2 price system

[NightRider70]

I live in Pattaya and never get charged a higher price ,the tourists do ,but thats worldwide.

What about North America, Northern Europe and Australia? Are tourists charged more than locals there?

[benalibina]

Not sure if related, but I guess same principle as OP.

I have an very open minded Thai female friend, with whom I sometimes hang out with (platonic friend). I got cheated by my gf, and I wanted revenge before breaking up with her, so I slept with her best friend.

I told my friend about this and she said she think it was ok for me to do it cuz she cheated on me first.

This post says enough.....

[Sealbash]

I bought some shares on the stock market, and the next day a Thai bought the same stock for less. Is this not how free enterprise works? The seller offers a price, and it is up to the buyer whether or not to pay that price. No thieving, no double pricing. Just free enterprise at work.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Somsrisonphimai]

Only shop when the vendors show the price for you to see. Don't go shopping with your Thai wife or Thai GF or don't go shop at all if you don't want to be charged differently, otherwise accept it because it is not going to change. However, it is still a lot cheaper than in your country won't you say?

[TheFishman1]

Wow

[Spoonman]

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Farang prices? My Thai wife and I received each a package this last week from the USA hers was $260 value and had to pay 1400 Baht

when she complained never had to pay before she was told NEW LAW .Mine was $180 value she had to pay 1100 Baht . I have my medication coming next month wondering how much they hit me for.

Isnt it just great, to get charged TAX for the freight charges as well as the item???..... alt=blink.png>

Item cost 100 USD...airfreight $70USD....total charges this end,TAX on the $170USD............... alt=w00t.gif>

Weegee, I think you should know that it is worldwide the same. Import duties are everywhere calculated on the fob price + freight + insurance.

Been here for 10+ years never got charge a penny until last week.Send stuff from here to the Usa and Germany ,they never paid for anything either.Have no Idea where your Info.?

Import taxes and duties have been with us for many years. more than 10 infact.

[Paulzed]

Next time sit in the pub across the road and let your lovely wife do the shopping....works for me.

[mogo51]

he gave you a price you were happy with. what is the problem ?

Dont agree with your summation, he gouged because she was with a farang. Dont know where you come from originally, but it would not be tolerated in my country Australia. Nor is it practiced.

His wife sounds like a great credit to her country and he is proud of her and rightly so.

[Spoonman]

he gave you a price you were happy with. what is the problem ?

Dont agree with your summation, he gouged because she was with a farang. Dont know where you come from originally, but it would not be tolerated in my country Australia. Nor is it practiced.

His wife sounds like a great credit to her country and he is proud of her and rightly so.

Gouged, really ?

Australia does engage the practices of two teir pricing. the real estate industry is rife with it... but I guess the home owners that are selling have no issue with an asian person person paying a premium over an aussie......

[ThaiFelix]

Good on her. Wifey and I went to a dinosaur museum up near Udon a while back and they had a sign showing different entry prices for Thais and farang....cant rememeber price but roughly double for farang....showed my teachers ID and explained how I work here and pay tax but the answer was still full price. Politely said no thanks and walked out....while I admit I'm a miser that is not the issue. I believe while I pay tax in this country I should get local price.

[John Clarke]

1978... in Paris, about 9.00 am.

We enjoy a coffee in a cafe with seating for 50 or so people overlooking the river Seine. Then the waitress comes around and replaces all the menus.......yes, higher prices on the new menus.

10 minutes later a tour bus group of about 40 people arrive....

5555 universal tourism practices. :-)

[somchaismith]

Only shop when the vendors show the price for you to see. Don't go shopping with your Thai wife or Thai GF or don't go shop at all if you don't want to be charged differently, otherwise accept it because it is not going to change. However, it is still a lot cheaper than in your country won't you say?

Sound advice. I was once told by a local that it's best to stop whining about dual prices, as foreigners here are a minority - how true he was.

Another way to get the normal price would be to know your prices BEFORE approaching the vendor and show him that you can communicate in their language, that is, the Thai language.

Edited June 16, 2014 by somchaismith

[Seastallion]

You were going to cook something tasty and decided not to over 20 baht?

Well, technically it was wifey that made the decision, but I supported her in it. Yep, had something else tasty instead, and am 20 baht richer for it.

[Seastallion]

The topic of principles could be a very important subject in the coming months and years.

It will take principled people to rid the country of corruption.

Surely you are not suggesting that certain nationalities have principles and others do not.

Some folks have principles and some do not, no matter what nationality. Some folks have

"strong" principles, but at times fail to live by them. Inconsistency seems to be a common

trait among humans.

Painting an entire population with one brush is very easy and handy and makes some folks

feel so comfy doing it, but most often it is far from realistic or reasonable.

Jumping to conclusions without reading or comprehending what you have read is very easy too.

Indeed I am making no suggestion about any nationality. I am painting no population with any sort of brush.Could you quote me, please, where I did?

[mdmayes]

Thats Thainess in your face.

[Keesters]

What I never understand is why you have to ask for a price. Wouldn't a clearly written sign on the produce make everybody's life so much easier. Since the invasion here of 7-11s my Thai friends will never use a old fashioned mom-pop store where they have to ask and negotiate and more often still end up paying more than at 7-11.

