Dual Pricing

[Scully]

Oh, and if you're planning to take your wife back to farangland, you better get ready for some REAL racism: like everyone sniggering about rent-a-wives and ping pong shows as you pass. And your half-breed lids will get a rude awakening on the school playground.

I took my ex to the UK for 6 months and never received any racism whatsoever. In fact we received far more racism in Thailand with the large amount of rent a girlfriend going on.

[NewlyMintedThai]

Oh, and if you're planning to take your wife back to farangland, you better get ready for some REAL racism: like everyone sniggering about rent-a-wives and ping pong shows as you pass. And your half-breed lids will get a rude awakening on the school playground.

I took my ex to the UK for 6 months and never received any racism whatsoever. In fact we received far more racism in Thailand with the large amount of rent a girlfriend going on.

You were either lucky or oblivious.

[Scully]

Oh, and if you're planning to take your wife back to farangland, you better get ready for some REAL racism: like everyone sniggering about rent-a-wives and ping pong shows as you pass. And your half-breed lids will get a rude awakening on the school playground.

I took my ex to the UK for 6 months and never received any racism whatsoever. In fact we received far more racism in Thailand with the large amount of rent a girlfriend going on.

You were either lucky or oblivious.

You walk down any UK street and you will see many many different cultures. I have to admit I expected remarks etc etc but was pleasantly surprised.

On another point a Thai friend went to Laos with me and had to pay the foreigner rate. He was actually happy to pay as he thought he would be perceived as wealthier.

Funny old world.

[MrRealDeal]

Most of the racisim I get in Thailand is to my benefit , people seem to want to serve me before thais fairly often , they seem to think just because I'm a farang I must be wealthy , smart , generous and deserve to go to the head of the line , they go out of their way to be polite and helpfull , the police wave me by the roadblocks while stopping the thais I guess partly because i;'m farang and partly because I have a decent car , at the mall I get a VAT refund that Thai people don't get ...... did we all forget about that ? 7 percent discount over thai people.

It really suprises me that we can live in the same place and seem to have 2 different perceptions of how we are treated , I feel like I am treated by 99 percent of Thais more like a celebrity than as some outsider to be taken advantage of , the shop lady where I buy my smokes likes to brag she has a farang friend , my wife and I get invited to a lot of parties just because they want a farang there to make them look better .... so she tells me.

When I see kids more often than not their eyes light up and they are happy and excited to see a farang , they arent dissing me or running away in hatred or fear.

I really don't know for sure why these perceptions differ so greatly but my general philosophy of life is that you get treated in a combination of how you deserve to be treated based on how you treat others and on how you present yourself to others who don't know how you treat others yet. So as you can imagine I have little sympathy for those who complain about the poor treatment they get from others because as far as I am concerned they probabbly deserve it.

[tropo]

I don't quite understand this argument that Thais pay taxes and are therefore entitled to a lower entry price.

Maybe because that is not the argument. I have no idea if a Thai would put it this way, but the "theory" is, and I find this true for the most part, that you will be making a relatively large salary in other parts of the world. If you work here, you will be working on a Thai salary. It doesn't have to do with paying taxes, that would just be a way to show you are working. Anyway, wouldn't showing the fact that you do in fact pay "enough" taxes be a total logistical nightmare anyway. So, the my theory being they have built some of these places for foreigners (a good thing right? what else would there be to do?), and the Thai workers, who otherwise would not be able to afford it, can enjoy them with a discount. I don't know, to be perfectly honest it all seems very simple, straightforward, more than fair, and utterly ridiculous to complain about.

Agreed, and if they were forced through some law to charge a single price, I don't think it would be the discounted Thai price. It would either be the higher tourist price or somewhere in between.

They really should make an adjustment though. If a foreigner is paying for his whole family or other Thais he should also get the same price. In this case it is quite a rude practice.

If they could do that we wouldn't have any of these threads.

[TommoPhysicist]

I really don't know for sure why these perceptions differ so greatly but my general philosophy of life is that you get treated in a combination of how you deserve to be treated based on how you treat others and on how you present yourself to others who don't know how you treat others yet. So as you can imagine I have little sympathy for those who complain about the poor treatment they get from others because as far as I am concerned they probabbly deserve it.

I think it's because many people are too stupid to know they are being dissed.

