60-Year-Old And Above To Have Free Bts Rides During Songkran

[SantiSuk]

I am grateful for the half-price MRT travel card and find the BTS quite expensive.

Expensive compared to what? Walking?

Stay away from London, John. You'll get heart failure!

Edited April 4, 2013 by SantiSuk

[SantiSuk]

that is a good idea.

i like how thai people care for their elderly family members and take grandma with them on the trip to the shopping centre. special when it is so hot outside.

Do the elderly Thai, get a concession , half price, when traveling on public transport, like in other western countries and free trips by rail twice a year, say to the value of 1000klms.

BTS has xenophobic policies. You may be surprised to find that this will be for Thai citizens only. Just like the senior discount BTS card they make available for Thai seniors. They will tell you to your face this is for Thais only and give you that big fake smile that immediately disappears behind a sneer. Have your mobile phone cam running when they deny you for not being Thai and send it to your favourite news and tourism organizations after posting on yourtube. MRT on the other hand is a fair and decent operation.

I suspect there is Thai government money behind the BTS. Fair enough to give concessions to nationals only when it comes to pubic services. The iniquity and raciialism comes at the level of not allowing foreigners a decent chance to get Thai nationality when they have been here a nunmber of yeras and have paid taxes or altemtaively invested in the Thai economy.

[ZhouZhou]

amazing. give some elderly people and children under 90 cm tall a free ride and foreigners will find that is a good reason to bash thailand.

[Mampara]

obviously this does not include ferangs? the only place that they get any over 60 privileges is on the MRT

[Bluespunk]

amazing. give some elderly people and children under 90 cm tall a free ride and foreigners will find that is a good reason to bash thailand.

The bashing should not be Thai bashing I agree, however if a gesture such as this is racistly implemented then it should criticised.

[yoshiwara]

that is a good idea.

i like how thai people care for their elderly family members and take grandma with them on the trip to the shopping centre. special when it is so hot outside.

Do the elderly Thai, get a concession , half price, when traveling on public transport, like in other western countries and free trips by rail twice a year, say to the value of 1000klms.

i am not talking about socialist policies. just how families stick here together, including all generations. i heard it is not the same in the west.

What are you are talking about? Is is that so many families sacrifice themselves so that they can afford to send their daughters to Pattaya University or some such twaddle?

[Soutpeel]

amazing. give some elderly people and children under 90 cm tall a free ride and foreigners will find that is a good reason to bash thailand.

The bashing should not be Thai bashing I agree, however if a gesture such as this is racistly implemented then it should criticised.

Hold on a minute...even if this restricted to Thai nationals only, and excludes farangs how is this racist ?, unless as a farang you have PR/citizenship you have no legal status in Thailand, you are in effect a perpetual tourist, and for the most part over never paid tax here, never worked etc etc, so why should they benefit from this.

If someone as farang had citizenship or PR and they were refused based on the colour of their skin..then yes this would be racist, but for the vast majority of over 60 farangs in Thailand are not PR or citizens.

Let me ask you this, Do the UK hand out free bus passes to every over 60 tourists visiting the UK who has no legal staus there ?...think not

[Locationthailand]

Of course this does not include geriatric farangs ie over 60, I assume.

Ratty, Mate ... I am over 60 and run 5 kms in under 30 mins, walk a golf course - 8+kms a week and you are bagging me buddy as 'geriatric? Damn boy, you need yo ass whupped! But I guess I'll let ya off with a warning - this time!

So based on the above you wouldnt need a geriatrics discount or even the physical BTS/MRT then... you can run..

It's great to see some of our senior citizens havent lost their sense of humour, unlike the vast majority of the miserable, self-righteous, old whinging ba*t*ards on here..

Any freebie is a bonus. Never gonna knock that back LOL

[Soutpeel]

The iniquity and raciialism comes at the level of not allowing foreigners a decent chance to get Thai nationality when they have been here a nunmber of yeras and have paid taxes or altemtaively invested in the Thai economy.

How is this racist ?....Farangs do get a decent chance at PR/citizenship if they qualify.

seeing as we are specifically talking about over 60's and one assumed retired, how many other countries in the world even have retirement visas, and how many of those allow a retiree to become a PR or citizen easy..not many I would venture.

Paying taxes here ?....one assumes you mean by virture of working here and paying income tax and just VAT on the beer they buy ?

Investing the Thai economy ?....one assumes you mean developing a business/investing cash here and employing Thai nationals, not just purchasing a house/car in the name of their Isaan teeraks, thats not investing in the Thai ecomomy ?

[Bluespunk]

amazing. give some elderly people and children under 90 cm tall a free ride and foreigners will find that is a good reason to bash thailand.

The bashing should not be Thai bashing I agree, however if a gesture such as this is racistly implemented then it should criticised.

Hold on a minute...even if this restricted to Thai nationals only, and excludes farangs how is this racist ?, unless as a farang you have PR/citizenship you have no legal status in Thailand, you are in effect a perpetual tourist, and for the most part over never paid tax here, never worked etc etc, so why should they benefit from this.

If someone as farang had citizenship or PR and they were refused based on the colour of their skin..then yes this would be racist, but for the vast majority of over 60 farangs in Thailand are not PR or citizens.

Let me ask you this, Do the UK hand out free bus passes to every over 60 tourists visiting the UK who has no legal staus there ?...think not

Discriminating on the grounds of race is racism. I live and work here legally and all my taxes, both direct and indirect, are paid. I am not yet 60 but if was my legal residential status here would not qualify me for a discount. My race disqualifies me not my status. Therefore racism.

Edited April 5, 2013 by Bluespunk

[hbullinger]

Do they provide F/O/C Towels on their trains?

[connda]

I am grateful for the half-price MRT travel card and find the BTS quite expensive.

