Expats sought to help Thailand’s tourism industry in its hour of need, end to dual pricing mooted

[GigsGigs]

1 minute ago, Skeptic7 said:

Not sure what your currency, but mine is U$D and it is down against the TH฿ about 2% since mid-July and down more than 5% since early April. But hopefully in the longer run!

EUR went from 34.5 to 37 for an entire week.

 

Look at the graphs below and the trend:

 

https://transferwise.com/gb/currency-converter/eur-to-thb-rate?amount=1

[yellowboat]

????  I am beyond words.   Doing just as they say for Malaysia and Vietnam.  As much as the humble Thai are wonderful, the junta is beyond contempt.  So stew in your own juices as one would say to those who do not have foreigners or the Thai people's best interests at heart.  

[holy cow cm]

56 minutes ago, thequietman said:

They do - if you are a foreign female married to a Thai man. ????

 

The opposite way, Thai lady married to foreign male, is just hundreds of hoops and fences to get across. ????

Yeah. I was just talking about this yesterday with a poster on here. Hypocritical double standard.

[ChipButty]

We have been taking care of this country since the end of the second world war, Im not getting into that on here

[lupin]

1 hour ago, djayz said:

I've never, in the 20 years that I've traveled and lived here, been refused service in any establishment. What state were you in when they refused to serve you? 

You clearly didn't see the front page news and video plastered all over Thai media (including thaivisa) about the refusal of service 3 days ago from a restaurant complex in Lad Prao

[bluesofa]

2 hours ago, Dave0206 said:

2 million expats? seems on high side for a country of 70 million a ratio of 1/35  pattaya.hua hin ect yes but nakhon nowhere really?

It must include all the overstayers and illegals - the numbers have obviously risen dramatically since Big Joke's demise.

[khunkarl]

Start with making it illegal to discriminate foreigners.

[khunkarl]

11 minutes ago, lupin said:

You clearly didn't see the front page news and video plastered all over Thai media (including thaivisa) about the refusal of service 3 days ago from a restaurant complex in Lad Prao

Not to forget some temples and bus companies not allowing foreigners.. It's racism pure and simple

[bluesofa]

3 minutes ago, khunkarl said:

Start with making it illegal to discriminate foreigners.

No problem.

Just add it to the list of unenforced rules.

[DaftToPutRealName]

5 hours ago, johng said:

She was in the hit TV series   that promoted "everyone" to go around dressed as  "olde Ayutthayins"

Ah the Nescafe, CP Sausage, Grabfood delivery, lazada and BTS guy!

[Aussie Col]

If Thailand wants farangs to return they need to hurry up and stop expecting farangs to jump through hoops to get a visa 

[pixelaoffy]

I wont  spend a satang more than I have to ! To put it plainly who ever suggested I spend more on tourism can go to ****

Edited August 4, 2020 by pixelaoffy

[FarFlungFalang]

6 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

Let the retiree back in and this would certainly improve relations with the expat community. How about openly give long timers with family easy PR's!

I'd settle for just being able to stay as they want me to leave after 20 years of setting up a home.

[Silent Number]

3 hours ago, mr mr said:

the amount of cry babies on here is astounding. 

 

YOU chose thailand. thailand DIDN'T choose you. 

Eggsactly why not help your chosen place of residence in their time of need and if you are so down on every aspect of your chosen place of residence from hospitality to immigration to the government of the country and also the citizens why not go back to the place you chose to leave.

[holy cow cm]

12 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

I'd settle for just being able to stay as they want me to leave after 20 years of setting up a home.

Why do they want you to leave? OA and insurance sending a message?

[JWRC]

7 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

No, thank you.

 

When Thailand was doing well my "help" wasn't needed nor wanted, and I instead was ripped off and overcharged and "farang'ed" at every turn. There really is now no reason for me to rush to Thailand's "rescue". 

 

I have always traveled in Thailand and will continue doing so. But solely at MY pleasure and at MY discretion -- and not because Thailand all of a sudden pleads for my "help" and begs to be "rescued".

