THE Government today (Sept. 20) explained that its move to attract certain groups of foreigners to work and invest here and also allowing them to buy houses in this country is aimed at spurring economic growth and investment particularly to compensate for the decreased number of foreign tourists and drop in tourism revenue, Amarin TV said.
Mr. Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office, said having specialists from around the world live and work here will not only make up for the dwindled tourist revenue as the highly-skilled professionals would enhance the country’s development and transfer knowledge to upgrade skills while also increasing employment for local workers.
The new measure is aimed at four clearly defined groups of foreigners as follows:
– High net-worth individuals;
– Retirees;
– Those who want to work from Thailand;
– Those with special skills.
However there are conditions for each group beneficial to Thailand’s development. Among these terms are minimum investment of US$250,000 to 500,000 in Thai government bonds and minimum income of USD80,000 or being the owner of intellectual property.
Thanakorn said the second part of the guidelines that focuses on introducing a special long-term visa and amendment of relevant regulations are aimed at eliminating obstacles for foreigners to invest in Thailand. These measures can be repealed or revised every five years in accordance with the circumstances in promoting global investment.
In terms of renting or buying real estate in Thailand the government still adheres to the principles in the existing measures not as being distorted by some groups who are attacking the government, he mentioned.
Thanakorn also said that there will be an important economic turning point in the post-Covid era and measures to attract high potential people would both help compensate for the decreased number of foreign tourists and plunging tourist revenue and encourage investment in advanced industries.
It is expected that in five years the number of foreigners from high socio-economic groups and experts will increase by one million, which will generate economic benefits from domestic spending by 1 trillion baht, and also increase investment by 800 billion baht, as well as increase tax income by 270 billion baht.
“So I would like to implore all parties to be open-minded and study the measures in depth and consider the benefits for Thailand in future,” he said.
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