Profitering From Disaster

[frogz]

I recently had to evacuate the condo where I am currently living due to the floods and my wife and myself decided to check into a hotel down town for a couple of days. We had heard that a lot of the hotels were offering a reduced room rate for people who had to escape the floods. The hotel we wanted to stay in was full so we went to another hotel near her shop in Pratunam. We were told that the room was reduced to 900 THB a night for flood evacuees. This was expensive but a good price as the hotel rooms were quite expensive normally. The receptionist then informed us that, because I was a farang, we would have to pay 2000 THB a night. My wife and her friend explained that I was an ESL teacher in Thailand, that I lived in Thailand, that we were married, that I paid tax and had a work permit and also that I was affected by the floods. No go. The price was 900 THB if you were Thai and 2000 THB if you were a farang.

I have experienced prejudice before when paying more than Thai nationals to enter tourists attractions. I have presented ID and so on, but this is piece meal. Some places give you a reduced price and other places don't. This is a different situation. I wasn't able to return home and I was pretty angry that I was not offered the same price for a room as a Thai national. A rich Thai person, who earns far more than me, would get a reduced rate to stay at the same hotel simply because that person is Thai. We are both victims of the same disaster afterall.

My suggestion is, if you find yourself in the same situation, let a Thai friend book you into the room at the reduced flood rate and make yourself scarce until they get the key.

Another example of profitering I encountered was a car park. They had put the price up to make as much money as they could from people parking in their car park overnight by charging 300 THB a day. They have since increased that to 700 THB. That's aimed at everyone regardless of if they are Thai or a farang. A disgrace!

[Abduljabbar01]

WELCOME TO THAILAND!

Thai people really have no respect for others, only themselves and that's it. They have no set standards of ethics, or never learned.

[LuckyLew]

If you live and work here and are married to a Thai, I am sure this cannot the meaning e you

Thai have been double pricing and ripping of people forever

The do not know meaning of class and manners, most lack self respect and respect for others

Disasters are a time for them to gouge people even more

No surprise here

[Tywais]

There is a law against price gouging in situations like this and the penalties are very substantial. If you can find a copy of the law in Thai, present it to the manager along with the contact phone number of the police/agency that you will inform them you will report it to. May not help but they may have 2nd thoughts.

Alternative, but after the fact, have your wife go in and get the room while you wait outside. Have her tell them hubby will come later. Once she gets the key and is in the room have her call you to come on up.

[billd766]

If you live and work here and are married to a Thai, I am sure this cannot the meaning e you

Thai have been double pricing and ripping of people forever

The do not know meaning of class and manners, most lack self respect and respect for others

Disasters are a time for them to gouge people even more

No surprise here

It really depends on where you live and what is happening around you.

I live in the country and the price I pay is the same as the locals pay and though my spoken Thai is not that good it is not that often that I am unable to make myself understood one way or another. If I cannot find what I want and my mangled Thai and Thais mangled English doesn't work I come back another time with a photo from the internet and that usually works.

Saying that many years ago I was with my wife and decided to stay in a big hotel in Hua Hin.

The going rate for a walk in off the street farang was 4,000 baht which I refused to pay. On my way out I met a Thai friend and told him what had happened.

He went to reception and said that I worked with his company so I got the company rate of 1,400 baht.

During this unfortunate time some Thais take advantage as do other nationalities in other parts of the world under similar circumstances so it is people in general and not Thais in particular.

My advice to the OP would have been to report it to the police, however it may be hard to find one and harder still to find one who cares.

Remember the Prime Minister wants to know so that action can be taken.

I managed to type that without laughing or falling off my chair.

[Jebhead]

WELCOME TO THAILAND!

Thai people really have no respect for others, only themselves and that's it. They have no set standards of ethics, or never learned.

Correct.... you could also add they have no shame and no pride![/i]

JH

[ThreeProperty]

It's very sad when people hike up the prices in disasters and try to rip people off when they are most desperate. Not only is it unmoral but bad business practice, sadly most people here don't have a clue about how to run a business and it magnifies s at times like this.

The best thing you can do is not pay and spread the word; they usually go bust in the end and chalk it up to something like the current "trend in the market"

We get a lot of calls from people wanting short time accommodation away from the flood, even though we make no money from it what so ever we still try to help people.

Three Property

http://www.three-homes.com

[givenall]

Welcome to LOS

[farang000999]

The funny thing is that the Thai lost your business. Because of their racism if you want to call it that, they suffered an economic penalty.

It is the same as if a company only hired men or people with white skin, the other companies who hired the best and smartest females would quickly put them out of business.

Anyways, it is not a big deal. They provide a service and you can either accept or decline it It is good that you declined it. My guess is that most farang just pay in this situation so the Thais know they can get away with it.