 

And frankly, ending double pricing only at "some hotels" simply isn't enticing enough. You've really got to do better than that, Thailand.  

I have travelled extensively in the last 20 odd years and have never been charged more at any hotel I have stayed at so I  am surprised by this claim. I have walked away from a couple of tourist attractions that had double pricing, hey, their loss not mine. but for the most on here who consider Thailand is out to get Farang at every turn I believe this is way over the top and just something else for you all to whinge about. The visa situation is what it is, you comply or if you don't like it or can't comply you  go elsewhere.

[FarFlungFalang]

20 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

Why do they want you to leave? OA and insurance sending a message?

Non Imm O ME and 69 day extension expired just after the border shut (was on my way to Suvanakhet) now refuse to extend past Sept 26th.I'm transferring 400,000 for the money bank marriage option now and also got an embassy letter for a last ditched attempt but as is I'll be about 1 week overstay which I'd gladly pay if allowed to stay otherwise they can chuck me into jail.

P.S. My own fault as I was trying to wait till Feb next year to get my super tax free after turning 60 years of age.Also it was my first 60 day extension as I thought I'd see how it went but it didn't went to good.

Edited August 4, 2020 by FarFlungFalang

[Joe Mama]

I'd love to discover more of Thailand by traveling about to help increase domestic travel; however to facilitate that, I need a couple of changes to be made; 1) An end to the 2 tier pricing scheme in Thailand's public tourist venues & hotels!  2) An end to the ridiculous 90 day process & TM-30 process!  (Why not instead just put a chip in our passports or cellphones when we arrive so you can track our where abouts all day long?)  3) I need to see a 50% drop in the beer & wine prices! I refuse to pay 300 baht anymore for a bottle of <deleted> wine that I used to purchase for less 150 baht!  I believe Thailand may currently have the most expensive beer & wine prices in the entire world!  Let me know when you have resolved the above 3 items, & in the meantime I'll have my bags all packed & ready, & Good to Go!

[Kalasin Jo]

Well I can't spend money here if I'm not allowed to stay here, even though I'd be happy to expand my horizons beyond Big C. And yes the practice of charging foreigners far more than Thais  needs to be stopped. Its not just " attractions". "Some of the prices currently on accomodation booking sites are eye watering. We are not necessarily richer than Thais these days. A basic British State pension no longer meets the income required even for a marriage extension of stay. When I pointed this out to an Immigration Officer he looked very surprised.

[moe666]

5 hours ago, BigStar said:

Oh NO. It's TOO LATE! Can there be no forgiveness? Ever?

Forget about it, alot of the guys just love to walla in it, they have forgotten the reason they moved here long ago. And yess sometime the rules are a bit much but over all it really isn't that bad or all the ones complaining would have left long ago

[expatsally]

15 years later I’m really starting to believe the Thai government is bipolar. ????

[bluesofa]

1 minute ago, expatsally said:

15 years later I’m really starting to believe the Thai government is bipolar. ????

Going off on a tangent:

My friend knew someone who had been on a trip to both the North and South Poles,

The guy was afterwards always known as Bi-Polar Bob.

[holy cow cm]

44 minutes ago, Silent Number said:

Eggsactly why not help your chosen place of residence in their time of need and if you are so down on every aspect of your chosen place of residence from hospitality to immigration to the government of the country and also the citizens why not go back to the place you chose to leave.

Hey. Years ago, and I am talking I have been here a long long time, they had their welcome arms out for us. It is just this way in the last several years that their (regime) uppity hi so attitude of dislike for us is showing in more ways than one. You also need to pipe down with your attitude as your statement of go back blah blah blah isn’t making you any friends here. Probably the most unliked thing you could say on this forum.

[holy cow cm]

34 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Non Imm O ME and 69 day extension expired just after the border shut (was on my way to Suvanakhet) now refuse to extend past Sept 26th.I'm transferring 400,000 for the money bank marriage option now and also got an embassy letter for a last ditched attempt but as is I'll be about 1 week overstay which I'd gladly pay if allowed to stay otherwise they can chuck me into jail.

