MRT for foreign seniors?

[HermesHermes]

OK, I get it, non-Thai residents are no longer eligible for discount on the metro. No problem, let's move on with changing reality. But how to transition to normal card pass?

 

I don't understand enough Thai to comprehend what to do. It sounds, from the explanation of the helpful MRT kiosk staff, that the balance (not insignificant in my case) has to be refunded to a Thai bank account. But I paid cash. And I do not have a bank account anyway (it involves jumping through hoops for tourists) . Anyway, it seems unreasonable that I have to have my credit sent to a different form of payment than I made to pay for it.

 

So, I suggested that he transfer my balance to a new normal pass. If I understood him correctly, no can do.

 

And what is this tying of identity with transportation passes for some years. Are jihadis using their real passports to travel via subway? It all seems just a little bit ridiculous to me. Next you won't be able to pass for taxis by cash, because some criminals use them as getaway cars (not). 

 

BTW, this kind of surveillance is not unique to Thailand. By contrast, in Vancouver, Canada (Montreal and Toronto, I do not know) it is optional whether you register your Skytrain card or not. There are pluses and minuses to doing so. But even in BC (when long distance bus service existed) after a crazy man not inspired by religion but mind altering substances or psychosis cut a fellow passenger's  head off, they started demanding gov't-issued ID to travel intercity. I don't mind this when I get a discount, but in order to get regular fare, I do resent this. I saw a lot of this transportation monitoring in PRC. I think Singapore does not require it unless crossing a border.

 

Is this the new normal for Thailand? But more imprtant, how do I get my money back since I no longer qualify?

[impulse]

I just kept using my Elder MRT card.  I've topped it up several times in the past few months.  No new card required.  I don't think I'm getting the discount any more, but it's still cheap transport.  And if I ever leave Thailand for good, I'll give it away with whatever baht are left on it.

 

Edit:  I don't know for sure whether I still get the discount.  I assumed that since the card is tied to my foreign passport, their system would be smart enough to debit the correct amount.

 

[DonniePeverley]

Wait .... there is a seperate price for foreigners on the MRT than for locals?

 

WTF since when ?

 

What about the self pay machines ?

[HermesHermes]

I too have no idea what  I am being charged. Actually, what happens is that it sort of still works. What do I mean by this? Well, about a quarter of the time it refuses to let me past the turnstile. I go to the kiosk. The person does something. Then it works. The only time it was a problem was when I asked for it to work properly, 'this card works only some of the time, can I replace it?'  If I let it hobble along semi-functioning nobody asks me to do anything special.

[Callmeishmael]

7 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

Wait .... there is a seperate price for foreigners on the MRT than for locals?

 

WTF since when ?

 

What about the self pay machines ?

There is a senior discount that used to be given to all passengers over 60. Several months ago some high ranking Thai person noticed that foreigners were being given this discount and kicked up a fuss, so the MRT changed their rules so that only Thais over the age of 60 got the discount.  

 

So, the regular price for the MRT is the same for everyone, it's just the senior discount that is no longer given to foreigners.

[FritsSikkink]

17 hours ago, HermesHermes said:

OK, I get it, non-Thai residents are no longer eligible for discount on the metro. No problem, let's move on with changing reality. But how to transition to normal card pass?

 

I don't understand enough Thai to comprehend what to do. It sounds, from the explanation of the helpful MRT kiosk staff, that the balance (not insignificant in my case) has to be refunded to a Thai bank account. But I paid cash. And I do not have a bank account anyway (it involves jumping through hoops for tourists) . Anyway, it seems unreasonable that I have to have my credit sent to a different form of payment than I made to pay for it.

 

So, I suggested that he transfer my balance to a new normal pass. If I understood him correctly, no can do.

 

And what is this tying of identity with transportation passes for some years. Are jihadis using their real passports to travel via subway? It all seems just a little bit ridiculous to me. Next you won't be able to pass for taxis by cash, because some criminals use them as getaway cars (not). 

 

BTW, this kind of surveillance is not unique to Thailand. By contrast, in Vancouver, Canada (Montreal and Toronto, I do not know) it is optional whether you register your Skytrain card or not. There are pluses and minuses to doing so. But even in BC (when long distance bus service existed) after a crazy man not inspired by religion but mind altering substances or psychosis cut a fellow passenger's  head off, they started demanding gov't-issued ID to travel intercity. I don't mind this when I get a discount, but in order to get regular fare, I do resent this. I saw a lot of this transportation monitoring in PRC. I think Singapore does not require it unless crossing a border.

 

Is this the new normal for Thailand? But more imprtant, how do I get my money back since I no longer qualify?

You could use the card until the money is gone.

[Upnotover]

I use my "Elder" card and still get the discount.  And I've topped it up since the new rules came in.  Maybe it'll just keep working until it, or I, expire.

[Dirk Z]

16 hours ago, impulse said:

I just kept using my Elder MRT card.  I've topped it up several times in the past few months.  No new card required.  I don't think I'm getting the discount any more, but it's still cheap transport.  And if I ever leave Thailand for good, I'll give it away with whatever baht are left on it.

 

Edit:  I don't know for sure whether I still get the discount.  I assumed that since the card is tied to my foreign passport, their system would be smart enough to debit the correct amount.

