More Us and Them Talk...... THAIS vs. FORIEGNERS 

 

How about making safety standards for everyone. 

 

Say: here's a radical idea.... Wildlife and Conservation Safety Rangers!  

 

Problem solved! 

 

 

2 hours ago, meshborg said:

 In a Fish restaurant Chiang Mai id just used their toilet before eating with the Thai in-laws.As I'd just emptied my bowels I came back to the table and kindly asked if they had some soap to much laughter from waitress and in-laws.After a 10 min search she came back with a bar of soap on a plate like she was presenting me with a bar of gold to more laughs from everyone eating at tables.Anyway a couple year later my Thai g/f says you remember you asked for soap that restaurant.Yes I replied.She says that was the soap for the dog..haha..cleanliness in not in their DNA.

It was only for puppies

6 hours ago, internationalism said:

before they come, around  2025, all instructions will be forgotten.

The way of teaching people to behave is to educate them about the world, just basic geography, history, but also languages.

If to try to instil the idea, that thailand is the navel of the universe under the coconut shell and insist, that thai language is a major international language, push nationalism, xenophobia, racism through all the educational system, all ministries and government agencies, you end up with indoctrinated robots which disregard all outside world

You sound like you're talking about the US ????

6 hours ago, webfact said:

A so-called ‘Expat Card’ was also touted as a possible solution to ending dual pricing. 

The official pink Thai ID that many of us have should play the role, like yesterday. 

All of four of the points that they highlighted; safety, cleanliness, sustainability and not ripping off tourists would take a complete change in the way that Thai people think, a paradigm shift. If they can achieve such a change in the way they think within 20 years, I would be very surprised. The only way of getting these changes to happen faster would be to hit the Thais where it hurts, in the wallet, and start fining people who litter, have boats full of tourists that sink, and people that get caught ripping off tourists. 

 

Somehow I doubt that it would ever happen.

I have a very good idea to purpose to them:

Ask the foreigner (that they call "farang" if they are Caucasian face) to collect, then trash some papers they find (almost 200g is enough for each one) to trash. You know... all these plastic/papers, pollution the locals trash in the wild without care anything for cheap price.... and that no one clean.

This way should be a very good idea to show that, in fact, many farang are not dirty, and that these farang who clean the place and paid the same price than any local, serve Thailand the good way (for free).

Farang very welcome for cleaning the place and teach technology, help families, you know... all these great (and then not dirty) farang who love humans (and also Thailand) and are very good persons (even if Caucasian face).

3 hours ago, IamNoone88 said:

... talk is always cheap. 

Unless you’re a foreigner and then it costs double 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Going forward, and in its bid to recover post COVID-19, Thailand’s tourism industry will focus  on four key points: Safety, cleanliness, sustainability and not taking advantage of tourists.

Good to know!

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The need to scrap dual pricing was again mulled publicly last year, as officials highlighted aspects of Thailand’s tourism industry that should be overhauled as part of its post-COVID-19 recovery.

Next up, triple pricing.

(Sign me up for the  "Cheap Charlie" tier.)

I can tell you now, my money stays in my pocket if there is a sniff of over charging

Posts using trolling images have been removed. 

11 minutes ago, Knobby37 said:

I can tell you now, my money stays in my pocket if there is a sniff of over charging

 

Today, the local air-con guy came to top up whatever gas it is that my air-con uses because it wasn't getting cold, even at the lowest setting, which is 16 degrees. It took him 45 minutes. I offered him the 400 baht which is what he usually charges and he refused to accept it because I had paid him last month when he came to clean the filters. I offered him 100 baht as a tip and he refused.

 

There are a lot genuine Thais out there, but unfortunately most of the big scammers go to the places popular with tourists. Obviously it leaves a very bad taste in the mouth of people who choose to holiday here. If only the government came down hard on scammers and cheaters, many tourists would have a better time in Thailand and be more likely to return.

Does that mean no 'dual price system'? 

I don't see anything wrong with dual pricing in general Thai people earn far less than westerners and the price should be set accordingly i.e. look after your own people first. It is a principle of capitalism, you charge what the market can afford and maximise profits. If foreign tourists can afford to pay more then charge them more, it is still very cheap to them.

If you get rid of double pricing it reduces income for staff in National Parks, who like every Thai Government Department are funded substantially from admission prices/fines etc charged to the customers. 
 

It also reduces income for hotel, restaurant and  club owners, drawn substantially from the police, army etc or who share with people from those institutions.

 

In short, no chance.

Look on the bright side...

 

Zip lines are safer than motorcycles. ????

8 hours ago, webfact said:

The need to scrap dual pricing was again mulled publicly last year, as officials highlighted aspects of Thailand’s tourism industry that should be overhauled as part of its post-COVID-19 recovery.

So who's going to tell the local Thais this?  Who's going to enforce this?  This is a way of life for Thais...  Their image of us being walking ATM's will never change.????

2 hours ago, overherebc said:

The airports will be built as soon as all the high speed railway projects are completed.

Absolutely. ????

8 hours ago, internationalism said:

before they come, around  2025, all instructions will be forgotten.

The way of teaching people to behave is to educate them about the world, just basic geography, history, but also languages.

If to try to instil the idea, that thailand is the navel of the universe under the coconut shell and insist, that thai language is a major international language, push nationalism, xenophobia, racism through all the educational system, all ministries and government agencies, you end up with indoctrinated robots which disregard all outside world

 

Just for a moment I thought you'd gone off on a tangent there, and was talking about the USA! ????????????????

