I have just witnessed two occurrences of double pricing policy - Do Thai's know that this hurts?

[Mudcrab]

Honestly, most people I come across are honest and I make a point to be honest with them. However, you always have to be looking when dealing with people you don't know. My favorite (happened in Thai language):

Me: How much are the watermelons?

Vendor: It's called Daeng Mo

Me: Yeah, I know...how much is this one?

Vendor: It's called daeng mo

Me: I know the word, but how much is it?

....confused look, gears churning, just as they had been the whole time....he was trying to size me up as he was talking to me. I just told him "fine....other people sell watermelons as well" and walked away.

Always be ready to walk away, don't give them time to think, and be polite. I walked down the way for about 30 seconds and someone had watermelons of the same size with marked prices. PURCHASE. I see the guy all the time at the market and he knows that I am the "one that got away" as he sells a variety of products and I will not buy a single one of them.

What a man...I"m impressed. Nothing like exerting authority when buying a watermelon.

[edwardandtubs]

The reason for the dual pricing is that they know they can get away with it. The only solution is to vote with your feet and go somewhere without dual pricing. The influx of totally clueless tourists from places like Russia and China will only increase the dual pricing issue.

[edwardandtubs]

Honestly, most people I come across are honest and I make a point to be honest with them. However, you always have to be looking when dealing with people you don't know. My favorite (happened in Thai language):

Me: How much are the watermelons?

Vendor: It's called Daeng Mo

Me: Yeah, I know...how much is this one?

Vendor: It's called daeng mo

Me: I know the word, but how much is it?

....confused look, gears churning, just as they had been the whole time....he was trying to size me up as he was talking to me. I just told him "fine....other people sell watermelons as well" and walked away.

Always be ready to walk away, don't give them time to think, and be polite. I walked down the way for about 30 seconds and someone had watermelons of the same size with marked prices. PURCHASE. I see the guy all the time at the market and he knows that I am the "one that got away" as he sells a variety of products and I will not buy a single one of them.

What a man...I"m impressed. Nothing like exerting authority when buying a watermelon.

Sounds like the Thai guy was trying to help him with his pronunciation.

[ttthailand]

My hotel in Hat Yai calls a tuk tuk to take me into town. Hotel tells me the cost will be 100 baht. Tuk tuk comes and man confirms my destination looks for a few seconds and said 150 baht. When questioned he just smiled. I did not want to wait on another ride so I just went with the flow. The normal price is 100 for sure as I have paid this a few other times. I can speak some Thai so it does not always happen but for sure this guy charged more because I was a farang.

[CIHUAHUA]

I get into the CM zoo and the gardens for a thai price by showing my condo card. One time I showed my AO visa. I buy food at the talot and never have that problem. Now, the Load-dang (red song tauw ) drivers want to get you if you do not know the ride is 20 B. Just tell them where you want to go and if they go there, get in the back without talking. If they want more they will stop and say so and then just get out. Many times they will wave you an ok. They will all try to get you if you do not know what the real deal is.

[Davidabroad]

When i was in France with my wife she got cheated many times and i let it happen even when i saw it going on. When i helped her getting the money back she finally understood me and how false it is to cheat foreigners that way. But in France they also do it to me , that's fine though because i m prepared for that. I don't like the french anyway because of that.

Hello Namdocmai,

I'm french and I can say that I didn't see any case where somebody has been cheated. I sure know it can happen here but this is absolutely not a common practice.

But I do hate it when it happens in Thailand and I would hate it much more in France.

Please do report it when it happens in France, this is totally unacceptable and against the law of course. I would be happy to know in what kind of shops it happened to you and your wife.

And as it's mandatory to display the prices here it's more difficult to cheat, even if some small shops may not do it.

Edited December 8, 2013 by Davidabroad

[hhiser]

Do you think they would care [the thais who are overcharging] if they knew? I don't. A lady tried to sell me a 40 baht plant for 400 baht. When I went to the next vendor and purchased a similar plant for 40 baht [ and was very vocal about the price I paid] she did not care. She just waited for a more gullible mark to walk up. The same with most government run tourist traps. We make a lot less of a mess than the Thais who visit them. Yet they try to charge us a lot more. Do they care, no, not unless we all stopped coming.

[ianf]

It's very normal in thailand. Normally I get my thai friends to buy the things for me or just buy it online.

Sent from my GT-I9200 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

If my Thai wife is with me she pays farang price. So we see what we want, I walk away and, hey presto! Cheaper price.

It's all part of Thai racism!

