Thailand to finally do away with the 90-day address reports? Maybe

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Thailand to finally do away with the 90-day address reports? Maybe

Post by Gaybutton »

While you're at it, how about giving us longer term retirement visas too . . .
_________________________________________________________________

Govt mulls visa rule overhaul for expats, tourists, investors

12 Apr 2021

The government could revamp immigration rules this year to make it easier for expats and long-term tourists to stay in the country, part of a strategy to boost investment and tourism revenue once the pandemic eases.

The proposed changes could mean foreigners would no longer have to file 90-day reports of their whereabouts -- a deeply unpopular requirement, particularly now that the online filing system has been down for more than a month.

Expats trying to file online have been greeted with a flashy animation painting the immigration service in a glamorous light, followed by a simple text message that the system is "temporarily closed for maintenance". No further information is given, including when the system might be repaired. Hotel staff have also been frustated because the TM-30 reporting system has also been down.

“Immigration rules are the key pain point” for foreigners working in Thailand, Chayotid Kridakorn, 54, a former head of JPMorgan Securities (Thailand) who’s leading a government task force to smooth investment into Thailand, said in a phone interview from Bangkok. “We want to make it easier for foreigners to live and work in Thailand.”

Authorities contend that making it easier for foreign companies to bring in skilled workers and for western retirees to stay in Thailand will boost the economy, which suffered its biggest contraction in more than two decades last year. Gross domestic product growth won’t return to pre-Covid levels until the third quarter of 2022, according to the Bank of Thailand.

A detailed framework to boost investment and tourism will be proposed to the government’s economic panel within a month, Mr Chayotid said. Plans include improving regulations on immigration, visa applications and work permits for foreign experts, including relaxing the requirement for foreign workers to report their whereabouts to authorities every 90 days.

The framework also will include inducements for foreign investors such as corporate income-tax cuts, relaxed property-holding rules and incentives for retirees and start-up companies.

Retirees, Pensioners

Mr Chayotid, an adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow, said he aims to attract one million retirees or pensioners to Thailand in the next few years, who he claimed could contribute as much as 1.2 trillion baht to the economy each year.

Thailand has seen foreign direct investment tumble more than 50% in the past five years to about 361 billion baht in 2020 as investors were deterred by factors including periodic political uncertainties, low growth prospects due to an aging society and a labour shortage. Foreign tourist arrivals into Thailand plunged to 6.7 million last year, the lowest level in at least 12 years, after the country closed its borders to contain the pandemic.

Areas that need immediate improvement include visas and regulations that prevent Thailand from gaining more value from foreigners and foreign workers, Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said in a March speech that was posted recently on the central bank’s website.

Other points from the interview with Mr Chayotid:

The task force will talk to foreign manufacturers in Thailand, especially in the auto and electronic industries, about how to upgrade their technology or bring research and development functions to Thailand
The team will recommend the government offer more incentives and develop infrastructure for use of electric cars, which could encourage local producers to meet rising demand locally
The team will approach new investors when Thailand reopens its borders later this year

“If we don’t fix this now, it will be too late to upgrade our investment,” Mr Chayotid said. “We don’t want to be left behind and die with old technology.”

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... -investors
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Re: Thailand to finally do away with the 90-day address reports? Maybe

Post by Daleinpattaya »

Certainly way up there in the R2BS category ... REMAINS TO BE SEEN!!

Similarly from ThaiVisa this morning >>>>>”The Thai government is set to revamp its immigraiton rules - including the 90 day reporting requirement - in a bid to attract more investors and retirees.

According to Bloomberg, the government has set up a task force in order to help make it easier for long term tourists and expats to stay in Thailand.

“We want to make it easier for foreigners to live and work in Thailand,” Chayotid Kridakorn, 54, a former head of JPMorgan Securities (Thailand) who is now leading the new task force, told Bloomberg.

The task force will propose a number of measures to the government aimed at boosting investment and tourism.

Among the proposals include relaxing immigration regulations for visa applications, work permits and 90 day reports.

Bloomberg’s article echo similar proposals first reported last month, where the Thai government aimed to target so-called wealthy retirees from Scandinavia, Europe and East Asia including South Korea and Japan, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

The types of foreign retirees targeted will be those who have a healthy pension pot, with the ability to spend 200,000 - 300,000 baht per month.

The government says that if it can attract one million retirees each spending 100,000 baht per month or 1.2million baht per year, that would generate 1.2 trillion baht per year for the economy.

Meanwhile, a source at the Ministry of Energy who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Thaivisa last week that proposals to ease restrictions on foreigners buying property in Thailand are now at an advanced stage.

Some of the proposals include amending the Condominium Act to allow foreigners to purchase up to 80 percent of a single condo development. Currently foreigners can only own up to 49 percent of the units in a condo development.

The government also wants to attract foreigners to buy a second home in Thailand.

In order to do this, it is proposed that foreigners will be allowed to purchase and own outright a house located on a development valued from 10 million baht, with a land size of not more than 1 Rai.”
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Re: Thailand to finally do away with the 90-day address reports? Maybe

Post by Gaybutton »

It would certainly make sense for Thailand to do something for foreigners, especially expats who are trying to make their life here. From the Thai point of view, I don't see it as "Let's Be Kind to Foreigners Week." I see it from the purely economic standpoint. After all, a lot of money is spent in Thailand by foreigners, and especially now with the Covid restrictions, most foreigners spending their money in Thailand are the expats. And we spend a lot of it.

