Baiyooke Sky Buffet Rip Off

[theoldgit]

Well for those wondering, 3 days later, no reply from the Baiyoke Sky, after sending a complaint, and linking to this post. So I called and checked (well TW did), yup still 550 for Thai 1100 for Farang.... Message is pretty clear... we don't care!

Amazing, I have also been watching their Facebook page, and a guy (I don't know if he is posting on here) is asking the same question about double pricing, after a couple of prompts from him they eventually said "We have special offer for foreigners ,for more information please contact 02-656-3939 ka. Have a nice day ka", so let's ignore the question.

They seem to be very unwilling to give a specific answer in writting, of course it doesn't help when a woman living in Melbourne said "hi i travel to Thailand every year, there is a thai price and a tourist price for anything in Thailand due to they do not earn anything like we do (non Tha'is) prices are very cheap in Thailand any where you go.whatever they charge will be cheap compared to other countries and the food we ate there was excellent."

A very strange business model indeed, lets alienate the foreigners.

[mca]

"hi i travel to Thailand every year, there is a thai price and a tourist price for anything in Thailand due to they do not earn anything like we do (non Tha'is) prices are very cheap in Thailand any where you go.whatever they charge will be cheap compared to other countries and the food we ate there was excellent."

Some people shouldn't have access to a keyboard really. I recall a hotel review where a woman was waxing lyrical about a resort ( and I quote) " The bathroom had a western style toilet ( a rarity in Thailand)"

[scorecard]

I have been to Baiyooke Sky Buffet with a Thai male friend and we only paid 550THB. I'm guessing that I didn't get overcharged cause I was with a Thai Male?

Must have been an oversight. that normally doesn't work.

The worst place for all of this, IMHO is the aquarium under Siam Paragon.

They always seem to have one or two attendants who's job it is to demand information from foreigners.

I went there a couple of times with my adult Thai son, his wife and their young daughter. On both occasions the staff abruptly and rudely questioned me, in English.

On one occasion my son (who's face is very Thai) explained that the farang was his father and my son produced his Thai ID card with his obviously western surname. The attendant looked at the the Thai ID card, then looked at my son and me and said 'So, your not really Thai!' On the same occasion I produced my permanent resident book, but the girl just kept saying rudely 'work permit', and all at the same time she's rudely questioning several more western people.

Bottom line, my granddaughter loves to visit this venue and see the fish, sharks, etc., and we always do things as a family, but we decided that in the future they will go alone, and I go shopping until they are finished.

Bottom line for me: not much point in trying to fight the dual pricing stuff, annoying, but get on with life, and don't patronize places like Bayoke, the food is not great anyway, and there are many more nice places to eat.

[x5david]

"Dual pricing for anything other than national parks etc is unacceptable"

Sorry, I'm new here. Why is it acceptable at national parks?

For the same reason why local residents in many western countries have free access or reduced prices to local attractions (e.g. state parks in the USA, musuems etc.) It is part of the social contract whereby the locals either directly or indirectly subsidize the facilities.

Two tiered pricing in Thai restaurants is unacceptable, although I am sympathetic as it seems some of the foreigners "eat for two" whereas the slim Thais do not have the same tendancy to over eat.

C'mon you know the Thai's will eat and eat and eat,we all can never understand where they put it.

They put it in plastic bags in the form of vomit from eating so much...witnessed this at an Oishi buffet once.

[mca]

The worst place for all of this, IMHO is the aquarium under Siam Paragon.

Do they still have that height restriction for the children's entrance fee? I took my niece ( aged 7 and looks 7 ) there a few years back and they charged her adult price because she was too tall. Judging by the board they used to measure height similar to ones used in theme parks the only way to get a kid in at the child price would be to amputate their legs.

[scorecard]

"Dual pricing for anything other than national parks etc is unacceptable"

Sorry, I'm new here. Why is it acceptable at national parks?

For the same reason why local residents in many western countries have free access or reduced prices to local attractions (e.g. state parks in the USA, musuems etc.) It is part of the social contract whereby the locals either directly or indirectly subsidize the facilities.

Two tiered pricing in Thai restaurants is unacceptable, although I am sympathetic as it seems some of the foreigners "eat for two" whereas the slim Thais do not have the same tendancy to over eat.

C'mon you know the Thai's will eat and eat and eat,we all can never understand where they put it.

They put it in plastic bags in the form of vomit from eating so much...witnessed this at an Oishi buffet once.

Several years back I was staying at the Parkroyal hotel in Singapore, several bus loads of Korean tourists arrived overnight, next morning I went for breakfast not long after the dining room opened. There's nothing left, the Korean tourists had scooped everything (everything) into big plastic bags, and the hotel staff were scrambling to get everything replaced and fighting of more Koreans who were waiting to pounce on any replacements.

