The Thai cabinet has approved a package of economic incentives aimed at attracting wealthy foreigners and highly qualified specialists from abroad to help revive the economy after the coronavirus.
"The benefits in the package include a 10-year Thai visa for approved special applicants, their spouses and children," said the government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.
The package also includes automatic work permits, the same income tax rates as for Thai citizens, exemption from taxes on income from abroad, and also ownership of real estate and land.
The right to choose a fixed income tax rate of 17% within the package will be offered only to foreign experts involved in the development of the government's flagship scheme of the Eastern Economic Corridor (WEC).
The officials have said that the government expects to attract more than a million qualified specialists to Thailand in the next five years, starting with 2022.
"The government also expects that these foreigners will spend an average of one million baht per person per year while staying and working in Thailand, or about a trillion baht in total in the next five years," Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana says.
According to him, it is expected that about 800 billion baht will be received from the investments of foreigners, as required by the application forms for these long-term visas. Another 270 billion baht will bring taxes paid by these foreigners.
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The government has four target groups for a long-term visa scheme:
Source: Bangkok Post