There are numerous differences between the Thailand Privilege Visa memberships and the Thailand Elite Visa memberships. The overhauls go beyond just a name and title change; it also involves factors such as costs, privileges, requirements, and so on. This article is a comparison of both the discontinued Thailand Elite Visa membership program and the current Thailand Privilege program.
Options for both visas
The Thailand Elite Visa membership program included a total of 6 memberships:
- The 5-year Elite Easy Access package.
- The 10-year Elite Family Alternative and Elite Privilege Access packages.
- The 20-year Elite Superiority Extension, Elite Ultimate Privilege, and Elite Family Premium packages.
In contrast, the Thailand Privilege membership program consist of 4 memberships:
- The 5-year GOLD Membership.
- The 10-year PLATINUM Membership.
- The 15-year DIAMOND Membership.
- The 20-year RESERVE Membership (by invitation only).
While limited to 4 extravagant options, the introduction of the privilege points system allowed for members to leverage any sort of benefits they’d like, rather than limiting them to only a certain number of privileges per membership package.
Costs
| Validity (years) | Cost (THB) | Cost (THB) (family members) | Annual Fees (THB) | Privilege Points (per year) | |
| Elite Easy Access | 5 | 600,000 | 600,000 | – | – |
| Elite Family Alternative | 10 | 800,000 | 700,000 | – | – |
| Elite Privilege Access | 10 | 1,000,000 | 800,000 | – | – |
| Elite Superiority Extension | 20 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 | – | – |
| Elite Ultimate Privilege | 20 | 2,000,000 | 2,000,000 | 20,000 | – |
| Elite Family Premium | 20 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 | 10,000 | – |
| GOLD Membership | 5 | 900,000 | 900,000 | – | 20 |
| PLATINUM Membership | 10 | 1,500,000 | 1,500,000 | – | 35 |
| DIAMOND Membership | 15 | 2,500,000 | 2,500,000 | – | 55 |
| RESERVE Membership | 20 (only via invitation) | 5,000,000 | 5,000,000 | – | 120 |
Requirements for the Thailand Privilege memberships and the Thailand Elite Visa program
No age/financial/employment/education requirements for new membership options:
For the new Thailand Privilege packages, applicants do not have to meet any of these specific requirements to be considered qualified. While the same applied for most Thailand Elite Visa memberships, the Elite Ultimate Privilege membership required applicants to be at least 20 years old.
No annual fees for new membership packages for new applicants:
New applicants do not have to pay any annual fees for their new Thailand Privilege memberships.
This was also the case for the Thailand Elite Visa with the exception of the Elite Ultimate Privilege and Elite Family Premium packages. The former carried an annual fee of 20,000 THB and the latter required visa holders to spend 10,000 THB a year.
Privileges and Benefits
New privileges
Thailand Privilege Memberships also include new, additional privileges that weren’t available in the old Thailand Elite Visa program.
This includes:
- Free VIP seating and movie ticket deals.
- Personal accident insurance.
- Access to co-working spaces and networking events.
- Events and special gifts on birthdays and on a seasonal basis (ie: concerts).
- The ability to rent private jets, yachts, and boats.
- Wealth advisory sessions and seminars.
- Entertainment tickets.
- Complimentary hotel nights.
- Access to hotel and chain fitness centres.
Elite Personal Liaison services and 90-day reporting assistance no longer baseline:
Applicants may be disappointed to hear that certain privileges that were formerly baseline when part of the Thailand Elite Visa program, can only be acquired now using privilege points with the new Thailand Privilege program.
These include:
- Hiring a Thailand Privilege staff to conduct 90-day reporting on your behalf for free.
- Hiring an Elite Personal Liaison for free assistance in opening a Thai bank account.
- Hiring an Elite Personal Liaison for free assistance in applying for a driver’s licence.
- Hiring an Elite Personal Liaison to offer support on any government-related services.
The Privilege Points System
This is an entirely new feature announced exclusively for the Thailand Privilege program, granting members more flexibility over choosing their privileges. For instance, a member of a 5-year GOLD Membership can spend 2 points for a domestic airline ticket, or 3 points for a single buy-1-get-1-free movie ticket.
Points are broken down into 3 categories:
- 1 point: used to purchase privileges such as airport transfers, complimentary dining nights, spa packages, access to hotel fitness centres, buy 1 get 1 free movie tickets.
- 2 points: used to acquire privileges such as airport transfers via luxury vehicles, dental checkups, health checks, golfing discounts, and tickets to sporting events.
- 3 points: used to acquire privileges such as domestic roundtrip flights, airport transfers for longer hauls, private tours, health checkups, and tickets to world class concerts.
Application
Usually, the changes between the two membership packages in terms of application procedures and required documentation are minimal. Both the Thai Elite Visa and the Thai Privilege Visa offer lower processing times and less strenuous requirements when compared to other visas such as a retirement visa, marriage visa, LTR Visa or even a different tourist visa for that matter. For both, you need to submit your application, provide your passport, and pay the membership fee to be able to travel on it.
However the time it takes to apply is the catch here. For Thailand Elite Visa, the application process usually takes between 1 to 3 months, with 4 to 6 weeks for the background check. With a Thailand Privilege Visa, the time it takes to apply is significantly faster.
Contact us
Should you have any questions about the application process or need further information about Thailand Elite, please fill out the form below. Our dedicated team will get back to you promptly to assist with your inquiry.