Some 50 Malaysian tourists refuse to pay park fee at Lipe island

[Mickmick]

so they get on a tour boat and pay for the trip, the boat takes them to the Island and find out they are required to pay another fee of 200 baht on top of what they already paid, good on them I'd have done the same as a matter of princpal, I wonder how that 200baht is divided up if someone is mug enough to pay it

Actually the system is quite transparent here ( I am on ko lipe at the moment). You arrive at the floating dock, then pay for long tail taxi boat to beach and NP fee, Thais and foreigners alike, get receipts for both...unlike on ko phi phi where only farangs pay and you do not get any ticket or receipt for np fee. I expect some of that goes into somebody'spockets as it would be completely untraceable.

[Fairynuff]

Hm, well

I earn 10 times the money a skilled Thai worker does. Cancelling double pricing could mean the Thais pay the same as foreigners, meaning a Thai family could never ever afford a visit to a National Park in their own country.

Maybe the reasons the Malays were that upset ist the fact, that their National Parks are freeof charge (visited one on Penang, just registration, so they can go after you in the case you got lst, but no pay booth at all)

What moronic logic is this?How would anyone know how much a person earns?What about multi-millionaire Thais who pay B20.

It is about ripping foreigners off...nothing more ,nothing less.Please get real.

Haven't you read the posts by people who know better than you or I? There are no rich Thais.

[Fairynuff]

I don't mind paying 2 or 3 times the local price, but paying 10 times or more is

not nice at all. Do not forget that the people who work in these places, are not getting that much in

pay either. The cost of these places are not that much to keep up, but I am only a Farang

who knows , Not Much.

"I don't mind being discriminated against...but just a little bit !!! Sorry but I find that very odd

[Fairynuff]

Thais need to realize and accept that westerners despise this practice , they also need to understand social media and how detrimental it is to Thai Tourism.

Realise or not if it doesn't affect them personally they don't care

[MartinL]

... there are numerous forms of price discrimination against foreigners in the EU ... ski resorts in the Alps for example. These are very expensive for foreigners, but locals often get discounts, either directly at the ski resort or through some other means, by buying a heavily discounted season pass for example, for which you have to be local.

In Thailand I believe there are two main types of price discrimination. The first one is a form of subsidy as we see with these national parks. Locals pay less then is needed to maintain the park, whilst foreigners pay more, effectively subsidizing the experience for locals.

In Europe, some of those 'locals' could well be foreigners living in the area. If they could prove their local residency, using whatever documentation was demanded, they'd get their 'local' discount. They'd be considered 'locals' first and 'foreigners' a distant second, in that context.

In Thailand, the government doesn't seem to consider that a foreigner could ever be a 'local', however much documentation might be offered to prove it, and has ordered that all foreigners should be charged 10x the Thai price.

The days of showing a DL, WP, etc. and being allowed the Thai price are past, now.

Just a thought .....

Contrast a Thai living permanently in, say, UK for 20 years with a Briton living permanently in Thailand for 20 years. Both just 'ordinary' people, not rich.

The Thai comes to Thailand for her annual 4 week holiday.

Almost undoubtedly, the Briton will have contributed more, financially, to Thailand - in terms of daily living expenses, consumer taxes, maybe income tax etc. etc. - during those 20 years than the Thai has during the same period.

Both go to the same NP on the same day. The NP is just up the road from the Briton's family home of 20 years. The Thai has to travel 250 km from wherever she's staying to get to the NP.

Which one is the tourist, in reality?

Who pays more to get in?

Edited November 5, 2015 by MartinL

[Jonmarleesco]

'Panapol said he did not want to get tough with tourists ...' Er, you what? How, exactly, do you suppose you would do that, anyway, Panapol? Refuse to talk to them? Refuse them entry? Don't be so ridiculous. You need the tourists, particularly the foreign ones. Why else do you suppose the park exists?

More of the same and Thai attractions' double-pricing policy will crumble.

[ttthailand]

Australia has dual pricing, residents of beach side suburbs get a parking sticker for free local parking at the beach. Tourists and visitors from other areas have to pay to come to the beach. In a way it makes sense as the ratepayers carry the cost of the mess that visitors make. It is the basis of the user pays system. I can understand why Thailand charges a different price for visitors.

tourists already pay the government a tax, I believe around 500 baht, just to arrive at the airport. If the greed was not so pronounced perhaps it would just slide by but when a tourist has to pay 1000% more and the difference is hidden by Thai prices in Thai and other price in English it is a disgrace.

[Insideman]

... there are numerous forms of price discrimination against foreigners in the EU ... ski resorts in the Alps for example. These are very expensive for foreigners, but locals often get discounts, either directly at the ski resort or through some other means, by buying a heavily discounted season pass for example, for which you have to be local.

In Thailand I believe there are two main types of price discrimination. The first one is a form of subsidy as we see with these national parks. Locals pay less then is needed to maintain the park, whilst foreigners pay more, effectively subsidizing the experience for locals.

In Europe, some of those 'locals' could well be foreigners living in the area. If they could prove their local residency, using whatever documentation was demanded, they'd get their 'local' discount. They'd be considered 'locals' first and 'foreigners' a distant second, in that context.

