discrimination local businesses

[Nielsk]

I would say that it's just about time for you return to you born country and pay 3-4 x the price for what you pay down here.

You have stayed here too long now and you need to go back home, to get your priority in place.

Out here you have more buing power that at your home country.

Maybe if you move to Combodia, Laos, or Vietnam, far out in the countrysite you get the lokal prices. But what can you buy. Lokal stuf, that you don't like anyway.

Anywhere in the world in turist areas you pay more for you things and Thailand is a very big turist area and you pay more than the lokals do. If you had in income the same as a lokal Thai,Ii really could understand your complains. You probably got 3-4 times as much as a hard working Thai and maybe even much more. So what's the problem?

I really don't understand your complain and think you have very small shoes to walk in. You are grumpy and think of yourself as somthing special that should have special prices and treatment. But gues what you already have that, you just forget how good you have it here.

So go home and pay 3-4 times more for your things and try complsin about it there and se how far you get with your complains.

I see it as you just make it more problematik for you to stay here in thelandof smile and you really don't derserw to be hare with your attitude and your opinion towards Thailand and leve to those who are happy here.

Don't walk around being this grumpy, it brings you down. Stay happy and enjoy that you are able to stay here at all.

Life is better when you are happy and you live longer. Grumpy have no joy and live a Shorter life.

(Sorry about my bad english, but it's my second language, but hope you understand what I'm trying to tell.)

You need to up the meds mate. People like you don't add any wisdom to topics other than give your own views that cannot possibly help any tv members or the OP. All this crap about adopting things to suit others through or own expense is HOGWASH !!!!!

Well spoken Hrkurtjensen. Not carap !!!

[Beetlejuice]

It is not based on race but nationality. Chinese, Koreans, Japanese etc. all pay the foreigners price. And it hardly ever happens, so far I have not been anywhere where I could not get in for the Thai price.

I understand the policy for (semi) government attractions (locals pay less), for private enterprises it should IMO not be allowed.

I guess that point is arguable .. the Jews are Caucasian but it is still considered racist to gas them.....

Should be a law against blatant discrimination.. it doest send the right message to anyone one on so many different levels.

Well this Adventure mini golf is adamant that they have a different price for Farang no apologies, no exception, and from their email they believe everywhere else is the same.....

The Jews originate in Ur and therefore are Sumerian which is Mesopotamia: Modern day Iraq! So not Caucasian. They will however, probably have to pay the dual pricing like the rest of us.

Total and complete ignorance and crap, also what does this have to do with the theme of this thread?

I suggest to those who believe they are being discriminated upon by the Thais for being foreigners is to learn some basic Thai language skills and how to manage their own affairs here.

I have self taught myself Thai language and learned the systems here and have very few problems for being a foreigner, and regarding the dual pricing problems that I rarely come across, any Thais or Thai establishments that like to make me pay more than the going Thai rates I just simply turn my back and walk away and can converse enough in Thai to make the point that I am not a gullible idiot and not to treated me like one.

Sometimes when out I have seen pathetic looking farangs that need their Thai wives along to hold their hands, to do all the negotiating and act as intermediaries for them, paying a bill, banking, shopping, Immigration and making general inquiries, while the farangs just sit there looking lost, confused, like little children out with their mothers and without a clue as to what is going on until the Thai wife does all the explaining. And I know many farangs who have been living in Thailand for years and still have not been able to adapt and not able to handle their own affairs here.

These are the types of farangs that life must be extremely stressful, the persecuted and the oppressed in Thailand. The easy answer is, learn how to stand on your own two feet, how to communicate properly with the natives and deal with your own business affairs, otherwise your future is going to be extremely difficult and competitive in Thailand.

[Thaijack2014]

I lived in the Netherlands and our town had a nice botanical garden with a lot of attractions. Locals could get a discount card for the whole year, which were not available for visitors from outside.. And another similar experience I had while visiting the Sugar Loaf in Rio de Janeiro. At that time married to a Brazilian and two young daughters, I had to stay in another line and pay almost double of what my ex-wife and kids payed. Also visitors from other places in Brazil had to pay more. It is not to compare with a whole country or continent, but it is not a strange concept....

