Dual Pricing

[samran]

Just cause I like stiring the hornets nest....

Went down to Ko Samet on the weekend. As the songtaew pulled into the park, the National Parks guy came up and started collecting the entrance fee off the assorted Thai's and foreigners. (20 for Thai's, 200 for foreigners).

I said to him (in Thai) - " Well I'm Thai so here is 20 baht for me.....and this is my (blond haired and blue eyed) wife who works and PAYS taxes in Thailand. How much does she have to pay to enter?"

To which the national parks guy replied without hestitation " If she works and pays taxes in Thailand then she pays 20 baht".

A couple of observations:

Firstly, given that TIT don't take this as gospel, but from other reports on this site, it may well be the case that paying tax is a legit reason for paying the local rate. Dunno how this would work at other places other than national parks though.

Secondly, note the fact that I asked the guy how much my wife had to pay, and then he volunteered that she only had to pay 20 baht. I was fully prepared for him to say 200 baht, but he didn't.

Thirdly, if you work in Thailand....get your hand on a tax ID card, it may save you a bit of moulah in the long run if you decide to go on holiday....

[Johpa]

Thirdly, if you work in Thailand....get your hand on a tax ID card, it may save you a bit of moulah in the long run if you decide to go on holiday....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey, this story would make me fell all warm and cuddly if I felt that wealthy Thais pay taxes too.

[Rinrada]

Good to hear

I think one thing that has to to highlighted in the duel Rip Off scene is the fact that there is/should be a differnce in say the National arks entrance fees ...Government administered ..and say the 5 bt buses in Patti which are of course private albiet with local Authority License/permit. to operate...just like Pubs (licensed again)

If say an individual/policeman in for eg V-N (hi Gary )steals from the state there is only one verdict..firing squad...if he nicks a million bucks from a private venture/bank then its usually just a kick on the "erse".

Anyway back to th national parks and just to say that I have found myself in the same position and usually/always pay the local Thai price.

Sometimes I have argued ...just a lee-ttle bit and they will even let you in for free

The most important thing of course is NOT to act like a toorist,smile and be very,verypolite....alwys works.

With the ha bt buses however carrying your base ball bat....usually does the trick... ...stuff the Croc farm....

[solo siam]

Thought it was common knowledge that expats paid teh same as Thais, only tourists pay the higher price. Flashing a Thai drievers license has teh same effect.

[Neeranam]

Would it work with a farang guy and a Thai wife though?

I used to walk along the beach - saved all the hassle - but I wouldn't do it now, being reformed and all that!

[Rinrada]

As it happens our wee bit of land (20 rai) backs on and shares a common border with a National Park but as yet I have never seen any toorist try to tresspass.....in fact I have never seen any human life up there at all........think I will put a sign up and charge everyone a "baw bee" to walk over and see the reaction.

This is the one....

http://www.trekthailand.net/north29/index.html

[sanook2me]

if you have a work permit and show them this or your tax card you will get into the national parks for the same price as Thais. i've never had a problem, only when i've forgotten one of them... some you win some you lose depends on the gate keeper.

Quite right tourist should pay more! they have no idea they're paying extra and every tourist is ripped off.. london cabbies to yanks or japs.. etc......

[Neeranam]

think I will put a sign up and charge everyone a "baw bee" to walk over and see the reaction.

Good idea, Big Yin.

Man, I haven't heard "baw bee" since I was a wee lad sitting on my mother's knee before buying some couters candy

[sriracha john]

It does point up to the fact that just as one may experience a certain policy at one park, someone else has a totally different experience at another. That's because there's no uniformity it the national park policies.

The Samet policy you describe may be common, but for other places *Thailand has many, many national parks besides the handful of the common farang ones*, it's more a case of it being the same at some parks on some days to some people.

It is this disparity and it's accompanying incoherent policy implementation that leads logically to charges of racism.

It's easy enough to resolve it, but to date, Thailand hasn't shown the resolve to do so.

edit... not really "a nice story" with a good ending if it just adds to the uneven implementation of a stated policy. Certainly, it may have been "a nice story" with a good ending for you, but it's not for the program itself, overall.

