Time Traveller Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) They don't understand why so few foreigners visit Thai nationals parks. Maybe it's because they are such ordinary run down dirty places compared with National Parks in other countries. My last experience at a Thai national park about 5 years ago was this. Thai Adult 20 baht, children free. Farang 200 baht. The parks waterfall barely had any more water than a bathroom shower head. Maybe 300 thais were sitting at the foot of the waterfall in a stream not much bigger than an average home swimming pool. Loud music being played in the forest campground by drunken thai pickup truck owners, litter everywhere and children begging for money from my wife. Unless they make their national parks cleaner and kept out the dregs of thai soceity by increasing the Thai price to be the same as the farang price, then that was the last time I'll ever visit a Thai national park. Never again even if they cut the price to zero.. Edited February 3, 2015 by Time Traveller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluespunk Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) "Additionally, Suwan predicted the increase would not affect the number of tourists who visit the park as fewer than 100 foreigners visited the park last year." Yes, because it's profits that matter. Never mind the xenophobia that lies behind such policies. "We can discriminate because it won't lose us much money." Such profound wisdom. Edited February 3, 2015 by Bluespunk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhunBENQ Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) The "Coconuts" article is a total distortion of the original Bangkok Post article upon which it's supposedly based. There's no mention of "tenfold" in the Bangkok Post. It simply says that the price should be the same across all national parks, i.e. 400 Baht. As 400 by 40 makes 10 I suppose this to be freedom of journalistic expression And "admission fees ... brought in line" is a brilliant piece by the BKK post. Edited February 3, 2015 by KhunBENQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Problem is that most Filipinos, Malaysians, Indonesians, Laotians, Burmese, Cambodians, Chinese and even Japanese and Koreans among other generic Asians get the local price too if they shut their mouths and smile. not a Chinese group tour.....impossible..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chainarong Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Not surprised I refuse to go near any parks that charge a higher fee for the past decade , bet the tourists when they roll up in a bus up don't get told of the charges, who cares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lildragon Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Does this happen anywhere else in the world? It begs belief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainman333 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 it is bad news for expats, but for the 2 week tourist, i doubt they are going to change their plans based on an increase of entry fees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mango66 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 The increase there and at other parks was made in response to an announcement from the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department that admission fees for foreigners should be made consistent throughout the country as of Sunday.. should read as.. admission fees for people should be made consistent throughout the country. Seriously is there any other country in the world where foreigners are required to pay more to visit an attraction than residents ?? yes ! china and other post communist countries, and maybee in tschibuti !! AND THAILAND Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiSoLowSoNoSo Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Hope the rest of the world treat the Thais the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phuketrichard Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 The increase there and at other parks was made in response to an announcement from the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department that admission fees for foreigners should be made consistent throughout the country as of Sunday.. should read as.. admission fees for people should be made consistent throughout the country. Seriously is there any other country in the world where foreigners are required to pay more to visit an attraction than residents ?? YEP Angkor Wat tourist $20/day Cambodians FREE Bagan Tourist $10 Burmese FREE Taj Mahal Tourist 750 INR ( apx $17 ) Indians; INR 50 for Indians, Nepalese and Bhutanese (apx $2.20) Need i go on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) Park officials moved Sunday to insure foreign guests fairly and consistently pay 10 times the amount of Thai nationals to enter the kingdom’s national parks. " fairly " ? This must be a new Thai meaning, of the word. Speaking for myself, since I don't consider myself equal to 10 Thais, I shall register my disapproval by steering clear of these rip-off joints for the time being, the National Parks ought to be free for all , wherever they happened to have been born. Purely in the interests of fairness & equality. Edited February 3, 2015 by Ricardo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumble Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Welcome to Thailand, the land of smiles, enjoy your holiday. the reason why you have to pay 10x the price for everything is that we want your money and not you. now go home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comeondoit Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 If they would be clever they would offer at every tourist entering the country a entry pass giving them the right to enter every national park for e.g, one moth asking may be 1000 BHT, or 2000BHT and the pass should include all family members. That would boost the number of visitors and in the end the income of the ministry. This is what other countries do (i can buy a national park pass in the states, before starting my travel) Now with that fee a family with 2 children will have to pay 1200BHT for one entry.......incredible. they do not want the foreigners visiting their parks!!!!! What a shame for the country. And again most foreigners do not konow that the entrance fee is valuable for one day for all parks visited. And the worst of that official practice is that Thai people think they are absolutely right to charge foreigners ten times what Thais have to pay for every service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suradit69 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 This is a really great idea. It works hand in hand with