[Brian Corrigan]

If the junta,who are presently in power, want to be taken seriously in improving their image with the International community, visitors to this country,and residents who pay their taxes, they should take note of the constant complaints on this subject,along with scamming and the ridiculous 90 day reporting rule,and take steps to improve the situation.

[smotherb]

I hear what you are saying and with you 100 percent

Shouldn't that be "... and with you 200 percent" !

No, it should be, "quit being such a cheap bastard, pay the price or walk away"

[pasak]

For plenty of us, the boot's on the other foot.

I, for one, am legally fleecing the Thais each and every day, and just like them, with a smile on my face.

Come and join the game!

[MartinL]

You mean like Disneyland in California, where having a Thai driving license or any licence except a southern California licence will cost you three times more to get in? Or at the US National Parks where only Americans can get the discounts for old people and disabled and a Thai driver's licence means you'll have to pay more?

Get over it. Double and triple and more pricing is worldwide. Do you really think everyone on the airplane pays the same price for their ticket? If you don't want to pay the price that a merchant or a government offers, don't buy his product or service.

.

Yes differential pricing exists in many places BUT I stick by a post I made in another thread a few days ago, as follows:-

"I'm certain that I, as a non-USA citizen, could get into Disney World at a cheaper rate if I could PROVE I was a local resident (whatever criteria is used to determine that), no matter what visa I was using to stay in USA.

That's the big difference between discounts for locals in Thailand and, in this case, USA but it's also true in my country - the discount is for locals NOT locals of a certain demographic. I could prove I lived in Thailand 'til the cows came home yet still not get local rate".

As a result of your post, I can now add Disneyland California & US National Parks to Disney World Florida but the fact remains that, if I qualify as a local and can PROVE it to the satisfaction of the ticket seller, even if I'm of foreign nationality, I WILL get local prices at those places. That's not the case in Thailand - local price for a foreigner with DL, WP, tabien baan etc. is at the whim & discretion of the ticket seller.

On a trip to my own country a few years back, a Thai relative of above pensionable age accompanied us on a visit to an attraction which offered pensioner discounts. We were going to buy her a regular-price ticket but the seller asked if she was older than 60 and we offered her Thai passport to show that she was. The ticket seller then said that she qualified for pensioner price because of her age alone, not her residence, nationality or race. The seller saw an older woman NOT an older woman who looked foreign. That sort of thing generates good feelings among foreign visitors, not the bad feelings demonstrated in this thread & others.

National Park entry in my country is free to all as is entrance to some of the best museums in the world.

[wandasloan]

The Thais know who has the money and most of them, as well as some expats, will do all within their power to suck your wallet dry. It is a well known and widely usedm say abused Thai system, Not only thailand; while working in Korea my rent and utilities were easily 3 times that of the locals

Right. So the Thais ARE right then, that all foreigners are rich.

In the United States, every university has sliding fees, and the Thais are charged the highest rate possible. Happy now? No? In Australia, all SCHOOLS, every grade, has sliding fees (beginning at A$0) and Thais are always charged the highest fees. Not only that, but Thais can't have Obamacare and they can't have Australian health care. They have to pay the highest possible health fees of anyone. And that is not a tenth of how the US and Australian punish Thais.

Of course, those old softy Americans let anyone even Thais attend primary and secondary school for free, so there is that downside to those dopey Americans. Imagine, letting any old Thai into a school for free! It's mind boggling, given that no foreigner gets into a Thai school, right?

Want to punish Thais more? Yeah, so do lots of countries. And they do it, too. Happy now? If not suggest more punishment.

.

Edited June 12, 2014 by wandasloan

[Globeman]

It is not based on race but nationality. Chinese, Koreans, Japanese etc. all pay the foreigners price. And it hardly ever happens, so far I have not been anywhere where I could not get in for the Thai price.