[spambot]

I dont know what it is but i never ever get charged more ,maybe its because i look as if i am a local living here in Pattaya ,at entertainment venues just show my driving licence and get Thai price ,only once been charged farang price and that was on the yellow sumbmarine ,but as it was our sons birthday treat could hardly walk away.

is it because you look like a tourist op?

Yup you are probably right - I knew I should have hidden my maps, stopped taking pics of the food I was eating and stopped asking every tuc tuc driver how much it costs to go to Central world.

Pattaya I feel, (but I do not really know for sure) works in a non dual pricing only if you do know the systems and how they should operate. I remember the first time I went to Pattaya and I got out the songthaew and asked how much - He said 20Baht (because I asked - He knew I didn't know and he then knew that there was an opportunity for gain) - Yep its only 10 Baht (Beach rd) and then also 6 weeks ago I took the songthaew from bus station to walking street - Everyone got off and I was the last - Chinese girl was charged 30 Baht and the same for two English guys - I refused to pay the inflated price. We only got back to the correct price when I pointed to the local bobby across the road indicating we ask him what the fixed price was.

But obviously when you know your way around then you don't walk into these tourist traps since you know they are there i.e now when I now get to the bus station in Pattaya I walk over the road and pay my10 Baht to a passing songthaew without the waiting and herding that goes on at the bus terminal for tourists.

That's also what I do, then get another bus from the Dolphin roundabout, 20 Baht all in. Probably a lot more if you get a baht bus in the bus station.

Yup its a good way - Sometimes I might walk down to Tescos for a cheap lunch / Breakie and sometimes pop into one of the hotels near the Dolphin for coffee - most have swimming pools and are not too crowded or picky about comers in to sit near the pool.

[edwardandtubs]

My hotel in Hat Yai calls a tuk tuk to take me into town. Hotel tells me the cost will be 100 baht. Tuk tuk comes and man confirms my destination looks for a few seconds and said 150 baht. When questioned he just smiled. I did not want to wait on another ride so I just went with the flow. The normal price is 100 for sure as I have paid this a few other times. I can speak some Thai so it does not always happen but for sure this guy charged more because I was a farang.

He charged more because he thought he would get away with it, and you proved him right. If you'd refused to pay the 150 he probably would have lowered it to 100. It's hard to have sympathy with people who roll over so easily.

Edited December 8, 2013 by edwardandtubs

[spambot]

It's very normal in thailand. Normally I get my thai friends to buy the things for me or just buy it online.

Sent from my GT-I9200 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

If my Thai wife is with me she pays farang price. So we see what we want, I walk away and, hey presto! Cheaper price.

It's all part of Thai racism!

If the Thai Gov got to hear of this then - They would surely make it law - That dual pricing must occur for everything. So this then could be turned into one of their brilliant economic internal stimulus development plans for job creation and then Thai nationals can earn money again for work that is just totally unnecessary - A bit Like the visa run support industry they created

Edited December 8, 2013 by spambot

[spambot]

Singapore has a better system for offering different rates for hotels: they promote the discount for citizens AND residents. It makes sense to discount to fill vacant rooms and does so in a way that doesn't discriminate..

Airfares are more complicated: why does Thai airways charge 20% more for tickets issued in Australia than those ex Thailand? Eg, BKK-SYD-BKK is 20% lower than the reverse ( there might be some logic to it but nothing to do with tax as far as I know). Qantas does a similar thing.

Yup I sometimes found this the same travelling in Europe where it was always cheaper to fly away from one country than it was to fly into it. A large part is down to the airport / aviation authority and Government taxes per country - Usually paid and levied via the sales source.

[spambot]

Same old, same old.

In a nice world free from government poking its nose into every aspect of our lives any seller would be free to offer their property to another person at any price they care to choose for any reason whatsoever. The buyer can negotiate and/or walk away. If a seller say, charges people with dark skin more then they are likely to lose business and suffer lost sales. Here in Thailand farangs are entitled to walk away when confronted with higher prices.

But different groups of people have different elasticities of demand and farangs here are likely to have more money and hence more likely to accept a higher price. Fruit sellers know this and overall make more profit from this strategy, it is nothing to do with racism but even if it is it should be up to them.

Certain businesses offer child discounts, they do not do this because they like children or feel sorry for parents, they do this to maximise profits. A child on an airplane takes a seat the same as me yet will often pay 25% or more less for the ticket but we don't hear people moaning endlessly about this. Most people don't gripe when night clubs provide free entry for ladies, the ladies like it and the men appreciate the greater quantity of ladies the policy encourages but again the night club owner does not hate men he simply wants to maximise profits.

