You don't pay until you're approved. It's really cheap for what it is. There's no other visa that gets you a work permit and annual report (instead of 90 day) for 5k thb a year.
certain groups here are really everyone. People like to cite a single nationality, but that's not the case. A lot of migration of many nationalities here. Quite a bit of transactions going on. Much more demand than supply. Raw land prices up double in the last 16 months.
properties not difficult to sell in Phuket right now and probably long term. Finite amount of land. Most demand in Thailand. In other provinces, this is not the case.