Foreign man kicks up a storm over discriminatory bike rental policy in Phuket

[Liverpool Lou]

30 minutes ago, Thumbs said:

If its ok for hospitals, restaurants, national parks then why cant a foreigner have a similar policy?

Which hospitals, restaurants and national parks do not provide service to foreigners, which would be the only thing that would be a "similar policy" to that of the OP? 

[richard_smith237]

2 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

31 minutes ago, Thumbs said:

If its ok for hospitals, restaurants, national parks then why cant a foreigner have a similar policy?

Which hospitals, restaurants and national parks do not provide service to foreigners which would be a "similar policy" to that of the OP? 

 

I think he's referring to the duplicitous treatment of foreigners with state sanctioned dual pricing.

 

I can see the point.... IF Authorities can sanction discrimination in the form of dual pricing....   and if Businesses across Thailand get away with this practice without warnings from Authorities....  Then there is no reason why a practice can't operate in the same manner but turning the tables and operating in a discriminatory manner against Thai's..... 

 

I get that sentiment... and for me it would mean any Thai complaining of unfair treatment does not have a justifiable complaint.

 

That said: I object to and prejudicial treatment of anyone, no matter where, what, for whom or by whom.

I deplore dual charging in all examples and in this case, I find the mistreatment of a Thai customer also deplorable, regardless of what happens elsewhere. 

 

[Screaming]

Only idiots get on motorbikes in Thailand. I think the bike shop did him a favor by not wanting to rent to him.

[Tropicalevo]

5 minutes ago, Screaming said:

Only idiots get on motorbikes in Thailand. I think the bike shop did him a favor by not wanting to rent to him.

Maybe only idiots make generalisations like this one.

[ChipButty]

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Is this a new thing leaving a deposit? I haven't rented one for years, but never had to pay a deposit. Photo copy of ID should be enough.

As far as I know, it's not something new here in Phuket, one friend she charges 3000 baht for bikes and 5000 baht on cars, 

[Perhaps2more]

Nothing new, Thai airline service staff are the same and many Thais have been complaining for years. They usually get better when the airlines are facing bankruptcy. The same go, when foreigners say local Thais are very friendly, it only means friendly to foreigners NOT to their own. ~ Perhaps they just don't like their own kind of face when looking in a mirror. Now they are complaining foreigners are looking down on them. ~ Self-inflicted? 

[SAFETY FIRST]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

What recourse do we have?

I'd say you can always go back home if you don't like it. 

 

And take your whinging western ways with you. 

 

The Thai staff told you why they do what they do and you still want to sook.

 

Bloody complainers, plenty of rental bike shops to choose from. 

 

[ChipButty]

That's been going on for many years, A farang I knew his wife used to rent bikes them lose them gambling she got run our of town, 

Years ago we had a shop on the main road with a large forecourt, a Thai guy approached us asking if he could use the forecourts to rent bikes and a couple of cars, he said the very same thing don't rent to Thais, we didn't take up his offer, 

I have known people here who will not rent property to Thai's and thats Thai owners 555, 

 

If you want to talk about racism you should speak to the Burmese, 

 

 

[Perhaps2more]

22 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I think he's referring to the duplicitous treatment of foreigners with state sanctioned dual pricing.

 

I can see the point.... IF Authorities can sanction discrimination in the form of dual pricing....   and if Businesses across Thailand get away with this practice without warnings from Authorities....  Then there is no reason why a practice can't operate in the same manner but turning the tables and operating in a discriminatory manner against Thai's..... 

 

I get that sentiment... and for me it would mean any Thai complaining of unfair treatment does not have a justifiable complaint.

 

That said: I object to and prejudicial treatment of anyone, no matter where, what, for whom or by whom.

I deplore dual charging in all examples and in this case, I find the mistreatment of a Thai customer also deplorable, regardless of what happens elsewhere. 

 

Dual pricing exists everywhere, in Europe between EU citizens and Non EU., in the UK and the US for local resident students and Non local resident students. In Thailand it is about few dollars more for entrance fees to places supported by local taxes but in those countries mentioned they go for few million bahts but not for few dollars. 

[rattlesnake]

It's called empirical management, i.e. the implementation of policies based on experience. Political correctness does not exist in Thailand (yet).

[Raymonddiaz]

At least some  Thais are getting the taste of their own medicine. 

[Toby1947]

 Ah Diddums 😪

[Felton Jarvis]

If a Thai person kicks you, it's business as usual. If YOU kick a Thai person (especially a HISO) it's an international incident.