[NCFC]

1,100 baht for extremely average food is a very poor deal. BKK is chokablok with great places to eat at lo prices.

[ozsamurai]

Id like to see the facebook link myself, I had a look but cant find it....

Oz

[Tolley]

Went there about 6 months ago Thai girlfriend booked for me and another farang thai couple. We were charged 800baht.

Only really went because of the view and novelty.

Food was very average but then again i am not a big fan of buffets anyway.

Surprised to hear the price is 550 baht!

[welsh1]

.i will stick to my 25baht daily specials

I don't think this forum is any place to discuss your sex life mate.

[welsh1]

As Thailand all gone HiSo....550baht - 1000baht buffet ...am i the only one who stills eat all you can eat buffet for 99baht

[Payboy]

"Dual pricing for anything other than national parks etc is unacceptable"

Sorry, I'm new here. Why is it acceptable at national parks?

For the same reason why local residents in many western countries have free access or reduced prices to local attractions (e.g. state parks in the USA, musuems etc.) It is part of the social contract whereby the locals either directly or indirectly subsidize the facilities.

Two tiered pricing in Thai restaurants is unacceptable, although I am sympathetic as it seems some of the foreigners "eat for two" whereas the slim Thais do not have the same tendancy to over eat.

Have you ever seen Thais at an '139bt all you eat bbq'? I watched one guy and his GF who were about 5' 3" load a table for 4 up with food and demolish the lot.

Actually it's great if they finish what they have put on their plate. It's the ones that serve themselves a huge portion and leave it half-eaten are the ones that should be charged double.

[nocturn]

C'mon you know the Thai's will eat and eat and eat,we all can never understand where they put it.

You got that right! Where DO they put it...!? I'm probably not the only one with a TW who's had sleepless nights trying to figure that one out ...I just don't have a clue.

well said

[nocturn]

The worst place for all of this, IMHO is the aquarium under Siam Paragon.

why do people insist on perpetuating this myth? The policy is clear, show any type of thai id, even pay with a thai credit card and pay local price.

i am there with my daughter monthly and have never had any issue.

[Colin Yai]

"Dual pricing for anything other than national parks etc is unacceptable"

Sorry, I'm new here. Why is it acceptable at national parks?

New here ?

Since 2005 ?

A slow learner perhaps.

Where property is owned by "the nation" it is not unreasonable for the inhabitants of that country to enjoy free (or at worst, nominal fees) access. Equally, it is not unreasonable for a foreign visitor to pay a higher fee for the same privilege.

Not rocket science.

This is based on skin colour and race , if you are Cambodian ,Chinese ,Lao,or Burmese providing you keep your mouth closed you will get in to a National park at Thai price!

[nocturn]

I have been to Baiyooke Sky Buffet with a Thai male friend and we only paid 550THB. I'm guessing that I didn't get overcharged cause I was with a Thai Male?

Must have been an oversight. that normally doesn't work.

The worst place for all of this, IMHO is the aquarium under Siam Paragon.

They always seem to have one or two attendants who's job it is to demand information from foreigners.

I went there a couple of times with my adult Thai son, his wife and their young daughter. On both occasions the staff abruptly and rudely questioned me, in English.

On one occasion my son (who's face is very Thai) explained that the farang was his father and my son produced his Thai ID card with his obviously western surname. The attendant looked at the the Thai ID card, then looked at my son and me and said 'So, your not really Thai!' On the same occasion I produced my permanent resident book, but the girl just kept saying rudely 'work permit', and all at the same time she's rudely questioning several more western people.

Bottom line, my granddaughter loves to visit this venue and see the fish, sharks, etc., and we always do things as a family, but we decided that in the future they will go alone, and I go shopping until they are finished.

Bottom line for me: not much point in trying to fight the dual pricing stuff, annoying, but get on with life, and don't patronize places like Bayoke, the food is not great anyway, and there are many more nice places to eat.

simply put, i find this very difficult to believe .

i have been going to Ocean World almost monthly with my child for the last 3 years and have never been badgered, overcharged, disrespected or even spoken to by anyone on staff after the cashier has taken my money *local price*

[ozsamurai]

Went there about 6 months ago Thai girlfriend booked for me and another farang thai couple. We were charged 800baht.

Only really went because of the view and novelty.

Food was very average but then again i am not a big fan of buffets anyway.

Surprised to hear the price is 550 baht!

2 Thais @ 550 1100Bht

2 farang @ 1100 2200 Baht,

4 people 3300Bht = 825 each..... nothing odd there, they just didn't tell you in the bill.

Oz

[Richard4849]

The worst place for all of this, IMHO is the aquarium under Siam Paragon.

why do people insist on perpetuating this myth? The policy is clear, show any type of thai id, even pay with a thai credit card and pay local price.

i am there with my daughter monthly and have never had any issue.