In Thailand, the government doesn't seem to consider that a foreigner could ever be a 'local', however much documentation might be offered to prove it, and has ordered that all foreigners should be charged 10x the Thai price.

The days of showing a DL, WP, etc. and being allowed the Thai price are past, now.

Just a thought .....

Contrast a Thai living permanently in, say, UK for 20 years with a Briton living permanently in Thailand for 20 years. Both just 'ordinary' people, not rich.

The Thai comes to Thailand for her annual 4 week holiday.

Almost undoubtedly, the Briton will have contributed more, financially, to Thailand - in terms of daily living expenses, consumer taxes, maybe income tax etc. etc. - during those 20 years than the Thai has during the same period.

Both go to the same NP on the same day. The NP is just up the road from the Briton's family home of 20 years. The Thai has to travel 250 km from wherever she's staying to get to the NP.

Which one is the tourist, in reality?

Who pays more to get in?

Those are valid arguments for those specific cases. There should be some way for people with a foreign appearance to receive local treatment. Foreigners who are effectively locals (to remove all ambiguity, let's simply say a caucasian person raised by Thai parents) should not be forced to pay the price for foreigners. That is simply racism. I also aknowledge that there are a lot of other cases that are not as extreme that could also be seen as racist.

This is problematic, however it is by itself not a strong enough argument against price discrimination. The majority affected by price discrimination are in fact tourists and not locals with foreign appearnaces. The real problem here is defining who is a local and who isn't and treating them accordingly. It is hard for me to imagine that a goverment mandate to charge foreginers different prices is motivated by racism. What seems racist is more likely a by-product of a poorly organised system.

Clearly defining what requirements need to be met in order to be charged local prices is the matter that should be brought to the governments attention. They need to realize that going simply by whether somebody looks Thai enough is problematic in the greater scheme of things.

Given my impression of the Thai bureaucratic machine, it seems unlikely this will be addressed any time soon (probably only if enough fuss is made about it). I don't think price discrimination affects tourism. If it did, I am sure it would be addressed. Most likely simply through market mechanisms (no price descrimination, more profit).

[BlindMagician]

We can all take action:

1. Don't pay, don't go in.

2. Inform the world of this, via social media and web sites, every way you can think of. Not just here in T.Visa. For example, add a sneaky but polite comment in wikipedia (such as "The park has a double pricing policy for foreigners, as for all Thai National parks."), go to their own facebook page and complain there, write to travel agencies and travel guide books via any public forum web based access sites they have...

Exercise your free rights.

[Nobb]

I bet they gave these Malaysians a discount price. But if you were from Europe or America they would not even talk about what to do. I hope i hear what they decided!

[masuk]

so they get on a tour boat and pay for the trip, the boat takes them to the Island and find out they are required to pay another fee of 200 baht on top of what they already paid, good on them I'd have done the same as a matter of princpal, I wonder how that 200baht is divided up if someone is mug enough to pay it!

A good idea to make comments in the travel pages. However, we need to push that it's not double prices, it's a factor of 10!

[jacko45k]

They were taken there without being informed they were expected to pay an entry fee prior?

I like to think that if I pay for a tour, entrance is included in the price, or I am warned of any extra costs.

I think a factor of 10x is excessive and this discriminatory policy should be reviewed.

[duanebigsby]

I was in Malaysia last week & they charge foreigners more than locals as well. Must be an asian thing to do as they see us as easy targets. Doesn't happen in western countries that I have been to.

Happens in third world countries where workers make so much less than tourists.

Africa and alot of south America have dual pricing. It's economics not racism.

[recom273]

Koh Lipe is hardly a National Park anymore. Not even when I visited there in 1999. It's a resort island these days! Lipe has been overdeveloped and still they have the cheek to ask for the National Park fee.

The greed is just appalling. Time to call in the A-team

Yeah man, trouble is I don't remember lipe ever being in the park ? So I think the post is incorrect.

I thought the island was given to the sea gypsies who have probably sold it on by now, I was appalled in 1999 and never returned, if it's now park jurisdiction then they general should order the boats to demolish resorts tomorrow.

[recom273]

it is funny, since malaysia have also dual pricing,

Not all Malaysian attractions are dual priced .. You can visit their equivalent of Khao Yai, Taman Negra for 10b - same as locals.

When we visited Penang hill we payed something like 250b each I think, but you could walk for 4 hours for free. The wife says "maybe it's so expensive as you is farang" - I had to remind her we both is farang here.

I thought the furnacular railway at penang was worth 250b return trip, the speed, the height and the path it travelled were very impressive. Well organized, well maintained, spotless.

I can compare that to 200b for the 10 minute hat yai cable car ride to a Chinese temple I can ride my bike to in 5 mins. Thai attractions need to step up if they want to justify the dual pricing.

Edited November 7, 2015 by recom273

[springheeled jack]

this two tier system has got to stop one fee for all I have talked about this subject before this is purely and simply discrimination ,I don't blame these people for not paying I wouldn't pay on principle.

[DoubleUpower]

The horror , the horror............I just loved to hear a friend telling me the rubber price dropped to an absolute minimum..........