BANGKOK, 5 July 2018: Thailand’s Elite Residency Programme is building momentum with an uptake of 900 new members since April 2017.
International residence and citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners has been marketing the Thailand Elite Residence Programme on behalf of the Thailand Privilege Card Company Ltd since April last year.
It is celebrating it first year claiming it has secured record growth for the Elite Card, which at one time was suspended while the owning company restructured.
Henley & Partners were recruited in to sell the card programme after the restructuring that placed the company under the direct supervision of the Tourist Authority of Thailand.
Now the sales pitch focuses on the card’s status as a one-of-a-kind programme that offers unlimited access to the country with VIP-like privileges.
Initiated by the Thai Government to attract wealthy travellers, families, investors and entrepreneurs it offers extended stays in the country and a so-called “beneficial tax regime”.
Henley & Partners was appointed exclusive global concessionaire for the Thailand Elite Residence Programme in April 2017, claiming there has been a steady up-tick in sales.
According to Henley & Partners Singapore and Southeast Asia, head and managing partner, Dominic Volek, “the programme went from attracting an average of 300 applications a year to securing over 900 on-boarded residents from April to December 2017 alone”.
The 2018 year-to-date results also show promise. March was a record month in the programme’s history, with 161 new residents signed up.
“This monthly figure is over half the number of residents on-boarded during an entire year before Henley & Partners started promoting the Thailand Elite Residence Programme,” said Volek.
The Thailand Elite Residence Programme provides a multiple-entry visa to qualified applicants, allowing them to visit and reside in Thailand for a period of between five and 20 years, at a one-time cost of between THB 500,000 (approximately USD16,000) and THB2.14 million (approximately USD68,000), depending on the option chosen.
The programme includes seven different options, which vary in benefits, costs, and validity periods. The most popular options so far are the five-year Elite Easy Access, the five-year, multi-person Elite Family Excursion, and the twenty-year Elite Superiority Extension.
The main target markets are business travellers needing fast, hassle-free entry and exit in and out of the country. But there is demand from retirees who, if they stay in Thailand for more than 180 days per year, stand to benefit from a favourable tax regime.
Other client benefits include an express counter at border control, airport lounge access, short-haul airport transfers, and access to luxury golf courses, spa treatments as well as medical check-ups.
According to Volek, “Chinese nationals are picking up significantly, while citizens of the UK, Germany, Australia, the US, and Japan make up the bulk of the existing client base”.
