Dual pricing - Anti Rant

[hglenn2000]

I think most are missing the point, its not about the money, its about we're all breathing the same air walking on two feet and would just like to be treated the same. Add to this issue the "Farang" tax that exist throughout Thailand and it starts to wear on you that at every turn the locals are continually inventing ways to extricate more money from Farangs.

I would like to see a National Holiday (since they seem to have holidays for any little thing) called Farang Appreciation Day... Thanking all of us for all the jobs we create in the local economy and how we take care of so many old and disabled Thai's (normally associated with our wives or girlfriends families) that Thai society has chosen to neglect....

All people are asking for is a little fairness and not being viewed as an ATM...

[gandalf12]

Most Thai people who work for a living pay taxes that financially support the government provided services, like maintainance of parks and other attractions

Most farangs living in Thailand that I know pay no taxes to support the Thai government at all.

Is it really discrimination to be expected to pay for the services you use?

I know many farangs are here to TAKE ADVANTAGE of Thailand and the lower cost of living in Thailannd...but please, be reasonable!

seriously, some farangs have really earned the nick name " Cheap Charlie"!

Actually all tourists and ex-pats pay taxes on the booze, cigarettes, gasoline and everything else

they buy. I spend about a million baht a year here helping drive the Thai economy. Some spend

less, most spend a lot more than me. We don't get any of the benefits from the Thai government

for the taxes we contribute, but that is fine. The Thai government makes it difficult with 90 day

reports, border runs and the like that could be made drastically simpler, but that is just not the

way they do things here. The funny thing is on my last trip I was just in transit through Thailand on

my way to visit a buddy in the Philippines. I did have to clear customs in Thailand and re-check my

bags. When I was at immigration and they asked what the length of my stay was going to be and I

told them 3 hours as I was in transit to the Philippines. The response I got was quite amusing. The

hard sell that I should stay in Thailand, there were many beautiful women here looking for

boyfriends and husbands. I would have a much, much better time here that the Philippines. The

guy even called another immigration officer over. They both talked for about 3-4 minutes. I did tell

them not to worry I was just visiting a friend and I would be back. And I am. The only time a Thai

official has made me feel wanted. Now when I walk down LK Metro or the beer bars on Soi 7-8 I

always feel wanted and welcome, (often even hansum) Besides, from reading various articles

much of the gate receipts of National Parks are siphoned off by those in charge, so I say NO to

two entrance pricing to Thailand's parks .

1 million Baht a year? I think you have that wrong. I spend over 2 million Baht a year with school fees cars etc

Yeah, that's why he said some spend less but many spend a lot more.

I agree there are some very cheap people here in Thailand. How they survive I dont know but they do. Thing is he states that we dont pay taxes to help the government when in reality we pay a lot of taxes. Not directly no but there is tax on everything you buy. I bought a car for my wife, not assembled in Thailand, and I paid nearly twice the cost. Ok, it was my choice and I bought it but that included a lot of tax. Most if not all of us are paying indirect taxes to the government

[menzies233]

What a load of horse SH@T!

One price for all, if you feel the need to help out make a donation.

If this was done in the west there would be hell to pay!

Fair is fair, everyone gets the same treatment - How do they differentiate between a Burmese, A Chinese, A Malay, A korean? or is it just down to skin colour?

No doubt we should allow even more priveliges, and maybe grant discounts to Muslims in Europe while we are on the subject.

Grow a pair!

[SoiBiker]

There's a reason this comes up as often as the 'farang' debate. Some people jump at any opportunity to play the victim.

[Fairynuff]

If Daffy D dislikes the dual pricing threads so much, why bother starting another one especially one displaying such pomposity. Justify the discrimination any way you want....but it's still discrimination

[nithisa78]

This is good read and you are thanked.

[nithisa78]

What a load of horse SH@T!

One price for all, if you feel the need to help out make a donation.

If this was done in the west there would be hell to pay!

Fair is fair, everyone gets the same treatment - How do they differentiate between a Burmese, A Chinese, A Malay, A korean? or is it just down to skin colour?

No doubt we should allow even more priveliges, and maybe grant discounts to Muslims in Europe while we are on the subject.

Grow a pair!

Grow a pair. That would be good advise for you. Stop the fear and loathing by ex-pats in Thailand. Starting with you. You can always return to the west.

[swissie]

At some point in the future, prices in Thailand for Farangs will be hiked to home-country levels. With a truly unexpected side-effect: Tourists will stop coming and expats will be leaving !!

A secret: A good part of any Tourists Travel Plans include: Where do I get the most "bang" for my money?

Undoubtedly, the OP and his followers will find gainful employment within a Thai-Government agency, (as " Consultants") to rectify this very unfortunate situation.

Cheers.

