Park Defends Entrance Fee For Visiting ‘Wild Boars’ Cave

[webfact]

 

AMID social media criticism of the entrance fee for visiting Tham Luang cave where the 12 “Wild Boars” youth football team and their coach were trapped for 17 days in 2018 park officials defended charging Thais 950 baht and foreigners 1,500 baht per visit as appropriate because this covers going through chambers two and three, Amarin TV said this afternoon (Dec. 18).

 

Tham Luang–Khun Nam Nang Non National Park had on Friday Dec. 15 opened chamber three to visitors, limiting it to two rounds a day with 10 people per round at the separate fee for Thais and foreigners they had set.

 

Those interested were told to book a visit at least a week in advance at the national park’s Facebook page as materials and equipment had to be prepared.

 

However this led to netizens questioning whether this fee is too high.

 

by TNR Staff 

TOOP: Tourists snapping photos of Tham Luang cave. Photo: PA/ Chiang Rai Provincial Public Relations Office and published by BBC

 

Full story: THAI NEWSROOM 2023-12-19

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

 

[digger70]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

officials defended charging Thais 950 baht and foreigners 1,500 baht per visit as appropriate because this covers going through chambers two and three,

That's good to know that they charging that much then we know not to go there .

Greedy mob of ripoffs.

[Skipalongcassidy]

Good on them if the market can bear it... it's called enterprise... or are only the Western countries allowed to profit from their national parks?  Yellowstone is 800 baht per car to enter park... then differing prices for the attractions.

[neeray]

I hope that the park officials check the weather forecast before each tour.

[gomangosteen]

These fees are not just for a 'visit', they are for the guided 2-4 hour tour, as  per The Nation

 

 

Registration for trips into the cave were opened on December 15.

 

Initially, the trip will be organised twice, in the mornings and afternoons, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

 

Eligible tourists will join a two- to four-hour exploration along the approximately 700-metre-deep route. They will encounter the stalacites, rocks and holes that caused the rescue difficulties in 2018.

The cave trip

[PETERTHEEATER]

1 hour ago, digger70 said:

That's good to know that they charging that much then we know not to go there .

Greedy mob of ripoffs.

Just hope the 'extra' is no cover the exorbitant insurance premium. Tourists check your personal policies for spelunking cover.

[Wrwest]

2 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Good on them if the market can bear it... it's called enterprise... or are only the Western countries allowed to profit from their national parks?  Yellowstone is 800 baht per car to enter park... then differing prices for the attractions.

Hmm, Yellowstone charges foreigners more? Don’t think so, same price for all. 800 baht per car with 4-6 passengers included. Or, in the case of us oldsters … a one time purchase pass. My Thai Wife and Stepdaughter included as my guests in US Nat’l Parks in a visit this past April.

[Gottfrid]

Yep! They are so proud of the prices they can charge, they they officially announce double pricing.

[ikke1959]

Double pricing far too expensive and in fact only for people with some experience.  hopefully they are closed when the rainy season starts

[Tropicalevo]

3 hours ago, digger70 said:

Greedy mob of ripoffs.

I suspect that that is a naive comment.

Do not look just at the price. Look at what you get.

Guided tour of 2-4 hours (the people are experienced), safety features in chambers 2 and 3 and improved facilities at the cave.

Someone has to pay for all of that.

Extras are the clothing and insurance.

The main entrance chamber is still free.

[Gottfrid]

7 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

I suspect that that is a naive comment.

Do not look just at the price. Look at what you get.

Guided tour of 2-4 hours (the people are experienced), safety features in chambers 2 and 3 and improved facilities at the cave.

Someone has to pay for all of that.

Extras are the clothing and insurance.

The main entrance chamber is still free.

Yeah, or you could just think: Better prices = more visitors = same to better revenue

[newnative]

1 hour ago, Wrwest said:

Hmm, Yellowstone charges foreigners more? Don’t think so, same price for all. 800 baht per car with 4-6 passengers included. Or, in the case of us oldsters … a one time purchase pass. My Thai Wife and Stepdaughter included as my guests in US Nat’l Parks in a visit this past April.

If you re-read the post, nowhere does it state that Yellowstone charges more for foreigners.

[nausea]

Somebody is probably making a nice profit from all this.

[edwinchester]

1 hour ago, ikke1959 said:

Double pricing far too expensive and in fact only for people with some experience.  hopefully they are closed when the rainy season starts

If the quoted prices are true I'd wager any interest in these tours will be long over before the next rainy season.

