Dual pricing - Anti Rant

[SoiBiker]

I find the whole dual pricing offensive as I believe it is a form of discrimination and apartheid.

You cannot justify discrimination simply because someone may be able to pay more money than another. One of the things that I do find attractive about Thailand is they are very welcoming people and treat EVERYONE with respect.

Therefore whatever the drivers are for have discriminatory pricing, however noble you paint the picture, in my humble opinion, it is still wrong.

It would be better to fund these parks through lottery schemes like Museums in the UK. That way everyone can enjoy them for free and it would increase tourism who would spend their money in shops and restaurants etc.

You are misinformed. It has nothing to do with whether or not one can pay more. Rich Thais get in for the Thai price, and poor tourists get in for the non-Thai price.

It has everything to do with ability to pay. It's just that nationality is used as a generalised guide to determine this ability. Most of the time it's accurate enough.

[GuestHouse]

Dual pricing is just a test to see how far up the backside of Thailand any individual expat will crawl to demonstrate what he believes to be 'fitting in'.

[roger101]

I dont object to paying more. Its just the ammount. If Thais paid 20 baht I would be quite happy to pay 40. If Thais paid 100 baht I would pay 200 baht. What I think is wrong is when the price difference is 10 times .

[nontabury]

I dont object to paying more. Its just the ammount. If Thais paid 20 baht I would be quite happy to pay 40. If Thais paid 100 baht I would pay 200 baht. What I think is wrong is when the price difference is 10 times .

It's still discrimitory. Would you be happy to accept being charged twice the price for a bottle of water at 7/11?

[danmarnj]

I travelled to Myrtle Beach, SC for a golf outing. Those pr**cks with ears, charged a hefty premium to golf just because I could not produce a local ID

[sandyf]

Dual pricing is just a test to see how far up the backside of Thailand any individual expat will crawl to demonstrate what he believes to be 'fitting in'.

I was tested on Tuesday, paid a visit to Muang Boran. 700 baht for foreigners and 350 for Thais and residents. Yellow book got me in for 350.

[Rob13]

I dont object to paying more. Its just the ammount. If Thais paid 20 baht I would be quite happy to pay 40. If Thais paid 100 baht I would pay 200 baht. What I think is wrong is when the price difference is 10 times .

It's still discrimitory. Would you be happy to accept being charged twice the price for a bottle of water at 7/11?

If public transportation and other services are being gov't subsidized so a dirt farmer can afford it,I'd be OK with paying more. A business on the other hand trying to stick it me to because I'm from out of town,then no I don't like it.

Edited December 18, 2015 by Rob13

[mogandave]

I travelled to Myrtle Beach, SC for a golf outing. Those pr**cks with ears, charged a hefty premium to golf just because I could not produce a local ID

RACIST!!!!!!!

[GAZZPA]

This topic is clearly biased and written in a way to sound reasonable and fair. In reality this is not how dual pricing works here, it is mostly a bunch of Thai people seeing all farang as rich and as such they try and charge you as much as possible to line their pockets

one of many examples: in the food court next to my office building it is all Thai stalls. When i buy lunch it nearly always costs me more then my fellow Thai workers,, i once ordered exactly the same food immediately after one of my colleagues, he got charged 50 baht, i got charged 80 baht.. i asked her why is mine 30 baht more for the same,, she said "oh i serve you top quality pork", basically she spouted a load of BS.

So basically the dual pricing is wrong, it should be 1 price for everybody and thats it,.

So you can't walk to another food court to get your lunch at the Thai price?

Personally, I don't care. I sometimes pay the falang price. If I feel it's an excessive ripoff, I walk away.

Of course I can, I do and I did,,, what's the point your making? I was simply giving a real example of where Thais do rip off foreigners.

If I feel the price is expensive I do the same and walk away, I'm sure everyone else does too..

Don't really see the point of your comments,,

[Sutty]

So far I have never paid any more than a thai would even where it's marked up x for native y for foreigner. I show them my yellow house book and get Thai prices. But if it ever came to having to pay 30 bht or so mire then so be it. Ranting about Unfair/discrimination or ripping us farangs off. Sorry it's a load if monkey nuts. Stop whining and pay.

[bwpage3]

Simple Question?

Do Thai's that visit the UK, USA and Australia have to pay double the prices of the resident citizens?

Of course not.

Double pricing is a racism scam against foreigners for the sole purpose of making money.

Thailand wants your money, not you.

[bwpage3]

There are quite a few farangs in Thailand that are quite delusional about matters.

If you see scamming occurring in Thailand, that is not occurring in any of the first world countries, it is a scam to take your money and that is the extent of that.

You stay in Thailand long enough and you get brain washed like a water buffalo into thinking they like you being there and not just your money.

Now for all Thai's that want to come to Disneyland in the USA, instead of charging you US $115 for a 1 day pass, the price is now doubled to $230.

Fair is fair right?

Edited January 23, 2016 by bwpage3

[mogandave]

If a Thai visits California and wants to go fishing he or she pays twice as much as a resident.

Any number of things tourists pay more for in the US.

[aTomsLife]

Westerners working, married or retired here shouldn't have to pay the 'farang' / tourist fees, I agree. However, tourism is a business and it's fair that park entrance prices reflect that.

It's too bad Thais can't find the ability to differentiate between westerners, even though it's true what Neversure said: they can charge what they want and it's up to the consumer--you--to decide if you'll pay it to enter.

Edited January 23, 2016 by aTomsLife

[GuestHouse]

If a Thai visits California and wants to go fishing he or she pays twice as much as a resident.

Any number of things tourists pay more for in the US.

But the charge of discount is based on residence, not race or nationality.

