I'm living in Thailand almost 22 years and my experience is 99% of the time I am charged extra for being a foreigner that is visiting touristy locations. My children always pay as they know I will kick up a fuss and refuse to enter. In the last week I have been to a hillside temple near Cha-am and the Marine Museum in Bang Saen. I loosely use the word museum. Again my Thai kids buy the tickets not wanting me to make an issue of being charged extra. And later I demanded to see the tickets and right enough they and their two Thai friends were charged 50 Baht each and me 220 Baht! And I have both car and motorbike licenses and speak Thai. It is so annoying. I have photos of the tickets. Afterwards my son and I went for a haircut near the museum and the price on the wall was 100 for me and 200 for him so he should have paid 300 Baht but we were charged 600 Baht again my son paid not wanting me to get involved. It was the same in the two Zoo's I visited last year. Its not the money that annoys me it is the principle and I thought they were trying to stamp this out?

Almost 20 years in Thailand and I also am frustrated as I have a work permit and pay taxes etc.

 

But to be fair locals get a discount in many places worldwide...

 

In america I think it is more of a state thing not based on nationality.

 

So someone from New York will often pay more in Hawaii than a local but move there and show your Hawaii state drivers license and you get the discount.

Look at it this way.

You lived in western country growing up and was given countless free stuff on the agreement that you stay and spend money in that economy forever after. 

You didn't and benefitted massively from the deal, as did I.

Now you're on the wrong end of deal in Thailand but we're talking a few thousand BAHT a year. Nothing really.

 

Mai bpen rai

17 minutes ago, TravelerEastWest said:

In america I think it is more of a state thing not based on nationality.

 

absolutely - you pay more to use a local golf course

 

you pay more to go to an out of state school... and it ain't 20 baht more... 

 

Sr Citizens getting govt pensions pay less to ride busses and go to movies... 

 

people say principle but it is really the money... 

..."given countless free stuff...".

 

???

Just don't pay, it's not compulsory and most of the so called attractions are not even worth the Thai price.

21 minutes ago, proton said:

Just don't pay, it's not compulsory and most of the so called attractions are not even worth the Thai price.

yup, agree. nothing to get upset about, just ignore such places, there are plenty of other places to visit.

in my country a lot of places of interest are free to citizens, or for only locals of a city, etc

visitors pay. a difference between zero and 20 euro often.

@Nip

do you not think you or your kids are contributing to the problem, by paying.

 

If all avoided such vendors, and refused to pay, they might stop the practice.  I refuse to step foot in anyplace that does dual pricing.  As much for the policy, and also most aren't worth the Thai price.

 

Since the tourist are so ignorant, I doubt if the practice will ever end.  Never ending supply of suckers.

Perhaps I had luck. They often tried but I showed them my Thai drivers license and my Thai girlfriend did the rest. Never had to pay then more. Since I don't understand Thai, I can't say anything about the exact content of the conversations. But she made it clear to them that I am not a tourist but live here.

2 hours ago, sidjameson said:

Look at it this way.

You lived in western country growing up and was given countless free stuff on the agreement that you stay and spend money in that economy forever after. 

You didn't and benefitted massively from the deal, as did I.

Now you're on the wrong end of deal in Thailand but we're talking a few thousand BAHT a year. Nothing really.

 

Mai bpen rai

 

 

Mai bpen rai......................the biggest cop out ever.........bend over and accept whatever they want to shove at you.

Experiences may vary.

The two National Parks near us had new signage in 2013 which made clear one price - the lower one - was for Thai ID card holders only.

 

Everyone else, you pay the higher rate. As I do, regularly, regardless of my visa status here. They're good places to visit, the fees are not on my worry list.

 

Of course this thread can go on forever as others have.

 

Interested as to why should holding a Thai driver's licence somehow make the holder eligible for discount? It's not a Monopoly game 'get out of jail free' card. 

4 hours ago, Nip said:

It was the same in the two Zoo's I visited last year. Its not the money that annoys me it is the principle and I thought they were trying to stamp this out?

Should have thought about that before abandoning your home country and settle in Thailand. Thailand has provided you with a wife, and a life, and in return they are asking for some extra money. 

It can be a little annoying (I've lived here for 18 years), but really not very important in the scheme of things.

Double pricing for tourist attractions is easy to deal with I believe: Most are not worth any amount of money anyway. Remains a couple of must-sees: As a genuine tourist you would not leave out to see Wat Phra Kaeo - would you ? This would be like visiting Egypt and not have a look at the pyramides.

 

What I see more of a problem is double pricing for food - which I am told exists. I doubt this happened to me (I have a Thai wife as well). But they could try that trick on other unexperienced travellers. This would not be double pricing, this would be fraud in my opinion.

19 hours ago, sidjameson said:

You lived in western country growing up and was given countless free stuff on the agreement that you stay and spend money in that economy forever after. 

 

Wasn't given anything "free".  And that was not the "agreement".

18 hours ago, it is what it is said:

yup, agree. nothing to get upset about, just ignore such places, there are plenty of other places to visit.

