Elite card holders - many Brits - spend 3,000 baht a day - company heading for profit as membership soars - Thai Visa

Elite card holders - many Brits - spend 3,000 baht a day - company heading for profit as membership soars

 

Picture: Bangkok BIz News

 

The general manager of Thailand Privilege Card who run the Elite Card scheme has said they are heading for profit for the first time overcoming millions in losses since their inception. 

 

He has also given details of where Elite members stay in Thailand, how much they spend and a little about where they are from.

 

Elite Cards - the scheme to give foreigners long term residency for up to 2 million baht - has been a loss maker in its 18 years since it started in 2003, said Somchai Sungsawang.

 

He admitted that the company had burned 246 million baht.

 

Now they have turned the corner and look set to fly into overall profit.

 

Their target for membership in the current fiscal year was 2,607 new members. But since October - just four months - they have had applications from 2,066 new members, reported Bangkok Business News. 

 

Most of the new members have been Chinese businessmen spooked by the turmoil in Myanmar looking for a safe haven in Thailand. 

 

Of all the Elite card holders the most are people from the UK with China in fourth place. 

 

Somchai admitted the second wave of the pandemic had slowed applications by 70% but still predicted profit in the 2020-21 fiscal year.

 

He also said that 3,000 of the now 10,000 members are actually in Thailand at the moment. Around 200 a month arrived last year after restrictions were eased after the first throes of the pandemic. 

 

The places where they reside most are Chiang Mai, Phuket and Chonburi (this would probably mostly mean the Pattaya area, notes Thaivisa).

 

Somchai said they spend $100 a day each on average or around 3,000 baht and on average stay in Thailand 4-6 months of the year. 

 

He reckoned they spend between 360,000 to 540,000 baht on each visit that adds up to a 1,350 million baht contribution. 

 

The company also said that they have signed agreements with 10 real estate developers regarding 46 different projects to attract foreigners to buy property worth 10 million baht and get long term residence under the Elite Flexible One plan. 

 

Source: Bangkok BIz News