Yet a fruit seller who prices her fruit differently to a farang likely on 100,000bt a month to a lady on 10,000bt is seen as racist.

I like this - Good balanced argument here.

[Andre0720]

I do not mind paying more as a farang in a country where people get a salary of around $300. a month...

I do not mind....

[A1Str8]

You are going to keep witnessing them.

[spambot]

I dont know what it is but i never ever get charged more ,maybe its because i look as if i am a local living here in Pattaya ,at entertainment venues just show my driving licence and get Thai price ,only once been charged farang price and that was on the yellow sumbmarine ,but as it was our sons birthday treat could hardly walk away.

is it because you look like a tourist op?

Yup you are probably right - I knew I should have hidden my maps, stopped taking pics of the food I was eating and stopped asking every tuc tuc driver how much it costs to go to Central world.

Pattaya I feel, (but I do not really know for sure) works in a non dual pricing only if you do know the systems and how they should operate. I remember the first time I went to Pattaya and I got out the songthaew and asked how much - He said 20Baht (because I asked - He knew I didn't know and he then knew that there was an opportunity for gain) - Yep its only 10 Baht (Beach rd) and then also 6 weeks ago I took the songthaew from bus station to walking street - Everyone got off and I was the last - Chinese girl was charged 30 Baht and the same for two English guys - I refused to pay the inflated price. We only got back to the correct price when I pointed to the local bobby across the road indicating we ask him what the fixed price was.

But obviously when you know your way around then you don't walk into these tourist traps since you know they are there i.e now when I now get to the bus station in Pattaya I walk over the road and pay my10 Baht to a passing songthaew without the waiting and herding that goes on at the bus terminal for tourists.

The irony is Thais only pay 5 baht for a songthaew in Pattaya (short trip).

Ha - Brilliant! - I love it that I thought I was feeling so great about being a localised Farang with a few years behind me and thinking that I was in the know - And then finding out there was an extra layer that I had totally missed - Great info!

[Alwyn]

"surely you know that is common policy with all things here in Thailand to charge Farangs more?"

She actually said these words, in English, to you? I'm impressed

I've never been overcharged (other than Zoo entrance fee at some time), not that I know of anyway (!).

Then again you usually don't know what another person paid before you for some item on the street.

If I would be aware that I am charged more, it depends on how badly I want the item, I would still buy it or not.

But paying 50% more....or even 20% more......don't think so.

I don't know how long you've lived here but if it's more than a few months, trust me, you've paid farang tax! baht buses, community swimming pools, chicken from street vendors, haircuts, sunbeds on the beach.. oh yes, you've paid farang tax my friend!

[RefinedGentleman]

I would love to be a business owner in the West and have a Thai come into my shop.

Me: "So, where are you from?"

Him: "Thailand."

Me: "Oh really? Then you'll pay double for anything you buy in my store."

Can only imagine the expression they'd get on their face. Would love it.

[Alwyn]

Pay the little bit extra and jog on! Enjoy... Still cheaper than home, right?

[DrTuner]

After years of grumbling about it, tourists still come in hordes. So it continues, because it's profitable.

[uptheos]

I wish they let Brits in the Tower of London for free, so they could access see their history and charge visitors twice the price to make up for it

[spambot]

My hotel in Hat Yai calls a tuk tuk to take me into town. Hotel tells me the cost will be 100 baht. Tuk tuk comes and man confirms my destination looks for a few seconds and said 150 baht. When questioned he just smiled. I did not want to wait on another ride so I just went with the flow. The normal price is 100 for sure as I have paid this a few other times. I can speak some Thai so it does not always happen but for sure this guy charged more because I was a farang.

He charged more because he thought he would get away with it, and you proved him right. If you'd refused to pay the 150 he probably would have lowered it to 100. It's hard to have sympathy with people who roll over so easily.

Do you think they would care [the thais who are overcharging] if they knew? I don't. A lady tried to sell me a 40 baht plant for 400 baht. When I went to the next vendor and purchased a similar plant for 40 baht [ and was very vocal about the price I paid] she did not care. She just waited for a more gullible mark to walk up. The same with most government run tourist traps. We make a lot less of a mess than the Thais who visit them. Yet they try to charge us a lot more. Do they care, no, not unless we all stopped coming.

Agree they do charge extra because they thought they could get away with it and ALSO frighteningly do not seem to care (if some caring existed then there would be scope to create change) - Hence my original question was all about how a Thai might be feeling about this - not just about the actual act of discrimination in their pricing.

