Dual pricing at Thai hospital case: Decision delayed after case handed to judges

[pedro01]

I wonder how he's funding the case? Seems like it must be costing more than his losses.

 

I wouldn't mind helping out if it's needed. Seems like we are all potential beneficiaries.

[Keesters]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

But it doesn't stop them from trying to keep it going.

A couple of years ago I went to Erawan National park with 9 Thai friends, they paid 40 baht each while I had to pay 400.... so my fee was more than them combined.

And they say they want to attract tourism.

And more often than not price lists use different numeral systems in an attempt to hoodwink the foreigner that all prices are identical. Thai numerals are rarely seen except where you will probably get a higher cost. 

[mikosan]

1 hour ago, actonion said:

My [Thai} wife and i were sitting at an outsside table at a  Pattaya Restaurant, i was staring at a  menu board in Thai language  belonging  to the Laundry next door..

 

I was interested as to why each item listed  had 2 prices,  ie;  socks, underwear,  shirts, etc ....I  asked my wife is  that price listing for large  & small items, she replied ,  no  its one price for Thai and  1 price for foreigners..........even in a laundry??

You have a Thai wife, as do I, therefore you have a ready made solution. If you want to buy something or get something done, get her do, or organise it. It might actually cost you more in the long run, after she takes her cut, but at least the extra will be going into the pocket of your wife. 555

[richard_smith237]

 

10 minutes ago, Keesters said:

18 hours ago, ezzra said:

And in many instances it dose, under the old and worn out excuse that Thais are poor while foreigners are "rich" maybe 40-50 years ago it would hold true, not now days though...

And seriously what has "rich" got to do with anything. Ones ability to pay "more" should not mean they have to. This double-pricing policy has only one thing driving it: GREED

 

Agreed.... It's just greed - Many of my Wife’s friends / families are far wealthier than we are. 

 

There is a vast proportion of Thailand who fall within or exceed similar economic boundaries that many of the foreigners do.

 

Using ’Thai’s’ are poorer is a glaringly obviously flawed excused to justify the unjustifiable. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Keesters]

1 hour ago, Mike k said:

For those of us who are here on long stay visas with a Thai driver license should be charged the same as Thais 

And what if you don't drive or have a license. Disabled & blind foreigners still to be ripped off for recieving the same goods or services. 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, sucit said:

There are any number of legit reasons Thais may pay less than foreigners in government facilities and national parks. Every time you bring these reasons up you are met with emotional, subjective retorts, that… don’t mean anything. Here are even all sorts of examples in western countries where foreigners pay exorbitantly more than locals (but expats don’t complain in those cases, go figure).

 

Please list any of these ‘legitimate reasons’ that Thai’s pay less than foreigners at government facilities. 

 

I would prefer to use foreign residents of Thailand (those who live here). 

 

IF using tax as a reason, that would be flawed, in many cases foreigners pay more tax than Thai’s.

 

 

[mikosan]

1 hour ago, bluejets said:

Dual pricing in a form applies all over the world.

Most would know how airport cafes charge like scrub bulls ....hit the tourist/traveller.

Service station cafes the same thing when travelling around compared to your corner cafe.

Get over it and move on.......

If this bloke has cancer as they say, i'd say the stress would not be good for him anyhow.

 

I have no problem with paying extra to enter National parks or whatever or paying where Thai is free.

Ridiculous example. Airport cafes charge EVERYONE exorbitant prices, there is no discrimination whatsoever. Dual pricing in Thailand is based on race, which is certainly not acceptable, or practiced in

most other countries, certainly western ones. You may find it acceptable and are willing or happy to pay it, most of us are not.

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, jesimps said:

The last time that I was scammed on price was at a place I least expected it, it was at the Death Railway Museum in Kanchanaburi. I had to pay far more than my Thai wife. It was the first time in years that I'd been caught out. That was about two years ago and I haven't been fleeced since.

 

And the irony is the 'death railway' was mainly built buy foreigners.

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, bluejets said:

Dual pricing in a form applies all over the world.

Most would know how airport cafes charge like scrub bulls ....hit the tourist/traveller.

Service station cafes the same thing when travelling around compared to your corner cafe.

Get over it and move on.......

That is not ‘dual pricing’.... You have simply described elevated pricing where everyone is charged higher than the usually expected going rates. 

 

Service station cafe’s etc charge anyone of any nationality the same for their cup of coffee etc.

 

 

1 hour ago, bluejets said:

If this bloke has cancer as they say, i'd say the stress would not be good for him anyhow.

Props to him - this is a poisonous issue.

 

 

1 hour ago, bluejets said:

I have no problem with paying extra to enter National parks or whatever or paying where Thai is free.

I do....  Why should my wealthier Thai friend who has paid less Tax than I pay much much less to enter a national park than I ??? - I have never read of or heard of a good reason for this. My Thai friends also see that this is wrong. 

 

(I actually have a Pink ID and have not paid dual pricing at national parks - but find the idea distasteful). 

 

If someone is a resident of Thailand, has a home here, spends money here, supports a family here, pays tax here etc there is no justification to charge any extra than a Thai person at a hospital - the idea is wholly wrong. 

