Went to the waterfalls for Songkran but only Thais get in free, not foreigners.

[Despondent Foreigner]

Hello everybody and happy Thai new year!

 

I would like to share my story with you that happened to me this morning. I visited Promlok waterfall in Nakhon Si Thammaratt with my Thai wife, child and wife's family. Upon arrival two soldiers approached our car and my wife began talking to them. They explained to her that as today is Songkran all Thai's get to go to the waterfalls free of charge but I had to pay. Then a woman dressed in yellow approached the car who confirmed what the soldiers said and told my wife that this is a new law. Well we were all disgusted and proceeded to drive back down to the bottom of the waterfall where we could all swim for free.

 

I am absolutely disgusted by this. Yet another example of Thailand's racial profiling and xenophobia towards foreigners. The fact that I am married and have children here doesn't make a difference. Because I have white skin I must pay the fee whilst all Thais go in free.

 

Utterly disgraceful behavior. Shame on them!

Edited April 14, 2019 by Despondent Foreigner

[faraday]

How much were you expected to pay?

[Despondent Foreigner]

2 minutes ago, faraday said:

How much were you expected to pay?

does it matter?

[ThaiBunny]

4 minutes ago, Despondent Foreigner said:

Thai wife, child and wife's family

So you've been here long enough to know that this is Standard Operating Procedure? You should have worked that out already since you have to extend your visa year after year rather than what your home country would do if you took your wife there

[Pilotman]

I dont have a problem with differential charging at attractions and venues here.  The way I see it, my disposal income is probably higher than the average Thai families, it's their country not mine, so I pay a little more to access them.  Having said that, many, especially around the tourist spots of Pattaya and Phuket,  are not worth the money anyway, which is a different argument.   

[Olmate]

Nothing new bout it, you should,ve paid up the family missed out

[jackdd]

If they had kept their normal pricing, something like 200 THB for foreigners and 20 THB for Thais, this would have been ok for you?

[Despondent Foreigner]

Just now, jackdd said:

If they had kept their normal pricing, something like 200 THB for foreigners and 20 THB for Thais, this would have been ok for you?

No, it wouldn't. 

[Despondent Foreigner]

2 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Nothing new bout it, you should,ve paid up the family missed out

My wife was driving. She refused to let me pay. 

[ChipButty]

For the 20 years Ive been here it's always been the same and I have been to that very same waterfall

[essox essox]

1 hour ago, Swiss1960 said:

Poor child... let me dry your tears...

Sent from my SM-A730F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

what a disgusting reply......the poster is making a very good point....

[Just Weird]

13 minutes ago, Despondent Foreigner said:

The fact that I am married and have children here doesn't make a difference. Because I have white skin I must pay the fee whilst all Thais go in free.

This has been happening for decades, it's nothing new and chronic whinging about it doesn't help. 

 

Being married to a Thai and having Thai children does not make you Thai so why should it make a difference for you!  And it is nothing to do with the colour of your lilywhite skin, either, white-skinned Thais don't get charged!

[sammieuk1]

4 minutes ago, Despondent Foreigner said:

My wife was driving. She refused to let me pay. 

I'm with your Mrs on that its a disgusting racist tax practiced for decades and seam the norm and perfectly acceptable by some ????

[Despondent Foreigner]

1 minute ago, Just Weird said:

This has been happening for decades

Does that make it right then? Imagine this kind of thing happening in the UK or the states to asian people.. There would be absolute uproar and rightly so! Free for Americans but asians must pay! Could you imagine?? CBS news would have a meltdown!

 

 

[Vacuum]

10 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Nothing new bout it, you should,ve paid up the family missed out

He could have stayed somewhere and enjoyed a couple of cold ones, whilst the family went to the waterfall. That's what I would have done (his wife was the driver).

[Just Weird]

19 minutes ago, faraday said:

How much were you expected to pay?

 

13 minutes ago, Despondent Foreigner said:

does it matter?

