It is choice and nothing more. There is no financial benefit, no benefit that can't be paid for in other ways. It is a choice for those with the money to pay and who believe it is worthwhile ;)

Yes I see the point of it.

There is not really a lot of difference. It really is convenience more than anything. Elite is perfect for those well away from 50 with no other options or frequent Travellers. However for 10 years for a retirement extension plus multi entry it is 57,000 baht. For elite it is 1 million. A massive difference. For Elite you get the benefits of golf and airport pickups and all that. But if you used an agent to do your extensions, booked yourself a car for the airport, paid for golf yourself, it would still be substantially cheaper than the package they offer is. It is designed for the Business Traveller but some retirees with extra cash go for it also. I do not see the benefit for that amount of money myself. They do have a skimmed down version for visa only which 1 mill for 20 years or 50k baht per year. That is a little more reasonable. EDIT - you also put the 800k up front but keep it. Elite you put 500k up front but do not keep it.

@Robert ***********

You can do that with the yearly retirement extension ;)

@Keith *****

Yes I am about to do mine after 2 years. I will only get another 2 years though. So sad :( ...LOL.

@Steve ******

Agreed and also good to check insurance which usually requires IDP.

That is not correct. If you don't have a long term visa you will get 2 years again when you renew. You only get 5 years with a year long visa.

You will be fined eventually. Some cop will want his tip. With IDP it never happens.

If you have a long term visa then 5 years for renewal, yes.

You should tell the cops about this 'treaty'...LOL