Do farang get charged extra?

[MantisMan]

I'm pretty sure the answer is yes but I dislike dual pricing. Some examples based on street food I like:
Noodle soup 40 baht
Rice chicken veg 50 baht
Meat on a stick thing 10 baht
Ice coffee 20 baht
Banana pancake 40 baht
Pineapple quarter 10 baht

Do Thais pay the same?

I've seen these same prices on THAI menus in the THAI language, so yes, they pay the same.

It's the SongTails that charge more for Gaijin.

[Ozybear]

I went to Rex Hotel in Bangkok, whilst I was outside having a smoke, the wife went in and booked and payed for our room. I then entered and we had to pay an extra 400 baht a night because I was a westerner, they explained, I

Earned more than a thai so I have to pay more and this was from the owner, so the answer is yes.

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[Jackson86]

Different cities, different prices. Those ones who say farengs get overcharged are the one who ever think they can live in a country without speaking the local language.

If you intend to stay in Thailand for a long time, you have to learn to speak thai, at least the basics. If you don't want, just go back at home.

Agree with you on this. Currently I'm learning thai so that next time I can buy things cheaper there. Just a simple "tao rai kup" can get u some discounts.

"tao rai kup" and bar fines as well as drinks are half price in any Thai bar.

p.s. if you are "Fareng" depending on discounts when buying bananas or a noodle soup "just go back at home"

nope I'm not a farang but i see Thai people treat me very well too.

[LuckyMe88]

YES, Go to the famous sight seeing venues. U see thai script in pricing..........

[brit1984]

in an economically efficient world, all businesses would be able to check every customer's bank balance and do a brain scan to check how much each of them is willing to pay for the goods/ services

in the absence of such efficiency, the next best solution is to try categorize customers into groups with differing AVERAGE propensity/ ability to pay, e.g. children generally have less to spend than adults, and Thais (with average income of ~9,000 USD/year) generally have less to spend than Americans (with average income of ~51,000 USD/year)

each of us (as consumers) should make purchasing decisions based solely on the price we need to pay (vs the utility we expect to gain) for a good/ service - the price paid by anyone else is completely irrelevant - although I am jealous of some of the discounts my (not so poor) granny gets just for having wrinkles!

"in an economically efficient world' --- according to what theory is that?

Surely not according to the theory of the free market, as developed by Smith.

why not?... price discrimination normally provides an economically superior outcome than a one price system (and never inferior unless applied wrongly)

for example, lets say there is a shop selling a milkshake which providers a cure for geekiness and lets say there are 100 geeks in the world who want this product including Bill Gates who is willing to pay 1000 dollars, and another 99 geeks (including me) who are all very poor and can only pay 2 dollars each

to make the milkshake requires a special machine that costs 999 dollars (but once you have the machine you only need to spend 1 dollar for the ingredients to make each milkshake)

with a one price system, the shop can only sell 1 milkshake to Bill Gates at a price of 1000 dollars but as it spent 999 dollars on the machine and 1 dollar on ingredients, it makes zero profit AND cannot sell any milkshake to the other geeks (so me and the other geeks will stay geeks forever)

with price discrimination, the shop can charge every geek the maximum they are willing to pay (total 1198 dollars), spend 999 dollars on the machine, 100 dollars on ingredients and make a profit of 99 dollars AND every geek gets a milkshake (and we all become "cool")

[sonar6ca]

Ha,ha,ha, does a bear shit in the woods?

[ElenaBrighton]

The prices that you indicated are average but you can do better say in local neighborhoods rather than commercial areas. As I said in an above response, you can get a better price on just about anything and even items like small shish-kebobs will often go cheaper if you make an offer on quantity. Yes. Foreigners are frequently quoted very high prices on all sorts of items and services but you can negotiate excellent deals. Thais love to barter. And hey- its a lot of fun!

PS. Sometimes you can do even better than the "Thai price" because the vendor is so amused to see the farang 'wheeling & dealing' rather than just paying a ridiculously high price- TIT.

You know, after someone enlightened me about the word "kignok" I just don't enjoy haggling anymore. And I know that Russian tourists come with the idea that Thais love haggling as much as Arabs do and that it is expected of them to try and knock down the price. Makes a whole nation kignok for Thais ))

[maake55555]

I'll say that foreigner get charged more than local. sometime 4 and 5 times more. Go to home pro and price something and then go to one of the local street stores to buy the same item and you will see how outrageous this stuff has become.