No, but it would be interesting to know how much is causing your consternation about something that has long been established as practice here that you probably know about and is not going to be changed.

[CGW]

4 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

This has been happening for decades, it's nothing new and chronic whinging about it doesn't help.

Exactly, pay up - move on & focus on the important things in life that you can do something positive with, getting stressed on this will do no good at all.

[stevenl]

13 minutes ago, Despondent Foreigner said:

My wife was driving. She refused to let me pay. 

Did she enquire about you using your workpermit or Thai DL to gain free entrance?

[stevenl]

2 minutes ago, Despondent Foreigner said:

Does that make it right then? Imagine this kind of thing happening in the UK or the states to asian people.. There would be absolute uproar and rightly so! Free for Americans but asians must pay! Could you imagine?? CBS news would have a meltdown!

 

 

Happens all the time at all kind of attractions where locals get free or reduced entrance.

[Just Weird]

14 minutes ago, Despondent Foreigner said:

My wife was driving. She refused to let me pay. 

So it's your wife that you should be whinging about, not the officials at the waterfalls who were only doing the job that they've been told to do.

[faraday]

16 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Nothing new bout it, you should,ve paid up the family missed out

But it's the principle!

 

Not the fact that he wouldn't pay a paltry sum, or that by him 'taking a stand' his family lost out.

 

That day, he became: a man.

 

 

 

[fruitman]

I'm reading this forum for over a decade and have never ever read anything positive about nakhon si thamarat...

[essox essox]

25 minutes ago, faraday said:

How much were you expected to pay?

if he had thia driving licence then HE might have been able to get in paying THAI PRICE.......

[CharlieH]

Do I think its right ? No, I visited a park/attraction recently and it was 200 for Thai and 500 for me.

I didnt like it but wouldnt let it spoil the visit or the trip for the family. Smiled, paid, and enjoyed the day.

 

Only a problem if you allow it to be. ????

[Pilotman]

4 minutes ago, Despondent Foreigner said:

Does that make it right then? Imagine this kind of thing happening in the UK or the states to asian people.. There would be absolute uproar and rightly so! Free for Americans but asians must pay! Could you imagine?? CBS news would have a meltdown!

 

 

totally different situation.  Western countries and their people are hardly poor and can access attractions on their own account.  Here a lot of families are poor, and dont have the disposal income to indulge themselves as most Westerns can.  It's not racist to favour your own people against visitors, many countries do that, at least not in my book.  You will also find that Asian visitors  to these attractions, who are not Thai and not on an organised tour,  pay the 'farang' rate. 

[Swiss1960]

what a disgusting reply......they poster is making a very good point....

No, he does not. Dual pricing has always been and will always be around, at least for the foreseeable future. Moaning is not helping it at all and the OP (having a Thai family) knows that too well.

Only with the pink Thai ID card, you SOMETIMES get the Thai price to get into the parks.

Sent from my SM-A730F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Pilotman]

9 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

I'm with your Mrs on that its a disgusting racist tax practiced for decades and seam the norm and perfectly acceptable by some ????

if its racist why do visiting Asians pay the higher price? They are subsiding their own citizens, good on them. 

[faraday]

2 minutes ago, essox essox said:

if he had thia driving licence then HE might have been able to get in paying THAI PRICE.......

That's nice.

[Olmate]

14 minutes ago, essox essox said:

what a disgusting reply......they poster is making a very good point....

What is that then? He,s special?

[Just Weird]

5 minutes ago, Despondent Foreigner said:

Does that make it right then? Imagine this kind of thing happening in the UK or the states to asian people.. There would be absolute uproar and rightly so! Free for Americans but asians must pay! Could you imagine?? CBS news would have a meltdown!

What's your point, this is Thailand, isn't it?  You know the procedures here very well and it happens all the time without any uproar at all, it is not the US.  Who cares what CBS thinks about it, is CBS important?   

 

Whether it is right or nor is irrelevant, it's the Thai practice here in Thailand as you well knew when you went there.