Dual Pricing Reconfirmed In Thailand National Parks

[Lemsta69]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

Strange. There are no "amphur" in Bangkok, they are called "ket". 

Usually, you need a letter from the old place to get a new yellow book. I changed location three times and needed a letter and they stamped the old YB closed. 

Most people get their tax number on the YB but some get a random number

thanks, I didn't know this. I want to get one of those pink ID card thingies but first you need a yellow book and my condo office doesn't know what that is even though I showed them a photo. 

 

I'm thinking I need to go visit the "ket" and see what they need for a YB etc

[heiri007]

1 hour ago, TropicalGuy said:

You had a narrow escape from jail !

NEVER Deface or Discard Thai Money ! It has the King Image so that’s Lese Majesye violation????????

Knew even less back then than today.

[ThailandRyan]

2 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Could you take a photo? 

I shared it before, so you might want to check in the archives.  I have humored you enough on this subject over several OPS regarding the item in question.

[Lemsta69]

2 hours ago, Neeranam said:

The Pink ID has one use IMHO. 

You don't have to carry your yellow housebook, that some foreigners call "tabien baan" ????every 5 years to renew your driver's license. However, most DL centres don't accept it. 

Its not a substitute for the Thai ID as it doesn't have an electronic chip. 

I don't have a driver's license because I don't drive. so this pink ID would be useful for me if I wanted to open say a True Money Wallet. 

 

I thought about getting a Thai DL just for the other benefits it affords but don't really know where to start, any ideas? I'm in Lumphini, Pathum Wan. 

 

Also would you mind explaining the "tabien baan" thing if you have a moment? I'm happily single so I don't have a long-haired translator to help me out. kop khun khrap ????????

[richard_smith237]

11 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

I don't have a driver's license because I don't drive. so this pink ID would be useful for me if I wanted to open say a True Money Wallet. 

 

I thought about getting a Thai DL just for the other benefits it affords but don't really know where to start, any ideas? I'm in Lumphini, Pathum Wan. 

 

Also would you mind explaining the "tabien baan" thing if you have a moment? I'm happily single so I don't have a long-haired translator to help me out. kop khun khrap ????????

The Tabien Baan thing.....  Yellow House Book is basically registering you at your current address.

 

As soon as your Yellow House book is issued, at the same office (on the same day) you can get a Pink ID card (with same ID number on it etc) for about 40 baht, it takes about 10 mins. 

 

So.. the process is Yellow House Book first, then the Pink ID (you can’t get the pink ID without a Yellow House Book). 

 

 

Mostly, foreigners who’s partners own their house and can’t be in the Blue House Book (for Thai’s) will get themselves in the Yellow House Book.

 

IF you are renting, you will need the permission and assistance of the house owner.

 

The process involves some hoop-jumping and can be applied for at your local District Office (Amphur / Khet Office).... 

 

A rough breakdown: 

1) Get a MFA Certified Copy of a Translation of the Embassy Verified Copy of your Passport.

To do this...  

- Get an Embassy certified copy of your passport. 

- Get this translated in to Thai at an approved translation office (i.e. at the MFA building or find out where)

- Get this Verified at MFA (Ministry of Foreign affairs)

- All of this takes a few days - the translation service may do the MFA part for you (translation services near Ploernchit BTS in Bangkok for example). 

 

2) Get an appointment at the Amphur / Khet Office

3) Attend the Amphur / Khet Office with the following

- Thai owner of the property you live in

- Owners Thai ID Card

- Owners / Property Blue House Book

- Another Thai Witness

- Your Passport / Visa 

 

The process takes an hour or so....  Part 1 may or may not be necessary depending on the regulations of the local district office (it was for me), you may get away with just the passport and forgo the embassy and MFA dance. 

 

There’s probably something I forgot but thats the crux of it... Its a hassle and many people think its too many hoops to jump for the value of the Yellow Book, others think its worth it. 

I didn’t mind the hassle.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2022 by richard_smith237

[Thunglom]

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Been the same idea, BS, for 20 years.  As long as tourist don't mind paying, they'll keep charging.  They know nobody will be coming back, so get it while they can.

 

Yet to have been to a mainland national park that was worth the Thai fee, or even if free.  Been to a few and thought, 'why'd I even bother, glad it was free' ????