 

 

[Rawairat]

Went to the Netherlands with my Thai wife and our child who holds dual Australian/Thai nationality. No visa or any medical issues with myself and my son, however the wife had to pay for health over from a private health fund for 1 month, to cover a 2 week holiday. She was already covered by my company for full health coverage world wide but that was not good enough, as it did not state that she was covered for the actual dates?  It was also a hassle getting the visa despite having been together for 9 years. Although dual pricing is a pain, and bad practice,  I doubt most Thais would be sympathetic  to his cause considering the hoops they have to go thru.

[Percy P]

18 hours ago, ezzra said:

And in many instances it dose, under the old and worn out excuse that Thais are poor while foreigYners are "rich" maybe 40-50 years ago it would hold true, not now days though...

A country like like the UK can not lower it standard ,just one price for all.

[Keesters]

1 hour ago, sikishrory said:

They also have different prices for insured and not insured which always annoys me.

I pay myself to get reimbursed later. It's awkward to say your not insured to get the lower price (incase your claim isn't approved) but then have to ask for a medical certificate typically needed for insurance.

I suspect a lot of people of not even aware of this.

I am. I was mugged here and was taken to hospital to recieve treatment for a head wound that was not treated until I woke up some 6 hours later and could confirm my willingness to pay. But I digress. I have a small 3,000 per incident outpatient insurance for accidents. This the hospital said would cover me. At check-out and pay time I was given a very detailed lengthy bill totalling 3,500 plus change. They asked for the 500 plus change saying the 3000 would be obtained from my insurers. On examining the bill later at home much of it was for things that never happened. 

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, paul1804 said:

The problem is there are actually a lot of quite poor Thais so for public hospitals I think there should be a base fee to cover those that are needy! Not sure how this would be applied but definitley not all Thais are flush with cash.

 

 

Thais have the 30b base cover, if they haven't registered in the province where they live then they only have themselves to blame, unless they get sick on a visit, my wife's sister got sick on a visit, wifey rushed off to get her name in our house book.

[berrec]

Come on folks.

 

Be realists; we all know it a time honoured tradition of ripping off Farangs at every opportunity from the taxi drivers and street vendors to the hospitals.

 

Some things in life never change; just accept it and move on.

 

To much money changes hands under the table here for any injustices to be rectified.  

 

And even if a decision is favourable, it's shelf life is only one daily news cycle.

 

It's Thailand; regulation and rules are only guidelines for most Thais.

[Golden Triangle]

27 minutes ago, mikosan said:

I have visited Kanchanaburi and the war memorials in and around there, including Hellfire Pass and the museum, on numerous occasions, over the last 9 years. I have never been charged anything. Where are they charging people to visit? Is this a new phenomenon?

Same here, visited many times, both cemeteries, free, Hellfire Pass, I paid and so did my Thai Mrs, Same price if I remember right, the museum by the main cemetery, the railway museum, I believe we both paid the same price & last but not least, there is a grubby museum by the bridge, privately owned, I wasn't impressed with that one at all, can't remember what we paid for that. That's the only one I can think of that might have dual pricing.

 

 

[Harveyboy]

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

But it doesn't stop them from trying to keep it going.

A couple of years ago I went to Erawan National park with 9 Thai friends, they paid 40 baht each while I had to pay 400.... so my fee was more than them combined.

And they say they want to attract tourism.

yep same when i went there with my wife and kids i paid 10 fold same when i took them to samed duel prices its never going to stop thais see a farang they see money...

[Keesters]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

exactly .... Thai's are not known for thinking outside the box.  It's he pays me .... and that's it.

Park rangers couldn't care less if every farang didn't pay or enter.  Same goes for immigration, Big C or any other Thai conglomerate,  and the Thai government couldn't care less what farang think about Thailand and it's rules .... it's the same with any government, why should they.  You are a visitor and nothing more.  imo

But it doesn't hurt to make a fuss and make sure people (Thai) around you understand the discrimination. I took my Thai adopted son and his grandmother to Mini Siam on a Rama IX birthday. My son said

I as a father should enter free that day. No, they wanted the usual farang price. Grandma on hearing this went ballistic shouting and screaming at everybody calling the park racist, greedy and many expletives I couldn't repeat here. I was rather embarrassed. We didn't go in and instead went for a good meal. 

[Keesters]

1 hour ago, Salerno said:

I have no problem paying a reasonable surcharge to ensure locals can use/see national treasures/attractions at an affordable price - 10 x the price is not reasonable IMO.

You are doing the local no favours in subsidising them. They will not learn the real cost of things this way but they will learn that it's OK to have dual pricing based on race/nationality/skin colour as you support it. 

[steven100]

4 minutes ago, Keesters said:

But it doesn't hurt to make a fuss and make sure people (Thai) around you understand the discrimination. I took my Thai adopted son and his grandmother to Mini Siam on a Rama IX birthday. My son said

I as a father should enter free that day. No, they wanted the usual farang price. Grandma on hearing this went ballistic shouting and screaming at everybody calling the park racist, greedy and many expletives I couldn't repeat here. I was rather embarrassed. We didn't go in and instead went for a good meal. 

aha ....  I hear ya.  I think it's more of a money grab than being racist or anything else, ....  but good on gran for telling them.

