National Park Entrance Fees Take A Price Hike Of 150%

[brit1984]

What has this got to do with racism? or racialism even?

The same as it's Brothers Discrimination and Prejudice.

Please can you explain what you are talking about?

Have a look in a good Dictionary,and all will become clear!

I will take that as a "no" then.

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[brit1984]

There still seems to be some major confusion / misunderstanding. Discounts for "Thais" are for residents in Thailand. This has little to do with nationality and nothing to do with race.

In most cases, non-Thai / non-Asians can still pay the discounted price on presentation of proof of residence, for example this is exactly how it works at Oceanworld.

Obviously, some staff do not apply the rule / policy with 100% consistency, but this is due to a lack of professionalism (i.e. they are too lazy or badly trained to check all customers' ID and instead just judge eligibility for the discount on appearance).

As has been mentioned, obviously businesses with double pricing (cheaper prices for locals) intend to charge non-Thai-resident Asians (Singaporeans, Japanese, etc) the full price but often the policies are not followed properly (in both directions) by staff.

This lack of professionalism (i.e. staff not following company policy) will likely extend to other aspects of their job like opening times, absenteeism, sleeping on the job, acceptance (or not) of credit cards, etc.

To take one example of unprofessionalism and say this means Thai companies are racist is illogical and simply demonstrates that some people suffer from severe paranoia / victim complex.

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[MAJIC]

What has this got to do with racism? or racialism even?

The same as it's Brothers Discrimination and Prejudice.

Please can you explain what you are talking about?

Have a look in a good Dictionary,and all will become clear!

I will take that as a "no" then.

Sent from iPhone; please forgive any typos or violations of forum rules

A "No" understanding from you,would be more to the point.

[brit1984]

@ MAJIC

Please explain your opinions on this topic.

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[siampreggers]

Legitimate residents are treated as outsiders because they are not Thai.

No we're not.

A simple show of a Thai driver's license or some cases only a Thai ATM card and you're 'treated' as a Thai.

[khwaibah]

Legitimate residents are treated as outsiders because they are not Thai.

No we're not.

A simple show of a Thai driver's license or some cases only a Thai ATM card and you're 'treated' as a Thai.

I have had to pay tourist price even when showing my Thai DL and house book.

[siampreggers]

Legitimate residents are treated as outsiders because they are not Thai.

No we're not.

A simple show of a Thai driver's license or some cases only a Thai ATM card and you're 'treated' as a Thai.

I have had to pay tourist price even when showing my Thai DL and house book.

To enter a Thai National Park? I find that hard to believe.

[tinfoilhat]

I always get, without an argument, the Thai price. I show my Thai drivers' licence usually.

Sure; me too, but the real concern frankly is the Thai price hike. With two adults and two children that means a whopping 300 baht to go look at a waterfall. Sorry, but no.

Prediction: There will be some uproar, the Thai prices will be reduced to 60 baht 'for the coming year', while the foreign price stays up there forever. (Or, until the next hike).

500 baht is of course totally ludicrous. You can sample Thailand's nature a lot more intimately for that sort of money.

of course the thais usually enter the park by a path 150 meters from the toll gate

[khwaibah]

Legitimate residents are treated as outsiders because they are not Thai.

No we're not.

A simple show of a Thai driver's license or some cases only a Thai ATM card and you're 'treated' as a Thai.

I have had to pay tourist price even when showing my Thai DL and house book.

To enter a Thai National Park? I find that hard to believe.

Sukhothai Historical Park. Two times.

[TheWalkingMan]

Legitimate residents are treated as outsiders because they are not Thai.

No we're not.

A simple show of a Thai driver's license or some cases only a Thai ATM card and you're 'treated' as a Thai.

That sounds nice, but there are many cases mentioned here where the person shows his Thai driver's license and told to pay the non-Thai price. Perhaps you have not experienced it but based on the posts it does happen.

[MESmith]

Legitimate residents are treated as outsiders because they are not Thai.

No we're not.

A simple show of a Thai driver's license or some cases only a Thai ATM card and you're 'treated' as a Thai.

I have had to pay tourist price even when showing my Thai DL and house book.

To enter a Thai National Park? I find that hard to believe.

I believe Chae son national park refuses the Thai price to "foreign residents".

[siampreggers]

Sukhothai Historical Park.

There you go.

[jackr]

A simple show of a Thai driver's license or some cases only a Thai ATM card and you're 'treated' as a Thai.

I have had to pay tourist price even when showing my Thai DL and house book.

To enter a Thai National Park? I find that hard to believe.

I believe Chae son national park refuses the Thai price to "foreign residents".

Yep, even if you speak Thai and have a license, Chae son will stick you up.

[LuckyLew]

Do any foreigners actually go to these places?

The double pricing rules me out

[uptheos]

Do any foreigners actually go to these places?