P.S. My own fault as I was trying to wait till Feb next year to get my super tax free after turning 60 years of age.Also it was my first 60 day extension as I thought I'd see how it went but it didn't went to good.

Stay positive. It will probably be ok in the end. The overstay doesn’t sound good though. 

[warcy]

2 million expats in Thailand? That's quite a lot. 

 

I thought it was only 100k.

[umlungu2012]

4 hours ago, mrfill said:

Have you any more copies of your newspeak dictionary?

 

This is the true definition....

moot

 

 

 

adjective

1.

subject to debate, dispute, or uncertainty.

"whether the temperature rise was mainly due to the greenhouse effect was a moot point"

 

 

 

2.

having little or no practical relevance, typically because the subject is too uncertain to allow a decision.

"the whole matter is becoming increasingly moot"

 

verb

verb: moot; 3rd person present: moots; past tense: mooted; past participle: mooted; gerund or present participle: mooting

raise (a question or topic) for discussion; suggest (an idea or possibility).

"the scheme was first mooted last October"

 

 

Was he thinking of the moot button on a stereo, cancelling the sound?

[newnative]

    I was hoping I would read something useful like they appreciate us so much they have decided to eliminate 90 day reporting.  Instead, just some garbage on dual pricing.  Take another stab at it--and this time put your head together with Immigration and come up with something meaningful. 

[Madeline Thompson]

Why are they asking the help of expats in Thailand when members of our own families cannot get back into Thailand - in this case, from Vietnam?  My son has been teaching in Vietnam but cannot return to Thailand, his whole family is here, we've been expats here for a decade and more.  We don't have the half-million baht to get an 'elite' visa'.  Another foreigner in Vietnam cannot get back to his Thai wife and daughter, there are so many of them in the same boat. The Thai embassy in HCMC are most sympathetic but there is nothing they can do until the government allows entry on an individual basis into Thailand - none of these people are strangers to this country, they've all lived here, it's their home, and they too cannot afford elite visas. Vietnam has an excellent record of dealing with the Covid issue, that can't be an issue in these cases. 

[Orton Rd]

9 hours ago, JTXR said:

My wife recently told me that the subsidies hotels are getting now so they can offer discounts are only available if the hotel guests are Thai.  I don't know if this is true, but if it is, then this in itself is de facto dual pricing. 

We have been living and/or working through the pandemic like our Thai neighbors, but we're supposed to support the Thai tourism industry by happily being gouged?  Not a very appealing appeal.

You have to be Thai to put up with all the nonsense to claim the discount. Mrs on phone for over an hour calling various offices, hotel, bank, government dept dealing with it. Told she needs a credit card which she does not have, has to update the OS on her phone for some reason, wait for email form which never arrived- all to save about 200 baht a night over booking.com rate. Hotel gives the normal rate and discounts from that. Mrs has the funds in the online wallet to pay, but you can't do it without a card, I would have given up with the running around after 10 minutes

[ajarnmarc]

9 hours ago, JonnyF said:

12 months ago they suddenly decided to enforce the TM30, forcing expats to take Monday off work to "report being home" if they went away for the weekend under the threat of visas not being renewed if we failed to comply. The same weekend away when we were paying 10x the amount to get into a national park, charged extra to stay at hotels (if you walked in), double for water parks etc.

 

Now, they want us to help them in their hour of need.

 

????

I had to get my landlord to register I was staying on his land, in his rented house. Yes the owners are supposed to do this, but why is it the expats job to get the owners to do it, and then prove they did the online register, by adding it to our paperwork when we renew our extensions? If Immigration wasn't so demanding on the expats, they could come out for a resident inspection, then stop by the owners place, and have a chat with the owner in person, to make sure they are in full compliance with everything Immigration requires from them, and not add 4 additional copies to our stack to show the screen shot of them online register, and the copy of signed form they want the landlords to fill out. My landlord had to go down to immigration to speak with them in person, before they would let me proceed with the renewal extension.