So you can imagine how much sympathy I have for those.

[NewlyMintedThai]

Oh, and if you're planning to take your wife back to farangland, you better get ready for some REAL racism: like everyone sniggering about rent-a-wives and ping pong shows as you pass. And your half-breed lids will get a rude awakening on the school playground.

I took my ex to the UK for 6 months and never received any racism whatsoever. In fact we received far more racism in Thailand with the large amount of rent a girlfriend going on.

You were either lucky or oblivious.

You walk down any UK street and you will see many many different cultures. I have to admit I expected remarks etc etc but was pleasantly surprised.

Your experience in the UK is a lot different from this girl's:

[petedk]

Most of the racisim I get in Thailand is to my benefit , people seem to want to serve me before thais fairly often , they seem to think just because I'm a farang I must be wealthy , smart , generous and deserve to go to the head of the line , they go out of their way to be polite and helpfull , the police wave me by the roadblocks while stopping the thais I guess partly because i;'m farang and partly because I have a decent car , at the mall I get a VAT refund that Thai people don't get ...... did we all forget about that ? 7 percent discount over thai people.

It really suprises me that we can live in the same place and seem to have 2 different perceptions of how we are treated , I feel like I am treated by 99 percent of Thais more like a celebrity than as some outsider to be taken advantage of , the shop lady where I buy my smokes likes to brag she has a farang friend , my wife and I get invited to a lot of parties just because they want a farang there to make them look better .... so she tells me.

When I see kids more often than not their eyes light up and they are happy and excited to see a farang , they arent dissing me or running away in hatred or fear.

I really don't know for sure why these perceptions differ so greatly but my general philosophy of life is that you get treated in a combination of how you deserve to be treated based on how you treat others and on how you present yourself to others who don't know how you treat others yet. So as you can imagine I have little sympathy for those who complain about the poor treatment they get from others because as far as I am concerned they probabbly deserve it.

How do you get the 7% VAT discount? This is only refundable at the airport or other place of exit and only for tourists.

[Neeranam]

Oh, and if you're planning to take your wife back to farangland, you better get ready for some REAL racism: like everyone sniggering about rent-a-wives and ping pong shows as you pass. And your half-breed lids will get a rude awakening on the school playground.

I took my ex to the UK for 6 months and never received any racism whatsoever. In fact we received far more racism in Thailand with the large amount of rent a girlfriend going on.

You were either lucky or oblivious.

When in Scotland with my wife we did experience some ignorance but definitely not racism.

[brizzle]

Oh, and if you're planning to take your wife back to farangland, you better get ready for some REAL racism: like everyone sniggering about rent-a-wives and ping pong shows as you pass. And your half-breed lids will get a rude awakening on the school playground.

I took my ex to the UK for 6 months and never received any racism whatsoever. In fact we received far more racism in Thailand with the large amount of rent a girlfriend going on.

You were either lucky or oblivious.

When in Scotland with my wife we did experience some ignorance but definitely not racism.

I have also had numerous visits to the UK with my partner and no racism shown.

I can only recall one incident,where my partner suffered any hostility and that of all places was in a shopping centre in Inverness,Scotland. But to be honest it was no more than an immature bunch of ''ladettes'' that hurled some abuse and the like. They probably just hanged around that shopping centre looking for trouble with ''who ever'' and ''when ever''...hopefully now a few years have passed they have all grown up.

As for the remark about half breed kids at school,I can only smile. My daughter has just started school in the UK and seems to be the most popular girl in her year. She has had more birthday party invites than we can count in the first few months.She is extremely HAPPY !

......''will get a rude awakening on the school playground'' ... absoloute tosh I'm afraid .....as offically confirmed by an educated and very happy 5 year old.

[TheWalkingMan]

I think that people should stop referring to non-Thais as "guests" in the country, but select from the following:

1) Job Creators - As much as we hear about the number of annual tourists, there must be tons of jobs created.

2) Thai Economic Supporters - Apparently, many places are not economically viable unless prices are higher for non-Thais.

3) Hosts - It seems that most of the time, the non-Thais are the ones paying the bills and I always thought that if you are paying, you are hosting.

4) Visitors - Maybe more palatable than the above three.

[thedivezone]

So your 3 Thai friends lost out.

Because you wouldnt pay 100bht extra (2 quid)

The Uk have many cities where local citizens access to local attractions are discounted or free.

