The Origin Of Thailand’S Dual Pricing

[thomo]

I won't go to Ocean World because of the dual pricing.

Any Thai ID, even a Thai ATM card allows one Thai price. Also be aware that it is an Australian company, under Australian management.

But I have to laugh at your logic. So should the local Mercedes dealer charge poor people less than rich so they can afford a nice new 500 SEL?

No, of course not. I forget the economic term for a service that can change the price charged depending on different variables - for example, cinema tickets for the same movie are cheaper on a tuesday afternoon than on a saturday night, the same hotel room is cheaper in the low season than the high season. etc etc.

This is not the same with a car.

It can, and is, with National Parks and services such as Ocean World here. And so it should be, so that the poorer customers aren't excluded.

[bonobo]

I won't go to Ocean World because of the dual pricing.

Any Thai ID, even a Thai ATM card allows one Thai price. Also be aware that it is an Australian company, under Australian management.

But I have to laugh at your logic. So should the local Mercedes dealer charge poor people less than rich so they can afford a nice new 500 SEL?

No, of course not. I forget the economic term for a service that can change the price charged depending on different variables - for example, cinema tickets for the same movie are cheaper on a tuesday afternoon than on a saturday night, the same hotel room is cheaper in the low season than the high season. etc etc.

This is not the same with a car.

It can, and is, with National Parks and services such as Ocean World here. And so it should be, so that the poorer customers aren't excluded.

I don't care who owns Ocean World, or the fact that my THai ID gets me in. I choose not to patronize it, as is my right as a consumer.

Matinees have nothing to do with the poor. It has to do with filling seats when most people don't go to the movies. Same with hotels. That is where your analogy fails.

And that car dealer may drop the price if he needs to make quota for the month to get the best rates. But once again, that has nothing to do with the relative wealth of the customer.

Most peoples have certain feelings on the basics that every citizen deserves, such as food, shelter, and medical care. So they subsidize for the poor. But that does not go into areas beyond the deemed basic necessities. So unless there is another underlying market-drive reason, to expect companies to charge the poor less than the rich is pretty silly to me.

McDonald's charges BIll Gates and the homeless guy the exact same for a Big Mac. Such is life.

[robblok]

I think it's extremely selfish of you to think that average locals, with a much lower disposable income than the average richer foreigner, would have to miss out on going to a place like Ocean World with their kids, because of the prices.

Of course it should be cheaper for them. Thinking otherwise is extremely selfish of you. It certainly comes across that you look down on and value the Thais as less than you.

A disgusting, yet common trait, among those who've grown bitter and angry here.

I think they should check everyone's salary then to see who can pay what price. Then make allowances if they have children ect ect.... in short you cant just differentiate on race alone. There are plenty of rich Thais too. I am not selfish at all.

I think Bonobo made some good points to that are hard to counter. However i'm quite sure you don't see it that way. I think the best thing is to agree to disagree. Some people like you and I will never see eye to eye on a subject and we can go on till eternity passes but neither of us will ever change their view.

You should live in the former USSR then everyone has the same (unless you were a party boss), im not bitter at all i love it here. I just don't like unfairness of dual prices in private places. But why don't you pay triple everywhere you go so all those poor Thais don't have to pay as much for their services. In other words put your money where your mouth it. You sound like some kind of left wing person spending other people's money to feel good.

There is a difference between being bitter and angry to not accepting everything without question and thinking all things Thai are good. I love it here, i'm happy but in any country you have things you don't disagree with. There is no perfect place there are just places that have more good things then bad things for someone.

[JusMe]

I think it's extremely selfish of you to think that average locals, with a much lower disposable income than the average richer foreigner, would have to miss out on going to a place like Ocean World with their kids, because of the prices.

Once again, there's confusion between the "average local" "the average richer foreigner" and individuals.

Neither Mr. Local Average or Mr. Average Foreigner goes to Ocean World. Individuals do.

And those individuals might be the average rich local - hiso? - or the average poorer pensioner foreigner.

Until you differentiate between averages and representatives and real life individuals, you will continue to justify racism. After all, isn't that simply dropping all individuals into some kind of "average" stereotype?

[JusMe]

If you can't see the difference between a Merc, a bigmac and an educational service that doesn't rely on a set price to run, then your selfishness is the least of your worries.

Go to a national museum, pay the inflated foreigner price, and then try to find the educational service. If any, it's in Thai only. Therefore, shouldn't those who are unable to access the service, i.e. the average foreigner, actually pay less?

[thomo]

Go to a national museum, pay the inflated foreigner price, and then try to find the educational service. If any, it's in Thai only.

Really, what national museums have both dual pricing, and don't have any English services?