 

Same here, but as far as I can tell I still get the discount. The price for my standard ride has not changed.

[NicoBKK]

13 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

Wait .... there is a seperate price for foreigners on the MRT than for locals?

 

WTF since when ?

 

What about the self pay machines ?

On BTS, yes there is. Senior Thai get discount, not senior foreigners (even if living and working in TH, as one needs a Thai ID card to apply)

On MRT I recently topped my Senior card and got the Senior fare.

[impulse]

4 hours ago, Upnotover said:

I use my "Elder" card and still get the discount.  And I've topped it up since the new rules came in.  Maybe it'll just keep working until it, or I, expire.

 

I wonder what the going price is for a grandfathered Elder card?  They never ask to see ID to top mine up...

 

[suzannegoh]

22 hours ago, HermesHermes said:

OK, I get it, non-Thai residents are no longer eligible for discount on the metro. No problem, let's move on with changing reality. But how to transition to normal card pass?

 

I don't understand enough Thai to comprehend what to do. It sounds, from the explanation of the helpful MRT kiosk staff, that the balance (not insignificant in my case) has to be refunded to a Thai bank account. But I paid cash. And I do not have a bank account anyway (it involves jumping through hoops for tourists) . Anyway, it seems unreasonable that I have to have my credit sent to a different form of payment than I made to pay for it.

 

So, I suggested that he transfer my balance to a new normal pass. If I understood him correctly, no can do.

 

And what is this tying of identity with transportation passes for some years. Are jihadis using their real passports to travel via subway? It all seems just a little bit ridiculous to me. Next you won't be able to pass for taxis by cash, because some criminals use them as getaway cars (not). 

 

BTW, this kind of surveillance is not unique to Thailand. By contrast, in Vancouver, Canada (Montreal and Toronto, I do not know) it is optional whether you register your Skytrain card or not. There are pluses and minuses to doing so. But even in BC (when long distance bus service existed) after a crazy man not inspired by religion but mind altering substances or psychosis cut a fellow passenger's  head off, they started demanding gov't-issued ID to travel intercity. I don't mind this when I get a discount, but in order to get regular fare, I do resent this. I saw a lot of this transportation monitoring in PRC. I think Singapore does not require it unless crossing a border.

 

Is this the new normal for Thailand? But more imprtant, how do I get my money back since I no longer qualify?

If you're not concerned about getting a discount, you can skip the lines at the MRT station and pay for each trip by swiping your credit card at the entry turnstile at the start of your journey and then swiping he same card again at the exit turnstile at the end of your journey.  I've verified that this works well on the MRT but don't think that you can do it on the BTS.

[HermesHermes]

14 minutes ago, suzannegoh said:

If you're not concerned about getting a discount, you can skip the lines at the MRT station and pay for each trip by swiping your credit card at the entry turnstile at the start of your journey and then swiping he same card again at the exit turnstile at the end of your journey.  I've verified that this works well on the MRT but don't think that you can do it on the BTS.

Thanks. I am skeptical of using bank cards any more than I have to.

[impulse]

18 minutes ago, suzannegoh said:

If you're not concerned about getting a discount, you can skip the lines at the MRT station and pay for each trip by swiping your credit card at the entry turnstile at the start of your journey and then swiping he same card again at the exit turnstile at the end of your journey.  I've verified that this works well on the MRT but don't think that you can do it on the BTS.

 

Does that have to be a Thai bank card, or can it be a card from back home?

 

[VR333]

22 hours ago, HermesHermes said:

So, I suggested that he transfer my balance to a new normal pass. If I understood him correctly, no can do.

What you suggest would seem sensible.

 

When I came back after the pandemic, I was able to get the credit left on my then expired Rabbit card refunded in cash. I had to show my passport I used from when I originally paid for it. The problem was, that was a now expired passport. I was able to show them a photo of my old passport's data page on my phone, and that was accepted. I did this late at night on one of the outer stations, so it was probably easier than a busy station like Sukhumvit. I then purchased a new card.

 

 

22 hours ago, HermesHermes said:

And what is this tying of identity with transportation passes for some years.

I think maybe this only applies to the Skytrain. The Rabbit card lets you have a balance of up to four thousand baht you can use to make purchases with at various shops. Thais have to register too. It's about preventing money laundering, apparently. I don't think you can use the MRT or Red Line card for anything other than train travel, so no ID is required; at least I can't recall being asked for any.

[ricklev]

6 hours ago, Upnotover said:

I use my "Elder" card and still get the discount.  And I've topped it up since the new rules came in.  Maybe it'll just keep working until it, or I, expire.

Me too.  I have topped up my elder card three times, at 500 baht per time, since the new rule/new card came into effect.  I asked the cashier about it and she said no problem.  They have received no instructions about foreigners using or topping up the old elder card, only that the new discounted card is available only to Thais. 

 

 

 

 

[lamecn]

3 hours ago, NicoBKK said:

On BTS, yes there is. Senior Thai get discount, not senior foreigners (even if living and working in TH, as one needs a Thai ID card to apply)

On MRT I recently topped my Senior card and got the Senior fare.

And they want us to pay tax of our pensions from abroad?

[LALes]

Those of us with senior MRT cards are "grandfathered in".  I topped up mine and still get the discounted ride.