[Salerno]

3 minutes ago, Keesters said:

You are doing the local no favours in subsidising them. They will not learn the real cost of things this way but they will learn that it's OK to have dual pricing based on race/nationality/skin colour as you support it. 

Does that apply to dual pricing/tourist surcharges around the world or just Thailand?

[4MyEgo]

4 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

Even hospitals and healthcare are clip joints here. Greedy Thailand. 

While I get where your coming from with your end comment, for certain things in Thailand, I can't agree with your clip joint comment regarding hospitals and healthcare.

 

The reason I say that is because I went under the knife at a University Hospital to remove a basil carcinoma (mole) on my face, as traumatic that it was at the time, e.g. me being awake under a local, the plastic surgeon did a fantastic job stitching me up, no scare from the straight line cut which was 80mm.

 

The total cost was something like 5,000 baht with cream for aftercare, now try that in Sydney, a plastic surgeon would cost you way more than that and if you were going through Medicare (public system) you would have to wait for at least 12 months vs a month here and pay the difference for the treatment.

 

I have been to a few public hospitals, cheap as, but I prefer the privates now and unless an emergency (private cover), I will pay out of my pocket, 3,000 - 4,000 baht to see a specialist including meds, that said, again try that in Sydney and you will pay a fortune.

 

I understand where the guy is coming from, but he is not a Citizen of Thailand and we all know Thailand charges more for foreigners, that is not discrimination, it's business as usual in Thailand, what next, will he complain that the bargirls are more expensive than the girls back home, I hope not.

 

Anyway, I wish him well, but over principal and a couple of hundred baht a time, hardly worth the agro, should have moved on a long time ago, that or gone back to his motherland for treatment and compare eggs for eggs.

 

He will soon find out, he will lose his case and wasted a lot of time and energy that could have been used elsewhere.   

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by 4MyEgo

[300sd]

When this delta variant took hold in Thailand and space in public hospitals was running out, I recall government saying that private hospitals will do their part and not overcharge for covid stays for anyone! What happened? I don't think the private hospitals got that message.

[Keesters]

9 minutes ago, Salerno said:

Does that apply to dual pricing/tourist surcharges around the world or just Thailand?

Everywhere of course.

[Staxer]

Skeptik7. Why are you here if that is how you feel ?

[Reigntax]

15 hours ago, Gold Star said:

This discrimination and dual pricing has to stop. 

Why do lady drinks have to cost so much more for my girlfriends than my wife?

You get a discount for the wife on the basis that you’ll cop an ear full when you get home, all night and for the next few days

[khunPer]

In my modest view, it's a question of balance. Western foreigners might require little more service than Thais - as for example one poster mentioned, "expectations that hospital staff speaks English language" - and might thereby costs little more to handle, so a modest difference is acceptable.

 

The question is however, what is "a modest difference"..?

 

10 percent, or perhaps little more, would in my view be Okay, but when it comes to 50 percent, or double price, or even more, the balance begins to slide away from reasonable explanations...????

[Dont confuse me]

Some years ago there was an article in a daily English language newspaper, it covered duel pricing the then minister of sport and tourism was quoted as saying that Thailand follows the international practice of one price for all?

I wrote back attaching a photograph of the price list displayed at Chaingmai zoo, there's several different prices for monks, police, teachers, Thai nationals, children and right at the top the price for foreigners!

I can't recall the different prices needless to say the falang price was almost double.

Of course I never received a reply. 

[Pedrogaz]

I tend to think that even if the law suit finds in favour of banning dual pricing, hospitals will ignore it like most laws are ignored in Thailand.

 

A rather more serious problem in hospitals is unnecessary treatment especially at end of life. I recently had a friend die in a private hospital in an ICU. The staff kept pressing his wife to agree to a very expensive op that would have done nothing to help his chances of survival. He died a few days later having racked up more than a million in ICU fees. 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Pedrogaz

[greenmonkey]

I went to a shooting range just before the pandemic, I had to walk passed all the top of the range bmw's and mercs in the carpark (owned by the wealthy Thai's who came to use the range). I asked for the price list - surprisingly okay prices I thought to myself. Then the lady behind the desk casually grabs the price list and flips it over without saying a word. The same price list with "for foreigner" plastered across the top and all the prices doubled. Lovely!

[Damrongsak]

8 minutes ago, Dont confuse me said:

Some years ago there was an article in a daily English language newspaper, it covered duel pricing the then minister of sport and tourism was quoted as saying that Thailand follows the international practice of one price for all?

I wrote back attaching a photograph of the price list displayed at Chaingmai zoo, there's several different prices for monks, police, teachers, Thai nationals, children and right at the top the price for foreigners!

I can't recall the different prices needless to say the falang price was almost double.

Of course I never received a reply. 

Many years ago our family went to see the Emerald Buddha temple or one of those down by the river in BKK.  They wanted to charge me more but my half-Thai kids could go free.  I stayed out in the courtyard and bought a cold beer from a vendor on the temple grounds and enjoyed it.