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As the title of this video suggests we are asking the question "Are Thai Long-Term Residence Visas for the "super rich"? As noted in other videos, the term Residence Visa in the context of these LTR visas is kind of a misnomer, they are not Residence Visas in the sense of Thai Permanent Residence, they confer long-term non-immigrant status kind of akin to Thailand Elite Visa status but they do not confer Residence in the traditional sense of the word here under Thai Immigration Law. Meanwhile the question remains, are they for the "super rich"?  

I thought of this after reading a recent article in the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Thailand Immigration holidays upcoming, insurance requirements alert. I am quoting an excerpt from this but I urge those who are watching this video to go and read that article in detail, a lot of information in there. Quoting directly: "10-year LTR or Long-Term Term Residence Visas also formally begin on September 1 with the registration fee reduced from 100,000 Baht to 50,000 Baht. They offer to super-rich executives, professionals, retirees and global travelers, multiple-entry permits with perks such as digital work permits, exemption from 90-day reporting, tax incentives and possibly the right to buy a freehold property on the strict conditions. The pre-approved financial requirements vary from category to category but all demand proof of assets worth millions of Baht and a determination to invest heavily in Thailand." A couple of things there. I just would like to point out. "Exemption from 90-day reporting", that's not a foregone conclusion yet, we are not sure of that yet. The other thing is and I just am going to quote this again, "possibly the right to buy freehold property under strict conditions", yeah, as we discussed in other videos, that possibility seems pretty remote. We have actually seen Officers from the Land Department when this was broached about a year ago, come out and make statements saying that's not going to happen, so again a lot of this is way, way up in the air. 

The question posed by this video "is it for the super-rich"? Well it's definitely for a higher net worth individual than many of the other Visa categories that are out there. Now if you were comparing this category to the Elite Visa, probably the demographics are not going to be too far off from one another but if you are comparing it to the wealthy retiree category versus the standard Retirement Visa, yeah there is probably going to be a major difference between those two people, although frankly it might not be. I know a lot of high net worth individuals that are perfectly happy with their standard O Retirement Visa and they don't really have any problem with that, have no desire to move over to the so-called LTR Visa. I have talked to them about it, I have said “this may be an option for you”, and they all said "yeah, I am not interested, I am perfectly happy with what I have got." So is it designed for the "super rich"? Yeah, it's definitely designed for again higher net worth individuals than have been other Visa categories. But is it going to be preclusive to everybody that generally comes to Thailand? Probably not. Again, if you compare it to Thailand Elite, it is going to be pretty comparable. Again a lot of this is up in the air so a lot of it remains to be seen. We will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.