Failure to price goods is an indication that price will vary between customers. I avoid all places like that.

[sami10]

TV is amazing! My favorite site for faulty logic, bad analogies, posters who can't seem to wait to dump on their countries of origin and off topic stories. Love 'em!

The OP seemed to be about a customer not wanting to pay more for squid than the customer next to her. In my opinion, Seastallion's wife acted appropriately by deciding not to pay more. My wife would have done the same. It's not about whether 20 Baht is worth walking away. It was not about a museum charging foreigners more. This was a retail transaction.

Please note this pricing scheme is not the same as: one store charging less than another (Walmart vs JC Penney) or airline pricing (unless the airline told you how much the person in the seat next to you paid before you bought a ticket.).

A reasonable analogy would be where your favorite pizza place (or other local eatery back in the old country) charges you $10 for a pizza but charges your Thai wife/partner/friend $15 when they order. I'm sure all the TV apologists would be on board with that. After all, they're foreigners, no?

I am not against capitalism or free markets. Vendors can charge what they want for goods and customers can decide whether to buy or not. I am not against being asked to pay a higher price because I am a foreigner or I look like I can afford it. However, I am frustrated that vendors expect that I will pay more than a Thai person. If I believe that the vendor will not give me a reasonable price, my wife or one of sisters will do the buying. They will get the best price they can and they will not collude with their countrymen to stick it to the foreigner.

Soidogbob's approach is more radical than mine but maybe he doesn't see all the humor here.

[JesseFrank]

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Farang prices? My Thai wife and I received each a package this last week from the USA hers was $260 value and had to pay 1400 Baht

when she complained never had to pay before she was told NEW LAW .Mine was $180 value she had to pay 1100 Baht . I have my medication coming next month wondering how much they hit me for.

Isnt it just great, to get charged TAX for the freight charges as well as the item???..... alt=blink.png>

Item cost 100 USD...airfreight $70USD....total charges this end,TAX on the $170USD............... alt=w00t.gif>

Weegee, I think you should know that it is worldwide the same. Import duties are everywhere calculated on the fob price + freight + insurance.

Been here for 10+ years never got charge a penny until last week.Send stuff from here to the Usa and Germany ,they never paid for anything either.Have no Idea where your Info.?

Because your import comes in under the radar doesn't mean that there are no import duties in Thailand, same as because you don't get a traffic fine for driving through a red traffic light doesn't mean it is legal. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that.

Import duties are always calculated on fob price with added transport cost and transport insurance.This is common practice worldwide.

[weegee]

JesseFrank....your post above....I didnt realize that this is common practise. Thanks for the heads up on that.

[susan d]

Depend on sellers.

[JesseFrank]

Depend on sellers.

What have sellers to do with import duties in the country of the buyer ?

[JesseFrank]

JesseFrank....your post above....I didnt realize that this is common practise. Thanks for the heads up on that.

I only know because I have done quite some export to Europe in the past,large cargo's which had to be officially declared, and the import duty was always calculated that way.

[BradinAsia]

The topic of principles could be a very important subject in the coming months and years.

It will take principled people to rid the country of corruption.

Surely you are not suggesting that certain nationalities have principles and others do not.

Some folks have principles and some do not, no matter what nationality. Some folks have

"strong" principles, but at times fail to live by them. Inconsistency seems to be a common

trait among humans.

Painting an entire population with one brush is very easy and handy and makes some folks

feel so comfy doing it, but most often it is far from realistic or reasonable.

Jumping to conclusions without reading or comprehending what you have read is very easy too.

Indeed I am making no suggestion about any nationality. I am painting no population with any sort of brush.Could you quote me, please, where I did?

"It will take principled people to rid the country of corruption."

In the context of TV, this statement seems to infer that Thailand has a lot of corruption due to having fewer folks with principles.

I would strongly challenge such inference as being very biased at best, xenophobic at worst.

​If such inference was not your intention then I do apologize for jumping to conclusions.

[seajae]

when over 60% of the population thinks that graft is good as long as they are getting some of it you have your answer. Its not everyone but a lot of them that think like this and that is according to other thais, not farangs. I go to the market with my wife as I like to check out what is available, maybe I am lucky but my wife knows the average price of what we buy so she will not let them rip her or me off and most give us the local price anyway(not a holiday area). If I am by myself and they ask for a higher price I simply put the item back down and start to walk away, 99% of the time they then offer it at the same price to me then I buy it. The sellers get to know farangs that will buy from them and take care of them, I have many sellers that know me and what I like to buy, its great when I can get the curry puffs I like when no one else can or proper calimari from under the counter on certain days. It isnt a matter of agreeing to a higher price, it is a matter of having one starting price for everyone, if they can barter it down then that is the bonus but everyone should be given the one price to start with. It boils down to if they are simply raising the price due to your ethnicity then they are not genuine and you go elsewhere, they are the ones that are losing the sales and respect of buyers, always plenty of others that are honest.

[Seastallion]

The topic of principles could be a very important subject in the coming months and years.

It will take principled people to rid the country of corruption.

