October 1, 2023, would mark a new era in Thailand Privilege history.
On Wednesday, August 30th, a formal announcement was made by Thailand Privilege Card Company Limited regarding new changes and revamps to the Thailand Elite program. At the “Live with New Possibilities” seminar, new membership packages were announced with details on the prices, the privileges, the new privilege points system, and more insights into Thailand Privilege Card’s future goals.
At the start of October, applicants are offered the opportunity to apply for new memberships and relish in all their delightful benefits. A massive advantage this had over the previous offerings is the chance for an even more simplified and quicker application journey. While Thai Elite Visas were renowned for lacking the frustrating pitfalls that befell other visa applications, Thailand Privilege would take these to greater lengths. In addition, the privilege point system was introduced, providing a way for you as the applicant to experience greater flexibility in the way you acquire perks. No longer are privileges bog-standard for each membership; applicants can redeem their points for any benefit at hand.
There were 4 new memberships announced for applicants. These include:
Thailand Privilege Card Company Limited has introduced a cascade of new privileges and perks for Thai Privilege membership holders to take full advantage of. The privileges have been grouped into 5 different categories: Stay, Travel, Leisure, Health & Wellbeing, and Wealth.
These unique and additional lifestyle perks include:
A new addition to the Thailand Privilege program is the introduction of the privilege points system. This brand new scheme allows for members to carry a certain number of privilege points per year, the amount itself depending on which membership the holder carries. Each membership provides a series of points per year that would reset the moment the following year begins (for instance GOLD members are entitled to 20 privilege points each year). Privilege points are often redeemable for either 1 point, 2 points, or 3 points (or more) each.
To be fully qualified for the Thailand Privilege Membership program, the applicant must have:
Thailand Privilege Card Company Limited accepts payment through various means:
No, applicants would be able to apply for the new Thailand Privilege membership schemes the same way they were able to apply for a Thai Elite Visa in the past.
To apply, simply submit the following documents:
And as usual, applicants will be taken through the following stages:
Every membership comes with a certain number of privilege points that can be used every year, benefitting members by:
The distribution of points is as follows:
The differences are mostly in terms of pricing, types of memberships on offer, the benefits available for each, and the fact that the new membership packages make use of the new privilege points system.
Thailand Privilege Memberships also include new, additional privileges not present with the old Thailand Elite Visa program. This includes:
Yes, as a member you have the right to consult a Thailand Privilege staff for support on your needs. However, privilege points will need to be spent on this.
The Elite Personal Liaison can assist with:
Holders of an ED Visa will be happy to know that Thailand Privilege will be considering them as qualified applicants, provided there is evidence that the applicant’s ED Visa was obtained through legal means and the educational system they were enrolled at is legitimate.
There is currently no news on how volunteer visa holders will be treated under the new program, so applicants with these visas on-hand or having had one in the past should stay tuned.
Anyone with a Thai Elite Visa can choose to upgrade to one of the newer Thailand Privilege schemes for access to the new privileges.
Members will be able to upgrade their membership once January 2024 rolls around. More news on how this works will be released once the date nears.
So far, there aren’t many changes to which countries are no longer or are now restricted from applying for a Thailand Privilege visa. The country that technically benefits the most from these cascades of new changes is China, due to a number of reasons:
Other nationalities remain the same, though Thailand Privilege has specified that there will be changes on the horizon.
Yes you can. After earning your membership ID and welcome letter, you will be able to apply for a membership card. This is an entirely separate application and completely optional for the new Thailand Privilege member. There are two benefits to having this document:
Membership cards can be sent either by mail to your address in Thailand or you can pick it up at the Thailand Privilege desk at the airport (same location you affixed your new visa to your travel document).
Members do earn the same benefits when it comes to the lack of needing a re-entry permit, bank account assistance, driver licence assistance, being able to hire an agent for free for your 90-day reporting, and no need for annual fees every year.
However, the introduction of the privilege point system does mean that now a lot of these are only obtainable through privilege points. You may need to redeem privilege points to obtain the following perks:
With the Thailand Elite, a lot of the above were baseline.
Applying through Siam Legal offers many benefits for applicants, including:
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