SteveK

9 minutes ago, xylophone said:

True and I experienced it when I decided to have a colonoscopy after attending a presentation at a hospital here.

 

After the pres I asked the professor what the cost would be and he gave the basic cost as 12,000 baht (a few years ago now) so I booked in for the procedure.

 

Prior to it the nurse took my details and all was well until I came to pay the bill, which was given as 18,000 baht (a 50% increase) which astounded me, so I queried it........so they hurriedly shuffled of to a room and sorted through my file and other paperwork before coming back with a bill for 12,000 baht!!

 

On enquiring why the difference, I was told that the 18,000 baht cost was if the bill was going to be settled by my insurance company!!!!! Once the receptionist let that out, she was given a few glaring looks by the other staff.

 

I have seen other instances of a higher cost being given if they think an insurance company is footing the bill; common practice here. 

If that's true then it's fraud plain and simple.

It's obviously a terrible experience and sounds like the hospital were just trying to get as much money as possible by making it sound worse than it was. But the sums involved here are not that big by any stretch of the imagination.

By my reckoning you owe them 18k. Getting a lawyer involved might end up costing you more, depending on the lawyer you choose. Personally I would see what the ombudsman says, if they don't want to help, try and negotiate the sum down with the hospital, then pay them off and chalk it up to experience. The way you were talking, I was expecting the sum to be >100k.   

5 minutes ago, trucking said:

Never again with this airline.

Doesn't look like it.

1 minute ago, richard_smith237 said:

Some foreigners clearly believe they should be paying more... their justification for dual pricing undying. 

 

Thus: I would suggest - eradicate dual pricing and those foreigners who believe they should be paying 10x more because they are not paying a lifetime of sales tax (VAT) or years of income tax can support whichever place it is by offering 10x more. 

Whatever foreigners believe, they should just remember that ultimately this is Thailand and not their country. Trying to be a militant social justice warrior won't achieve anything except maybe denial of your next visa application. 

1 minute ago, richard_smith237 said:

He’s raises awareness about issues many feel is unfair

He's raising issues that he feels are unfair. But it's not his country. 

Whether it's right or wrong, dual pricing is something that happens in many countries. It seems weird that a guest in the country feels that it's right to publicly shame the country online because they don't agree with it. In your own country, fine.  Thailand has something called face, and Mr Barrow seems to like causing people to lose it. It seems like very entitled behaviour from someone who is only on temporary permission to stay in the kingdom.

Most of the comments on the Facebook page were from sanctimonious virtue-signallers who've probably never even been to Thailand. These kinds of behaviours are only going to compound any resentment towards westerners trying to live a quiet life in Thailand. What is Mr Barrow going to rail against next? It's not surprising at all that he's skating on thin ice.

Just now, Boomer6969 said:

And let's not overlook that he truly loves Thailand.

But he's not a resident, he's a guest on a temporary permission to stay.

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Yawn... go home if you don’t like it???

 

You think Dual Pricing is a tradition???....    another comical response. 

 

 

In my home city in the UK, if I show my council tax bill with local address I can get into many attractions for free, whereas people who don't reside in the city have to pay. What's the difference between this and Thailand's dual pricing?

3 hours ago, tifino said:

She have Bladder problems? eh wot

Small milk issue.

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

yes publicizing the truth, a definite crime

I think you'll find dual pricing in many countries. In almost every attraction in the UK, you pay less if you're a "senior". How is that fair? It's just the way it is. This guy's problem is trying to expose this as some kind of crime when it is not.  

He is deliberately trying to whip up a storm to bolster his online presence.

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

the last few weeks he has been publicizing 2pricethailand facebook group, highlighting the tourist attractions that are stiffing farang, maybe this got him in trouble. Totally unfair of course

Fair or not, the argument is that Thais pay taxes to the government and foreigners do not. Whether this is right or not is moot, by doing what he did has made the whole country lose face massively by basically calling this system a scam against tourists, and has been viewed worldwide. I'm sure the Thai authorities love him.

The guy seems to be deliberately baiting Thailand and the authorities to kick him out just so that he can post about it online.

Us guys living here legally know how hard it is to stay here long-term, even whilst showing respect in general to the country and its people, keeping your head down and just doing what you're told. The immigration visits, the paperwork, and grief at the bank is enough already without constantly posting online to try and make them lose face. 

He knows how Thailand works, yet he makes inflammatory comments about the country and the authorities. I would imagine that they hate him and want to boot him out ASAP.

Whatever his agenda is, I hope he has somewhere else that he can go when they've finally had enough of him and kick him out. He's causing a massive loss of face and I wish he would stop. This is not the west where you can expect to be praised for highlighting the country's faults. 

12 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

What nonsense. It's not even close to 20%.

 

Most of Thailand has moved on from soapy massages and sex tourism 

 

Get a grip of yourself, get off your bar-stool and go have a look outside Pattaya. 

 

Read this if you can figure out how to find it:

 Turner, Rochelle (2015). Travel & Tourism, Economic Impact 2015, Thailand (PDF). London: World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).  

The only time I went to Cambodia, I went to a locals nightclub with my American buddy. I was too drunk to bother with a girl but my friend took one back to our hotel and she cleaned out his wallet and left in the middle of the night. Put me off a bit.

Some UK banks do get weird if they think you are living abroad. If you need to keep the account open, change the address to that of a friend or family member in the UK. When I met my wife I was back and forward to Thailand all the time, and my UK bank was somehow aware of this and had a note placed on my account. After that, every time I called them the first thing they asked me was "what country are you calling from?". How they knew, I will never know, because I didn't tell them and didn't use my cards abroad.

43 minutes ago, jerolamo said:

they are not Buddhist then ? damned !

Doesn't Buddhism forbid alcohol, lying, cheating and infidelity?

20 minutes ago, 3NUMBAS said:

thai bilionaires will have to dig into their coffers to bail out the economy 

Hahaha, that will not be happening.

Marching bands, gold panning, what's next?

Don't believe a photo of a positive pregnancy test either!