And charge tourists exhorbitant prices.

wrong quote

Edited January 4, 2013 by thedivezone

[thedivezone]

The Thais have a right to practice racism, double/triple/etc. standards, and hypocrisy as much as any other group of people. If anything, the Thai brand of discrimination should be praised because despite being very widespread, the targets of such discrimination often STILL prefer living here and are very happy.

Suffered from abuse by the local populace when we were a foreigner in the US, have we, Heng ?

[ravip]

Seems like Thais should be aliens in Thailand

Edited January 4, 2013 by ravip

[durhamboy]

Once again, thanks for the responses.

For those of you that said that Thais/Thai taxpayers should be entitled to a discount for government/establishment run tourist/cultural places then I broadly agree with you. This system can only really be operated if Thai ID is asked for. At Pattaya Park Tower despite the operators having at least 3 opportunities to ask for ID none was asked for and no one else was being asked for ID that I saw. Yes I spoke English but my Thai relatives spoke to them in Thai. Besides all this, the Tower is not government run as far as I know and going up it to have a view of Pattaya is hardly cultural! Btw, there were no price lists displayed far less any info of a discount system.

Comments here that "Thais have a right to practice racism" (Heng) and, even more, "Blacks had it better under Jim Crowe laws.........and knew their place" are really insulting both to Thais and black people and the posters should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.

Comments that "How many times have we discussed this......yawn ....yawn...." Maybe those posters should ask yourselves why there are apparently so many topics about this issue. Doesnt that tell you that there is a bit of a problem here?

Comments that "your Thai family are secretly ashamed of you" and "You deprived your family of a visit up the tower...you must be proud of yourself" are totally wide of the mark. 7x7 - I did not deprive them of going I offered to wait while they went up and they chose not to. If you think that there is somehow some sort of family rift over this then you are delusional.

I like the comment from IrishIvan - "my Singapore girlfriend got the Thai price without opening her mouth" Yes exactly because she probably LOOKED Thai and that is the whole point. Doubtless if we had had a Laotian or Cambodian person with us then they would have got the Thai price too.

Comments such as get over yourself, you are lucky to live in Thailand (true) - well sorry but I've never been "under" it. It was a one-off instance in an otherwise very nice day. My wife and I discussed it at the time, agreed and havent done so since. I felt it was worth highlighting on the forum and, frankly, have been very surprised by the number of replies and if someone takes the trrouble to reply then I think I like to give my further opinions - that's what forums are about arent they?

Now for all of you who posted that you agree or have no problems with Thai Dual Pricing let me ask you again. You go into an ordinary bar in Thailand with your Thai friend and order 2 Singhas - yours cost B100 and your Thai friend's cost B50. Now are you happy with that? Of course you will say that that never happens - well the reason it doesnt happen is that there are many bars to go to and buying a beer is not a one-off purchase whereas there is only one Pattaya Park Tower and most people only go there once. In other words at Pattaya Park Tower they can get away with it ....other than that there is no difference and the same principles apply.

[NewlyMintedThai]

Add Central Department Store to your list of places to boycott:

http://www.shoppingatcentral.com/tourist-card.php

[harrry]

Add Central Department Store to your list of places to boycott:

http://www.shoppingatcentral.com/tourist-card.php

Maybe...bt onlyif they issue to us discount cards that are onely avalable to thais.

[NewlyMintedThai]

Add Central Department Store to your list of places to boycott:

http://www.shoppingatcentral.com/tourist-card.php

Maybe...bt onlyif they issue to us discount cards that are onely avalable to thais.

The discount card is only available to foreigners. Clear and blatant racism. Oh my!

[cdnvic]

Ok, stop the insults, and racial nicknames for any race.

[7by7]

Comments that "your Thai family are secretly ashamed of you" and "You deprived your family of a visit up the tower...you must be proud of yourself" are totally wide of the mark. 7x7 - I did not deprive them of going I offered to wait while they went up and they chose not to. If you think that there is somehow some sort of family rift over this then you are delusional.

I suspect that it is you who is being delusional as they almost certainly declined your offer to save your face.

As I have said before, I am not a Thai resident but have often paid the resident's price simply by speaking a few words of Thai; you say that you spoke to the operator in English.