I no longer buy in a small local store as the sellers will stick it to you every time. That goes for any thing they sell, food, candy, repair items, screws, nuts and washers they always charge much more than the large stores. One case in point I purchased a small paint brush from a local place for 50B and when I was in home pro I saw the same item for 12B and it goes on and on and on.

I just go to the overpriced western food markets here at least they are honest in their overprices crap.

[Jackson86]

I bought a souvenir in pattaya for 300 baht. My brothee told me it could have been cheaper if I had bought it elsewhere but to me that's ok since I'm a one time customer.

[sirchai]

I'd guess in most tourist areas, yes. Of course you'll find guys in Isaan, who charge more money for something, when they see a foreigner. But that changes when you speak their local slang. Like Benn Jang?

Will never forget the crazy German, who payed 30 baht instead of 20 for flowers, those you can buy at every traffic light. He was so upset that we almost had a fight, as I'd told him to f...o..to the place where he came from. He was upset about all Thais, that they'd just rip of all foreigners. This is bullshit that is not good etc...

He just recently passed away, so please no gossip about him ,as he might read that in hell.

But generally speaking, beside the tourist places, I've never really experienced people who wanted to overcharge me,

Guess it also depends how you come across.-

Edited November 25, 2013 by sirchai

[sirchai]

I bought a souvenir in pattaya for 300 baht. My brothee told me it could have been cheaper if I had bought it elsewhere but to me that's ok since I'm a one time customer.

Understood. Once I've met a French guy who bought a short time souvenir at beach road from a not so good looking freelancer.

[sirchai]

Different cities, different prices. Those ones who say farengs get overcharged are the one who ever think they can live in a country without speaking the local language.

If you intend to stay in Thailand for a long time, you have to learn to speak thai, at least the basics. If you don't want, just go back at home. It is not difficult to learn the basics, it is really easy to learn the numbers. If you cannot, like they say, "koun pen kwai" or "koun may me semong".

As in any big cities, any one can be over charged, like in Paris or like in New York. There are bad and good people. Most thai don't overcharged, some do, and the same ones do overcharged thai people coming from other areas. I spent 4 months with my Isaan girlfriend in Chiang Mai, there were cases when she was clearly overcharged, and even if I was not showing with here.

Everythings the OPs quoted can be the real prices, depending the store, the areas etc ... Also think about the prices tend to increase with the years like in any other countries.

In rural areas you can still get a noodle soup for 15 baths, you can even eat a full dish for 10 baths. That's the case in some rural parts of Chiang Mai. If you stay in the center, the price for a soup will be 30/35/40 baths.

Completely agree with your point that people who'd decided to live here should speak the language. Personally, I wouldn't like a 10 baht noodle soup, as even in Sisaket you'll have to pay around 25 baht.

And a full dish for 10 baht? Could you please explain what a full dish in your eyes is? Please don't come with mama soup...-

[Travel2003]

Have feeling the Turks pay less than the tourists for all the crap in Kusadasi or the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.

Or when North Americans buy stuff in Mexico.

Same same but different (location).

[arminbkk]

I sometimes buy DVD's on Sukhumvit and will overhear the guy charging the other foreigner 100 baht, Indians 120 baht, per DVD, while I get one for 80 baht.

Then again I've been told Thais get one for 50 baht but have never witnessed that at that particular spot.

yeah, that's a very clever example... as all together we rip (literally) off someone else... not much to complain for anyone paying "a little more" in THIS case, right...?!

It is a clever example because it encompasses a lot of the examples and reasons given in the posts so far: charge extra because a person is not Thai, charge extra because a person is a tourist not a person working here (which they know that I do), charging extra because one doesn't like a certain person (rude curt Indians), charging extra because the buyer is ignorant of the price etc.

Now when a rude Indian interrupts while I am talking with the vendor and just cuts in between (which is how it usually goes), then yeah, I will be the last to point out to him that he is being overcharged.

No, its a BAD example, because in that case the buyer and seller informally agreed already that ripping someone off is perfectly fine. Why else would one buy a ripped DVD otherwise (I am not pointing fingers, I am guilty myself sometimes...). But once we agree to that rule then it's plain silly to complain that the other guys just was cleverer in playing that card...