Edited November 27, 2005 by sriracha john

[sriracha john]

This is the one....

http://www.trekthailand.net/north29/index.html

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

good link

nice how it points to each of the 115+ parks with their equal number of admission policies.

Probably have visited around 40 of them, thus far.

[GuestHouse]

When you find it, report it FairPrice-Thailand.org

[Tarragona]

if you have a work permit and show them this or your tax card you will get into the national parks for the same price as Thais.

Going into a park in Chantaburi a while back they weren't interested in the work permit but the tax card did the trick.

[raro]

For Koh Samet: Just walk from the pier to the beach (about 5 mintues) and then turn left into the temple. Give some ahhs and ohhhhss to add a bit of clandestine behaviour. Then make your way to the beach and...voila...not park fees paid....

[taxexile]

anybody with a thai bank account will have the interest taxed and those taxes will be going to the government. you dont have to be working here to pay taxes.

asking tourists to pay more than locals as part of government policy after feeding them all the welcome stuff is dishonest , shifty and reeks of cheating , especially as a lot of the signage at the park gates explaining the fees are in thai and unreadable to all tourists.

it makes all the "welcome to thailand" stuff fed to tourists ad infinitum seem hypocritical to say the least.

where's the welcome in asking foriegners to pay 20 times more than a local to enter a park and not even telling them that they are being charged more.

it is completely unjustifiable.

and to those fools who willingly pay it , ....... theres a sucker born every minute willing to smile and let themselves be overcharged and they are most certainly welcomed here in thailand by the sleazy hypocritical operatives of the double charging policy.

oh , how our hosts must laugh.

[Neeranam]

Some rich tourists or retired dentists really make me laugh!

If you are not Thai, accept their ways.

You have not been sentenced to live here.

I've met the guy who quite happily pays 200 baht and enjoys himself, and the relatively rich guy who stays at home, miserable and full of resentment because of his inabilty to change and accept certain things.

anybody with a thai bank account will have the interest taxed and those taxes will be going to the government. you dont have to be working here to pay taxes.

Really? I don't pay any taxes on any of my accounts.

[taxexile]

Some rich tourists or retired dentists really make me laugh!

If you are not Thai, accept their ways.

You have not been sentenced to live here.

I've met the guy who quite happily pays 200 baht and enjoys himself, and the relatively rich guy who stays at home, miserable and full of resentment because of his inabilty to change and accept certain things.

like i said , there a sucker born every minute and there is someone around to relieve them of their hard earned money.

if you are happy to be overcharged then fine.

not everything here is so wonderful that we have to lap it up unthinkingly and blindly.

i always talk my way out of paying 20 times more than my wife to enter a national park so its not a problem for me .

how come you dont pay tax on the interest on your bank account ? , its deducted automatically and will be noted in your bankbook.

you do have an interest bearing account dont you , or have you been duped by the banks as well?

[Neeranam]

how come you dont pay tax on the interest on your bank account ? , its deducted automatically and will be noted in your bankbook.

you do have an interest bearing account dont you , or have you been duped by the banks as well? smile.gif

I don't get taxed on my savings. Maybe you can explain why you do get taxed. Why should you pay taxes to the Thai govt. on your savings? Maybe you are getting duped

In fact I don't pay any taxes at all right now. Cash in hand is the way to go. Oh, I do work for the government.

Taxdodger.

When in Rome...........

[Spaniel]

Neeranam:

You might want to look again at your bank passbook. Tax is automaticly deducted from your account balance in December. At least that's how it's done a Bangkok Bank.

[taxexile]

maybe i am getting duped.

when i set up the account i was told that tax on the interest would be automatically deducted every three months when the interest was added. they take 10%.

how come you get your interest tax free?

[warriors]

hmmm not sure why you do not pay any tax on your bank acounts if you have money in bank you get interest and then pay tax on it .

Plus any term deposits you are charged 15% I would like to know how you are special in not paying?

