New lease of life for privilege card

LONDON An international residence and citizenship advisory firm, Henley & Partners, has secured the global concession to promote Thailand’s exclusive residence programme, the company announced Monday.

The company’s announcement claims the programme will give foreigners authorisation to live in Thailand for up to 20 years.

“It’s the first programme of its kind worldwide – offering unlimited access to Thailand as well as a range of special VIP privileges,” the statement reads without referring to the blighted Thailand Elite Card that was introduced in 2003 by the now disgraced Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thailand Elite Card was initiated to attract wealthy global citizens, families, investors and entrepreneurs who wanted to spend extended periods of time in the country and take advantage of tax holidays and enjoy fast tracked immigration approval for a price tag of THB5 million per card.

The owner of the card, Thailand Privilege Card Company Limited suffered cumulative losses of THB800 million forcing it to halt operations. The entire operations, including its debts, were eventually handed over to the Tourism Authority of Thailand to conduct a salvage operation and put it back on a firm footing.

Since the company resumed operations in 2013, TPC garnered a membership of 4,037 up to 31 December 2016.  Prior to restructuring in 2013, there were  2,508  members on the books enjoying lifetime free benefits and 1,529 new members were recruited up to December 2016.

TPC is now a commercially registered company fully owned by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, with a registered capital of Bt1 billion.

Currently, memberships vary in cost between Bt500,000 and Bt2 million depending on selected benefits and options.

For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2016, TPC reported a profit of  THB195.07 million, up by  82%  year-on-year. Members generated more than Bt1.7 billion in revenue for the economy, in addition to their membership fees.

Between October 2015 and December 2016, Elite Card members entered Thailand up to 14,768 times. These foreigners invested in such properties as condominiums and luxury cars as well as spending on various services.

The remake and restructuring has resulted in the appointment of various representative companies to sell the programme to wealthy travellers with the card offering new features with a different financial business model.

A special residence visa is issued by the Thailand Privilege Card Company Limited (TPC) – a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Henley & Partners Southeast Asia head, Dominic Volek, said: “The firm will be working closely with TPC over the coming months to attract foreigners who want to make Thailand their second home or take advantage of excellent business opportunities.”

The Thailand residence programme provides a multiple entry visa and allows holders to stay in the country for up to 20 years in a similar fashion to the one-year stay extension that can be executed every year without leaving the country.

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