Thailand attracting quality tourists, the kind who would like to visit these parks, and enjoy Thailand's natural scenery. It also helps foreigners wishing to come here, in the sense that they will know that their trip will be vastly more expensive than it ever was. Great work everyone! Now, what's next? I know, I know! How about a beach entrance fee? Say 200THB per kid and 400THB per adult? Blanket rule across Thailand's beaches. Oh - and don't forget to inflate the cost of temple admissions too - tenfold would be best. It's important to make the distinction between foreign visitors and Thai visitors as wide as possible - as this fosters a good feeling, and also will go a long way to ensure that Thais selling any other product and service don't inflate their prices too, using these new measures as a starting block. More sterling economic advice from people whose home country economies are collapsing or struggling to emerge from recession and whose currencies are plummeting and whose sovereign debt is rated "junk." I know, I know. I bought a house and have a $250,000 mortgage even though the market value of the house is half that and my salary from McDonald's doesn't even cover my interest payments. But I'm clever and will sell it for $100,000. I know, I know, Let's wage a war that costs several trillion dollars without funding it. I know I know. Let's give everyone generous pensions, short work weeks, free medical care and we'll pay for it all by selling bonds and then default on them. I know I know, we'll unite Europe in a single economic and currency zone. What could go wrong? We'll be the biggest and "bestest" in all the world. I know, I know. Let's share all our economic wisdom with "developing" economies so they can be just like those in Farang Land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesetat2013 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Instead of whining on Thai Visa. Send your rant to the Department of National Parks. What's the point? He won't read them and probably would not understand half if he tried to read them. Besides, money is the only thing to make them understand. Or lack of money coming in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phuketrichard Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 funny i posted this on the Cambodian forum k440 and EVERYONE agreed it is fair. what with the expats in Thailand? Why shouldn't visitors pay more? after all its the thai national parks few more; Auckland War Memorial Museum - $25 for foreigners, free for Aucklanders Maasai Mara National ParkNON RESIDENTSNon Resident Adults Inside the park – US$ 70/dayNon Resident Children inside the park – US$ 40EAST AFRICAN CITIZEN (Ksh)Citizen Adults – Ksh. 1000 ($10)Citizen Children – Ksh. 200 ($2) Serengeti National Park US$ 25 per person per day and US$ 30 per vehicle per day.locals free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leggo Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Show your work permit, residence card etc etc and you'll pay local prices - I even showed my passport at the Rayong Aquarium and they not only gave me local prices but senor citizen local prices! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatsujin Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Yay! That'll really up those tourist numbers ... what a bunch of morons in charge of running this country and projecting the right image to rest of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushmill Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) All are good new to boost tourism: Gov’t working to boost tourism, Thai PM says http://www.pattayamail.com/news/gov-t-working-to-boost-tourism-thai-pm-says-44551 Martial law to be strictly enforced http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/martial-law-strictly-enforced Is it possible that the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing ? Edited February 3, 2015 by bushmill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonewolf99 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Firstly, it has to be pointed out that Thailand does not know what a National Park or Game reserve is. There are hardly any wild animals in any of these "parks". Which I have to also point out that they do not know what a Park is. Not one in Pattaya. i.e. a large open green place where people find fresh air and peace and quiet...!!!!! Most of the water falls are fake. Water is pumped up the standard blue plastic pipes and dribbles down over the "rocks". The worst example I saw of this was near Kanchanaburi. The rocks were made of fibreglass...and bus loads of Russian (they have gone now) stood under these showers and got their photo taken. Doi Intanon the highest mountain in Thailand has a military base slap bang on the top with what looks like an early warning radar station that is very old. Who in the name of Buddha is going to launch an aerial bombardment on Thailand..? <deleted>. The last time they were invaded the Japs drove ashore in landing craft and the locals gave up in 7 days and did a deal with the devil. I think they might have just done that again with China on a high speed rail link. I for one have given up on Thailand and "tourist" spots. Not one red sattang will I spend going into a shopping mall (floating market, Mimosa etc) rumble of stones covered in weeds (temple), burst pipe (waterfall) or hardwood plantations (National Parks). Like many on this thread I vote with my feet and walk the other way with my wallet firmly tucked into my pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suradit69 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) Arrogance of a third world country is astounding. Arrogance has never been the issue. It is stupidity and greed. "It is stupidity and greed." Interesting comment on a forum visited by economic refugees many of whom can't afford to live in their own countries because they didn't plan well for their retirement or who are unqualified and/or unable to find employment in those same countries that are collapsing under debt used to pay for things they were unwilling or unable to fund out of pocket. If something is priced too high for you, don't use it or buy it. Time for some of the economic refugees from Farang Utopia to move on or stay away ... one more reason to raise prices. As far as arrogance is concerned, there's plenty of that in Farang Land. Why anyone should expect "third world" counties to bend over and spread their legs to cater to Khun Farang being an excellent example of the vestiges of colonial arrogant mentality. Edited February 3, 2015 by Suradit69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhizBang Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Good way to boost tourism. I wonder what the forthcoming TAT slogan