Likewise!

[theoldgit]

Id like to see the facebook link myself, I had a look but cant find it....

I don't know if this will work, they certainly don't like answering difficult questions.

https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/BaiyokeGroupOfHotels

[ozsamurai]

we'll see if that gets a response then....

Oz

[Jimjim]

Ya 1100 for that food is mental. It was good when I went there way, way back in 2003 but not that good, unless something has changed?

We did not pay much back then, I can't remember exactly but it definitely was around 400 baht for each one of us. Serious price rise since then!

And we were all foreigners, all working in Bangkok, but I don't even remember trying to prove we were worked there or anything, I think that was just the price for anyone then, unless I'm mistaken.

1100 baht! Way way too much...

[Richard4849]

Everyone post a negative review on TripAdvisor.com and see how long it takes them to change the policy.

[ExpatOilWorker]

I have been to Baiyooke Sky Buffet with a Thai male friend and we only paid 550THB. I'm guessing that I didn't get overcharged cause I was with a Thai Male?

Must have been an oversight. that normally doesn't work.

The worst place for all of this, IMHO is the aquarium under Siam Paragon.

They always seem to have one or two attendants who's job it is to demand information from foreigners.

I went there a couple of times with my adult Thai son, his wife and their young daughter. On both occasions the staff abruptly and rudely questioned me, in English.

On one occasion my son (who's face is very Thai) explained that the farang was his father and my son produced his Thai ID card with his obviously western surname. The attendant looked at the the Thai ID card, then looked at my son and me and said 'So, your not really Thai!' On the same occasion I produced my permanent resident book, but the girl just kept saying rudely 'work permit', and all at the same time she's rudely questioning several more western people.

Bottom line, my granddaughter loves to visit this venue and see the fish, sharks, etc., and we always do things as a family, but we decided that in the future they will go alone, and I go shopping until they are finished.

Bottom line for me: not much point in trying to fight the dual pricing stuff, annoying, but get on with life, and don't patronize places like Bayoke, the food is not great anyway, and there are many more nice places to eat.

simply put, i find this very difficult to believe .

i have been going to Ocean World almost monthly with my child for the last 3 years and have never been badgered, overcharged, disrespected or even spoken to by anyone on staff after the cashier has taken my money *local price*

You have been to Ocean World 36 times? Holy smoke, even the invertebrates must recognize you by now!

[ozsamurai]

Looks like they are doing a good job of shooting themselves in the foot anyway...

from trip advisor

The hotel rooms are OK but the locality is deplorable, surrounded with tiny suspicious by-lanes & nefarious idle crowds, fortunately the cops patrol at night or it might even be dangerous.

Except for the buffet breakfast the other restaurants menu at best are meager & unappetizing. The rooftop restaurant was a rip off for dinner at 670Baht per head with stale & tasteless food.

Considering their are other respectable hotels in the immediate area I would give this one a miss unless you are on a shoestring budget & are used to slumming.

and there are many more....

Oz

[ozsamurai]

Looks like they are doing a good job of shooting themselves in the foot anyway...

from trip advisor

The hotel rooms are OK but the locality is deplorable, surrounded with tiny suspicious by-lanes & nefarious idle crowds, fortunately the cops patrol at night or it might even be dangerous.

Except for the buffet breakfast the other restaurants menu at best are meager & unappetizing. The rooftop restaurant was a rip off for dinner at 670Baht per head with stale & tasteless food.

Considering their are other respectable hotels in the immediate area I would give this one a miss unless you are on a shoestring budget & are used to slumming.

and there are many more....

Oz

[judgejohn]

Next time give the Thai version of your name...Shinawatra

How sad

[judgejohn]

"Dual pricing for anything other than national parks etc is unacceptable"

Sorry, I'm new here. Why is it acceptable at national parks?

For the same reason why local residents in many western countries have free access or reduced prices to local attractions (e.g. state parks in the USA, musuems etc.) It is part of the social contract whereby the locals either directly or indirectly subsidize the facilities.

Two tiered pricing in Thai restaurants is unacceptable, although I am sympathetic as it seems some of the foreigners "eat for two" whereas the slim Thais do not have the same tendancy to over eat.

Here we go with another myth that all Thais are small .

[bkkjames]

Never been to either the buffet or fish tank mentioned here-don't imagine I ever will either.

[Richard4849]

Too bad for you...the "fish tank" is really cool!

[bkkjames]

Too bad for you...the "fish tank" is really cool!

Happy for you-had my fill of aquariums and the like as a kid, can't see paying double the price to see the same thing here in a shopping mall here now. Same goes for some wax statues of dead singers and the sort.