Elite Visa still worth it?

**Seekingasylum** · 10-01-2023, 03:15 PM

Well, if half of all retirees and spouses within the Pattaya conurbation used Darren for their applications then the auld fella must have died a millionaire.

God, what a bombastic fantasist you are, Headfuck.

Shutree, by implication the extension must follow a previous issue, most likely the 5 year base option costing whatever.

Making yourself hostage to the fortunes of this third world country is silly.

**david44** · 10-01-2023, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by Headworx

Darren died unexpectedly recently.

Ah yes that was the guy I spoke to , very helpful, sorry to here that.

Would you recommend them for a Thai visa agent, not something I need now but if unfirm, wife deceased or unable to drive it may be the simplest solution.
I have no problem with fees amnd have teh deposits just no agents here 1000km from Bangkok, I think nearest would be C Mai but if keys can do it I would trust them with my passport.

**DrWilly** · 10-01-2023, 03:36 PM

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

Making yourself hostage to the fortunes of this third world country is silly.

You mean like buying an apartment in Pattaya?

**Headworx** · 10-01-2023, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

Well, if half of all retirees and spouses within the Pattaya conurbation used Darren for their applications then the auld fella must have died a millionaire.

He wasn't auld and by saying half I mean it as a figure of speech you subservient pissant. A bit like saying half of Pattaya use Jack for their insurance needs, Tony for their legal advice, or Dr Olivier as their GP. You probably have no idea who any of these guys even are (which truly is a blessing for them) but those of us that've lived here a while have known them all for decades and used their services exclusively over that time, they're the go-to people for Expats in the know. They'd all be way too expensive for your pension-reliant pikey arse anyway, so that's another blessing...

**Headworx** · 10-01-2023, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by david44

Would you recommend them for a Thai visa agent...

When Darren was alive I'd recommend them as highly as is humanly possible for any and every service they offered, you weren't buying a service you were buying a result and he never once failed to deliver exactly what he said and at a set price which is why half of Pattaya used him. As stated, the girl named Anne is running the show now and I have every confidence in her too as she was the one who recently renewed my Retirement extension, the only difference was it wasn't Darren that sent the text saying to come pick the Passport up the next day, and missing the half hour chat we'd have in his office about anything and everything if he wasn't busy!

**sabang** · 10-01-2023, 04:42 PM

Personally, I would just pay an agent to handle the annual bullshit, also stuff like driving license renewals. The ridiculous three monthly thing, just grit my teeth and handle it myself.

As for the Elite card, do you trust a Thai company to stick to the terms and conditions for 20 years? I don't.

**Shutree** · 10-01-2023, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

The 1 million baht fee for a 20 year validity is the extension elite route after your existing 5 year elite visa has expired.

I imagined it might be called 'extension' because it has this wording "Renewable five-year multiple entry visa with extendable one-year length of stay per each entry".

On reflection your interpretation seems more likely.

Maybe someone out there knows for sure?

**S Landreth** · 10-01-2023, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by sabang

As for the Elite card, do you trust a Thai company to stick to the terms and conditions for 20 years? I don't.

neither do I

**nidhogg** · 10-01-2023, 06:22 PM

It is a "how long is a piece of string" question. A person with 5 million baht assets will see it very differently from someone with 500 million baht assets. Money can smooth away a lot of minor problems.

**Edmond** · 10-01-2023, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by sabang

Personally, I would just pay an agent to handle the annual bullshit, also stuff like driving license renewals. The ridiculous three monthly thing, just grit my teeth and handle it myself.

You mean the 90 day report thing?

The agent should have that included, whereas it's done for you, and they mail you the slip every 90 days.

**Bogon** · 10-01-2023, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by Stumpy

The Marriage Visa extension is 400k bht in the acct and about 1 hour of paper work prep and 1 hour at immigration for the annual extension

Personal, I hate it.

Pics of me, wife and kids around the house, pic of me and the family outside the house, draw a map to the house (no Google map printout allowed), letter from the bank on the day of application, photocopies of every page in your passport, wife's ID, tabian baan, TM47, TM30 (or whatever it is called), marriage cert, kids birth certs and a few other bits and bobs.

A total invasion of my privacy.

Saying that, it is a means to an end.

**Mendip** · 10-01-2023, 08:22 PM

^ And it will never change, year after year.

One reason I will no longer invest one Satang more into this country than I have to for month to month living.

**Edmond** · 10-01-2023, 08:29 PM

Immigrants being told to supply photocopies of their passport, marriage certificate and a few photos of them with their wife, before being granted an extension of stay in a country most can't even respect enough to speak the language of.

It's absolutely outrageous of the little brown man, is what it is. Do they not realise that you're white and Western!