[thomo]

Once again, there's confusion between the "average local" "the average richer foreigner" and individuals.

Neither Mr. Local Average or Mr. Average Foreigner goes to Ocean World. Individuals do.

It's not fair that people available to go to cinema on a Tuesday afternoon pay less than those who go on a Saturday night. Who's to say that they don't work on a Saturday night, and when they're free on a Tuesday, they pay less. But still the cinemas do this. It's disgraceful, as we're all individuals, yet we pay more simply due to our work schedule. Disgusting is what it is.

[SomTumTiger]

Ahh I see the internet warriors are out in full force today - en garde!

[bonobo]

No, of course not. I forget the economic term for a service that can change the price charged depending on different variables - for example, cinema tickets for the same movie are cheaper on a tuesday afternoon than on a saturday night, the same hotel room is cheaper in the low season than the high season. etc etc.

If you are talking macroeconomics, then you are probably talking about yield management.  But you are putting two types of yield management in the same basket.

Matinees, hotels, airline seats, and such are classified under Second Degree Price Discrimination and generally occurs where fixed costs ate somewhat high and there is a surplus.  

Discriminatory pricing is called  Perfect Price Discrimination and generally occurs when there is a monopoly.  That is what happens here in Thailand and what is under discussion in this thread.

[bonobo]

Once again, there's confusion between the "average local" "the average richer foreigner" and individuals.

Neither Mr. Local Average or Mr. Average Foreigner goes to Ocean World. Individuals do.

It's not fair that people available to go to cinema on a Tuesday afternoon pay less than those who go on a Saturday night. Who's to say that they don't work on a Saturday night, and when they're free on a Tuesday, they pay less. But still the cinemas do this. It's disgraceful, as we're all individuals, yet we pay more simply due to our work schedule. Disgusting is what it is.  

I know you are being sarcastic here, but I still think you are missing the point.  Having a lower price for a theater matinee is an attempt to fill seats, no more, no less.  The theater owner pays for the film for a fixed length of time.  It is a fixed cost.  Anything he or she can do to fill those seats (and sell snacks) increases his bottom line.  So by lowering prices when the seats would otherwise be empty, he or she is trying to get butts in them.  This has nothing to do with altruism for the poor.  It only has to do with filling that theater.

[andyww]

I think dual pricing can be a good thing if done the right way.

For example in London most of the major museums and art galleries are free to all. So UK taxpayers are subsidising visitors, many of whom are not really interested anyway in the place. The result is places such as the Tate Modern are jam packed. Whats needed is a discount system for people with proof of residency. A few places in the UK already do this such as Hampton Court Palace gardens.

This could easily be implemented in Thailand and would avoid all the fuss, as Thais have ID cards which could be used, and other forms of proof of residency could be accepted from non-Thais.

[thomo]

This has nothing to do with altruism for the poor.

Yes, but.

The price is different for the exact same service/product. That is the point.

The same as say, Ocean World.

I much rather the lower prices for a general populace who could not afford to otherwise benefit from the (educational) service provided, than for them to have to miss out.

[bonobo]

This has nothing to do with altruism for the poor.

Yes, but.

The price is different for the exact same service/product. That is the point.

The same as say, Ocean World.

I much rather the lower prices for a general populace who could not afford to otherwise benefit from the (educational) service provided, than for them to have to miss out.

No, the point you make is that this is done for the benefit for the poor.  it has nothing to do with them.  The purpose if this is to increase the bottom line.

And others feel like you about giving the poor opportunities.  That is why we have scholarships for the poor, grants, philanthropists who buy blocks of tickets for museums and the arts, etc.

I am all for that myself.  But to expect businesses to price differently for the poor than for those with money is really tilting at windmills, in my opinion.  Unless there is another underlying reason, it isn't going to happen.

And, as robblock and others have posted, if a company does dual price out of a belief that they can skim higher margins from a demographic, then I chose not to patronize them. THey can charge what they want.  I just don't have to choose to patronize them.

[thomo]

I just don't have to choose to patronize them.

Absolutely.

Your loss.

[Ulysses G.]

Not from what I have seen.

[thomo]

Really?

I've found Ocean World a great place when with a few young ones.

[PaulUSA302]

I just don't have to choose to patronize them.

Absolutely.

Your loss.

Or "His Savings".....

Depends on how you look at life. If he is a postive person than he will see it as his win.

If he is a negative person than he will see it as his own loss.

I think he is more positive than negative

[Ulysses G.]

If the price is significantly more for white folks than Thais, I resent it too much to enjoy myself - as I pay a lot of tax and all that stuff.

Edited July 14, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[The Professor]

Double pricing is cool by me. those opposed are either too cheap or need to go back to their countries and earn a good living where paying a few extra baht wont break the baht or the brain (omg its the principle horseshit)

[Jingthing]

Double pricing is cool by me. those opposed are either too cheap or need to go back to their countries and earn a good living where paying a few extra baht wont break the baht or the brain (omg its the principle horseshit)

You are very judgmental, aren't you? I think we can decide for ourselves where to live and whether to pay race based prices when we do have the option, or not. Cheers.

[sokal]

Double pricing is cool by me. those opposed are either too cheap or need to go back to their countries and earn a good living where paying a few extra baht wont break the baht or the brain (omg its the principle horseshit)

You are very judgmental, aren't you? I think we can decide for ourselves where to live and whether to pay race based prices when we do have the option, or not. Cheers.

I think Thais would be very offended to find out that you are labeling them racist sons of bitches because they are covering some of the currency difference by charging you a little more.

This is the exact reason why I like Thailand. Political correctness has gone mad in the west. How can you even dare say that the prices are based on race when they are clearly based on wealth ? They charge Japanese and Europeans the same, if they where racist and they "hated white people" then they would charge white people more then Japanese.

So you think they charge more because they hate white people ?

[Kilgore Trout]

Here we go again. I'm just waiting for the first schmuck to come out with the "Thai's are racist" accusations, nevermind that other Asians are also charged the foreigner price. For the record, most high tourist areas in the west also practice dual pricing, charging locals less for the same product. Nothing new here.

As for the origins, it's basic economics. How much should you sell your product for? ANS: The most that the customer is willing to pay, of course.

Whenever these double pricing posts run, someone always raises their hand and says something like... "Dual pricing is also practiced in the west." That is correct, but somewhat a misleading statement. Dual pricing is practiced in the west and usually the local price is the price for residents of the area. People from outside the area are charged more. I know this goes on in Hawaii, Las Vegas, the San Francisco Zoo and other areas.

Compare that with Thailand's you are not Thai and should pay more attitude that can run from the noodle stall on the street, a restaurant having 2 menus with 2 sets of prices to the national parks and you have a completely different animal.

Of course there are stories of people getting the Thai price by showing their work permit or driver's license and there are also stories of those forms of identification being rejected for the local price.

TheWalkingMan

This is true; I have often been able to show residency or speak Thai enough to get into temples etc. for the Thai price or for free but sometimes it doesnt work; I went so far as to talk to the management at the boxing stadium (not lumpini, the other one, is it Ramkhamheng, showed my tax documents etc., and was politely told they couldn't do it. Same story at the grand palace but they were not so polite.

[Ulysses G.]

So you think they charge more because they hate white people ?

They usually do not charge Asians the higher prices - even if they can not speak Thai, so, yes, the ripoff prices are often based on race.

[Ulysses G.]

Double pricing is cool by me.

"There's a sucker born every minute" is a phrase often credited to P. T. Barnum (1810–1891), an American showman It is generally taken to mean that there are (and always will be) a lot of gullible people in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's sucker_born_every_minute

Edited July 14, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[thomo]

Yup, generally those who stand angrily outside temples while their families explore inside, as a stand against racism that doesn't exist

Edited July 15, 2010 by thomo

[Ulysses G.]

More like anyone who would pay to go inside a temple when they are all over the place and you can see them for free.

Edited July 15, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[sokal]

So you think they charge more because they hate white people ?

They usually do not charge Asians the higher prices - even if they can not speak Thai, so, yes, the ripoff prices are often based on race.

It has been pointed out that they charge Japanese more. I wonder why ???? could it because its the worlds second biggest economy ????

[sokal]

Double pricing is cool by me.

"There's a sucker born every minute" is a phrase often credited to P. T. Barnum (1810–1891), an American showman It is generally taken to mean that there are (and always will be) a lot of gullible people in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's sucker_born_every_minute

That sucker is the guy that is charging somebody that makes $30,000 a year the same as somebody that makes $3000

[Ulysses G.]

Charging the same price to everyone is pretty much the norm in non-communist countries. Of course, Obama may change all that.

Edited July 15, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[bonobo]

So you think they charge more because they hate white people ?

They usually do not charge Asians the higher prices -  even if they can not speak Thai, so, yes, the ripoff prices are often based on race.

It has been pointed out that they charge Japanese more. I wonder why ???? could it because its the worlds second biggest economy ????

Agreed that racism, as it is widely understood, is an inappropriate term.  "Cultural discrimination" or "Nationality discrimination" might be more accurate.  But pretty much everyone understands the issue, and falling back to word usage, while maybe technically correct, is rather pedantic.