 

What some consider a park, waterfall or attraction is mind boggling.

 

I honestly don't remember paying any noticeable fees when I made the rounds the first couple years here, 2000 ish.  And none impressed me, worth the 10 or 20 baht or whatever, I 'might' have paid.  Usually disappointed I drove out of my way to even peek at it.

 

The countryside near the park was just as nice, if not better.  How I travel now, if wanting to 'go to' a park area.  Yet to really find anything inside a park, better than out.  IMHO

you obviously haven't visited any NPs and don't know anything about the pricing debate as it relates to the DNP and Government.

[KhunLA]

36 minutes ago, Thunglom said:

you obviously haven't visited any NPs and don't know anything about the pricing debate as it relates to the DNP and Government.

Nope, haven't a clue ... 40 vs 400.  Officially allowed to charge 10X more than locals.  

Nope, never saw those signs or read news-blips about it.

 

I was at Doi Inthanon during covid, so pretty hard to miss the signs at the guard shack/entrance.

[Lemsta69]

53 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

The Tabien Baan thing.....  Yellow House Book is basically registering you at your current address.

 

As soon as your Yellow House book is issued, at the same office (on the same day) you can get a Pink ID card (with same ID number on it etc) for about 40 baht, it takes about 10 mins. 

 

So.. the process is Yellow House Book first, then the Pink ID (you can’t get the pink ID without a Yellow House Book). 

 

 

Mostly, foreigners who’s partners own their house and can’t be in the Blue House Book (for Thai’s) will get themselves in the Yellow House Book.

 

IF you are renting, you will need the permission and assistance of the house owner.

 

The process involves some hoop-jumping and can be applied for at your local District Office (Amphur / Khet Office).... 

 

A rough breakdown: 

1) Get a MFA Certified Copy of a Translation of the Embassy Verified Copy of your Passport.

To do this...  

- Get an Embassy certified copy of your passport. 

- Get this translated in to Thai at an approved translation office (i.e. at the MFA building or find out where)

- Get this Verified at MFA (Ministry of Foreign affairs)

- All of this takes a few days - the translation service may do the MFA part for you (translation services near Ploernchit BTS in Bangkok for example). 

 

2) Get an appointment at the Amphur / Khet Office

3) Attend the Amphur / Khet Office with the following

- Thai owner of the property you live in

- Owners Thai ID Card

- Owners / Property Blue House Book

- Another Thai Witness

- Your Passport / Visa 

 

The process takes an hour or so....  Part 1 may or may not be necessary depending on the regulations of the local district office (it was for me), you may get away with just the passport and forgo the embassy and MFA dance. 

 

There’s probably something I forgot but thats the crux of it... Its a hassle and many people think its too many hoops to jump for the value of the Yellow Book, others think its worth it. 

I didn’t mind the hassle.

 

 

 

 

 

thanks mate that's really helpful. I think I'll pass and maybe try for a Thai DL instead. but I'm still curious as to why @Neeranamis laughing at those who call a Yellow Book a "tabien baan". this is what I get when I Googled the team so how are is n00bs supposed to know otherwise?

[Thunglom]

5 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Nope, haven't a clue ... 40 vs 400.  Officially allowed to charge 10X more than locals.  

Nope, never saw those signs or read news-blips about it.

 

I was at Doi Inthanon during covid, so pretty hard to miss the signs at the guard shack/entrance.

QED - you really haven't got a grasp of th issues nor possible solutions.

[BangkokReady]

1 hour ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

So how and why is it racist that Thais can enter National parks cheaper than foreigners can ?

Because it has nothing to do with residential status, or income, it's simply a group of people, being target for price gouging, because of their race.

 

If they only did it for tourists, you could see it was somewhat reasonable, but where they target people who live and work in Thailand, who have Thai wives and children, who might have contributed far more to Thailand that many Thais have, it's plane racism.

 

How and why is it not racist?

[Lemsta69]

3 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Nope, haven't a clue ... 40 vs 400.  Officially allowed to charge 10X more than locals.  

Nope, never saw those signs or read news-blips about it.

 

I was at Doi Inthanon during covid, so pretty hard to miss the signs at the guard shack/entrance.

me and a buddy and his TW went on a trip to Chiang Rai many moons ago and we hired a pickup and a driver to ferry us around the area to see what was what. bush mostly, but not as good as Astraya LOL.

