Dual-pricing is scaring tourists away: Thai editorial

[whybother]

They only want to do something because although they are lying about tourist coming back they are not! This is a government and people who believe lying a little is o.k. just like excepting corruption.

As noted it is a mindset, even in the police station and hospital that charges you more is o.k., as recently as last month Bangkok/Hospital gave me a quote in writing for 15,000 for a procedure when i came back a week later to confirm the procedure the original doctor had overbook his day so I was told another doctor could do the procedure. After doing some paperwork I was told the charge will be 25,000, I pull out and gave her the slip of earlier quote and she/he came right out and say that is " Thai price " " you Falang " was was stunned knew and heard about it before never could confirm.

Here what is new... all smoke and mirror!

In Australia, it would cost me (as an Aus citizen) less for hospital visits than it would for foreigners.

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Thais are poor. Falang rich. When Thais go to Falangland, Thais always get charge expensive Falang price. So when Falang in Thailand, they should also pay expensive Falang price. This is the universal law of same same no change. If falang want to pay thai price in thailand, falang should also charge cheaper thai price to thai people while in falangland.

Many Thai-Chinese are very rich, probably much richer than the average Western tourist, with your logic why doesn't Thai National parks and Wat Pho have a special "Thai-Chinese price" (like 3 times higher than the Thai-Thai price)?

Where are the Tourist attractions in "Farangland" that charges Thais more than Farangs?

[BigBadGeordie]

From TIT facebook page

[Kalbo]

Thais are poor. Falang rich. When Thais go to Falangland, Thais always get charge expensive Falang price. So when Falang in Thailand, they should also pay expensive Falang price. This is the universal law of same same no change. If falang want to pay thai price in thailand, falang should also charge cheaper thai price to thai people while in falangland.

There really is no hope for this country when people with the same mindset as the prick above are in the majority

[bkkjames]

Do Thais pay more to visit the London Eye or Disney World?

[impulse]

From my home state (Texas). Hunting license fees

Resident Hunting $25.00

Senior Resident Hunting $7.00

General Non-Resident Hunting $315.00

For those who claim there is no price discrimination in other places... It's all over, not just in Thailand. Look back over the dozens of dual pricing threads and you'll find hundreds of examples posted.

source: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/licenses/public/recreational/

Edited September 4, 2014 by impulse

[ChrisY1]

I see someone's revised the tourism revenue figures now to ~10%.....up from the long understood figure of ~6%.......either a massive increase in tourists....or a massive decline in production.....!

[ratcatcher]

Thais are poor. Falang rich. When Thais go to Falangland, Thais always get charge expensive Falang price. So when Falang in Thailand, they should also pay expensive Falang price. This is the universal law of same same no change. If falang want to pay thai price in thailand, falang should also charge cheaper thai price to thai people while in falangland.

I have a bag of stale troll food, so here goes.

Thais that can travel overseas are not poor and when they travel to western countries in Europe, North America and Aust & N.Z. , they are charged the same as the local population.

You are obviously Thai by your answer but please engage brain before allowing fingers to hit keyboard.

Dual/double pricing is an unfair practice and is damaging to Thailand's already somewhat shaky reputation as the L.O.S. It is, in a word, insulting.

Most of the western (farang) tourists who travel here have saved up money for an (hopefully) enjoyable holiday. Most might be reasonably well off by Thai standards but the rich are in the minority. They generally go to more upmarket destinations.

They already have a minefield of scams to contend with, albeit scams that are presently being investigated, and hopefully wiped out. The last thing they need is having to pay hugely inflated prices to see second rate entertainment.

BTW your post contained more falangs (sic) than a Nana bar on a Wednesday night.

[TheFishman1]

Lived in many country's this is the only one that has two prices

[HooHaa]

there is a hell of a lot more than dual pricing scaring tourists away

[kamahele]

The last time I went to the grand palace with friends from East Timor, the guards wanted to let my Timor friends in for free because they thought they were Thai. They don't even check paperwork. Look Thai, get in free. My pale skin doesn't get me in anywhere for free even though I work here and pay taxes here.