[HauptmannUK]

Not unusual.  Thais are often wary of other Thais.  About 13 years ago my wife bought a couple of new condo units in Pattaya - very basic rooms near King Power off Sukhumwit.  She will only rent to Westerners...  not Thai, Indian or Russian..  'too many problems'.  Its worked out OK so far and I think she's now got back more in rent than she paid for them with only a lick of paint and some minor repairs. One is occupied by an elderly 'down on his luck' American and the other is a Czech guy.

[jimn]

This is common policy in Thailand. My wife's Thai friend visited from Sweden. They drove around all afternoon trying to rent a motorbike in Pattaya. "Farang only" was the answer everywhere. 

[4MyEgo]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Some Thais said that it was not only the foreign-owned businesses that refused Thai customers but also those owned by locals.

 

So what do you do when someone refuses to serve you, you move on and give your money to someone worthy of it.

 

Businesses that discriminate have their day coming, as they won't be in business for long.

 

End of story.

[Scouse123]

3 hours ago, Chongalulu said:

My local rental shop has a sign " No blacks,no dogs,no Irish ”. Owner says he bought it as a souvenir on a trip to England in the 50s....

 

 

That is more probably an American sign, not a British one.

[Matrosen]

If that is his experience & it's hos motorbikes, so it's hos decision! Just stop complain about it & if you have an issue with his decision, just mind your own business & go somewhere else!

[cowellandrew]

Yep totally agree most Thais haven't got a license,

And cant drive a sit on lawn mower!

 

[MangoKorat]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Some said it was not a big deal. They said it was much more outrageous when foreigners were charged double to enter any attraction in Thailand.

Only double?  They should visit Khao Yai National Park where its 40 baht for Thai's and 400 baht for foreigners (regardless of what documents you show them).  I seem to remember the boss of TAT saying he was going to stop that last year - still waiting.

[Sydebolle]

So the xenophobia continues ...... it seems. Not being in the business but I've seen apartments and houses for rent which were vacated by Thai tenants before and each and every landlord (all Thais) told me, that they will never ever rent out anything to a fellow citizen. 

Preventive regular maintenance is also literally unknown among Thais and whoever bought/sold a vehicle in Thailand knows, that a vehicle pre-owned by a Westerner fetches a considerably better price as they tend to look much better after their assets 😉 

At the end, the private owner can decide for him-/herself, to whom what is rented out or not - or did I miss something on the subject of free market economy? 

[thailand49]

That's not right get me a crying towel!😂

[josephbloggs]

11 hours ago, BestB said:

Thai have no need to rent a bike when they can easily buy, in many cases with no deposit at all

So they should all have their own bikes and drive them to Phuket when they want to go on holiday?

[jacko45k]

20 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Much ado about nothing (with thanks to Bill).

Yes, rather.

[BestB]

7 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

So they should all have their own bikes and drive them to Phuket when they want to go on holiday?

Yes

[Wildliferescue]

Seems that some farang guy is scoring brown points with his post on Reddit. Who actually cares about posts on reddit?

 

[Old Croc]

18 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Which hospitals, restaurants and national parks do not provide service to foreigners, which would be the only thing that would be a "similar policy" to that of the OP? 

Taiwanese man dies after hospital in Thailand refuses to treat him | Thaiger (thethaiger.com)

[Lee65]

18 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

I think he's referring to the duplicitous treatment of foreigners with state sanctioned dual pricing.

 

 

That's not what "duplicitous" means.

 

Thanks for all your sermonizing though.  We're all better people because of you.

[Perhaps2more]

21 hours ago, HauptmannUK said:

Not unusual.  Thais are often wary of other Thais.  About 13 years ago my wife bought a couple of new condo units in Pattaya - very basic rooms near King Power off Sukhumwit.  She will only rent to Westerners...  not Thai, Indian or Russian..  'too many problems'.  Its worked out OK so far and I think she's now got back more in rent than she paid for them with only a lick of paint and some minor repairs. One is occupied by an elderly 'down on his luck' American and the other is a Czech guy.

You must be proud of your wife. Her idea of good and bad people going by nationalities is how westerners used when they spit on Asians, looking like her, before and after Covid period. Wise women are rare to find for sure.

[bristolgeoff]

Maybe these companies have had a issue with thais over a rental before.They set the rules just like another comment about golf courses farangs must have a caddy u can,t carry your clubs even if u could.Also the national park entry charge for farang u can not escape but thais get it cheaper we all know that.