[nithisa78]

I think most are missing the point, its not about the money, its about we're all breathing the same air walking on two feet and would just like to be treated the same. Add to this issue the "Farang" tax that exist throughout Thailand and it starts to wear on you that at every turn the locals are continually inventing ways to extricate more money from Farangs.

I would like to see a National Holiday (since they seem to have holidays for any little thing) called Farang Appreciation Day... Thanking all of us for all the jobs we create in the local economy and how we take care of so many old and disabled Thai's (normally associated with our wives or girlfriends families) that Thai society has chosen to neglect....

All people are asking for is a little fairness and not being viewed as an ATM...

Sounds like a personal problem.

[motyduke]

Many countries , even poorest than thailand dont do dual pricing . And the dual pricing here in the parks is even set for Myanmar people or something like that . It is a way of protectionism and nationalism . I can accept it but i asked thaï people travelling with me in Indonésia or Vietnam if they want to pay more than locals : they dont want !!! But they think yet it is normal in thailand ! Crazy !

[SoiBiker]

If Daffy D dislikes the dual pricing threads so much, why bother starting another one especially one displaying such pomposity. Justify the discrimination any way you want....but it's still discrimination

Discrimination isn't in itself dirty word. Racial discrimination is generally considered a bad thing. Discrimination based on perceived ability to pay, however, is just good business.

[gandalf12]

What a load of horse SH@T!

One price for all, if you feel the need to help out make a donation.

If this was done in the west there would be hell to pay!

Fair is fair, everyone gets the same treatment - How do they differentiate between a Burmese, A Chinese, A Malay, A korean? or is it just down to skin colour?

No doubt we should allow even more priveliges, and maybe grant discounts to Muslims in Europe while we are on the subject.

Grow a pair!

In the West there would be hell to pay agreed but, you are in Thailand not the West so get used to it.

[gilbreth99]

The OP here seriously needs to take his head out. Its a scam, plain as day. Why do they price farang prices in English, and then Thai prices in Thai script? What are they hiding? And what do they charge half-Thais? It is unfair, callous, uneducated, and derogatory to charge a fee based simply on the color of your skin/hair. And, look around. Are the fees really paid to upkeep the parks? Be real. Koh Samet is a dump. All the extra fees go straight into pockets. And, Thailand is not "cheap." It is an industrialized country with a high standard of living due to the massive foreign investment western countries ploughed in. This is Mercedes Benz' second largest market in the world. Duh.

[menzies233]

What a load of horse SH@T!

One price for all, if you feel the need to help out make a donation.

If this was done in the west there would be hell to pay!

Fair is fair, everyone gets the same treatment - How do they differentiate between a Burmese, A Chinese, A Malay, A korean? or is it just down to skin colour?

No doubt we should allow even more priveliges, and maybe grant discounts to Muslims in Europe while we are on the subject.

Grow a pair!

Grow a pair. That would be good advise for you. Stop the fear and loathing by ex-pats in Thailand. Starting with you. You can always return to the west.

So here we go with the same old Sh@t, "If you don't like it then leave" Well sadly no, I am not leaving as that is a cop out, and people like you are COP OUTS! You haven't got the balls to stand up and point out when something is just WRONG! Dual pricing is WRONG, but you lot, you are the COP OUTS, you just accept it, you wouldn't accept it in your own country, you would be screaming racist, fascist and the usual garbage, but here it seems to be fine, and if you don't like it leave!

So whenever something appears wrong or unjust you simply LEAVE? You recommend running away? like a coward?

Good luck to anyone that depends on you for support, did you get yourself a white feather?

Edited November 25, 2015 by menzies233

[SoiBiker]

Some people get so angry about a couple of quid.

Yeah, I know. It's the PRINCIPLE!

[menzies233]

If 200 baht, or $5 usd is going to break you...you should probably stay home and think about why you are so poor, and living in a foreign country!

Nobody has said 200 baht was going to break them. That's is not a rational standard to judge every expense.

People hate the policy because it's RACIST because your race determines the price you pay. It is especially indefensible now that showing a work permit or Thai driver's license doesn't work.

I don't have the right to be racist to people in California just because they're not from California. That is <deleted> crazy and so are you.

If this is a racist country why live here? BTW, I've seen this type of pricing in other countries. Not just Thailand...

Name the countries? So that makes an excuse for Thailand then? Because someone else did it? I bet not one is in the Western world. Can you imagine Alton Towers or Madame Tussuads getting away with charging Brits 10 quid and any other little yellow or black person 50 quid? You are living in cuckoo land! Next we can have dual prices at Mc Donalds based on skin colour. Bloody moron! It is simply WRONG!

Edited November 25, 2015 by menzies233

[duanebigsby]

It is just casual racism. If I charged a black person 10 times as much for an ice cream as a white person people would call me all sorts of things.

