Thailand Privilege Visa — long stay by membership, five to twenty years

A long-stay membership programme run by a state enterprise under the Tourism Authority of Thailand, formerly branded Thailand Elite. Members receive a multiple-entry Privilege Entry Visa with a long-stay permission, renewed in-country by the programme's own government affairs team rather than through a standard extension application.

The visa is issued with a long permitted stay per entry, extendable in-country by the programme, and the membership itself runs from five years up to twenty depending on the tier. Leaving and re-entering starts a fresh permitted stay, and members are not restricted to a fixed number of days per year.

Not on the visa alone. It is a long-stay privilege, not a work authorisation. Higher tiers may include a pathway to a work permit where you also hold a qualifying position and the accompanying corporate structure, but any employment in Thailand still requires a work permit obtained on its own merits.

Membership length, the fee, the number of privilege points redeemable for services such as airport limousine transfers, health checks, golf and spa, whether family members can be added, and access to the upper-tier concierge and investment-linked options. The underlying immigration benefit — long stay, multiple entry, in-country renewal — is common to all tiers.

Yes, on the tiers that permit dependants, for an additional fee per member. Each added family member receives their own Privilege Entry Visa for the remaining membership term.

Yes. 90-day address reporting applies to any foreigner staying continuously beyond 90 days, including Privilege members, although the programme's government affairs team assists with it as part of the membership service.

The membership fee is generally non-refundable once the application is approved and the card is issued. Applications can be refused on background screening grounds, and where refusal happens before issuance the position on fees follows the programme's current terms. Read those terms before transferring anything.

LTR is ten years, free of a membership fee, and requires income, wealth or employer qualification plus health insurance; it can carry work rights and a flat personal income tax rate for some categories. Privilege costs a lump sum, imposes no income test, and grants no work rights. Those who qualify for LTR usually take LTR; Privilege exists for people who prefer to pay rather than qualify.