[Neeranam]

maybe i am getting duped.

when i set up the account i was told that tax on the interest would be automatically deducted every three months when the interest was added. they take 10%.

how come you get your interest tax free?

Ok, maybe I do pay tax on my interest. If so, it is so little it is insignificant - maybe 100 baht a year - does this mean I can get into Natioanl parks for the same price as Thais?

It doesn't say how much in my books, it must be automatic. Every Dec, there is my interest showing.

So say 1% of 100,000 baht - 1000 baht. They take 100 baht - fair enough.

I'm not sure why I don't pay tax on my salary - why question it?

[taxexile]

I'm not sure why I don't pay tax on my salary

probably dont earn enough to reach the tax threshold.

[warriors]

Sounds about right Taxexile, under a certain limit earned, no tax. In the bank you will not pay much tax on a earning rate of only .75% interest if you have not much money working in the bank. No wounder people never notice it. But if you have some money on term deposit for say retirement visa purpose 800,000 baht needed per year so you can qualify for a retirement visa. And say you put 300,000 on 3 months at 2% per year you pay 15% tax (example only).

I suppose most of you send the money back to fharlang land and live hand to mouth so you can make more interest on your money instead of leaving it in Thailand.

Does not seem worth it to me sending it back, any how just my idea.

[robitusson]

When you find it, report it FairPrice-Thailand.org

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There's people where I work in Bangkok who get 4 times the amount that locals get for the same job. Oh...hang on, I'm one of them. Better not correct that unfair pricing.

[GuestHouse]

Funny that bank accounts should get mentioned, because foreigners receive less interest on bank accounts in the fist place.

The issue is not simply the dual price, it is more the whole goverment policy of discrimination.

Those of you who would like to enjoy more rights, for example the right to own your own house in Thailand are unlikely to get that right while goverment discrimination of dual pricing exists.

The sign on the park gate declares a bit more than the dual price (Regardless of whether you pay it or not).

It declares to everyone, and in particular every Thai, that it is acceptable to rip foreigners off. The government are doing it, why shouldn't every Thai business, every Thai/Farang transaction be at a double price.

[taxexile]

It declares to everyone, and in particular every Thai, that it is acceptable to rip foreigners off. The government are doing it, why shouldn't every Thai business, every Thai/Farang transaction be at a double price.

absolutely 110% spot on.

[Jai Dee]

Wherever I travel in Thailand, my Work Permit and Passport travel with me.

No prompem.

Ever.

[greenwanderer108]

Financial discrimination isn't limited to Thailand.

American government has some discrimination on foriengers too. Tuition for foreing students is much higher than a citizen would have to pay. Most Intl. Universities in Thailand do this, but every educational institute in the states has a clear non-resident fee.

Not too mention, the bank quota for Thais wanting to visit my country. Where for me, the government could give a crap less if I went back home without a penny in my pocket, Thais or any Asian need a ridiculous amount of money in their bank to get a visa, even for the shortest trip.

Lets just be happy that the Thai consulates and embassies don't require a bank statement for us to visit the kingdom....atleast not yet

[GuestHouse]

I think you'll find that foreign students pay the full rate, while local (state) students pay the subsidized rate.

That asside, the issue is not dual pricing in the US, the issue is dual pricing in Thailand. This being a Thailand related web board (as we are so often reminded).

[greenwanderer108]

I think you'll find that foreign students pay the full rate, while local (state) students pay the subsidized rate.

That asside, the issue is not dual pricing in the US, the issue is dual pricing in Thailand. This being a Thailand related web board (as we are so often reminded).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

dual pricing in the USA is indirectly related to dual pricing here. Such policies in the USA influence policies here. I think the government uses such policies as jusitification to do it here...particularly the tuition costs.

i.e. Thai students don't get equal rights in the their country, so why should foriegn students get equal rights here, etc.

As far as national parks though, I believe that it would cost the same for everyone in the states, but it's been a while. However, I think amusement parks in Denver anyway have resident and non-resident pricing though. I imagine it's the same for big places like six flags/disney land, not sure though.