It was an example toward "why do farang get charged extra" by Thai, or in other words, why do Thais charge this foreigner this price and that foreigner that price, for one and the same thing? There are quite a few reasons for why Thais do that (as given by other posters before) and what I wrote was relating a situation in which I witnessed different pricing for one and the same thing.

I was not playing any card: I have always been charged the lower price.

I was just a buyer who overheard the seller charging another person a different price for the same thing I was buying or had asked about.

Now the fact that I overhear this almost every time I happen to stand there, makes it a common thing.

Now if you are on about why I let this vendor rip off another guy: firstly, I did not like the other guy's attitude and behavior and I guess the Thai guy didn't either

(hence why he probably overcharged him, hence why my example was a "clever" example),

secondly, why would I piss off a Thai guy on the sidewalk of Sukhumvit at soi 11? That would be stupid.

[meadish_sweetball]

If you ask the price and the vendor has to think before answering, there is some room for negotiation.

[nidieunimaitre]

Edit: the quote that I replied to, disappeared....

This is a reply to the example of the milk shake seller.

At first reading your example seems correct.

But it is based on a monopoly situation, and surely nobody will argue that monopolies (or cartels) are efficient?

Also, in your example, no doubt Gates will find somebody to go shopping for him, don't you think?

Conclusion: double pricing is not economically efficient, and can not be defended as part of a free market system.

The existence of multiple pricing is actually a proof that there is no free market.

Of course, some people confuse free market with wild west capitalism.

Edited November 25, 2013 by nidieunimaitre

[elzach]

yes, and it's official

The entrance fee displays at government-run national parks and monuments usually have prices for

adult (thai)

adult (citizen of ASEAN member states)

adult (farang)

child

senior citizen

The cheapest is senior citizen and the most expensive is adult (farang)

I'm regularly charged the senior citizen rate (it was a hard paper round) despite being a farang

If you stay in Thailand, get used to being charged extra for being a farang. The European concepts of equity simply don't apply, it's different here. For example in Europe we usually pay a higher rate of income tax as you earn more, here income tax rates largely depends on what you do to earn money, eg earnings from performing medical services is the lowest rate and income from investments is the highest rate. Also there are men's wages and women's wages for doing similar jobs, and the minimum wage only applies within the Bangkok metropolitan area, not the whole of the country. Who's to say what's right/better/fairer - it's just different.

I love this "reasoning/excuse": "Who's to say what's right/better/fairer - it's just different."

So according to our friend here, when you get scammed for example, or get threatened, or get mugged, or injured on a bus, or or or....don't think about what's better or what's right, just think that's "it's different" here.

I'll venture to say that some Thai apologists will love you.

[TheSpade]

I'm pretty sure the answer is yes but I dislike dual pricing. Some examples based on street food I like:

Noodle soup 40 baht

Rice chicken veg 50 baht

Meat on a stick thing 10 baht

Ice coffee 20 baht

Banana pancake 40 baht

Pineapple quarter 10 baht

At street food stalls just listen out to what price they are charging Thai's and you'll know. That's what I've done at my local places and I've found that some were being honest and some not but now I know the price I just hand them the correct or 'Thai' price and they usually don't question it.

For meat on a stick I usually pay 8B at my local place. A basic rice and meat dish usually 40B. Don't eat the rest.

And a full dish for 10 baht? Could you please explain what a full dish in your eyes is? Please don't come with mama soup

Read his post again it was 10 baths....I wonder if they have to be filled with water when you pay with them?

You can get boat noodles in the smallest bowl imaginable round here for 8B I think it is but it's literally one spoonful so you need 6 or 7 to even dent the hunger...so what's the point? Just go get a proper bowl of noodle soup for 40-50B.

Edited November 25, 2013 by TheSpade

[brit1984]

Edit: the quote that I replied to, disappeared....

This is a reply to the example of the milk shake seller.

At first reading your example seems correct.

But it is based on a monopoly situation, and surely nobody will argue that monopolies (or cartels) are efficient?

Also, in your example, no doubt Gates will find somebody to go shopping for him, don't you think?

Conclusion: double pricing is not economically efficient, and can not be defended as part of a free market system.

The existence of multiple pricing is actually a proof that there is no free market.