Similar to the Plant experience and the tuc tuc overpaying experience - I live few hundred yards from Khao san Rd and I tend to go to a small hotel just around the corner from Khao san to have a beer and read the paper. Here the tuc tuc mafia seem congregate (its not actually on Khao san, but about 50 m away). I catch a 30 Baht tutuc down to the bar and sit outside and I can see from here (mostly) tourists who are in a dialogue about the price with the tuctuc drivers.

The starting point from the drivers is usually at an initial 200 Baht to then around 150 Baht is the final discount (to take them to the identical place I just got on a tuc tuc down from). And they use the same tactic with every tourist - They set a price expectation of 200 Baht - watch the reaction - hear the counter offer and if its nearer 100 rather than 150 he will walk away obviously this is just to gauge the reaction (the driver never walks more than 10 m and waits for around 20 secs there with his back to the potential buyers - The tourist will either increase their offer or they will turn to walk away and if they start to pull away the driver then reacts to them by turning around and shouting "OK I will take you for 150 Baht".

- Hit rate at about 60/70%

And once I watched two drunken young American guys climb aboard after the driver called them over, asked them where they are going (which was same place I came from) - He offered to take them for 500 Baht - "OK" the guys agreed.

Would anyone say that this is just market forces at play in a market driven economy or is it actually something that is simply abusing a buyers lack of knowledge and so becomes unfair activity?

[spambot]

Pay the little bit extra and jog on! Enjoy... Still cheaper than home, right?

Yep - True! But improving the experience to make it even better is not a bad thought.

[Alwyn]

Pay the little bit extra and jog on! Enjoy... Still cheaper than home, right?

Yep - True! But improving the experience to make it even better is not a bad thought.

nah... you'll just be banging your head against the wall like countless other before. Chill out and don't let it bother you!

[allan michaud]

As for your hotel example I have seen some places where expats pay less than Thais. As for the fruit example say you want Thai price, if you don't get it walk away. However you are right I hate double pricing. Especially at government attractions. I take the Thai family to one and then I have to pay more. If I wasn't paying for the family they wouldn't be going. I find that I take the family to less attractions, not because I mind paying for them, but because I resent paying more than them.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ X using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I feel exactly the same and I don't take my family to places very much for the exact same reason. I find it insulting to go to a national park and be expected to pay 10 times as much as a Thai. The Thai's definitely lose out from me, if the prices were fairer we would be going places all the time and spending a lot more money.

[GreenSnapper]

After years of grumbling about it, tourists still come in Hortes. So it continues, because it's profitable.

And also because "stupid farang don't know Thai".

Example: the buffet dinner at Bayoke Tower is 1160 Baht plus service/ tax. For Thai, it is only 580 Baht. The Thai price is written with Thai numbers, because "stupid farang cannot read".

You can look up this scam at their website. It was introduced only a few years ago, before that farang/ Thai prices were the same.

[thailiketoo]

It's very normal in thailand. Normally I get my thai friends to buy the things for me or just buy it online.

Sent from my GT-I9200 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

If my Thai wife is with me she pays farang price. So we see what we want, I walk away and, hey presto! Cheaper price.

It's all part of Thai racism!

Thais charge higher prices for black folks, Japanese, and white folks. That sure is odd racism. What kind of race are we; black, Japanese and white? I have an American Indian friend with a tan and they didn't charge him more. Odd eh? Did you know American Indians get Thai prices if they have a tan?

Edited December 8, 2013 by thailiketoo

[donniereadit]

In Vietnam double-pricing is more rampant than Thailand...

Or maybe you are just fooled by the Thai smile?

[thailiketoo]

I would love to be a business owner in the West and have a Thai come into my shop.

Me: "So, where are you from?"

Him: "Thailand."

Me: "Oh really? Then you'll pay double for anything you buy in my store."

Can only imagine the expression they'd get on their face. Would love it.

Just like when they try and get a visa to visit your country. Do you know how difficult it is? Or care? It's only a Thai eh? Why not make him or her jump through 100% more hoops than you or I have to?

Edited December 8, 2013 by thailiketoo

[Prbkk]

I would love to be a business owner in the West and have a Thai come into my shop.

Me: "So, where are you from?"

Him: "Thailand."

Me: "Oh really? Then you'll pay double for anything you buy in my store."

Can only imagine the expression they'd get on their face. Would love it.

Just like when they try and get a visa to visit your country. Do you know how difficult it is? Or care? It's only a Thai eh? Why not make him or her jump through 100% more hoops than you or I have to?

Yes, charge a fortune for a visa ( often with non-refundable application fee), if visa is successful a 50/50 chance of luggage search on arrival, some chance of intimate pat-down ( worst case scenario: rubber gloves). It's not a one-way street.