[impulse]

Lived in many country's this is the only one that has two prices

Based on your avatar, I guess you've never bought a non-resident fishing license?

Of course it happens all over. But we're desensitized to the way it happens back home. Just part of our upbringing.

[BSJ]

" These include waiving visa fees for Chinese tourists, who constitute the largest group of visitors to Thailand" Well, as a business man I would be thinking, we have the Chinese in the bag, lets go after another group who can benefit Thailand.

But that makes sense, doesn't it!

[janpharma]

Foreign residents and also tourist know now what is "behind the amazing smile"...and they don't take this anymore! If Thai not change their mentality farang will stay away from Thailand, whatever "amazing" campaign TAT is launching. Meanwhile we are getting "amazingly" bored by this sort of "Thainess"...

[BKKdreaming]

Out of a $3000 - $5000 2 week holiday how much extra is a normal tourist charged ?

I doubt it is much , most do not even know, and most will just pay it anyway because it is less than $10.....

Yeah we do not like it and bitch and moan here , but a tourist is just trying to have a fun holiday !

[CWMcMurray]

They only want to do something because although they are lying about tourist coming back they are not! This is a government and people who believe lying a little is o.k. just like excepting corruption.

As noted it is a mindset, even in the police station and hospital that charges you more is o.k., as recently as last month Bangkok/Hospital gave me a quote in writing for 15,000 for a procedure when i came back a week later to confirm the procedure the original doctor had overbook his day so I was told another doctor could do the procedure. After doing some paperwork I was told the charge will be 25,000, I pull out and gave her the slip of earlier quote and she/he came right out and say that is " Thai price " " you Falang " was was stunned knew and heard about it before never could confirm.

Here what is new... all smoke and mirror!

In Australia, it would cost me (as an Aus citizen) less for hospital visits than it would for foreigners.

I presume this is due to the medical care of Australian Citizens/ Residents visits being subsidized by government healthcare program, correct?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Australia

Not a case that the cost of the procedure is quoted by the hospital as costing differently to different nationalities

In the posters case, not talking about any government. Subsidies or health care program... In both cases, paying 100% of actual costs... In cash

[bkkjames]

Out of a $3000 - $5000 2 week holiday how much extra is a normal tourist charged ?

I doubt it is much , most do not even know, and most will just pay it anyway because it is less than $10.....

Yeah we do not like it and bitch and moan here , but a tourist is just trying to have a fun holiday !

that is not the point and you are know it.

[laurentbkk]

I have stopped to spend holidays in Thailand for that reason , even if sometime I show my Thai driving license and pay the same price as Thais but in my country the price is the same for everybody and expect the same practice here.

[whybother]

They only want to do something because although they are lying about tourist coming back they are not! This is a government and people who believe lying a little is o.k. just like excepting corruption.

As noted it is a mindset, even in the police station and hospital that charges you more is o.k., as recently as last month Bangkok/Hospital gave me a quote in writing for 15,000 for a procedure when i came back a week later to confirm the procedure the original doctor had overbook his day so I was told another doctor could do the procedure. After doing some paperwork I was told the charge will be 25,000, I pull out and gave her the slip of earlier quote and she/he came right out and say that is " Thai price " " you Falang " was was stunned knew and heard about it before never could confirm.

Here what is new... all smoke and mirror!

In Australia, it would cost me (as an Aus citizen) less for hospital visits than it would for foreigners.

I presume this is due to the medical care of Australian Citizens/ Residents visits being subsidized by government healthcare program, correct?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Australia

Not a case that the cost of the procedure is quoted by the hospital as costing differently to different nationalities

In the posters case, not talking about any government. Subsidies or health care program... In both cases, paying 100% of actual costs... In cash

How do you know that government subsidies weren't involved? That info certainly isn't in the post.

[BoardDWorld]

This is pretty common world wide. In Switzerland you have the local rates and the tourist rates. The only difference maybe that the prices are set & not based on how gullible a Thai thinks you look.

[danielbesangez]

55555 I have never seen a country like Thailand with so many BMW 700'..Mercedes 500.... Ferrari ... and castles of hundreds of millions whose owners are Thai, so the legend, Thai poor, and farang are rich is stupid..

