The non-immigrant IM visa (investment visa) can be applied for by foreigners that have invested an amount of at least 10M THB in Thailand.
The government introduced this visa (again) to attract foreign investment in the country. This was previously done in 1997 to compensate for the poor economic situation during the Asian Financial Crisis (at the time, the ceiling of the investment amounted to 3M THB). Foreigners that currently live in Thailand with this visa can still renew it every year, but since October 2006, no other (old) investment visa can be issued. The amount of 10M THB may seem high, but with the prices of a new condominium easily amounting to 250,000 THB per square meter, this minimum is usually reached rather easily.
Fortunately, the law doesn’t require one investment of 10M THB thus a combination is possible as long as one invests in:
The purchase or rent of a condominium for a period of no less than three (3) years issued by a relevant agency or government
The form of a fixed deposit with a Thai bank, under the condition that Thai nationals hold more than 50 percent of the shares
Purchase of government or state enterprise bond
A letter from Thailand’s Board of Investment
If it’s not possible to provide one of these documents, a letter should explain the reasons why. Note that all documents should be translated into English (in this case, the documents should be notarised by a diplomatic or consular service) or Thai.
The investment visa is in principle only valid for 90 days and has to be used within three (3) months after receipt. A multiple re-entry visa is valid for one year and can in any case be extended as long as the investment is maintained.