lot of power and prestiege that would come with it, not to mention the friends they would make in high places by taking it off their hands and helping everyone save face.

Sure there's someone.... but looks like he's got problems enough with Thailand's elite.

great for the boiler room operators, avoid the monthly VISA run

It could possibly have flown, if what they were offering amounted to a decent deal.
It didn't, and added to that the proclivity of Thailand to renege on any deal (as subsequently happened), and the whole proposal stank to me. I did look into it.
Anecdotally, I heard that a lot of people who took up the deal were hardly what you would call model citizens either. Crim's & con's hoping to purchase tenure in their adopted country.

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

It had been planned to auction the operation to investors at a starting price of 500 million baht, payable to the government. The buyer would absorb the company's costs and keep on staff for at least one year. Ms Pensuda said yesterday the selling price was now expected to be less than 500 million baht.

so basically the investor would be paying 500m THB for an operation that loses 9m THB a month ? what kind of business logic is that ?

the system was designed as a Ponzi, that is new membership would finance the past costs of the old membership

Originally Posted by sabang

It could possibly have flown, if what they were offering amounted to a decent deal.
It didn't, and added to that the proclivity of Thailand to renege on any deal (as subsequently happened), and the whole proposal stank to me. I did look into it.

it couldn't work, costs would have always been too high, and without a large additional membership to finance existing costs, it was bound to fail

I also looked into it, and like you, I could see the scam down the road.

It was just another style-over-substance promo stunt by the lovely Dr T.

Draw the curtains around and shoot it through the head.

At the end of the day, what was really required was for the deal to purchase actual right of tenure- and it didn't. It was just fluff.

Yes, I remember when it was started with much fanfare and hoopla. At the time it looked like a way to do a "long-term stay" in Thailand. I looked into it also...but I'm a skeptical person by nature...so I waited to see how it went before I was willing to commit my money. It was evident before to long that it was all 'smoke-and-mirrors" and that it was just a nicely dressed up scam. (Like the Chinese methaphor, a "broken old shoe" (an old prostitute). So I saved my money for eventual retirement instead. I'm glad I did.
The retirement process in Thailand is far from perfect...but it's better than a useless piece of plastic in my wallet.

When first rolled out at 1 million baht, it was a viable alternative for those people that were getting one year multi entry “B” visa once a year in their home countries. They then had to take a quick border run every 90 days to get a new permission to stay stamp. The Elite Card got you 90 days on entry and that could be renewed at Immigration indefinitely (and you didn’t have to go yourself). The pay back was in the savings over several years.

I had two friends at the time (2004) that put up the million and it did save them that easily over a couple years compared to what they used to spend going home every year and flying to Singapore every 90 days.

Once they turned 50, which coincided when the Elite card started having issues, they went the retirement extension route. Neither regrets having spent the money, but they got in early and when problems arose, they had alternatives by then.
TH

Bangkok Post : Thailand Elite shake-up

• Published: 1/03/2011 at 12:00 AM
• Newspaper section: Business

The loss-ridden operator of Thailand Elite Card has reshuffled its executive management in the hopes of surviving and increasing the value of the organisation.

...

The company seems to have an unclear business direction because the Council of State did not send an official interpretation on whether the new holders of Thailand Elite Card could have visa privileges as a term of reference in their contracts.

It is widely speculated the new cardholders will not receive the visa privilege. The government hopes to sell Thailand Privilege Card Co with a starting price of 500 million baht at auction. The winning bidder has to absorb the firm's costs and keep the staff at least one year. However, the auction price is expected to be less than 500 million baht if the visa privilege is rendered void.

...


(Full article at link above)