Yeah, feet stamping and sulking and spoiling the Thai family's proposed day out for a couple of hundred baht and "principles" in a country that you chose to live in as a temporary visitor, knowing it's drawbacks.

16 hours ago, Xanthe said:

Should have thought about that before abandoning your home country and settle in Thailand. Thailand has provided you with a wife, and a life, and in return they are asking for some extra money. 

Thailand gives out free wives and lives and you don't pay at all!

 

Don't forget to add "we are all guests here" ....  

16 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Mai bpen rai......................the biggest cop out ever.........bend over and accept whatever they want to shove at you.

...in their country, with their rules, that forces no one to live here.   Anyone who chooses to live here voluntarily bends over to be ducked up the a_rse.

16 hours ago, moogradod said:

What I see more of a problem is double pricing for food - which I am told exists. I doubt this happened to me (I have a Thai wife as well). But they could try that trick on other unexperienced travellers. This would not be double pricing, this would be fraud in my opinion.

"...this would be fraud in my opinion".

Not if they showed a menu with the prices on before taking the order, if they don't, you should ask for one, if you don't, more fool you.

11 minutes ago, Lee65 said:

Thailand gives out free wives and lives and you don't pay at all!

My wife is never free!

I've been here 15 years.  At some point in time you just have to get over it.  Yeah - it sucks.
What I do is talk and joke with those selling over-priced entry fees about being Puu Sung Ayu or a elderly person over 70 years old.  The conversation I use generally is to mention whether or not there is any respect for elderly farang like their is for elderly Thais.  Age does mean something to Thais. 
Sometimes it works (I don't get charged), sometimes I get a discount (most of the time), and sometimes they pretend they can't understand me (they do but the are saving face).  What I do is to simply make them live up to their own rules about respect for the elderly.  I keep the conversation light and humorous if possible. 
What I'm doing is pulling down the mask of their own "Face Saving" and then hold up a mirror, metaphorically speaking.  

Don't confront these people with anger, confront them with humor.  And remember, the person selling you the ticket probably makes 10K THB a month or less.

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

My wife is never free!

Ditto - there is no such thing as a "Free" Thai wife.

1 minute ago, connda said:

Ditto - there is no such thing as a "Free" Thai wife.

My woman went to visit relatives for the weekend.

Still not free, as she wanted 2,000bht for the bus fares, I gave her 1,000bht.

Then big drama at the bus station, they wouldn't let my 12yo kid board the bus without ID.

They thought she'd abducted a foreign boy (white skin) and I had to send a copy of his Birth Cert and House book.

No money involved in this one - should I feel discriminated against? This morning we were at the temple adjacent to the Taksin Military Camp in Chanthaburi, noticed there was an open day and went to walk in with our group.

One of the soldiers cut in and explained that no foreigners, only Thai nationals, were permitted inside the gates.

New policy it seems, I've been three times previously in past ten years without any fuss. Anyhow, no drama, just taken by surprise, my first experience as a foreign spy.

2 hours ago, Lee65 said:

Wasn't given anything "free".  And that was not the "agreement".

Who paid for your schooling to 18?

Health care to 18?

 

No matter how some try to dress it up and polish it there is not one excuse I have every witnessed that justifies dual pricing. 

 

IF our wives and partners encountered any of the same dual pricing we do here we’d rightly disagree with it. So why do we accept it here. 

 

The closest I can think of to dual pricing is the ‘National Health Surcharge’ when foreign nationals move to the UK and apply for residency, they then get free healthcare as soon as their residency is approved. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Yeah, feet stamping and sulking and spoiling the Thai family's proposed day out for a couple of hundred baht and "principles" in a country that you chose to live in as a temporary visitor, knowing it's drawbacks.

Agreed...  but just because the pro’s outweigh the con’s it doesn’t not mean we should be perfectly happy with an accept the con’s...  hence the discussions on this forum where people have had distasteful experiences. 

 

If my country treated my wife with the same ‘dual pricing standards’ I witness here I’d be terribly embarrassed, I’d kick up a stink.

 

 

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

"...this would be fraud in my opinion".

Not if they showed a menu with the prices on before taking the order, if they don't, you should ask for one, if you don't, more fool you.

Agreed... no fraud...  But it's still ‘distatasteful’.....  tantamount to cheating. 

 

Offering a ‘different’ menu to foreigners to charge them more is wrong and people would be right to walk out of such places to another which does not offer dual treatment. 

 

The reality is, Thai’s cheat each other too...  how many times have we read of the restaurants over charging Thai tourists in places like Cha-am.....    People behave like this because they can get away with it, until they can’t.

Unfortunately, when the government sanctions dual pricing it sends the messages to businesses that they can do the same thing and potentially adds to a thin xenophobic underbelly... “the government do it, so the foreigners must deserve it”..... fortunately, many businesses are honest and show no hint of discrimination. 

 

22 hours ago, Nip said:

Its not the money that annoys me it is the principle and I thought they were trying to stamp this out?

Actually, the current government has emphasized that foreigners should be charged more, increased the cost to enter national parks and encouraged hotels and attractions to have dual pricing.