Transcript of the above video:

In another video made contemporaneously with this one, we discussed the topic of possible Thai Permanent Residence associated with property ownership.

In a recent article from thaivisa.com and they are actually quoting from Than Settakij, and I believe they translated over from a Thai publication. This posting is titled: Calls to Give Foreigners Who Buy a Condo Residency in Thailand. That is on thaivisa.com. Quoting directly: "The head of the Thai Condominium Association told the Thai financial media that she has recommended to the Government to give foreigners migrant status if they purchase a condo of 10 million Baht or more. Than Settakij said that meetings have taken place with developers since October 24th after requests were made to give foreigners 5 year visas for condo purchases of 5 million or more."

So something to take away from this video and I made another video on this topic specifically, I don't really think Permanent Residence is in the offing. Now it might be for a higher threshold of investment but I think 10 million is too low or I think that policymakers would make the decision that 10 million is too low. If anything and we made videos on articles about this previously wherein condos of 30 million or more were slated or the discussion was bandied about to allow a certain amount of Thai Visa status attached to a condo purchase of that level. However 10 million Baht is a third of that number and at the same time and we have discussed this in detail in another video on this channel that in the past Thai Permanent Residence there was an investment component. It has been effectively forestalled. You don't see that component utilized anymore because there are no investment vehicles that meet the regulatory requirements. It is basically based on anecdotal evidence I have discussed with folks who dealt with PR in the past. There were certain Investments specifically a certain tranche of Thai investment grade bonds that were associated with the possibility of getting Permanent Residence. As of now, yes the property market I think is a priority for many especially policymakers, to try and spur purchase of Thai property, condominiums especially, but Permanent Residence is viewed as a major benefit and for that reason Authorities in Thailand are not particularly shall we say easy about giving out that type of status. They view that with a great deal of seriousness because they view it as again as I mentioned, an extremely substantial benefit. Now long term Non-immigrant visas I think are much more likely. As noted, 5 year visas granted for 5 million in property purchase; I could definitely see that. Probably more likely something akin to 10 million for 10 years; I think that is very likely. 

Now that stated, all of this is somewhat an exercise in conjecture. As noted we are talking about the head of the Condominium Association. This is not a policymaker like someone at Immigration or someone in the Ministry of Interior or Ministry of Foreign Affairs, nor is it even somebody in the TAT, the Tourism Authority. 

That said I don't think it is necessarily wishful thinking. Thai Visa points out in this article, and I urge you to read it, that they think something may be brewing out there with respect to some kind of Visa associated with property ownership and I think that is certainly possible. 

Now that said, exactly what that looks like remains to be seen but I would presume it would be on the higher end in terms of purchase price rather than toward the lower amount. I think 5 million is a definite floor and we are probably looking at some Visa associated with a minimum of 5 million investment but I think probably minimum 10 and it may not even be that. I could actually see the minimum associated with a Visa associated with property purchase specifically a condominium purchase being higher; 15, 20, 30 million Baht. 

Again, all of this remains to be seen and it may not transpire, it may not come to pass. We will keep you updated on this channel as a situation progresses.