I understand the policy for (semi) government attractions (locals pay less), for private enterprises it should IMO not be allowed.

I guess that point is arguable .. the Jews are Caucasian but it is still considered racist to gas them.....

Should be a law against blatant discrimination.. it doest send the right message to anyone one on so many different levels.

Well this Adventure mini golf is adamant that they have a different price for Farang no apologies, no exception, and from their email they believe everywhere else is the same.....

There is - or was a law against discrimination. In the recently torn up constitution (and its predecessor), it is illegal to discriminate against anyone on the basis of national origin, race, religion, etc... except for the purposes of immigration and labour. But since it is a constitutional provision, rather than a law that has ever been enforced, one would have to file a complaint and take it to the constitution court to "prove" the law in practical use. One of the travel agent associations here briefly considered it, since down south, if they want to take their tourists into more than one national park in a day (near Krabi, there are three parks that almost overlap each other), it makes the tour price prohibitively expensive. In the end they decided it was cheaper and less troublesome to simply pay off the men at the park booth and obtain a "discount".

In a country where citizens are taught in school that they are special and unique amongst lesser human beings (who are incapable of understanding that they are inferior), such discrimination comes very naturally. Non-discrimination was only included in the constitution because it looks good internationally ... or perhaps they copied that part from the boy seated in the desk next to them.

[wandasloan]

National Park entry in my country is free to all as is entrance to some of the best museums in the world.

Only making my point that every country has different laws, standards and cultures. Because not many countries have the above. On the other hand, I bet I could find a flaw or two in your country's magnificence. It's amazing how many people leave totally perfect serendipitous nations to put up with all the horrible things in Thailand. What martyrs!

I don't share your enthusiasm or your wish that every country be exactly the same in every single detail including multiple pricing, or your faith that if this happened, if only everyone had free museum admissions, that it would be a perfect world. I most certainly do not wish that world.

In a country where citizens are taught in school that they are special and unique amongst lesser human beings (who are incapable of understanding that they are inferior), such discrimination comes very naturally.

A country? Sounds like a ThaiVisa thread to me. I haven't been everywhere on the internet for sure, but I find it difficult to believe there's a heavier white man's burden anywhere save the overt white-power sites.

.

Edited June 12, 2014 by wandasloan

[Brian Corrigan]

There is a simple way out of this problem but it involves time and application.

Learn to speak Thai and be aware of Thai ways at all times.

They will soon realize that treating you with a lack of respect only rebounds on them and makes them look rash and stupid.

I don't need to learn Thai,and I have no intention of learning. I assume that being a foreigner that I'm going to be fleeced. When any situation arises that causes me to be suspicious,I keep a low profile,and get my wife,who is Thai,to carry out the transaction. We all know how Thai Rak Thai..........don't we?? I might add that my wife tells me,that on many occasions Thai's love to scam other Thai's and, where she is aware of this, she quickly about faces and walks away.

[BudRight]

It's just this horrible obsession some farang have with losing face.

Just think of yourself as someone who's "special." I'm sure your mom and teachers told you that repeatedly when you came home in tears because of what the other kids said to you.

Troll.

[chatette]

I have a Thai ID card but that doesn't stop many places from insisting I pay farang price because I'm also caucasian, to underscore that there is a racist element to it.
So tedious to even have to discuss with such people.
I had one tour operator tell me that I cld show my ID card for entry but I would probably have to pay farang price if I looked farang with no clue how offensive that comment was.
And if there's no dual pricing displayed, like at Supphatra Land fruit park in Rayong, they just automatically charge the higher price based on their assumption that looks are all that counts.
Very few Thais seem to realize that Thai is a nationality and any race is allowed.
As for the dual pricing policy, it should (but won't) be dismantled.

[wandasloan]

I have a Thai ID card but that doesn't stop many places from insisting I pay farang price because I'm also caucasian, to underscore that there is a racist element to it.

