The cabinet has greenlighted an economic stimulus and investment promotion package aimed at attracting wealthy foreigners and highly skilled professionals from overseas to help revive the economy post-Covid-19.
Benefits in the package include a 10-year Thai visa for not only approved special visitors but also their spouses and children, said government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, on Tuesday.
The package also includes automatic work permits, the same rates of income tax as Thai citizens, tax exemption for income earned abroad, and ownership of properties and land, he said.
Mr Thanakorn said that the right to choose to pay a fixed rate of income tax at 17% within the package is being offered but only to foreign experts contributing to the development of the government’s flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) scheme.
The government expects to attract more than a million qualified people to Thailand in the next five years, beginning next year, he said.
“The government also expects these foreigners to spend on average a million baht per person per year while staying and working in Thailand, or about a trillion baht in the next five years in total,” Mr Thanakorn said.
Source: Bangkok Post