Newly added to the range of longstay visas comes the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) option for foreign investors in three eastern provinces which include Chonburi. The EEC visa, which allows multiple entries, offers automatic work permit procedures for targeted industries, and a discounted rate of 17 percent income tax for specialists, executives, professionals and (if necessary) dependants.
The EEC visa duration is actually linked to the life of the holder’s work permit and is considered an investor type. There is obviously overlap with LTR which, however, is not linked to certain provinces and is much broader covering wealthy retirees, digital nomads with contracts and world travellers as well as executives. The benefits are similar – reduced income tax, avoidance of 90 days reporting and airport perks – but the EEC visa is specifically linked geographically to investment in high-tech industries and sunrise initiatives such as robotics, petrochemical, healthcare, tourism and biotechnology.
In recent years, Thailand has diversified its longstay visa regulations to encourage the overseas wealthy to make a base here. These include the Elite visa introduced in 2003, which has had a controversial history, the O/X 10 year visa for retirees from 2016 (not popular because of its bureaucracy) and the Long Term Residence started last year. The new EEC visa also illustrates the growing involvement of government agencies such as the Board of Investment, in addition to the immigration bureau, in the granting of longstay visas.