Funny, I was just going to write about MR Narisra Chakrabong who has often said much the same. Of course in addition to a regular ID card and some choice words, she has a special card to drop on the people at the admittance booth as well, heh. But she also has said it is bothersome to say the least.

.

[AussieSteve]

I can only think of one time that I was unable to get the Thai price when producing my Thai DL, maybe had to also produce my WP if any hassle. Mind you I have my Thai wife for back-up. That one time refused I just walked away. Just vote with your feet and save having any anger.

Did the same thing...... just walked away. Maybe they will eventually get the message if we all do this, but I somehow doubt it.

[Hua Hin expat]

I certainly hear you there,

I just put the car in reverse and laugh at their stupidity !!!

It's the Thai mentality of business logic throughout the country unfortunately.

This is the problem with countries that rely on tourism as one of its main sources of income...

"Gotta get as much as we can now because they won't be coming back! They're going home in a week or 2"

As simple as that.

When will they learn that a Thai Dl, WP or Year visa etc tells them "this customer and his family may well come back if we're fair to him"

On that note

I remember Phuket Zoo letting me in for Thai price when I showed my DL, but I think the address showing I lived less than 500 metres away had something to do with it..

Sent from my EPhone

[Gringogazzer]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

It is not based on race but nationality. Chinese, Koreans, Japanese etc. all pay the foreigners price. And it hardly ever happens, so far I have not been anywhere where I could not get in for the Thai price.

I understand the policy for (semi) government attractions (locals pay less), for private enterprises it should IMO not be allowed.

I guess that point is arguable .. the Jews are Caucasian but it is still considered racist to gas them.....

Should be a law against blatant discrimination.. it doest send the right message to anyone one on so many different levels.

Well this Adventure mini golf is adamant that they have a different price for Farang no apologies, no exception, and from their email they believe everywhere else is the same.....

Generally Jews aren't caucasian - I have a lot of Jewish friends and they consider it their race as well as their religion. Even UK law is similar, there was a school in Liverpool I believe that was under fire for not allowing non-jews as the point of law argued it was discriminating on race not religion.

Regarding the double pricing issue they really can be asshats about it - I went to the Tiger Temple (I wouldn't recommend it) in Kanchanaburi and my gf had forgotten her ID at the hotel. She's clearly Thai, she looks Thai and obviously speaks fluent Thai but they made her pay the non Thai price as she didn't have her ID. Really spoiled the day as she was in a pissy mood for the whole afternoon!

The Jewish school not admitting non Jews you was referring to was state funded. Taking tax payers money and not allowing them to benefit from it. No state money, no issue.

I had issues with this topic until I found the missing part of the jigsaw which was, drivers licence and or WP. That eased my mind a lot.

It doesn't mean all is ok.

I've had it once were I was told I had to pay falang price for my wife because "come with falang, pay falang price." I wouldn't of thought a Thai man with a falang wife would of had the same issue.

I walked.

It filters down into peoples minds we're fair game and causes resentment to be thought of as a meal ticket.

It's a matter of knowing which to walk from.

[PattayaPhom]

I totally disagree with you. It is not a higher fee for farangs. It is a lower fee for Thais. Everything you say is the same in USA. Go to a Virginia historical site and show your USA ID. Discount given. Many places do that. Do you think Americans discriminate against Mexicans, etc. You bet they do. You should be discriminated also but not necessarily in a negative way all of the time.

Really you should stay in the country where you were born but you live in a foreign country. There is a huge difference being in another country - language, cost of living, culture, etc

For example, what does $10 mean to you. That is a whole day's wages for a Thai. They would like to go out also but cannot because you have increased their cost of living by simply being here as a tourist, as a business owner, big corp selling into this market, etc. You caused the inflation along with foreign companies that want to do business here. You have actually ruined many of their lives. Now - get on track - pay more!!!!!! Let the Thais - who own this land and are citizens of this land - have their normal price that should go along with $10/day income. You pay more! I am American and have no problems paying more. I should.