Surely you are not suggesting that certain nationalities have principles and others do not.

Some folks have principles and some do not, no matter what nationality. Some folks have

"strong" principles, but at times fail to live by them. Inconsistency seems to be a common

trait among humans.

Painting an entire population with one brush is very easy and handy and makes some folks

feel so comfy doing it, but most often it is far from realistic or reasonable.

Jumping to conclusions without reading or comprehending what you have read is very easy too.

Indeed I am making no suggestion about any nationality. I am painting no population with any sort of brush.Could you quote me, please, where I did?

"It will take principled people to rid the country of corruption."

In the context of TV, this statement seems to infer that Thailand has a lot of corruption due to having fewer folks with principles.

I would strongly challenge such inference as being very biased at best, xenophobic at worst.

​If such inference was not your intention then I do apologize for jumping to conclusions.

No apology needed, mate, but thanks anyway. My statement takes for granted that there is a lot of corruption in Thailand. That's not bias nor xenophobia, it's common knowledge.

Because of the very nature of corruption, at even the highest levels of society and government, it will take especial resolve by the reformers to stamp it out. The reformers will have to be principled and not be tempted to stray from the path of rightness and law.

That's not to say that principled people are not at high levels already. Sadly, there's unprincipled ones too.

[ThaiFelix]

What I never understand is why you have to ask for a price. Wouldn't a clearly written sign on the produce make everybody's life so much easier. Since the invasion here of 7-11s my Thai friends will never use a old fashioned mom-pop store where they have to ask and negotiate and more often still end up paying more than at 7-11.

Failure to price goods is an indication that price will vary between customers. I avoid all places like that.

Agreed Keesters, If I walk into a shop and the goods dont have prices on them, I walk straight back out again and go to the next one that does.

Edited June 16, 2014 by ThaiFelix

[Escapologist]

Why does a grown man need to consult his wife in order to know whether it's okay to be charged the unofficial VAT for non-Thais? I don't live in Thailand and was recently visiting Ayutthaya with a UK-based Filipina. She doesn't speak the lingo and so I did the talking. The Thais assumed she was Thai and she was charged the standard prices whilst I was charged the non-master-race prices. In more globalised societies this is referred to as "racial discrimination". However, when in Rome... I suppose they continue to get away with racial discrimination because visitors are still willing to take the rough with the smooth and are often willing to temporarily suspend their principles because the amounts in question are often relatively insignificant and they don't want to ruin their holidays with unnecessary aggro. The automatic acceptance of this practice by many Thais is, from the perspective of an outsider who was brought up in a relatively fair and principled country, a deeply ugly aspect of Thai culture.

[Seastallion]

Why does a grown man need to consult his wife in order to know whether it's okay to be charged the unofficial VAT for non-Thais? I don't live in Thailand and was recently visiting Ayutthaya with a UK-based Filipina. She doesn't speak the lingo and so I did the talking. The Thais assumed she was Thai and she was charged the standard prices whilst I was charged the non-master-race prices. In more globalised societies this is referred to as "racial discrimination". However, when in Rome... I suppose they continue to get away with racial discrimination because visitors are still willing to take the rough with the smooth and are often willing to temporarily suspend their principles because the amounts in question are often relatively insignificant and they don't want to ruin their holidays with unnecessary aggro. The automatic acceptance of this practice by many Thais is, from the perspective of an outsider who was brought up in a relatively fair and principled country, a deeply ugly aspect of Thai culture.

Which grown man needed to consult his wife? I missed that post.

[benalibina]

Only shop when the vendors show the price for you to see. Don't go shopping with your Thai wife or Thai GF or don't go shop at all if you don't want to be charged differently, otherwise accept it because it is not going to change. However, it is still a lot cheaper than in your country won't you say?

Sound advice. I was once told by a local that it's best to stop whining about dual prices, as foreigners here are a minority - how true he was.

Another way to get the normal price would be to know your prices BEFORE approaching the vendor and show him that you can communicate in their language, that is, the Thai language.

Dont you see what you wrote in your 1st paragraph......its ok to discriminate minorities .......

[Escapologist]

Why does a grown man need to consult his wife in order to know whether it's okay to be charged the unofficial VAT for non-Thais? I don't live in Thailand and was recently visiting Ayutthaya with a UK-based Filipina. She doesn't speak the lingo and so I did the talking. The Thais assumed she was Thai and she was charged the standard prices whilst I was charged the non-master-race prices. In more globalised societies this is referred to as "racial discrimination". However, when in Rome... I suppose they continue to get away with racial discrimination because visitors are still willing to take the rough with the smooth and are often willing to temporarily suspend their principles because the amounts in question are often relatively insignificant and they don't want to ruin their holidays with unnecessary aggro. The automatic acceptance of this practice by many Thais is, from the perspective of an outsider who was brought up in a relatively fair and principled country, a deeply ugly aspect of Thai culture.

Which grown man needed to consult his wife? I missed that post.

Apologies for misreading one of your responses on the first page Seastallion. My actual point, however, is concerning the outsider's perception of Thailand as a society without principle. A perception which is routinely backed up by good ole in-yer-face examples.