[mogandave]

If a Thai visits California and wants to go fishing he or she pays twice as much as a resident.

Any number of things tourists pay more for in the US.

But the charge of discount is based on residence, not race or nationality.

I always seem to get the Thai price when I show my driver license.

Tourist, work of retirement visa does not make you a permanent resident.

[GuestHouse]

If a Thai visits California and wants to go fishing he or she pays twice as much as a resident.

Any number of things tourists pay more for in the US.

But the charge of discount is based on residence, not race or nationality.

I always seem to get the Thai price when I show my driver license.

Tourist, work of retirement visa does not make you a permanent resident.

You do very well then, because despite my best efforts, I reckon I get a reduction about 20% of the time.

[mogandave]

If a Thai visits California and wants to go fishing he or she pays twice as much as a resident.

Any number of things tourists pay more for in the US.

But the charge of discount is based on residence, not race or nationality.

I always seem to get the Thai price when I show my driver license.

Tourist, work of retirement visa does not make you a permanent resident.

You do very well then, because despite my best efforts, I reckon I get a reduction about 20% of the time.

How often do you go somewhere with dual pricing?

[Rhys]

If you look Thai no problem don't look Thai then the Might White syndrome kicks in... On vacation want no hassles..you pay the extra baht, feel... no different.. and move on..

[Blackheart]

The farang prices are still lower then the west.

[nontabury]

The farang prices are still lower then the west.

I think you'r missing the point!

[MajarTheLion]

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 ?

Farang is not a race.

[Sutty]

Why is it always brought back to black and white. It's not racism to charge foreigners more than locals. Turkey does it Egypt does it Christ London does it no hang on London just rips everyone off delete that. Malta does it. It's life I'm afraid if you really can't afford it or that incensed by it don't go to where they do it simple really

[kannot]

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"!

Id say an awful lot of Thais DONT pay taxes at all and the rich ones can afford to avoid them I doubt any street seller pays any tax

I like the way the Op says " a few baht more" funny as its often not a "few" baht at all...............I dont care so much as if I see the double treble quadruple pricing I just dont go in, am usually disappointed if i do at what i see as a non event.....Palau U waterfal Hua Hin......no water there at all and many of these sites are badly mainatained, Sam Roi Yot you can climb up to some mountain peaks there but there are no steps and frankly its a death trap.

Edited January 25, 2016 by kannot

[Sutty]

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"!

Id say an awful lot of Thais DONT pay taxes at all and the rich ones can afford to avoid them I doubt any street seller pays any tax

The clue is in the word THAIland. Paying tax or not they are born and bred here we ain't. For the dual pricing to have any affect on average farang you would have to visit a dual pricing event every day. And I'm sure that doesn't happen.

[kannot]

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"!

Id say an awful lot of Thais DONT pay taxes at all and the rich ones can afford to avoid them I doubt any street seller pays any tax

The clue is in the word THAIland. Paying tax or not they are born and bred here we ain't. For the dual pricing to have any affect on average farang you would have to visit a dual pricing event every day. And I'm sure that doesn't happen.

doesnt happen any day to me as Ill walk away from what is often a crappy park or whatever at best. The King wasnt born here though.

[MartinL]

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"!

Id say an awful lot of Thais DONT pay taxes at all and the rich ones can afford to avoid them I doubt any street seller pays any tax

I like the way the Op says " a few baht more" funny as its often not a "few" baht at all...............I dont care so much as if I see the double treble quadruple pricing I just dont go in, am usually disappointed if i do at what i see as a non event.....Palau U waterfal Hua Hin......no water there at all and many of these sites are badly mainatained, Sam Roi Yot you can climb up to some mountain peaks there but there are no steps and frankly its a death trap.

Why is it that, whenever TAXES are mentioned in this type of thread, only INCOME tax is considered, rather than consumption & other taxes too?

The Thai Revenue Department takes 2.5 times as much VAT as it does Income Tax. I'd therefore say that VAT is 2.5 times as important in the maintenance of NPs & all sorts of infrastructure as Income Tax.

Every single one of us living in Thailand pays VAT on all sorts of purchases.

The average payment per person (based on a population of 67,000,000) per year of [VAT + Personal Income Tax] in Thailand is slightly less than 15,000฿, which equates to an annual spend of about 215,000฿ on VAT-liable goods alone.

I'd guess most westerners living in Thailand annually spend more than that on VAT-liable items so we pay our way tax-wise.

It really is discrimination when we're expected to pay VAT which supports NP maintenance yet not have that financial support recognised when we want to visit.

[roo860]

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.

I tried this last week in Tesco Lotus, the girl on the checkout presented me with a bill for 4,500bt, I took one look at it and laughed, you're joking I said, (keeping a nice smile), told her I would pay 3,000bt, she was having non of that, called the manager and I had to cough up the 4,500bt.

It's bloody discrimination!!!!!

Edited January 25, 2016 by roo860

[Rob13]

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.

I tried this last week in Tesco Lotus, the girl on the checkout presented me with a bill for 4,500bt, I took one look at it and laughed, you're joking I said, (keeping a nice smile), told her I would pay 3,000bt, she was having non of that, called the manager and I had to cough up the 4,500bt.

It's bloody discrimination!!!!!

You haggled with the cashier at Tesco?

[roo860]

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.

I tried this last week in Tesco Lotus, the girl on the checkout presented me with a bill for 4,500bt, I took one look at it and laughed, you're joking I said, (keeping a nice smile), told her I would pay 3,000bt, she was having non of that, called the manager and I had to cough up the 4,500bt.

It's bloody discrimination!!!!!

You haggled with the cashier at Tesco?