Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing costs associated with Thailand Elite going up substantially. We have done a number of videos on this and I may be accused in the comments of sort of beating a dead horse but that said, this is a major development and it is worth really kind of digging into the details of what we are looking at in terms of the changes to what we have been calling the Thailand Elite Visa Program; apparently it is now going to be called the Thailand Privilege Visa. Sort of bear with me while all these terms shake out, we will kind of see what sticks moving forward and I will use that terminology accordingly. For now I am going to kind of use Elite and Thailand Privilege interchangeably so everybody knows what I am talking about. We are talking about the transition from the old program over into this new program that is happening in the course of the upcoming weeks. 

I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Thai Immigration Policy: shape of things to come. Quoting directly: "On the expat front, Thailand Privilege Card has already announced its new packages for the Elite Visa which start on October 1. Many social media commentators have criticized the huge hike in enrollment fees - a 50% rise for the 5-year option and several hundred percent for 20 years - but they are principally reacting from a European or American perspective. Elite Management is confident that affluent Chinese and Russian citizens in particular will willingly pay the extra to be allowed to remain here without the requirement of returning to their home country." It remains to be seen. I can see the argument maybe in favour of that supposition that yeah Russian, Chinese maybe folks from the global South, down in India for example - wealthy folks down there - may be willing to pay more for the privilege, for the benefit of being able to remain in Thailand long term, substantially long term, notably up to 20 years in some cases. So again, it is not that far outside the realm of possibility in my mind.

That said, the cost has gone up substantially. This is a substantial increase in terms of cost associated with the Thailand Elite Visa, or what has been called the Thailand Elite Visa and apparently moving forward it is going to be the Privilege Visa. Again we will kind of deal with that as and when we get to it but we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as this situation evolves.