Even then, had you proffered some evidence that you live in Thailand, such as a Thai driving licence, you would probably have been given the resident's price; certainly would have been the case at state run establishments.

I can't remember the name of the place; it's an amusement park in Bangkok with a snow house. About 12 years ago I took my wife (fiancée at the time) her son, daughter, sister and her son's girlfriend there.

They paid the resident's price, I paid the tourist one.

When we were inside we found out that my ticket included everything; theirs didn't; they had to pay extra for some attractions such as the snow house and the go karts.

By the time they had paid the extra for these attractions, the cost was about the same as that of my tourist ticket.

As for you point about bars; irrelevant. These places charge what the customer will pay and the price in tourist areas is frequently higher than elsewhere; that's certainly the case in the UK where the cost of a pint in central London is a lot higher than outside.

Do you consider haggling in a market and the fact that a Thai will be able to negotiate a lower price than a tourist to be racist?

[MGLinearArt]

Since arriving I've been welcomed, treated very well, given smiles and I'm happy to pay less than UK prices for most-everything (Why the wine!! Why does wine have to be so damned expensive)

In the UK I'm not allowed to look at anyone on the tube, grumpy bunch of sods..

[NewlyMintedThai]

Do you consider haggling in a market and the fact that a Thai will be able to negotiate a lower price than a tourist to be racist?

He's got a major persecution complex, so the answer is "yes, of course it is racist and I'm the victim yet again. Boo hoo hoo."

[cdnvic]

Since arriving I've been welcomed, treated very well, given smiles and I'm happy to pay less than UK prices for most-everything (Why the wine!! Why does wine have to be so damned expensive)

In the UK I'm not allowed to look at anyone on the tube, grumpy bunch of sods..

We have a thread in the international food forum that may help you

[MGLinearArt]

Since arriving I've been welcomed, treated very well, given smiles and I'm happy to pay less than UK prices for most-everything (Why the wine!! Why does wine have to be so damned expensive)

In the UK I'm not allowed to look at anyone on the tube, grumpy bunch of sods..

We have a thread in the international food forum that may help you

http://www.thaivisa....he-wine-thread/

Thanks! Would you show a bag of heroin to an addict??!? You cruel, callous sod!

[cdnvic]

Let's keep it English in this forum please.

[Maestro]

I have deleted several posts discussing the Thai terms for certain English words. These posts were actually replies to a post that started this off-topic discussion and was deleted earlier today and thus needed to be deleted also for this reason.

[tropo]

Now for all of you who posted that you agree or have no problems with Thai Dual Pricing let me ask you again. You go into an ordinary bar in Thailand with your Thai friend and order 2 Singhas - yours cost B100 and your Thai friend's cost B50. Now are you happy with that? Of course you will say that that never happens - well the reason it doesnt happen is that there are many bars to go to and buying a beer is not a one-off purchase whereas there is only one Pattaya Park Tower and most people only go there once. In other words at Pattaya Park Tower they can get away with it ....other than that there is no difference and the same principles apply.

If people don't have a problem with this dual pricing, leave them be. What's the point of trying to force feed them with ideas in order to get them on board?

In these type of threads the people upset by dual pricing are often seen insulting people who state they don't care.

My basic attitude with everything in Thailand is that... the way it is is the way it is. I have made a choice to live here and will take the good with the bad. If the bad starts to outweigh the good, I'm off to somewhere else.

Edited January 5, 2013 by tropo

[robblok]

Now for all of you who posted that you agree or have no problems with Thai Dual Pricing let me ask you again. You go into an ordinary bar in Thailand with your Thai friend and order 2 Singhas - yours cost B100 and your Thai friend's cost B50. Now are you happy with that? Of course you will say that that never happens - well the reason it doesnt happen is that there are many bars to go to and buying a beer is not a one-off purchase whereas there is only one Pattaya Park Tower and most people only go there once. In other words at Pattaya Park Tower they can get away with it ....other than that there is no difference and the same principles apply.

If people don't have a problem with this dual pricing, leave them be. What's the point of trying to force feed them with ideas in order to get them on board?

In these type of threads the people upset by dual pricing are often seen insulting people who state they don't care.

My basic attitude with everything in Thailand is that... the way it is is the way it is. I have made a choice to live here and will take the good with the bad. If the bad starts to outweigh the good, I'm off to somewhere else.