[Tywais]

Just to show it is not just a 'Thai thing'. So one could say 'Welcome to LOS' or 'Welcome to USA' or many other countries just as easily.

There is ample evidence that tragedy brings out the best in many people. Millions around the world opened their homes, their wallets and their hearts to help victims of Hurricane Katrina and the tragic flooding in New Orleans back in 2005.

But in a few people, such calamity brings out greed and contempt for ethical behavior. We saw it with Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Ike in 2008.

I'm talking about the innkeeper who boosts room rates to ridiculous extremes to take advantage of an emergency. What about the gas station owner who triples the price of fuel because people are in a panic buying mode? There have been wholesalers who hold back bottled water and other needed supplies to create a "shortage" that will make prices higher and profits fatter.

With supply and demand, prices are going to rise during emergencies. That's not the issue. It's the gouging of the buying public with price levels far beyond what market forces dictate.

Fight price gouging

[richard_smith237]

Is this Price gouging? - Is the original price of the hotel B2000 and the discounted price due to the flood B900 ???

Perhaps you were simply expected to pay the 'going rate'.... Not getting the same discount as a Thai is not price gouging, it is however morally incorrect.

The whole event is an example of despicable ethics. I hope you asked for the Manager and gave him a minor headache.

Regarding the car park - If you can prove that they charged B300 before hand and B700 now, then you can prove that they are breaking the law. Park your car there, make sure you have the proof when it comes to paying time, have a copy of the Thai law.

When it comes time to pay - Use the proof.. Call the police.. It would be worth the risk just to attempt to get some form of payback... IF you are sure of the law that is...

[impulse]

Try checking into a hotel in the USA with an Exxon or IBM business card. Then try checking in the same room without benefit of the corporate account. The difference may be 2-3x the cost. No police are going to protect you there because "self employed" is not a protected minority. Farang is not a protected minority in Thailand. In the local vernacular- same-same..

The Thai hotel market is so overbuilt that it's been a buyers market for years or decades. It's amazing that nobody that checks into the hotels (at 1/2 of what you'd pay at a similar hotel in Seoul or Tokyo) has offered to pay that difference to the hotel. When occupancy rates go up and the hotels can charge full price, consumers scream bloody murder. Supply and demand.

And no, I'm not in the hospitality business.

[soundman]

Overly negative post refering to Thai people has been removed.

8) Not to post extremely negative views of Thailand or derogatory comments directed towards all Thais.

[MiG16]

as s0me0ne eIse p0inted 0ut:

they simpIy refused t0 give u a speciaI disc0unt

y0u y0urseIf menti0ned that the rate was excepti0naIIy I0w f0r the standard 0f the h0teI

n0t saying it is m0raI t0 n0t want t0 extend the disc0unt t0 y0u simpIy c0s u are a farang but it IS different t0 u suggesting they are 0vercharging and taking advantage 0f the situati0n

I think we need t0 make that distincti0n

pIaces that usuaIIy c0st 30,000 baht a m0nth suddenIy raising their price t0 50,000 baht a m0nth w0uId be c0nsidered pr0fiteering

a pIace that n0rmaIIy charges 4,000 a night, wh0 then decides t0 charge s0me at nine hundred, and 0thers tw0th0usand - pr0fiteering? I have t0 say n0t quite

can they d0 better and appIy their g00dwiII and gener0sity m0re acr0ss the b0ard t0 AII pe0pIe? sure that w0uId be a great gesture

by the way s0rry t0 hear y0ur h0me has been affected

regards

[davey26]

I live in the west, and our area was severly flooded. I'm 6,2 and it was chest height in my soi. Luckily we escaped unscathed with a lot of supplies to keep us going for a while. Our neighbour stayed behind and had been reporting everyday. Things seem to be improving slowly. But 1 particular incident has upset all of us, Thais included. Not only are boat operators charging 300thb for a 100m trip, they are finding glass bottles, smashing them and putting the broken glass in the water. Therefore, people who refuse to pay them a fee, simply coz they can't afford it, walk in the water to get home, some of them barefeet. In turn, they are cutting their feet, which forces them to use the boats. Unbelievable act. Desperates acts, during desperate times!

[MiG16]

That's horrible!!

Can you report them at all?

Are there any Govt/police/ military run boats in your area now?

We hear of them existing in places, but no way of knowing how extensive.

[Thunder26]

I would say that prices went up. Just 2 examples. Singha water 1.5l six pack normally cost 60 baht, but in the streets they are asking for 90 baht now. Leo beer which was sold 45 baht per bottle now costs 50 baht. This I report from Dusit. 5 baht here 5 baht there makes a difference as the salaries hasn't been risen dramatically. Therefore the power of purchase or the quality of life goes down the hill. Thailand becomes expensive. It is not a cheap place anymore.