I know perfectly well that many Thai are poor, but many are Very Very rich . And .... it's the same thing for farang !!!

and I think I know a little the Thai People, and I guess the Thai tourist in Paris to pay double the price to go up the Eiffel Tower ... they would quickly do a scandal!

[KhunMat]

Just don't go to these places or use places that dual charge. Only way it will stop

[bkkjames]

Just don't go to these places or use places that dual charge. Only way it will stop

exactly - even though I am pretty sure I could qualify for a Thai price with wp / marriage / children/ drivers licence etc, I have not and will not go to any place that does this. Never set foot in that aquarium in that mall, never will I suppose. Go Fish

[Mudlover]

One of the problems is that you don't know about the pricing differential until you get there, and it can be huge for families of 4 or 6 adults. I am not anti local discount pricing but the levels of difference can be alarming. I guess I am really saying the foreign prices are too high often not that they should not be applied.

Agreed. X2 wouldn't be so bad, but in national parks it's usually X10.

[Always18]

If your not Thai you must pay more

its not the act of doing this that's the problem, its the mindset that says its correct to do so.

I can imagine many Thais honestly saying "Why not ?"

Dual pricing is just another facet of the racial discrimination that seems to be woven into the fabric of "Thainess".

[ggt]

While overcharging tourist and ex-pats is a national disgrace...IMO it is not what is keeping tourist away...me thinks the numbers of foreigners who come to Thailand for a good time...and end up dead...carries a lot more weight with travelers...

When the Thai police call almost every foreign death...a suicide...foreigners stabbing themselves to death...leaping from condos and hotels...strangling themselves with their own hands...and cutting off their own heads...well...you can imagine peoples reaction in a civil society...

Tourist are not as safe here as in other countries...more than twice as many Aussies die while traveling or residing in Thailand...than any other country they visit...

[asdecas]

Possibly, one day, official Thai bodies such as the national parks will fall in line with modern international practice in this matter, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Despite what the author likes to say about dual-pricing deterring tourists, it is at most a minor irritation.

You may beef about tourist ripoffs for ever and as much as you please. This is not a problem exclusive to Thailand, it pervades everywhere in the World where there is tourist money washing around and where tourists who don't have a firm grasp of how much things should cost. All that can ever be done is suppress such tendencies on the part of the sharks that gather to feed; it will never be eradicated entirely.

[MartinL]

From my home state (Texas). Hunting license fees

Resident Hunting $25.00

Senior Resident Hunting $7.00

General Non-Resident Hunting $315.00

For those who claim there is no price discrimination in other places... It's all over, not just in Thailand. Look back over the dozens of dual pricing threads and you'll find hundreds of examples posted.

source: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/licenses/public/recreational/

Don't know about the accuracy of those prices since I'm not Texan/American but what I can almost GUARANTEE - certainly in the case of my own country - is that, whatever my race or nationality, if I can PROVE I'm a local resident, using whatever criteria are demanded, there'll be absolutely no question that I'll get the Resident price. Contrast that with Thailand where I could provide no end of evidence that I live locally (whether "locally" means in Thailand, in a particular province or town) yet still be denied local rate because of my race/nationality, on the whim of the ticket seller.

Of course price differentials exist in UK/USA/Oz/NZ/Canada/Western Europe but "local rate" is local rate, not "local rate if you have local features".

[nigelnigel]

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If your not Thai you must pay more

its not the act of doing this that's the problem, its the mindset that says its correct to do so.

I can imagine many Thais honestly saying "Why not ?"

You've hit it on the head, how many Thais know or care ?

I doubt there would be any ' that's not right ' views.

No, they don't get it, most have never been anywhere else in the world to see otherwise. Like they don't see that calling foreign people by insulting names is wrong. Or that laughing and running away when you say hello is rude.

Have you ever heard when a Thai goes to another country, Vietnam for example, and they are so appalled at the moment they have to pay more than the locals? They are so surprised, confused and offended but never even realise this is exactly what happens in Thailand for foreigners.

[deepcell]

well... is all a matter of conscience ... pay or not to pay that's the question!