 

the dude took us to some random national park where you could supposedly rent boats to ride up and down a river. 

 

they wanted 400 baht for farang and we weren't having any of that so we parked up under a shady tree for a bit of a breather.

 

a bunch of young Thai dudes with expensive cameras turned up next to us and asked us what the park was like. when we explained that we CBF paying the farang tax they said tell us about it, even for us 40 baht is a rip-off! ????

[JimmyJ]

1 hour ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

So how and why is it racist that Thais can enter National parks cheaper than foreigners can ?

18 pages and you have no idea why the policy is widely viewed as racist?

[Mac Mickmanus]

5 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

Because it has nothing to do with residential status, or income, it's simply a group of people, being target for price gouging, because of their race.

 

If they only did it for tourists, you could see it was somewhat reasonable, but where they target people who live and work in Thailand, who have Thai wives and children, who might have contributed far more to Thailand that many Thais have, it's plane racism.

 

How and why is it not racist?

Because people of the same race as Thais , who are not Thai. also have to pay the higher price . 

  The entry price is based on Nationality , rather than race , therefore not racist . 

   If ALL Asians got the cheaper price , then it would be racist

[BangkokReady]

13 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Because people of the same race as Thais , who are not Thai. also have to pay the higher price . 

  The entry price is based on Nationality , rather than race , therefore not racist . 

   If ALL Asians got the cheaper price , then it would be racist

Yes, I'm sure they always check the nationality of Asians closely and wouldn't dream of using the policy to only charge Westerners extra... ????

[Blumpie]

I honestly don't care anyways.  They appear to be disused, trash strewn about, sun faded signs and that's about it.  

Its wrong but hey, it's Thailand they just don't care anyways.

[Mac Mickmanus]

15 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

Yes, I'm sure they always check the nationality of Asians closely and wouldn't dream of using the policy to only charge Westerners extra... ????

Don't they check peoples I.D cards before entry ?

That is the policy at zoos , either show a Thai I.D card or pay full price

[Will B Good]

This thread has now been locked as far too many members find it interesting and there are far too many comments.

[ThailandRyan]

36 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Don't they check peoples I.D cards before entry ?

That is the policy at zoos , either show a Thai I.D card or pay full price

Not seen that in all my visits to the zoos.  I have shown my Pink ID card and the GF and Daughter are never asked...ymmv.

[Mac Mickmanus]

3 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Not seen that in all my visits to the zoos.  I have shown my Pink ID card and the GF and Daughter are never asked...ymmv.

If they were speaking Thai and looked Thai, they probably wouldn't get asked , my non Thai speaking non Thai looking friend got asked to show her I.D when paying to get into the zoo

[sitanonchai]

For me it isn't the amount but the racist attitude. If there's is dual pricing involved against foreigners I don't visit.

I don't have a problem with a discount for people of certain age or for local people who live near a venue.

[Neeranam]

4 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

I don't have a driver's license because I don't drive. so this pink ID would be useful for me if I wanted to open say a True Money Wallet. 

 

I thought about getting a Thai DL just for the other benefits it affords but don't really know where to start, any ideas? I'm in Lumphini, Pathum Wan. 

 

Also would you mind explaining the "tabien baan" thing if you have a moment? I'm happily single so I don't have a long-haired translator to help me out. kop khun khrap ????????

I wouldn't bother, too much hassle.

See Richard's post if you insist, he know a lot about it.

[Lemsta69]

8 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I wouldn't bother, too much hassle.

See Richard's post if you insist, he know a lot about it.

yeah I reckon I'll not bother. if I can't just pay someone 1000 baht tip have it delivered to my door then I'm not interested. 

 

but I still want to know why it's wrong to call a Yellow Book a "tabien baan". I don't mind being laughed at because I don't get it (story of my life) but when you're done laughing... please explain! ????

Edited June 7, 2022 by Lemsta69

[Neeranam]

3 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

Because it has nothing to do with residential status, or income, it's simply a group of people, being target for price gouging, because of their race.

 

If they only did it for tourists, you could see it was somewhat reasonable, but where they target people who live and work in Thailand, who have Thai wives and children, who might have contributed far more to Thailand that many Thais have, it's plane racism.