The double pricing rules me out

If I was on the other side of the world and REALLY wanted to go or see some place, I wouldn't deprive myself on the basis of 'principle', as I would be the one losing out.......no-one else would give a toss.

[brit1984]

Do any foreigners actually go to these places?

The double pricing rules me out

As I said earlier in the thread, with regards to people who (like you) avoid purchasing goods / services just because of the discounts for locals, I would like to know whether you would recommend a Thai friend who has been offered a place at Oxford (or any other UK university) to forego that opportunity just because the fees are lower for Brits?

I don't understand how your purchase decision is affected by the price paid by other people. Do you also avoid businesses that offer discounts for students, children or the elderly? What about businesses where every customer pays a unique price agreed bilaterally... do you also avoid plumbers, electricians, builders, lawyers, car-boot sales, markets, etc?

[tinfoilhat]

Do any foreigners actually go to these places?

The double pricing rules me out

If I was on the other side of the world and REALLY wanted to go or see some place, I wouldn't deprive myself on the basis of 'principle', as I would be the one losing out.......no-one else would give a toss.

exactly.

i believe the term is "cutting off your nose to spite your face"

if I've set out to do it, have the kid in tow and she is/we are looking forward to it, 500 baht isn't going to stop me.

generally speaking double pricing can be circumvented. if it cant, so be it.

the person who gets riled up about this stuff is likely the same type of person who thinks a chang outside their local seven can compare to a night in a club.

Edited August 24, 2012 by tinfoilhat

[siampreggers]

Do any foreigners actually go to these places?

The double pricing rules me out

Do you refuse to go to the cinema on a Friday night at home because of the dual pricing?

Do you refuse to play a round of golf as the dual pricing makes it 100% more expensive for you compared to students?

[ChanJoonYee]

Most countries have a different system for those that pay taxes and those that don't.

True for countries like India, Nepal, Myanmar etc. One Thai argued that it's because Farangs are richer. Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me. China abolished official double pricing in 1997 and the gap between their people and the foreigners' incomes have narrowed a lot since then.

[brit1984]

Most countries have a different system for those that pay taxes and those that don't.

True for countries like India, Nepal, Myanmar etc. One Thai argued that it's because Farangs are richer. Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me. China abolished official double pricing in 1997 and the gap between their people and the foreigners' incomes have narrowed a lot since then.

Please could you explanation the causation / link between the pricing policies of certain tourist attraction and relative national average income levels?

[elephantkungfu]

I pissed up the wall of one of their historical palaces in order to balance out their bahaviour. It was petty but it made me feel a lot better.

I'm impressed. Some of your Thaier than Thai posts drive me up the wall, but this about-face is almost worthy of a beer and would have been a dead-cert had you have pissed on their shoes.

Disrespecting a whole culture beacuse of one park official? Another great example of the scum that come here.

If you truely are a Thai resident, dual-pricing isn't an issue. Be polite, show some paperwork and speak Thai. It always works.

If you're not a Thai resident, it's unfortunate. But you get dual pricing everywhere. I've seen it in both Spain and the UK at tourist destinations.

[TheWalkingMan]

I still do not understand why people call the Thai price the discount for locals or the discount price. Typically, discount prices are usually allocated to a small percentage of the customer base. Movie theaters with their senior citizen discounts, clubs/discos with lady's night or student's night etc. Universities in The States have different prices for those who have established residency in the state, those from outside the state and I think (I have not checked) another price for overseas classified students. I have never heard the price for the state residents referred to as the discount price. It is the price for locals. There is a local price in Hawaii, which in some cases could be called the discount price because I would not be surprised if some attractions are mainly used by tourists. In Hawaii, I am not sure if they are stringent on checking as once before a clerk in a store asked me something (I did not understand the word) which meant am I a local or something like that. I should have said yes instead of what are you talking about.

Calling the Thai price the discount price does not make sense and sounds like people are trying to call it something other that it is. The Thai price is available to every Thai national in the nation and how can a price available to all in a nation be called a discount? The Thai price, I believe, is real price and the hyper-inflated price to non-Thai people (excluding those who are allowed, and yes the proper word here is allowed, by the ticket seller to get the real price) is nothing more than (in some cases) the business saying... "These saps will pay for anything, even if it is 10 times more than the Thai price. Bunch of suckers!"

Honestly, I don't think people would mind the dual pricing as much if the pricing were limited to 20-30% of the Thai price. 40 baht for a Thai national and say 50 baht for a non-national seems more in line than going from 40 to 400. That is just being piggish.