8 hours ago, CelticBhoy said:

"The need to scrap dual pricing was again mulled publicly last year . . . "

 

As it was the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that, etc..

"The need to scrap dual pricing and not to rip off the filthy falang " as stated by the ministry of the bleeding obvious. 

Well, I suppose it's a step in the right direction. 

The ever-persistent idea that farangs have never-ending piles of money, combined with the racist bilge coming from Anutin et al will mean that it will be a very long time before Thai vendors will stop trying to overcharge tourists. I agree that many years before, when one British pound was worth almost double what it is now, most foreigners would have appeared to have been super rich. But now, this is not the case. Actually, in many cases, buying a small bottle of beer in a Bangkok nightclub now costs more than buying it in London or New York.

 

Thais don't change their thinking easily, it takes generations. For many years to come, they will still think that farangs are super rich. Because they only see the ones who have superfluous cash to travel to Thailand, they don't see the poor farangs sitting at home who can't pay their gas bill.

 

The worst problem in Thailand for me is the Phuket taxi mafia.  I've been screwed out of thousands of baht by these people because I arrived late and had no other option.

And the deadly streets and the air pollution?

- safety

- sustainability

- not taking advantage of tourists

 

These are usually not things associated with Thailand or the Thai tourism industry. Money will always be number one on that list, and if that means having to sacrifice a little - or a lot - on safety, sustainability and/or not taking advantage of tourists, I would bet good money on what path the average Thai tourism entrepreneur will go down.

Well gosh, how nice of them to consider not taking advantage of us clueless tourists.

3 hours ago, BenDeCosta said:

 

Today, the local air-con guy came to top up whatever gas it is that my air-con uses because it wasn't getting cold, even at the lowest setting, which is 16 degrees. It took him 45 minutes. I offered him the 400 baht which is what he usually charges and he refused to accept it because I had paid him last month when he came to clean the filters. I offered him 100 baht as a tip and he refused.

 

There are a lot genuine Thais out there, but unfortunately most of the big scammers go to the places popular with tourists. Obviously it leaves a very bad taste in the mouth of people who choose to holiday here. If only the government came down hard on scammers and cheaters, many tourists would have a better time in Thailand and be more likely to return.

I couldn't agree with you more. Most ordinary everday Thai people are shy, lovely, friendly but a bit nervous of farangs. Given the slightest encouragement (if you speak Thai or they speak a bit of English) they'll open up immediately. Most are also extremely honest . . . a few weeks ago a Thai guy came after me to return the 500B I'd dropped while getting money out to pay at 7-11.  I've witnessed far more acts of kindness and helpfulness from these folk than cheating or nastiness . . . I leave it up to the policy-makers and bigwigs (and all those who fleece tourists) for that.

9 hours ago, Kaopad999 said:

I LOVE being taken advantage of in Thailand ...

By pretty Thai girls  ????

I just think that Laos girls are so much better value.

3 hours ago, RobU said:

I don't see anything wrong with dual pricing in general Thai people earn far less than westerners and the price should be set accordingly i.e. look after your own people first. It is a principle of capitalism, you charge what the market can afford and maximise profits. If foreign tourists can afford to pay more then charge them more, it is still very cheap to them.

What an idea......how much should you charge the rich Thais in their expensive imported cars, drinking their expensive imported whiskeys talking with their family about which expensive foreign university their children could attend and which part of the foreign city  they should buy an apartment for them?

Better to just charge the fair price for everyone. 

Do not encourage the population to forget their better nature and their Buddhist beliefs.

 

33 minutes ago, greeneking said:

What an idea......how much should you charge the rich Thais in their expensive imported cars, drinking their expensive imported whiskeys talking with their family about which expensive foreign university their children could attend and which part of the foreign city  they should buy an apartment for them?

Better to just charge the fair price for everyone. 

Do not encourage the population to forget their better nature and their Buddhist beliefs.

You quote a relative minority of people who probably take their holidays abroad anyway and consider local attractions beneath them. Last time I looked the average wage in Thailand was £5,645 and the average wage in the UK was £33,333 that means that there are millions of Thais who earn far less than £5,645 since as you point out there are a few who have great wealth that skews the statistics. The maintenance and wages often is gathered from the foreigner charges In order for attractions to keep going the price would have to go up for Thais taking that recreational resource out of the reach of a good majority of Thais and effectively reducing income because less people would go.

Just now, RobU said:

 

You quote a relative minority of people who probably take their holidays abroad anyway and consider local attractions beneath them. Last time I looked the average wage in Thailand was £5,645 and the average wage in the UK was £33,333 that means that there are millions of Thais who earn far less than £5,645 since as you point out there are a few who have great wealth that skews the statistics. The maintenance and wages often is gathered from the foreigner charges In order for attractions to keep going the price would have to go up for Thais taking that recreational resource out of the reach of a good majority of Thais and effectively reducing income because less people would go.

Thank you for your considered response and my example was extreme.

But the attractions should be paid for by all, and not rely on foreigners to pay too much.

Often the Thai visitors do arrive in their private car, and good luck to them if they can give their family a nice day out.  The really poor people do not go.

I hope all the admission fees go for what they were intended.

12 hours ago, sahibji said:

Not taking advantage of tourists is more easily said than done. Usually it starts right from the taxi that picks you up from the airport and ends only when you are back in the plane for your flight home.

I have used those exact same words when my American friends ask me why I won't return to Thailand after the pandemic. No more. The 36 hour trip from the US east coast just isn't worth it anymore after >10 trips to LOS. If I wanted to be treated with such contempt , I would remarry. Neither of those is going to happen.