 

How and why is it not racist?

Firstly, it's not racist. I am white and get in for the discounted price if I show my Thai ID. If the did charge me the normal price, that would be racist but it would never happen. 

Secondly, foreigners are not targeted, it's simply the policy that Thais get a reduced price and many foreigners are also granted this discount despite not really being entitled. I've never paid the normal price when going places with my wife and kids, even before I got a Thai ID. 

[FriendlyFarang]

3 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

18 pages and you have no idea why the policy is widely viewed as racist?

Only people who don't understand the difference between nationality and race call it racist.

[Neeranam]

1 minute ago, Lemsta69 said:

yeah I reckon I'll not bother. if I came just pay someone 1000 baht tip have it delivered to my door then I'm not interested. 

 

but I still want to know why it's wrong to call a Yellow Book a "tabien baan". I don't mind being laughed at because I don't get it (story of my life) but when you're done laughing... please explain! ????

It's not wrong ???? 

It's just funny when some foreigners who are speaking English, for example to immigration officers, then they throw in 'tabien baan', yet other documents like Work Permit, or marriage cert. are never called their Thai name.

 

Similar to blah blah in English ..... 'poom pui' .....'ting tong'. 

[Hanuman2547]

2 minutes ago, FriendlyFarang said:

Only people who don't understand the difference between nationality and race call it racist.

This topic of dual pricing at National Parks falls more in line with xenophobia and nationalism than straight out racism, although it is a very fine line between them.   Xenophobia, the “fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners,” is an unfamiliar term for some. While xenophobia is similar to racism, racism is prejudiced thoughts and discriminatory actions based on differences in race or ethnicity. A person can be both racist and xenophobic.  Currently the Thai National Parks practice entrance based upon nationality.  You're either a Thai or you are not.  Yes, there are cases of Burmese and others getting the Thai price.  Easy to do if they don't say a word when approaching the ticket booth.  For a foreigner who has Thai citizenship it's a little different.  You don't see a lot of westerners that have obtained Thai citizenship but they are here as demonstrated by some of the posts on this thread.  

The bottom line is that this dual pricing sucks but it is here to stay as the Thai government has no plans to change it.  

[richard_smith237]

12 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

It's not wrong ???? 

It's just funny when some foreigners who are speaking English, for example to immigration officers, then they throw in 'tabien baan', yet other documents like Work Permit, or marriage cert. are never called their Thai name.

Yeah..... It could be an idiosyncrasy of this forum....  it caught on... 

 

 

12 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Similar to blah blah in English ..... 'poom pui' .....'ting tong'. 

Thats just a giveaway for someone who the only Thai’s they have spent time with are hookers..... throw in a ‘boom-boom’ and a ‘dop-sallop-sallai’ to boot !!! 

 

 

 

 

[Lemsta69]

34 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

It's not wrong ???? 

It's just funny when some foreigners who are speaking English, for example to immigration officers, then they throw in 'tabien baan', yet other documents like Work Permit, or marriage cert. are never called their Thai name.

 

Similar to blah blah in English ..... 'poom pui' .....'ting tong'. 

guilty as charged yer honour! ????

 

but you're right, a lot of us don't make enough of an effort to learn the local lingo. dunno what anyone else's excuse is but the Thai language scares the hell out of me. 

[Lemsta69]

17 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Yeah..... It could be an idiosyncrasy of this forum....  it caught on... 

 

 

Thats just a giveaway for someone who the only Thai’s they have spent time with are hookers..... throw in a ‘boom-boom’ and a ‘dop-sallop-sallai’ to boot !!! 

 

 

 

 

again, guilty as charged! but is it exclusive to hookers? or is it because a lot (most?) BGs come from a certain area/socioeconomic class.

 

ps. I've spent time at some "hi-so" places here in Bangers and I can't stand the clientele. happy in the gutters of Pat Pong ????

[garyk]

Used to show my Thai DL and get in for Thai prices. Not no more!!!  Know a few guys that live and speak fluent Thai that used to get in on Thai prices. Not no more..  

What I did was pay and camp for a week or so. Made it a little less painful.  But, I was birding the area usually.  KK and Ko Yai really cracked down a few years ago. The smaller parks were not so bad. 

Show me da money!

Edited June 7, 2022 by garyk