[brit1984]

I still do not understand why people call the Thai price the discount for locals or the discount price. Typically, discount prices are usually allocated to a small percentage of the customer base. Movie theaters with their senior citizen discounts, clubs/discos with lady's night or student's night etc. Universities in The States have different prices for those who have established residency in the state, those from outside the state and I think (I have not checked) another price for overseas classified students. I have never heard the price for the state residents referred to as the discount price. It is the price for locals. There is a local price in Hawaii, which in some cases could be called the discount price because I would not be surprised if some attractions are mainly used by tourists. In Hawaii, I am not sure if they are stringent on checking as once before a clerk in a store asked me something (I did not understand the word) which meant am I a local or something like that. I should have said yes instead of what are you talking about.

Calling the Thai price the discount price does not make sense and sounds like people are trying to call it something other that it is. The Thai price is available to every Thai national in the nation and how can a price available to all in a nation be called a discount? The Thai price, I believe, is real price and the hyper-inflated price to non-Thai people (excluding those who are allowed, and yes the proper word here is allowed, by the ticket seller to get the real price) is nothing more than (in some cases) the business saying... "These saps will pay for anything, even if it is 10 times more than the Thai price. Bunch of suckers!"

Honestly, I don't think people would mind the dual pricing as much if the pricing were limited to 20-30% of the Thai price. 40 baht for a Thai national and say 50 baht for a non-national seems more in line than going from 40 to 400. That is just being piggish.

Regardless of whether you call it a discount or premium, the economic rationale behind the concept of price discrimination is just as clear. The only real life (not in Thai Visa world) example of dual pricing I have encountered is Oceanworld at Paragon, where the discount/ premium is around 30%.

By the way, in these days of Groupon (and other discounting companies) and dynamic booking systems (that vary prices depending on demand and supply), there are many businesses where the majority of customers are paying discounted prices.

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[Joop50]

It's not nice being discriminated. Having some cash helps though. How painfull and frustrated it must have been and still is for millions of coloured people to experience so much discrimination without any perspective on a better life.

But on topic, it is absolutely a shame to let falang pay so much more in this world we live in.

[brit1984]

Maybe someone should start a charity to help the poor farangs whose lives have been negatively impacted by the dual pricing scandal.

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[Loaded]

I pissed up the wall of one of their historical palaces in order to balance out their bahaviour. It was petty but it made me feel a lot better.

I'm impressed. Some of your Thaier than Thai posts drive me up the wall, but this about-face is almost worthy of a beer and would have been a dead-cert had you have pissed on their shoes.

Disrespecting a whole culture beacuse of one park official? Another great example of the scum that come here.

If you truely are a Thai resident, dual-pricing isn't an issue. Be polite, show some paperwork and speak Thai. It always works.

If you're not a Thai resident, it's unfortunate. But you get dual pricing everywhere. I've seen it in both Spain and the UK at tourist destinations.

Wow!!!!

Your spellings of 'beacuse' and 'truely' really don't help to raise the authority of your insult much higher than poo poo pants do they smelly bum?

[uptheos]

I always get into Major Cineplex cheaper than the majority of Thai's..........boy, they must feel bad.

[hellodolly]

I pissed up the wall of one of their historical palaces in order to balance out their bahaviour. It was petty but it made me feel a lot better.

I'm impressed. Some of your Thaier than Thai posts drive me up the wall, but this about-face is almost worthy of a beer and would have been a dead-cert had you have pissed on their shoes.

Disrespecting a whole culture beacuse of one park official? Another great example of the scum that come here.

If you truely are a Thai resident, dual-pricing isn't an issue. Be polite, show some paperwork and speak Thai. It always works.

If you're not a Thai resident, it's unfortunate. But you get dual pricing everywhere. I've seen it in both Spain and the UK at tourist destinations.

Wow!!!!

Your spellings of 'beacuse' and 'truely' really don't help to raise the authority of your insult much higher than poo poo pants do they smelly bum?

Was that a good Buddhist response.

[el jefe]

Most countries have a different system for those that pay taxes and those that don't.

True for countries like India, Nepal, Myanmar etc. One Thai argued that it's because Farangs are richer. Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me. China abolished official double pricing in 1997 and the gap between their people and the foreigners' incomes have narrowed a lot since then.

maybe China eliminated dual pricing at national parks but every provincial park and local tourist attraction I've been to has had dual pricing for foreigners.

Here's a few other countries besides those mentioned above that have dual pricing:

Indonesia

Laos

Cambodia

Vietnam

Sri Lanka

Syria

Jordan

Egypt

Ecuador

Peru

Costa Rica

and plenty more

Some of these countries charge foreigners as much as 100 times the local price at some tourist attractions yet it doesn't seem to negatively affect tourism.

If a Cambodian manages to get into a Thai National Park at the resident rate, good for him. I don't feel discriminated against.

[DaamNaam]

I always get into Major Cineplex cheaper than the majority of Thai's..........boy, they must feel bad.

I highly doubt it. The don't get wound up about much at all really.