Thailand Elite Card is preparing to raise its minimum membership price by 50% to 900,000 baht, from 600,000 baht, as the company attempts to ramp up annual revenue to 8 billion baht, according to Thailand Privilege Card Co (TPC), the operator of the card.
The four new types of card will also remove the word "Elite" from their title, which has been used since the scheme's establishment under the Thaksin Shinawatra government in 2003.
"The privilege programme will remain competitive despite price changes. We're confident that we will not lose clients to neighbouring countries that offer a similar long-stay visa programme," said Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and board chairman of TPC.
The price of the most expensive new membership, called Reserve, will be raised to 5 million, surging 150% from 2 million baht for the existing top-tier membership, with a visa length of 20 years. However, this type will be accepted on the basis of by-invitation applications, with only 100 members per year.
Manatase Annawat, president of TPC, said the company is still letting new applicants apply for the existing membership until Sept 15, while current members can use the same benefits or upgrade to the four new types by paying an extra fee, with the company offering them promotional prices.
He said the company remained confident that the Gold membership, priced at 900,0000 baht, will be a revenue-driven programme as seen with the previous Elite Easy Access option, priced at 600,000 baht.
Even though it is more expensive, additional benefits would entice more customers, he said.
"The fixed cost which TPC has to pay for new services will be increased by 50%, or around 550 million baht, up from about 200 million baht per year for the existing cards," he said.
Mr Manatase said the number of members now tallies 31,500, which after 20 years of operation had generated around 50 billion baht to the country's economy.
He said that in fiscal 2023 the company would maintain a profit for the second consecutive year. It had already posted a 645-million-baht profit in the first nine months, exceeding the profit of 627 million baht in 2022.
Moreover, the company has already repaid 765 million baht to the TAT, its parent company, after it secured registered capital of around 700 million baht from the TAT in the initial stage.
TPC has cash flow of around 12 billion baht. It expects to increase sales revenue to 8 billion baht in fiscal 2024, which starts this October with the newly-rebranded cards.