While not exactly the rush it was hoping for, Thailand is seeing applications trickle in for its new visa program targeted at rich foreigners, with officials viewing it as a sign of more to come.
About 400 people have sought the visa within the first 12 days of it being rolled out, with pensioners making up 40 percent of the applications, Thai Board of Investment Deputy Secretary-General Narit Therdsteerasukdi said in an interview in Bangkok.
Applicants for the work-from-Thailand pass accounted for 30 percent, while the remaining was split between highly skilled professionals and wealthy global citizens, he said.
Photo: AFP
The program is being promoted not just to foreigners outside Thailand, but also to the estimated 300,000 expats already living in the country using other entry permits.
Unlike Singapore’s focus on attracting talent to fill gaps in the top layer of the labor market and drive innovation, Thailand’s visa program differs in its scope.
The country, touted as the “Land of Smiles,” looks to boost economic activity by making it easier for high net-worth individuals to live and work.
The government targets 1 trillion baht (US$27.3 billion) equivalent of economic benefits annually by way of investment and purchase of properties by the new entrants.
“We also have a friendly environment and are open to work with foreigners,” Narit said, adding that US nationals accounted for 20 percent of the visa applications, followed by China at 15 percent and the UK at 10 percent.
“The cost of living here is low,” he said.
The visa program seeks to build on post-COVID-19 pandemic efforts to welcome back visitors to the Southeast Asian nation, where tourism accounts for about 12 percent of GDP.
The program grants visitors a 10-year renewable, multiple-entry visa. Its holders have permission to work, and are eligible for tax breaks and a 17 percent ceiling on personal income tax for highly skilled professionals, with benefits extended to spouses and children.
Thailand received 1,200 applications under a separate four-year smart visa program, targeted at foreign workers, since 2018, Narit said.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San