Thailand Privilege Card Co (TPC), the operator of Thailand Elite Card, is targeting investors from CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam), particularly Chinese businessmen who have been naturalised, to invest more in real estate.
Due to rigid travel restrictions in the mainland, many Chinese investors opted for naturalisation in Cambodia and Myanmar where they have businesses, to continue business trips without obstacles, said Ratchadawan Loetsilathong, vice-president of administrative and corporate affairs and acting president of TPC.
Those investors are the target of the 500,000-baht Elite Flexible One requiring applicants to purchase real estate worth 10 million baht at a minimum with proof of ownership.
At present, 28 property developers are participating and 85 property projects are available in the scheme, which will run until the end of this year.
As of May 6, the Elite Flexible One has five card members, mostly from China, who purchased condos from four property developers -- Sansiri, Siamese Asset, Ananda Development and Landmark Holdings.
The total volume of transactions stood at 91.05 million baht, with one member spending 30 million baht on a condo unit.
"There are still more Chinese buyers who want join the programme, but they cannot travel to Thailand to visit project sites to finalise their decisions," Ms Ratchadawan said.
Their assets must not be purchased via mortgage loans and cannot be sold and transferred within five years.
Elite Flexible One cardholders will have benefits like a five-year multiple entry visa to Thailand, use of the premium lane at airports and transfer services.
Meanwhile, TPC also expanded the market for the Flexible Plus scheme to stimulate investment of at least US$1 million in Thailand through real estate, a limited company or a public company, or the stock exchange, with members receiving five-year work permits.
The company organised a roadshow from May 10-11 to attract high-net-worth individuals in Singapore, including investors, bankers and businessmen from the Singapore Business Federation.
It will host more roadshows, starting with Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Hiroshima and Sendai in Japan in July, followed by Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Beijing in China in September.
In November, it will introduce the card in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE.
As of March 31, there were 16,979 Elite Card holders.