I hope they really will do away with the 90-day address report. It is outdated and absurd. In my opinion, what would make sense would be a requirement to submit proof of address only once, and then submit another report if you move elsewhere.

It would also be nice if expats who have established themselves in Thailand for a certain number of years, without any kind of criminal record, to be granted much longer term visas or even residence. I won't hold my breath for that one, but it would sure be nice.

I would also like to see easing up on the 800,000 baht requirement for the retirement visa. I'd like to see them make it easier to fulfill the 65,000 baht per month requirement and give us some sort of guarantee that it won't suddenly change.

If they want us here, spending our money here, law abiding and not causing problems - make it easier and more attractive for us. I see too many farang expats get frustrated and move out of Thailand and too many who are eligible to retire in Thailand, but won't do it because of all these rules and restrictions.


"Has the darkness made you see the light?"
- Charlton Heston (Moses), 'The Ten Commandments'
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Re: Thailand to finally do away with the 90-day address reports? Maybe

Post by Gaybutton »

According to the "vibes" I'm getting, it's becoming more and more likely that Thailand will indeed soon get rid of the 90-day address report. Of course, if they hadn't done whatever they did to end the online reporting, the 90-day address report wouldn't have remained much of a problem anyway.

Ending that requirement is a start - a nice start - but hardly enough. As a long term expat in Thailand I would certainly appreciate being made to feel that Thailand places much more value on my presence than just that.

As I've already mentioned, the two things I would most like to see are:

1. Put an end to the 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account requirement.
2. Give us long term visas - without charging a fortune for them.

I hope Thailand is finally at least beginning to wake up to the fact that expat farang are significant contributors to Thailand's economy and are in no way a drain on the economy. The vast majority of us are perfectly capable of supporting ourselves. We have sense enough to carry medical insurance. We pay our bills. We are not among those who rip off hospitals or anyplace else. We abide by Thai laws and do not commit crimes.

And while Thailand is desperate for foreign tourists, guess what - we expats are already here - and we're spending much more money in Thailand than most tourists ever will.

Regarding expats, which is better for Thailand - having more of us or having none of us?

So, what's the big problem about making it easier and more attractive for us?
Jun

Re: Thailand to finally do away with the 90-day address reports? Maybe

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 12:40 pm So, what's the big problem about making it easier and more attractive for us?
A good question. Trying to "invert" and put myself in their shoes to think of reasons why not:

1 They only can raise revenues for "Elite" visa schemes if there's some clear differential to normal visas. So they need some inconvenience for the regular visa holders so the Elite visa can be more convenient.

2 .......I've run out of ideas.


The main reason to allow foreigners in is presumably to spend money in Thailand.

The 90 day address reporting makes no sense at all.
I would have thought all Thailand needs is a stable visa policy that's easy, keeps out people who don't meet certain criteria (financial, criminal etc) and if they want to extract some modest fees for that, it's made as easy as possible.

My impressions of immigration (as a tourist) is they're not even trying to be efficient and rational.
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Re: Thailand to finally do away with the 90-day address reports? Maybe

Post by Daleinpattaya »

IMHO, greatly influencing this issue is the fact (?) that EVERY decision in EVERY Thai's daily life is based from the outset on FACE ... as natural from childhood onward as putting the right flip flop on the right foot and the left on the left....I say this not as a criticism, but simply as a fact of life.... as natural as breathing and blinking. If we consider FACE when asking questions about 90 days or any other "amazing Thailand" rule/regulations ... there is your answer ... end of discussion.
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Re: Thailand to finally do away with the 90-day address reports? Maybe

Post by Gaybutton »

Daleinpattaya wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 8:00 am there is your answer ... end of discussion.
Not for me it isn't. For me it is only the beginning.

The way I see it, economics is just as important to the decision makers as face, maybe even more so. And I think an excellent way to not only save face, but to gain it, would be to say it's about time to give farang, especially expats, a significant break. Virtually every Thai I talk to says the same thing - we need foreign money in Thailand to save what's left of the businesses the Covid epidemic has destroyed. We need farang and their money to be here, not driven out.
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Re: Thailand to finally do away with the 90-day address reports? Maybe

Post by Gaybutton »

A week and a half later and nothing more about this. No news items. No announcements.

If this ever really does come to pass, I'll put this back into "Announcements".
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Re: Thailand to finally do away with the 90-day address reports? Maybe

Post by travelerjim1 »

📢 Some good news for foreigners wanting to do their 90 day report online. The Immigration Bureau has just announced (in Thai language only) that foreigners can now once again use their online system: https://t.co/gkEwMDyaIY #Thailand Until next time.

Sadly, if you got an extension while the system was down it did not update,

Meaning you can't use the mobile app for 90 reporting until you go and do another report in person.

https://t.co/vHDdKKxqw0
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Re: Thailand to finally do away with the 90-day address reports? Maybe

Post by richsilver »

I just completed the 90 day reporting online and it was approved in less than an hour!
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