**Headworx** · 10-01-2023, 08:39 PM

^Fuck off Jeff

**sabang** · 10-01-2023, 08:45 PM

^^ Of course, and we in the West should learn from the 'Wisdom of the Orient' and require all little brown men in our countries to faithfully take two photos every year of themself and their spouse, one outside the house, the other one in the marital bedroom- and of course to hand draw a precise map to their abode, to be repeated every time they apply to renew their visa, or within two days of them changing address. Furthermore they should attend an immigration office every 90 days, so we can be sure that they are safe and sound. Also, for their own safety, immigration must be informed if they leave their house for two or more nights at a time, and a government certificate provided from the temporary lodgings they stay at, and lodged at the nearest immigration office.

Probably the biggest financial mistake I made in my life was investing in Thai property when I moved there.

**Storekeeper** · 10-01-2023, 08:49 PM

Lots of great responses in this thread. Glad it isn’t another TD sh1tfest. Only thing I’d add that I didn’t see mentioned is the ability to use the 800K for any up front medical expenses.

**Bogon** · 10-01-2023, 10:11 PM

Originally Posted by Edmond

Do they not realise that you're white and Western!

I'm actually black and from Africa.

You might know my sister(s).

**Edmond** · 10-01-2023, 10:16 PM

...perhaps a double date in a Shopping Mall resto with myself and Tomcat could be arranged...

**HuangLao** · 10-01-2023, 10:26 PM

Originally Posted by Edmond

Immigrants being told to supply photocopies of their passport, marriage certificate and a few photos of them with their wife, before being granted an extension of stay in a country most can't even respect enough to speak the language of.

It's absolutely outrageous of the little brown man, is what it is. Do they not realise that you're white and Western!

............

**Seekingasylum** · 11-01-2023, 09:37 AM

Originally Posted by Shutree

I imagined it might be called 'extension' because it has this wording "Renewable five-year multiple entry visa with extendable one-year length of stay per each entry".

On reflection your interpretation seems more likely.

Maybe someone out there knows for sure?

The extension is indeed referring to the one you could submit after arriving and receiving your initial leave to enter for one year which can be extended for a further 12 months on application to Immigration.

There is no ambiguity, Shutree, your 20 year elite visa is either the 2+ million + annual 20 k fee or as I said previously an extant 5 - 10 year elite visa due to expire that can be extended on payment of the balance of the mega fee.

**Seekingasylum** · 11-01-2023, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by Edmond

Immigrants being told to supply photocopies of their passport, marriage certificate and a few photos of them with their wife, before being granted an extension of stay in a country most can't even respect enough to speak the language of.

It's absolutely outrageous of the little brown man, is what it is. Do they not realise that you're white and Western!

The stupidity of the Thai system is that one has to repeat the same rigmarole every fucking year until you die or get divorced.

Same same as a retiree. Eventually the silly fucks will wake up and join the modern world by offering permanent residence status after, say, five years of residence under whichever condition is relevant.
But that would mean giving up their medieval racist bullshit ways.

**Buckaroo Banzai** · 11-01-2023, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by nidhogg

It is a "how long is a piece of string" question. A person with 5 million baht assets will see it very differently from someone with 500 million baht assets. Money can smooth away a lot of minor problems.

Agreed.
If I had money to burn. Why not?
But I be damned if my daughter , or other family members ar straggling and going without, and I would blow that kind of money because I am to lazy or self absorbed to spend a couple of hours, once a year, at the immigration.

**Seekingasylum** · 11-01-2023, 05:33 PM

Absolutely, it’s a matter of principle when it concerns negotiating with the Thai.

**Edmond** · 11-01-2023, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

The stupidity of the Thai system is that one has to repeat the same rigmarole every fucking year until you die or get divorced.

Surely one makes say, 10 copies of each the first time, so the next year you just pull out the folder and there ya go, copies of every passport page etc ready to rock n roll. :-)

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

Eventually the silly fucks will wake up and join the modern world by offering permanent residence status after, say, five years of residence under whichever condition is relevant.

No need to wait that long, my dear man.

They offer PR to you after only 3 years of consecutive extensions. :-) The condition of marriage or parentage is okily-dokily.

**Mendip** · 11-01-2023, 06:21 PM

Originally Posted by Edmond

Immigrants being told to supply photocopies of their passport, marriage certificate and a few photos of them with their wife, before being granted an extension of stay in a country most can't even respect enough to speak the language of.

It's absolutely outrageous of the little brown man, is what it is. Do they not realise that you're white and Western!

You forgot having visits by immigration officers fishing for bribes.

You miss my point... when I met my wife in Oz she had already lived there for several years and had gained Australian Citizenship, which thankfully has been passed on to my daughter (although we generally keep it quiet).

If, back then, we had moved to the UK instead of me making the fateful decision to move to Korat, my wife would now have UK Citizenship, without the requirement for visas, annual extensions, ridiculous photographs taken from around the house and visits from your 'little brown men' fishing for bribes.

Yet after 17 years I am still considered an Alien, will never even get Permanent Residency and have to jump through these ridiculous hoops every year, whether it be getting a new visa or getting an extension to an existing visa, just to stay in the country... despite having a wife and child here. That is why I will never invest another Satang into this country... a country I can't and never will be able to call my residence and where I'm not even allowed to work.

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