The Cubans make no bones about it.

There is a dual economy in Cuba, where tourists pay for 'luxury' items in tourist prices in CUC Cuban Convertible Pesos, and locals can pay for essentials in CUP (Moneda National). If a Cuban wants to buy a 'luxury' item - they too will have to pay in CUC.

As I heard it, at least thirty years ago, you take a taxi and pay BIG, a local makes the same journey and pays small. The same for food, hotels etc. everything.

No tourist forced inflation etc.

What's wrong with that?

Oh, it's a communist country......

BTW, it's not twice the price, no no,

Cuban convertible pesos are 25 times more valuable!

Until $US was banned a few years ago, Cuba used $US, CUC which was the equivelant and Cuban Pesos, Foreign or Cuban paid the same dependent on which currency they used. Cubans receive discounts through the "Particularis" scheme, same as a ration book, they have a quoto each month for various items. No dual pricing in place

[RickvanHeijningen]

It's not about the money, it is about discrimination, I'll never pay more than the Thais, I boycott the attractions.

[SNGLIFE]

ROFLMAO...

I am tickled when I come across whining posts like this. Farang's getting bent all out of shape because of a teenie tiny bit of "blatant discrimination". Hey, Bub! Try going through life as a minority...

Or, try dealing with it like a minority would: Suck it up 'cause whining ain't gonna change things - or do something serious like sue for universal equality in the courts (Ha! Good luck with that...).

[Nielsk]

It's not about the money, it is about discrimination, I'll never pay more than the Thais, I boycott the attractions.

Good for You.........

[allanos]

Is this (charging Farang more than locals) not simply a case of a business charging what the market will bear? Unfortunately, in Thailand, it does have racist overtones. Charging what a market will bear is a time-honoured pricing situation in business, and is applied very much in the West, although cartels and monopolies may be illegal.

[SiggiCM]

oh so much bullshit written here, double pricing is against law if it is about nationality, because this means discrimination by law!

if everything would be correct the company could show all prices open, not covered on different websites or not published open in the shop or place,

different prices by color, nationality, characteristics of your body, education, religions are against law in every country. It is stated in the thai constitution,

for all the people who think it is normal to pay for a product 10 times more I wish they get, when in supermarket and want to pay, a 10 times higher bill with the reason prices at product are for thais, or when driving in taxi and see 100 baht on meter ask then for 1000 Baht, because price on meter are only for thai.

double pricing is a crime and a scam and everybody who does it should be get brought in front of a court and fined. And people who defend this type of scam

are rassists, nothing more and nothing less.

Or all the smart peopel here who defend this scams want to pay 10 times more for a plan ticket, bus ticket, taxi, water, food, telefon call, electric, gas, rent and other products? double pricing is stilling money from people and goverment, how they tax it? how you know how many foreigners went in a park or how many thais?

and the people who cry that thai earning only 300 baht a day, yes but they can buy an Iphone, tablet, go to restaurant nearly every day, cinema for 200 baht a ticket and coke and popcorn for another 180 baht, i is not the duty of tourist to subsidize prices for thais!

[stevenl]

oh so much bullshit written here, double pricing is against law if it is about nationality, because this means discrimination by law!

if everything would be correct the company could show all prices open, not covered on different websites or not published open in the shop or place,

different prices by color, nationality, characteristics of your body, education, religions are against law in every country. It is stated in the thai constitution,

for all the people who think it is normal to pay for a product 10 times more I wish they get, when in supermarket and want to pay, a 10 times higher bill with the reason prices at product are for thais, or when driving in taxi and see 100 baht on meter ask then for 1000 Baht, because price on meter are only for thai.

double pricing is a crime and a scam and everybody who does it should be get brought in front of a court and fined. And people who defend this type of scam

are rassists, nothing more and nothing less.