If you saw a farang beggar on the street would you give him a thousand baht rather than 20 'cause he will need more to buy his food etc etc ?

I've never been charged more for an ice cream. I don't believe this for a minute.

[mankondang]

As farangs we're all visitors, regardless of which type of visa you hold, so when you visit anywhere you should, as in very many countries, pay the standard visitor price, and let the indigenous people pay a discounted price. As previously pointed out, if you have a Thai drivers licence you will get some partial discount, something you would not get when you visit other countries. So my fellow visitors, stop pretending you are elite because you incorrectly deem your self as a long or short term "permanent resident", or just because you may consider yourself better at speaking the local language than others who visit this country. If you don't like visiting Thailand, then realise that you are free to move on and visit elsewhere, or return to your country of origin. If you are still deluded about your nationality or nationalities then take a look at your passport/s. In the meantime enjoy your visit.

Edited November 25, 2015 by mankondang

[duanebigsby]

If 200 baht, or $5 usd is going to break you...you should probably stay home and think about why you are so poor, and living in a foreign country!

Nobody has said 200 baht was going to break them. That's is not a rational standard to judge every expense.

People hate the policy because it's RACIST because your race determines the price you pay. It is especially indefensible now that showing a work permit or Thai driver's license doesn't work.

I don't have the right to be racist to people in California just because they're not from California. That is <deleted> crazy and so are you.

If this is a racist country why live here? BTW, I've seen this type of pricing in other countries. Not just Thailand...

Name the countries? So that makes an excuse for Thailand then? Because someone else did it? I bet not one is in the Western world. Can you imagine Alton Towers or Madame Tussuads getting away with charging Brits 10 quid and any other little yellow or black person 50 quid? You are living in cuckoo land! Next we can have dual prices at Mc Donalds based on skin colour. Bloody moron! It is simply WRONG!

The Western world does not have huge discrepancies between visitors with tons of money and locals with little in the same way 3rd world countries do.

Most 3rd world nations have dual pricing for foreigners.

A visitor to Egypt pays 14 times what a local pays for any historic site.

Also, how can you call it racist when Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans all pay foreigner price.

[kennw]

Whenever you decide a price based on race (Thai or non Thai) logic should tell you it is a racist based policy. Now if you want to use the Thai argument that " the money is not the same" meaning they automatically assume you are rich (or you wouldn't afford the ticket to come here) that is also a fallacy, count the number of Thais who arrive in their Mercs, BMW's etc, who pay the Thai price obviously rich Thai's. Previously intelligent authorities allowed farangs with work permits or Thai driving licenses indicating they are part of the community rather than just tourists, to receive the "locals price". Changing this concept means they have reverted back to a racist policy. So consequently those farangs who say the two tier pricing policy is ok are therefore indirectly supporting racisum.

And that my friends is why I am against two tier pricing. Fundamentally it is wrong.

[duanebigsby]

DELETED

As for pricing,

In Thailand Thais are allowed to earn money, and I'm not.

So they should pay more than me, cos I can't top up my earnings whenever I feel like it.

And is your pension or investment income about 20 times the Thai minimum wage?

You could teach English, which everyone derides as being &lt;deleted&gt; for work, at about 4 times the minimum wage.

[duanebigsby]

On day to day items? Hopefully we can agree that is wrong.

Other than the nanny states (where the price is always clearly marked and everyone pays the same price, by God), there are always 2 prices for everyday items.

There's the price for people who know how to negotiate and the price for people who don't. Has very little to do with anything but negotiating skills, which most of us from the nanny states are sadly lacking because the government protects us from ever having to learn. Of course the locals know we generally stink at negotiating, and very few of us prove them wrong.

After being raised in the west, we get our clocks cleaned until we adapt to the market customs of the rest of the world where the price isn't marked at all, and negotiating is part of every transaction (and relationship building). Turns some people off completely and that's sad because it can be a favorable experience and at the very least- an education about the people we've chosen to live among. I used to hate it myself until one day the switch flipped and I started enjoying it, if only for the sport.

Whenever I go to the market, there is a a price per kilo sign or clothes clearly marked, don't know where you go but I always pay that price.

Not a helluvalot of unmarked items where I live in Chiang Rai unless it's tourist trinkets.

[duanebigsby]

Whenever you decide a price based on race (Thai or non Thai) logic should tell you it is a racist based policy. Now if you want to use the Thai argument that " the money is not the same" meaning they automatically assume you are rich (or you wouldn't afford the ticket to come here) that is also a fallacy, count the number of Thais who arrive in their Mercs, BMW's etc, who pay the Thai price obviously rich Thai's. Previously intelligent authorities allowed farangs with work permits or Thai driving licenses indicating they are part of the community rather than just tourists, to receive the "locals price". Changing this concept means they have reverted back to a racist policy. So consequently those farangs who say the two tier pricing policy is ok are therefore indirectly supporting racisum.