I just don't frequent those places, one of my favorite fishing parks did the same. I was out of there and many others too. Then they changed it so you could get in Thai price at a Thai's drivers license, and i was back again.

I despise dual pricing, but can understand it for places like national parks as there are many poor Thais who would otherwise not be able to enjoy their own country. For private enterprises i feel its a totally different thing because they are not cultural heritage.

I did encounter a few problems with national parks in the south, often on boat trips the captain would want us to go there and pay up. I told him to stay away from them as half an hour on a beach is not worth 200bt for me. I preferred to stay on the boat and do more snorkeling this was of course a private long tail we rented. Then it was not as much the dual price (if Thais had to pay 200 too id still would not pay that for a half our break at a beach)

Anyway, i prefer it if they just let people with a Thai drivers license in to show your a resident. This happens a lot but not everywhere, but in the grand scheme of things i won't loose any sleep over it. (the fishing park was annoying for a while as they would make more money on me as on a Thai anyway)

Like you when the bad starts to outweigh the good im gone.

Edited January 6, 2013 by robblok

[chrissables]

The Thais have a right to practice racism, double/triple/etc. standards, and hypocrisy as much as any other group of people. If anything, the Thai brand of discrimination should be praised because despite being very widespread, the targets of such discrimination often STILL prefer living here and are very happy.

Agreed, I also think many blacks had it better under jim crowe laws in the US back in the day, sure they had less rights, but they knew their place. If they didnt like it they could just leave, like the people who left and started the country Liberia. USA is a majority WHITE country and therefore have the right to practice racism.

If you disagree with this sentiment, I think you are a hipocrite judging from what you wrote. I certainly don't agree with it.

As has been said by many; the price paid is based upon residency, NOT race or even nationality.

So how can anyone call it racist?

As has also been said, many other countries operate similar pricing structures, including Western countries. Do those who call the Thais racist call these countries racist too?

You may disagree with the policy and feel that a tourist should pay the same as a resident; but racist it isn't.

Many privately owned businesses do it here, and that is through pure greed and in my opinion they are racist too! The argument some give as you are richer so you can afford it is also interesting. If I am paying a 10 premium at a noodle store because I am “rich”, will they charge the rich Thai person who arrive in a merc or BMW more? No, because they “Thai love Thai” That’s ok, but also it is racist.

[wprime]

Thai people have to pay $25,000/year for uni education in Australia, I paid $5000. My gf paid $240 for a hospital visit in Australia, I pay nothing.

Thai people pay taxes in Thailand, they get cheaper rates. Farangs who pay taxes in Thailand also get access to cheaper rates.

It's nothing to do with racism - deal with it.

The Thais have a right to practice racism, double/triple/etc. standards, and hypocrisy as much as any other group of people. If anything, the Thai brand of discrimination should be praised because despite being very widespread, the targets of such discrimination often STILL prefer living here and are very happy.

Agreed, I also think many blacks had it better under jim crowe laws in the US back in the day, sure they had less rights, but they knew their place. If they didnt like it they could just leave, like the people who left and started the country Liberia. USA is a majority WHITE country and therefore have the right to practice racism.

If you disagree with this sentiment, I think you are a hipocrite judging from what you wrote. I certainly don't agree with it.

As has been said by many; the price paid is based upon residency, NOT race or even nationality.

So how can anyone call it racist?

As has also been said, many other countries operate similar pricing structures, including Western countries. Do those who call the Thais racist call these countries racist too?

You may disagree with the policy and feel that a tourist should pay the same as a resident; but racist it isn't.

Many privately owned businesses do it here, and that is through pure greed and in my opinion they are racist too! The argument some give as you are richer so you can afford it is also interesting. If I am paying a 10 premium at a noodle store because I am “rich”, will they charge the rich Thai person who arrive in a merc or BMW more? No, because they “Thai love Thai” That’s ok, but also it is racist.

Wrong, it's nothing to do with race, it's to do with how much you can afford to pay. Take for example, the owner of Oishi group. During the floods two years ago he had his staff help out with the flood relief. He personally went to Ayutthaya to help with the flood relief and when he needed boat transport through the floods, the locals charged him several thousand baht. As much as this disgusts me (the guy went there to help out and he gets fleeced), it shows it has nothing to do with race.

Edited January 6, 2013 by wprime