Or all the smart peopel here who defend this scams want to pay 10 times more for a plan ticket, bus ticket, taxi, water, food, telefon call, electric, gas, rent and other products? double pricing is stilling money from people and goverment, how they tax it? how you know how many foreigners went in a park or how many thais?

and the people who cry that thai earning only 300 baht a day, yes but they can buy an Iphone, tablet, go to restaurant nearly every day, cinema for 200 baht a ticket and coke and popcorn for another 180 baht, i is not the duty of tourist to subsidize prices for thais!

"oh so much bullshit written here"

Yes, you got that right.

[carter1882]

There should be a rule - anyone who can prove they have been here at least twenty years, is a permanent resident or who can read the sign in Thai out loud should be given the Thai price. Perhaps some organisations could also extend this to anyone who can politely ask for the Thai price in Thai language could also gain cut price admission. This might encourage people to learn the language rather than getting het up because of their own inadequacies....otherwise known as ฝรั่งวีน

[Oziex1]

Sat down in a restaurant in Phuket Town once, thought the prices were quite reasonable. Then they wandered over and swapped the menu I had for the Farrang menu with big money price, I left. Very odd business practices, rather have no money than let us eat at local price.

When searching for accommodation, I found little chance of making a deal on price. This is high season this is the price, so the apartment sit vacant for long time while they tell all in high season I can get this much?

[TheRascal]

It is stated in the thai constitution

You know what happened to the Thai constitution right...

[peter267]

I am always surprised by the level of upset the 2 tier pricing get to us visiting Falang and the feelings of unfairness of it all. Thailand are not on their own in this. As example visit a East African game park - in your own vehicle - and as a foreigner you can pay $250 per head for entrance, a local can be nothing if they are Mari tribesman with just a spear or at say $10.00. Now that is extreme. Ski resorts have very different structures for short term & log term visitors. Its all about peoples perceived 'ability to pay' A jetted in foreign visitor with capacity to spend more on beer and food per day than the Thai minimum wage can afford more. Those us staying longer with Thai driving licence & WP get in most places on the Thai price - however when I pull this off myself I have a distinct opinion as being assessed as a 'Cheap Charlie' by both the friendly Thai's in my car and those rabid entrepreneurs standing outside

Its their facility and they are entitled to price just as they want for visitor's to see it. Sure its not obligatory - stomp off to a cheap Charlie bar in high dudgeon and miss out on seeing piles of fresh elephant poo as best indication that Thailand has wild elephants.

As a Brit, we can pay 750 Baht to turn up and park - in a National Trust - owned beauty spot - with no prospect of elephant poo. These place fill to overflowing. Sign up to National Trust with an annual subscription get your card in the post and you use the same facility for 75 baht, shock horror poor foreign tourists getting ripped off by the veritable British institution of fair play the National Trust!!

Slightly more controversial it could be said that Thai National Parks adjacent to rapidly and over developed tourist resorts - that are destroying the original natural beauty and habitats should significantly raise the visiting charge to Falangs. Get visitor head count down and generate an income stream that could be used to regulate and restrict over development - Ok maybe 'pie or poo in the sky' That would get my vote, oops I don't seem to have one of those.

[Thaijack2014]

And while we are on the subject, why not change the whole country into one of the western countries, with the same prices? See Brazil, the mother country of my kids... the first time I came there (about 25 years or more ago) prices were similar to Thailand. Now the country is a very expensive place to live... in many cases more expensive then my birth country, the Netherlands.

So maybe Thailand should start to raise taxes, let foreigners pay income tax, pay high car insurances, numbers of insurances we have to pay in the countries we come from and finally give the same entrance prices to us as to the locals.

Yes, like most people I too see that we have to pay more then the locals... but I think some of us have forgotten what they had to pay in their own countries on taxes and insurances...service and other conveniences... So in the end I'm glad only to pay more for an entrance to a park or a purchase on the market. If I don't like the price or think it is too high, I won't go. That simple!

Edited June 12, 2014 by Thaijack2014

[belg]

i just wonder if they will have a look kreung fee in the future ...