will be? Anyway, no more parks for me then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falangjim Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I earn over 6 times the average Thai in our respective position. How embarrassing it must be for your average Thai schooled here, but not really educated, that he can't earn as much as a falang. It's not the students' fault. The government has been keeping Thais in the modern dark ages. So go ahead, charge me 10 fold for parks I won't visit. I walk the streets knowing I earn more than most of the population here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uptheos Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I can't think of anything in Thailand worth paying 10 times the going rate for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retoohs Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I am totally O.K. with the inflated prices for foreigners. Just as long as it keeps the Chinese tourist out of the parks. a fee on Chinese for rental cars would be better to keep them off the roads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eeworldwide Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 <script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script> This is a really great idea. It works hand in hand with Thailand attracting quality tourists, the kind who would like to visit these parks, and enjoy Thailand's natural scenery. It also helps foreigners wishing to come here, in the sense that they will know that their trip will be vastly more expensive than it ever was. Great work everyone! Now, what's next? I know, I know! How about a beach entrance fee? Say 200THB per kid and 400THB per adult? Blanket rule across Thailand's beaches. Oh - and don't forget to inflate the cost of temple admissions too - tenfold would be best. It's important to make the distinction between foreign visitors and Thai visitors as wide as possible - as this fosters a good feeling, and also will go a long way to ensure that Thais selling any other product and service don't inflate their prices too, using these new measures as a starting block. More sterling economic advice from people whose home country economies are collapsing or struggling to emerge from recession and whose currencies are plummeting and whose sovereign debt is rated "junk." I know, I know. I bought a house and have a $250,000 mortgage even though the market value of the house is half that and my salary from McDonald's doesn't even cover my interest payments. But I'm clever and will sell it for $100,000. I know, I know, Let's wage a war that costs several trillion dollars without funding it. I know I know. Let's give everyone generous pensions, short work weeks, free medical care and we'll pay for it all by selling bonds and then default on them. I know I know, we'll unite Europe in a single economic and currency zone. What could go wrong? We'll be the biggest and "bestest" in all the world. I know, I know. Let's share all our economic wisdom with "developing" economies so they can be just like those in Farang Land. Im terribly sorry, what was your point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acerhodes Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I don't understand this. Do the increased fees apply to all national parks? I am a birdwatcher and on a regular basis pay 200 bahtfor entrance to many superb national parks.I do not resent paying more than local Thais. However it would be a blow if I've now got to pay 400 Baht In the original article there is a referenceto only 100 visitors in one particular park but then it goes on to say that this will be applied throughout . Does anybody know what's going on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattaya28 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 So on this basis. if a Thai visits London, for example, and the cost to enter Madam Tassauds is £10 a Brit, should a Thai be charged £100 entry fee ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smotherb Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 What a bunch of crying cheapskates. If you don't want to pay the price, don't go. It is common practice in the Western world to charge less for locals than for imports--even Disney does it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaorop Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) This is a really great idea. It works hand in hand with Thailand attracting quality tourists, the kind who would like to visit these parks, and enjoy Thailand's natural scenery. It also helps foreigners wishing to come here, in the sense that they will know that their trip will be vastly more expensive than it ever was. Great work everyone! Now, what's next? I know, I know! How about a beach entrance fee? Say 200THB per kid and 400THB per adult? Blanket rule across Thailand's beaches. Oh - and don't forget to inflate the cost of temple admissions too - tenfold would be best. It's important to make the distinction between foreign visitors and Thai visitors as wide as possible - as this fosters a good feeling, and also will go a long way to ensure that Thais selling any other product and service don't inflate their prices too, using these new measures as a starting block. More sterling economic advice from people whose home country economies are collapsing or struggling to emerge from recession and whose currencies are plummeting and whose sovereign debt is rated "junk." I know, I know. I bought a house and have a $250,000 mortgage even though the market value of the house is half that and my salary from McDonald's doesn't even cover my interest payments. But I'm clever and will sell it for $100,000. I know, I know, Let's wage a war that costs several trillion dollars without funding it. I know I know. Let's give everyone generous pensions, short work weeks, free medical care and we'll pay for it all by selling bonds and then default on them. I know I know, we'll unite Europe in a single economic and currency zone. What could go wrong? We'll be the biggest and "bestest" in all the world. I know, I know. Let's share all our economic wisdom with "developing" economies so they can be just like those in Farang Land. one can only imagine your face when the 'tiger of sea' faces its inevitable "bust", you can but only hope it wont be on the scale of the last one. oh you think it wont happen or you are immune? it will and about immune as you are from birdflu...... oh my, did i get dragged so off topic by this parochial nutloop, sorry okay back on topic i/we (thai nationals too) go into national parks by the back roads on dirtbikes and pay nothing. Edited February 3, 2015 by kaorop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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