Even though it is relatively expensive, I really do enjoy riding BTS. Just wish they would have extended it to Don Meung before the 1997 financial crash. I lived in Laski for awhile and it would have been sooooo much better than taking the 29 bus to Mo Chit.

To extend it to Don Muang before the 97 crisis it would have to have been specially built for you, BTS didn't open until 1999.

Yo, facetious one: Have you been to Don Muang, mai? North Bangkok -- Mo Chit to passed Don Muang? Did you miss the hundreds of tons of concrete super-structure poking up out of the ground like a gigantic tribute to financial disaster? Put the 'reality goggles' on the next time you're in North Bangkok and open your eyes. Construction on the BTS Don Muang line was started prior to 1999 but never completed.

[connda]

amazing. give some elderly people and children under 90 cm tall a free ride and foreigners will find that is a good reason to bash thailand.

The bashing should not be Thai bashing I agree, however if a gesture such as this is racistly implemented then it should criticised.

Hold on a minute...even if this restricted to Thai nationals only, and excludes farangs how is this racist ?, unless as a farang you have PR/citizenship you have no legal status in Thailand, you are in effect a perpetual tourist, and for the most part over never paid tax here, never worked etc etc, so why should they benefit from this.

If someone as farang had citizenship or PR and they were refused based on the colour of their skin..then yes this would be racist, but for the vast majority of over 60 farangs in Thailand are not PR or citizens.

Let me ask you this, Do the UK hand out free bus passes to every over 60 tourists visiting the UK who has no legal staus there ?...think not

When you are have and Non-B or Non-O Marriage and work here and pay taxes here and support a family and hire Thai workers and pay taxes and pay taxes and pay taxes -- how the h*ll do you equate that to being a perpetual tourist. You realize that they only hand out 100 PRs per nationality which is f**ked up if you happen to be from a large country with a large number of expats in Thailand. The immigration policies are FBARed and make it difficult to impossible to obtain a PR or citizenship. It's a really closed system.

I've worked here, I've paid taxes to the Thai government (unlike most rural and lower class Thai -- which is a lot of people), and yeah -- I should benefit from gratuities extended to Thais because it's MY TAXES that are helping pay for these!

[longstebe]

I can't believe some people on here, moaning at not getting discount over a period of 2 days in a already cheap form of transport.

We're so hard done by brigade.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[connda]

I can't believe some people on here, moaning at not getting discount over a period of 2 days in a already cheap form of transport. We're so hard done by brigade. Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

It's the principle of it. You don't 'get' that?

[thonglorjimmy]

As a matter of interest if anybody visits Hong Kong it's worth getting an Elder Octupus Card, it allows anybody over the age of 60, local or visitor, to travel anywhere on the metro or bus network for the equivalent of 8 Baht, and free travel on the Star Ferry.

HKG senior discounts are available at many other attractions, including Disney, again for locals and visitors.

[Soutpeel]

how the h*ll do you equate that to being a perpetual tourist.

Very simple...your living here on the whim of an offical every year, and a simple change in the law(s)...you could saying bye bye Thailand.

As you have said you work here, pay taxes etc...so let me ask you this..have you even applied for PR ?...by the sounds of things seeing as your supporting all those lower class and rural Thai's you should qualify for PR, no problem.

I also work here, pay taxes, have house etc etc...but i am under no illusion as to my legal status or rights in Thailand...I dont have any..I am not PR or a citizen and have no intention of persuing this line, even though I would qualify to apply..I couldnt care less...

[longstebe]

I can't believe some people on here, moaning at not getting discount over a period of 2 days in a already cheap form of transport. We're so hard done by brigade. Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

It's the principle of it. You don't 'get' that?

Its quite sad if this grates on you.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[connda]

I can't believe some people on here, moaning at not getting discount over a period of 2 days in a already cheap form of transport. We're so hard done by brigade. Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

It's the principle of it. You don't 'get' that?

Its quite sad if this grates on you.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Yeah, I should be able to 'let it go'. But change generally only happens when people stand by their principles and values and are willing to buck the status quo. "not getting discount over a period of 2 days" is a symptom of a larger problem. I'm just saying -- it ain't right.

[connda]

how the h*ll do you equate that to being a perpetual tourist.

Very simple...your living here on the whim of an offical every year, and a simple change in the law(s)...you could saying bye bye Thailand.

As you have said you work here, pay taxes etc...so let me ask you this..have you even applied for PR ?...by the sounds of things seeing as your supporting all those lower class and rural Thai's you should qualify for PR, no problem.

I also work here, pay taxes, have house etc etc...but i am under no illusion as to my legal status or rights in Thailand...I dont have any..I am not PR or a citizen and have no intention of persuing this line, even though I would qualify to apply..I couldnt care less...

I have pursued a PR. However, I don't have the 'income stream' needed to qualify, and I can't at the moment covert my retirement savings into an annuity. In about 4 more years, if the Western world doesn't implode their financial systems, I'll have more than enough to qualify. And I am under no illusion as to my legal status or rights in Thailand either, but taking the good with the bad, this is where my family is and this is where I want to stay. Preferably as a Thai citizen. And I do care. I just have to wait. Gives me time to work on my Thai fluency.

[Fookhaht]

Of course this does not include geriatric farangs ie over 60, I assume.

Ratty, Mate ... I am over 60 and run 5 kms in under 30 mins, walk a golf course - 8+kms a week and you are bagging me buddy as 'geriatric? boy, you need yo ass whupped! But I guess I'll let ya off with a warning - this time!

I'd be glad to join the fracas as well to help enforce geriatric respect.

I would just love to beat somebody with this cane.

[potters]

Im sure the BTS will extend it too Farangs as long as

you are accompanied by both parents