[H1w4yR1da]

Kind of ironic that the divers who located the kids were westerners but now they're the ones paying higher prices. Not a very nice way of thanking us.

[ujayujay]

7 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Good on them if the market can bear it... it's called enterprise... or are only the Western countries allowed to profit from their national parks?  Yellowstone is 800 baht per car to enter park... then differing prices for the attractions.

You are making a calculation error. The equivalent to 20$ (800Baht) in USA in Thailand is 4$ (150Baht)

[BritScot]

8 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Good on them if the market can bear it... it's called enterprise... or are only the Western countries allowed to profit from their national parks?  Yellowstone is 800 baht per car to enter park... then differing prices for the attractions.

Just can't help it! Two facts here for your moral compass: 1. People died during a rescue that was mostly performed by western cave dive team 2. The racist pricing which you would NEVER find in the west.

[josephbloggs]

2 hours ago, H1w4yR1da said:

Kind of ironic that the divers who located the kids were westerners but now they're the ones paying higher prices. Not a very nice way of thanking us.

 

Us??? 

[H1w4yR1da]

4 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

 

Us??? 

Westerners, or in this case, British.

[josephbloggs]

2 minutes ago, H1w4yR1da said:

Westerners, or in this case, British.

Thank you divers. Feel better now? (No reason to thank all westerners as 99.99% of them had nothing to do with it.

[billd766]

8 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Good on them if the market can bear it... it's called enterprise... or are only the Western countries allowed to profit from their national parks?  Yellowstone is 800 baht per car to enter park... then differing prices for the attractions.

Are there different prices for US and non US citizens?

 

Is it 800 baht for one person in a car and the same price for 5 or 6 people including children and babies in another car?

[motdaeng]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

Is it 800 baht for one person in a car and the same price for 5 or 6 people including children and babies in another car?

 

a thai person asked in the media: "does the price include one night's accommodation with breakfast in the cave?"   

[digger70]

7 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

I suspect that that is a naive comment.

Do not look just at the price. Look at what you get.

Guided tour of 2-4 hours (the people are experienced), safety features in chambers 2 and 3 and improved facilities at the cave.

Someone has to pay for all of that.

Extras are the clothing and insurance.

The main entrance chamber is still free.

What naive? The Thai tourists get to see the same as the foreign tourists .

Should be same price . I say again  Greedy ripoffs.

 

[digger70]

10 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Good on them if the market can bear it... it's called enterprise... or are only the Western countries allowed to profit from their national parks?  Yellowstone is 800 baht per car to enter park... then differing prices for the attractions.

Do they have a different price for locals and tourists?

[off road pat]

10 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Good on them if the market can bear it... it's called enterprise... or are only the Western countries allowed to profit from their national parks?  Yellowstone is 800 baht per car to enter park... then differing prices for the attractions.

Hm,...Yellowstone is a huge park and you can get there by car as you said. I'm sure it's worth it's 800 baht !!!

[Sweet Swede]

Before the football team event  I went as deep as i could into the cave a couple of times. I parked close to the cave and we were the only people there. I don't think I went any further in than 400-500 meters, because after that i would have to dive to get any further. The caves at that time was listed as an tourist attraction, but we never met anybody else, the 3 or maybe 4 times I was there. Publicity creates value.

[billd766]

9 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

I suspect that that is a naive comment.

Do not look just at the price. Look at what you get.

Guided tour of 2-4 hours (the people are experienced), safety features in chambers 2 and 3 and improved facilities at the cave.

Someone has to pay for all of that.

Extras are the clothing and insurance.

The main entrance chamber is still free.

But the guides don't get paid any extra whether the tourists are Thai or not.

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

But the guides don't get paid any extra whether the tourists are Thai or not.

They need language skills. Higher salaries.

[Skipalongcassidy]

22 hours ago, Wrwest said:

Hmm, Yellowstone charges foreigners more? Don’t think so, same price for all. 800 baht per car with 4-6 passengers included. Or, in the case of us oldsters … a one time purchase pass. My Thai Wife and Stepdaughter included as my guests in US Nat’l Parks in a visit this past April.

Except you conveniently forget that state citizens of surrounding states get discounts... I lived in Idaho and could go to yellowstone free.

[Skipalongcassidy]

17 hours ago, ujayujay said:

You are making a calculation error. The equivalent to 20$ (800Baht) in USA in Thailand is 4$ (150Baht)

Not for western tourists... the money is the same... $20 is $20... they don't live here