And that my friends is why I am against two tier pricing. Fundamentally it is wrong.

I have said before, if Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, and other Asians are paying foreigner price it isn't racist. Thai is not a race, it's a country.

Just because some Thais are rich does not support your argument.

Work permit or driver's license, we still make many times what MOST Thais earn. I understand it.

Love all the foreigners who say "boycott the parks".

Could you imagine flying all the way to Egypt and not seeing the pyramids or Egyptian Museum, both of which charge foreigners 14 times the rate of local?

[cracker1]

Daffy D

What a narrow uneducated view of these matters you have here.

Almost unbelievable, unless you come from a very privileged background ?

I suspect most people consider themselves "more equal"

[SoiBiker]

I guess when you've spent your whole life in a position of privilege, anything else comes as a shock. But seriously, get a grip and stop shouting racism every time you don't get your own way. It just makes you look silly.

[ableguy]

I like when I go to a restaurant and order the same food as another table and get charged double what they are charged. Because I am rich and I love Thai people and it's always good to be complimented and to be thought of as upper class and to be respected.

My biggest complaint is that chain restaurants do not have a dual pricing system. I almost had a heartache at KFC when they insisted I pay the same prices as the rest of the customers.

What a comedian, I too hate it when they only charge me 35 baht for my noodle lunch ( with free dried chillie Ana crushed peanuts ) how dare these buggers think I am not a millionaire.

[ableguy]

It is just casual racism. If I charged a black person 10 times as much for an ice cream as a white person people would call me all sorts of things.

If you saw a farang beggar on the street would you give him a thousand baht rather than 20 'cause he will need more to buy his food etc etc ?

I've never been charged more for an ice cream. I don't believe this for a minute.

Have you ever been charged more for a smoked kipper, .i have not as I cannot find where to buy them.

So the secret is you do not need more money for food.

[eldragon]

Whenever you decide a price based on race (Thai or non Thai) logic should tell you it is a racist based policy. Now if you want to use the Thai argument that " the money is not the same" meaning they automatically assume you are rich (or you wouldn't afford the ticket to come here) that is also a fallacy, count the number of Thais who arrive in their Mercs, BMW's etc, who pay the Thai price obviously rich Thai's. Previously intelligent authorities allowed farangs with work permits or Thai driving licenses indicating they are part of the community rather than just tourists, to receive the "locals price". Changing this concept means they have reverted back to a racist policy. So consequently those farangs who say the two tier pricing policy is ok are therefore indirectly supporting racisum.

And that my friends is why I am against two tier pricing. Fundamentally it is wrong.

I have said before, if Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, and other Asians are paying foreigner price it isn't racist. Thai is not a race, it's a country.

Just because some Thais are rich does not support your argument.

Work permit or driver's license, we still make many times what MOST Thais earn. I understand it.

Love all the foreigners who say "boycott the parks".

Could you imagine flying all the way to Egypt and not seeing the pyramids or Egyptian Museum, both of which charge foreigners 14 times the rate of local?

Theoretically, the issue has nothing to do with salaries or net worth. The two tiered system is based on the notion that all Thais are already paying into those parks via income taxes, and foreign tourists are not. That's why foreigners with work permits get the Thai rate, or are supposed to. Now, whether the Thais take that too far by charging us 1000% more than the local rate is debatable. But even then I'd say it's up to them to debate.

[richard_smith237]

There are plenty of arguments and discussions for and against Dual Pricing, either in restaurants, markets etc or National Parks....

Ultimately - all arguments are correct - anything can be justified when we think about it deeply enough...

However, do we really believe any business who practices dual pricing has really thought about it beyond simple 'opportunism' ?

Where the practice of dual pricing is applied, rightly or wrongly, agreeably or not, there will always been some who are offended by it and some who are happy with paying less.

Ultimately it is a system accepted by those it doesn't effect or those too lazy to avoid it or disagree with it. It is argued against by those it may financially impact. Of course there are those who find anyway to support and justify anything which happens here and those who seem to fight or complain about almost anything even remotely objectionable.

For the most part I'm in the 'just suck it up as a part of living here' group, which means for the most part while I do my best to avoid Dual Pricing and sometimes stand on principle if the practice is carried out in a way which is directly insulting, but, I don't let it effect my every day life....

It is what it is... I don't like to make a big deal of it, but I don't think the practice of Dual Pricing should be defended either...

Dual Pricing clearly isn't right... but IMO there bigger issues to be concerned with - Most balanced minds would agree but as is often the case on a web-forum the discussions often slip out of balance and become exaggerated in text.

[SoiBiker]

However, do we really believe any business who practices dual pricing has really thought about it beyond simple 'opportunism' ?

You're surprised that a business would exploit an opportunity to maximise profit?

Welcome to capitalism.