Of course, some people confuse free market with wild west capitalism.

my example is not necessarily a monopoly - the "shop" can just as well represent an industry of shops - the same logic follows - i'm not sure what your point is that bill gates could send someone to buy the milkshake for him - i'm trying to explain that price discrimination is economically efficient - not that it is easy to implement (which it certainly is not)

price discrimination IS economically efficient -quite simply charging different prices to different consumers (i.e. matching to their ability/ willingness to pay) allows the business to make the same profit at a lower average price and/or by giving more consumers to buy the good / service (and gain utility)

another example... lets imagine there is a circus (not necessarily the only circus) which costs 1000 dollars per show to operate and lets imagine there is space in the circus for 100 spectators (all of which have identical seating and an equally good view of the circus)... and lets say the circus plans to visit a very poor city where all the local people can only afford to spend 1 dollar on visiting such a show except for the city's wealthy mayor (a circus lover who often dresses as a clown and rides an elephant to official appointments) is willing to pay 1000 dollars to see the show...

with a 1 price system, the circus charges 1000 dollars for a ticket, only the mayor can attend, and the circus makes zero profit

with price discrimination, non-mayors pay 1 dollar, the mayor pays 1000 dollars (total 1099 dollars sales), 99 more people get the chance to see the show and the circus makes 99 dollars profit to invest in more chairs so even more can enjoy watching the monkeys dance next time

Edited November 25, 2013 by brit1984

[brit1984]

price discrimination is beautiful

[Jackson86]

It's a hard truth that farangs tend to get overcharged by thai people.

[arthurwait]

Depends if you look stupid or not.

[brit1984]

Attitude and behavior oftenly dermines the price.

Yup. My brother used to work in a mower shop and would apply a "rudeness tax" to the price for anyone who was . . . rude.

Unless it's priced, same the World over.

I can't imagine London Zoo having a queue for English and another for 'non-white' as they do at Dreamworld in Thailand

obviously that would be completely illogical as the average non-white person in this world does not have a significantly higher average income than the average english person - but that doesnt mean that everyone who enters london zoo pays the same price - many tourist attractions in london for example have discounts for those who show a recent mainline train ticket into london as that group (or at least the sub-segment of that group who keeps the tickets) is perceived to be able/ willing to pay less than others - price discrimination can be found all over the world in all industries - i think what makes it more obvious in thailand (and other emerging economies) is that the implementation is more crude (less subtle) and because the low average income of the local populous in such countries makes price discrimination between locals and non-locals so much more rational

Edited November 25, 2013 by brit1984

[Ozybear]

40-50 baht for a noodle dish or rice and meat ? Makes me feel even better as I get charged 30 baht for a full bowl.

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[brit1984]

40-50 baht for a noodle dish or rice and meat ? Makes me feel even better as I get charged 30 baht for a full bowl.

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

maybe you look homeless

[ravip]

"The European concepts of equity..."

What exactly does this mean, please?

yes, and it's official

The entrance fee displays at government-run national parks and monuments usually have prices for

adult (thai)

adult (citizen of ASEAN member states)

adult (farang)

child

senior citizen

The cheapest is senior citizen and the most expensive is adult (farang)

I'm regularly charged the senior citizen rate (it was a hard paper round) despite being a farang

If you stay in Thailand, get used to being charged extra for being a farang. The European concepts of equity simply don't apply, it's different here. For example in Europe we usually pay a higher rate of income tax as you earn more, here income tax rates largely depends on what you do to earn money, eg earnings from performing medical services is the lowest rate and income from investments is the highest rate. Also there are men's wages and women's wages for doing similar jobs, and the minimum wage only applies within the Bangkok metropolitan area, not the whole of the country. Who's to say what's right/better/fairer - it's just different.

[lockman]

Sorry, but my wife often gets annoyed because I get a better price than her. And price is not just defined by Thai and Farang, but also wheather you can speak the language, how you ACT, how you dress and so forth; and sometimes who you may know where you are at. YMMV is always there except in a store with established prices, but sometimes you can also negociate a discount there as well. It's like being in BKK and similar and negociating with others. If you can speak and understand, especially an Isean type Thai, price goes down.

[fasteddie]

Never been charged more for food, little bit of Thai goes a long way.

[LaraC]

I bought a souvenir in pattaya for 300 baht. My brothee told me it could have been cheaper if I had bought it elsewhere but to me that's ok since I'm a one time customer.

Understood. Once I've met a French guy who bought a short time souvenir at beach road from a not so good looking freelancer.

...........

...its one of those "words fail" moments

[Skint]

OP is getting bumped quick call the cops!

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand