Thai driver's license no longer good for "Thai price"

[bhatmasterson]

Another example of Thais just barely tolerating foreigners...just enough to take their money.

I think your example of being a stepdad is a very valid one. The fact that you are "Dad" and support your kids in the right ways counts for nothing here. At least as far as enjoying a natural sight or national park.

I have no problem with tourists or non-residents being charged more. But expats that actually live in Thailand, i.e., have a Thai drivers license or work permit, should be charged the same as Thai citizens. This is not right.

Why is it not right ?

Everyone knows that living in Thailand as a retiree or extended tourist being married to a Thai national or having Thai children affords very little recourse if any to public funds for health,social security nor are you afforded any special visa arrangements,why would you expect anything remotely the same as Thai nationals.

It has to be one of the hardest countries in the world to actually raise a family as a foreigner or work unless you work for a multi national on an expat package.

I am/was more offended by having to disclose my whereabouts every 90 days rather than being charged more to enter a national park.

Your opinion has been well noted and you are quite entitled to it. It's not right because some of us work here and pay more in taxes than many Thai's make in a year. That in itself ought to be worth something! I don't care about 90 day reporting. My place of employment takes care of that for me.

[Mudcrab]

Oh so it does not include non-farangs who are not Thai citizens? Non-farangs like citizens of other Asian, African or South American countries for example?

Keep working on it, but be careful, you would not want to be racist.

Three pages of whining about the price of entry to a place most people may go to once or not at all.

You pays 'your moneys and you makes your choices'.

Or not.

If I couldn't afford the few baht extra to enter then I would be more worried about paying the fuel to get there or where my next feed was coming from before I contemplated going.

There are more things to worry about apart from a perceived slight of 'discrimination' about dual entry pricing.

I really don't think it's a big issue to many people apart from TV posters who have nothing better to do than knock Thailand and Thai's at every opportunity.

Even when Thai's do something good some posters find a way to spin it into something foolish or stupid.

I remember seeing a poll a couple of years ago asking if reading TVF has affected your views on Thailand. The only effect it has had on me is to create a great feeling of sorrow for many forum members who want, and need to, leave Thailand but apparently can't or won't

Misery loves company.

Why do people keep using the word racist like its a bad thing?

Have the leftie brainwashing idiots finally won?

Th word racist is now being used to describe someone who doesn't like someone from another religion - toally wrong meaning but happily used and rarely challenged as it suits the leftie agenda.

Trust me people will find many other ways to discriminate against someone or a group of people not based on their race to keep the do-gooders happy.

Men are discriminated all the time but we don't realise it, and we are too stupid to complain.

How much money goes to breast cancer research...how much to prostrate cancer research?

I once applied for a job but got knocked back. The interviewer told me, off the record, that the few positions available HAD to filled firstly by a woman, then a handicapped person then a long term unemployed person then I was at the bottom of the list.

This was for a Government job in Australia 30 years ago.

So in a nutshell - I couldn't care less about the pricing structure for a product I rarely use.

[Mudcrab]

Oh so it does not include non-farangs who are not Thai citizens? Non-farangs like citizens of other Asian, African or South American countries for example?

Keep working on it, but be careful, you would not want to be racist.

Three pages of whining about the price of entry to a place most people may go to once or not at all.

You pays 'your moneys and you makes your choices'.

Or not.

If I couldn't afford the few baht extra to enter then I would be more worried about paying the fuel to get there or where my next feed was coming from before I contemplated going.

There are more things to worry about apart from a perceived slight of 'discrimination' about dual entry pricing.

I really don't think it's a big issue to many people apart from TV posters who have nothing better to do than knock Thailand and Thai's at every opportunity.

Even when Thai's do something good some posters find a way to spin it into something foolish or stupid.

I remember seeing a poll a couple of years ago asking if reading TVF has affected your views on Thailand. The only effect it has had on me is to create a great feeling of sorrow for many forum members who want, and need to, leave Thailand but apparently can't or won't

Misery loves company.

Why do people keep using the word racist like its a bad thing?

Have the leftie brainwashing idiots finally won?

Th word racist is now being used to describe someone who doesn't like someone from another religion - toally wrong meaning but happily used and rarely challenged as it suits the leftie agenda.

Trust me people will find many other ways to discriminate against someone or a group of people not based on their race to keep the do-gooders happy.

Men are discriminated all the time but we don't realise it, and we are too stupid to complain.

How much money goes to breast cancer research...how much to prostrate cancer research?

I once applied for a job but got knocked back. The interviewer told me, off the record, that the few positions available HAD to filled firstly by a woman, then a handicapped person then a long term unemployed person then I was at the bottom of the list.

This was for a Government job in Australia 30 years ago.

So in a nutshell - I couldn't care less about the pricing structure for a product I rarely use.

[bhatmasterson]

So is there a charge to go up to Doi Suthep now?

No...

was 30 baht for foreigners.

[Mudcrab]

At least they let me use their roads to get to work.

Please don't give them ideas!

Give who ideas?

Thai people?

Or forum members

Cue the 'I pay road tax and I've had a 3 inch pothole in front of my rented (never buy in Thailand or invest more than you can afford to lose) condo (ground floor so the ladyboys can't throw me over the balcony to my death which will be seen as a suicide because I am a farang) for two weeks now, why can't they do something about it (I'd fill it in myself but a friend told me about a farang friend who did this without a work permit and got deported and blacklisted forever as did all his yet unborn descendants)' thread.

Can hardly wait for that one.

Should be due next Thursday by my rough reckoning of past TVF history.

[Mudcrab]

Another example of Thais just barely tolerating foreigners...just enough to take their money.

I think your example of being a stepdad is a very valid one. The fact that you are "Dad" and support your kids in the right ways counts for nothing here. At least as far as enjoying a natural sight or national park.

I have no problem with tourists or non-residents being charged more. But expats that actually live in Thailand, i.e., have a Thai drivers license or work permit, should be charged the same as Thai citizens. This is not right.

Why is it not right ?

Everyone knows that living in Thailand as a retiree or extended tourist being married to a Thai national or having Thai children affords very little recourse if any to public funds for health,social security nor are you afforded any special visa arrangements,why would you expect anything remotely the same as Thai nationals.

It has to be one of the hardest countries in the world to actually raise a family as a foreigner or work unless you work for a multi national on an expat package.

I am/was more offended by having to disclose my whereabouts every 90 days rather than being charged more to enter a national park.

Your opinion has been well noted and you are quite entitled to it. It's not right because some of us work here and pay more in taxes than many Thai's make in a year. That in itself ought to be worth something! I don't care about 90 day reporting. My place of employment takes care of that for me.

Quit your job and you won't have to fret about paying more taxes than many Thais make in one year.

It's a foolish comparison as there are many people paying more in tax then YOU make in one year. And hiring people like YOU.

[Mudcrab]

What about "Thai ID" card that is pink color and foreigners can obtain by applying in the local Amphur with the passport and yellow book ?

Anyone tried to get the discount by showing that one ?

It is my understanding that pink, non Thai national, ID cards are only available for people from Lao, Myanmar and Cambodia.

If this is incorrect I would be interested in more info or confirmation from a farang who has one

Thanks

Oh dear.....wait until the TVF LGBT brigade hear this one.

[Fairynuff]

At least they let me use their roads to get to work.

Please don't give them ideas!

Give who ideas?

Thai people?

Or forum members

Cue the 'I pay road tax and I've had a 3 inch pothole in front of my rented (never buy in Thailand or invest more than you can afford to lose) condo (ground floor so the ladyboys can't throw me over the balcony to my death which will be seen as a suicide because I am a farang) for two weeks now, why can't they do something about it (I'd fill it in myself but a friend told me about a farang friend who did this without a work permit and got deported and blacklisted forever as did all his yet unborn descendants)' thread.

Can hardly wait for that one.

Should be due next Thursday by my rough reckoning of past TVF history.

Sometimes better to keep shtum than talk drivel

[Fairynuff]

"Why do people keep using the word racist like its a bad thing?"

Because to a decent person it IS a bad thing.

[bhatmasterson]

Yay, another Thai Visa thread with desperately sad people moaning about the occasional 50 baht price difference. "It's the principle"; they cry. What they mean is; "I'm cheap and that's the principle but I am never, ever going to admit that so I have to pretend it's a stand against racism instead." You might try examining the hoops that the average Thai has to jump through just to get a visa to your own country (and the additional cost and effort compared to the Westerner entering Thailand) and see that a tiny fee here and there is nothing at all to get upset about. But you're cheap, so you won't.

I wouldn't call myself cheap. Like most anyone else, when I go shopping I like a bargain. How about you? Does that make you cheap?

However, I'm not looking for a bargain here. I, as well as many others, have lived and worked here for a very long time. We pay taxes; a lot of taxes in some cases. We think the least we could be afforded is entrance to national parks at the fair rate. I'm not demanding it and I don't think not being admitted to the national parks at the Thai rate fits the definition of racism. It's just not fair because a portion of our taxes go for keeping up those parks I would think.

For those of us who share a similar view, I wouldn't say we are desperate or sad. It is "the principal". Your altruistic view on the subject holds about as much water as a thimble.

True enough, there are hoops to jump through for Thais who want to go to my country. What's that got to do with the price of fertilizer? When a Thai is successful at getting into my country, they can work in any job they are qualified to do, own land, build a house in their name, collect unemployment & social security, their children can collect social security if the bread winner is disabled or passes away, they won't be subjected to double pricing, they can go to public schools where they will actually learn something, in most cases, like how to find other countries on a map. And they don't have to worry about reporting in every 90 days. This is just a partial list of positives for Thais living legally in my country.

Oh, and I don't go to the national parks here very often. Not because I can't afford it. I just don't think they are worth the price of admission.

[TheSiemReaper]

Yay, another Thai Visa thread with desperately sad people moaning about the occasional 50 baht price difference. "It's the principle"; they cry. What they mean is; "I'm cheap and that's the principle but I am never, ever going to admit that so I have to pretend it's a stand against racism instead." You might try examining the hoops that the average Thai has to jump through just to get a visa to your own country (and the additional cost and effort compared to the Westerner entering Thailand) and see that a tiny fee here and there is nothing at all to get upset about. But you're cheap, so you won't.

I wouldn't call myself cheap. Like most anyone else, when I go shopping I like a bargain. How about you? Does that make you cheap?

However, I'm not looking for a bargain here. I, as well as many others, have lived and worked here for a very long time. We pay taxes; a lot of taxes in some cases. We think the least we could be afforded is entrance to national parks at the fair rate. I'm not demanding it and I don't think not being admitted to the national parks at the Thai rate fits the definition of racism. It's just not fair because a portion of our taxes go for keeping up those parks I would think.

For those of us who share a similar view, I wouldn't say we are desperate or sad. It is "the principal". Your altruistic view on the subject holds about as much water as a thimble.

True enough, there are hoops to jump through for Thais who want to go to my country. What's that got to do with the price of fertilizer? When a Thai is successful at getting into my country, they can work in any job they are qualified to do, own land, build a house in their name, collect unemployment & social security, their children can collect social security if the bread winner is disabled or passes away, they won't be subjected to double pricing, they can go to public schools where they will actually learn something, in most cases, like how to find other countries on a map. And they don't have to worry about reporting in every 90 days. This is just a partial list of positives for Thais living legally in my country.

Oh, and I don't go to the national parks here very often. Not because I can't afford it. I just don't think they are worth the price of admission.

Yup, it's definitely worth getting worked up over that 50 baht. Do you realize that the time you put into typing that paragraph could have been used to earn a few more $ and then you wouldn't need to whine about it any more? You'd have the money to pay.

I'd love to know which country allows a foreigner with a work permit to just switch to "any job they are qualified to do" - mine, the UK, certainly doesn't. You don't get a "get employed anywhere" permit, Thais get a "as long as you keep this job - you can stay" work permit. Admittedly, our own countries tend to be better about the "live here for 7 years... apply for citizenship" rule but they certainly do not extend benefits, voting rights, etc. to non-citizens on work permits. This is the lie that people tell themselves regarding overseas immigrants. (They're not only stealing "all our jobs" but somehow "all our benefits" too when neither is the truth).

Many European countries require registration and police station reporting and so on... and that's just for other EU member nations' citizens.

People who get hung up on 50 baht will go to any length to justify their cheapness as long as it never requires acknowledging that cheapness.

Edited May 15, 2016 by TheSiemReaper

[Trujillo]

Correct me if I am wrong, but if you are in the USA, is there a ticket for a national park that says one price for Americans and a higher price for "foreigners"?

Is this how it works in Australia? England?

This is not fundamentally about price -- it's about rank discrimination. There is no other way to see it.

The idea that all farangs are richer than Thais is crapola. There are wealthy Thais around the country; why are they paying the lower rate?

[Bear0Mack]

Not a problem - just don't go.

Most of them aren't worth the Thai price of admission anyway.

..take a book..sit in the car with the air on...about time discrimination was outlawed here.

Discrimination based on origin is outlawed in the constitution, but it is not enforced. Even the Thai government break their own laws as it suits them.

[Bear0Mack]

Here are the facts, anyone care to correct me if I am mistaken?

1. Discrimination based on origin is a form of racism.

2. Offering different prices to people from different countries for the exact same product or service is discrimination.

3. There is no additional reasonable benefit received from paying the 3 to 10 times higher cost for entry into national parks.

4. The discriminator in the case of national parks is the Thai government. Not all Thai people are hateful people.

5. All visitors to Thailand already pay taxes in the form of GST/VAT, fuel excise, airport landing taxes, and visas.

6. The kingdom of Thailand receives the benefit of new foreign money that has already had the foreign tax paid. If you have foreign shares by the way, you need to pay tax on the dividends.

7. Discrimination of based on origin is already illegal in the Thai constitution.

I therefore believe that this practice is racist and illegal.

[Dante99]

Not a problem - just don't go.

Most of them aren't worth the Thai price of admission anyway.

..take a book..sit in the car with the air on...about time discrimination was outlawed here.

Discrimination based on origin is outlawed in the constitution, but it is not enforced. Even the Thai government break their own laws as it suits them.

Same in the USA and probably many other countries.

[duanebigsby]

Correct me if I am wrong, but if you are in the USA, is there a ticket for a national park that says one price for Americans and a higher price for "foreigners"?

Is this how it works in Australia? England?

This is not fundamentally about price -- it's about rank discrimination. There is no other way to see it.

The idea that all farangs are richer than Thais is crapola. There are wealthy Thais around the country; why are they paying the lower rate?

No, foreigners don't pay more in the US. But there is often a discount for residents to attractions.

National parks in Canada are free for Native and Metis Canadians, not sure about US or Australia, New Zealand.

Siem Reap is free for Cambodians.

Most countries have two-tiered pricing at universities for foreign nationals.

[taichiplanet]

What about "Thai ID" card that is pink color and foreigners can obtain by applying in the local Amphur with the passport and yellow book ?

Anyone tried to get the discount by showing that one ?

It is my understanding that pink, non Thai national, ID cards are only available for people from Lao, Myanmar and Cambodia.

If this is incorrect I would be interested in more info or confirmation from a farang who has one

Thanks

i have one and i am not Laotian, Burmese or Cambodian. Once you get a Yellow House Book, you receive a letter saying you can get one. On the day i got mine there were 22 other 'westerners' getting it. i asked if i could use it to get Thai price and was told no. i asked if i could use it as ID and was told no. I asked what i could use it for and was told can't use it for anything! Well, that was a waste of 4 hours. Lucky it was free then!!

[Bear0Mack]

True Dante. We live in a very corrupt world. It's disappointing, isn't it?

[Roomuck]

Correct me if I am wrong, but if you are in the USA, is there a ticket for a national park that says one price for Americans and a higher price for "foreigners"?

Is this how it works in Australia? England?

This is not fundamentally about price -- it's about rank discrimination. There is no other way to see it.

The idea that all farangs are richer than Thais is crapola. There are wealthy Thais around the country; why are they paying the lower rate?

Correct me if I am wrong, but if you are in the USA, is there a ticket for a national park that says one price for Americans and a higher price for "foreigners"?

In Australia we discriminate against Thai people.

For a start we don't just let them in. They have to the Australian embassy in Bangkok for a visa they must pay for.

We rort them before they even get a visa, make them pay to apply and usually reject them. Some nationalities can just go over to Oz, but not the Thais. We discriminate against them. Even if they only want to visit for a few days we charge them for a three month visa.

If a Thai wants to go to an Aussie school we rort them again. Thais have to pay about 6-10 times more than the Aussie kids. We stitch them right up. Much more than a extra fifty baht here and there.

Oh, and Thais can not buy established houses in Australia. They are allowed to buy off the plan though.

And we generally are a bit harsher on tourists. Forget about just getting a punch and a kicking. We will shoot you and bury you in a national park.

But if you are an Indian student, we will just bash you. Not because you started slapping and punching us, nah, just for fun.

Thais? Google "Thai fed to the crocodiles in Australia." Or "Thai girl kidnapped in Australia and never found"

We also let pedos adopt Thai surrogates. But if the surrogate mother has twins, and something is wrong with one of them, we will only take the good one and dump the dud on the surrogate mother( who didn't even want to have children) which results instead of her making money, actually costs her a lifetime of bills and care.

[Bear0Mack]

Roomuck, I agree. There's alot of discrimination in Australia. Hard to know and admit if you're not the one being discriminated against.

Would it be accurate to say that you reject all forms of unfair discrimination regardless of country in question? I commend you for such an open mind.

But let's not get into who is the biggest discriminator, or who treats tourists (let's not forget foreigners living here too) the harshest. There are terrible injustices in both Thailand and Australia. Both persecution and discrimination from the people and the governments.

[GAZZPA]

Not a problem - just don't go.

Most of them aren't worth the Thai price of admission anyway.

Agree. Best way, who needs them anyway. I avoid everything where there's dual pricing.

I won't pay over the odds for anything, ever (at least no knowingly).

There is absolutely no reason for dual pricing. Supermarkets don't have dual pricing, fuel is the same for everyone, clothes are the same, shoes are the same etc, etc,, so how can it make any sense at all.

Its pure greed and hatred of foreigners, simple as that.

So, to repeat just stop going to them.

[flare]

I don't care about the money, but after 15 years here, holding a work permit for nearly that entire time, and establishing a business and employing nearly 100 people (before I retired), it would be nice to be able to take advantage of the same price offered to locals. When I go somewhere win the family where there's an entrance fee, it's always kind of a downer to have to work out if there's a 'farang price', then showing my license and wondering if it will be rejected, etc. It kind of separates me and sets me apart from my wife and daughter, and I don't like how that feels (I know, I married a Thai, but I think you know what I mean).

I guess I feel entitled to the barest minimum of consideration in that particular regard- it doesn't keep me up nights, but it does get kind of annoying. I'm not going anywhere, thought.

[Trujillo]

No, foreigners don't pay more in the US. But there is often a discount for residents to attractions.

Discounts, such as for seniors, is not relevant here.

National parks in Canada are free for Native and Metis Canadians, not sure about US or Australia, New Zealand.

That's apples and oranges. There are no (disenfranchised) indigenous peoples like in Canada, the US, Australia or New Zealand in Thailand.

Siem Reap is free for Cambodians.

Asia has this racial profiling pricing, that's true.

Most countries have two-tiered pricing at universities for foreign nationals.

That's also irrelevant here; there are valid reasons to give local students a break. And ticket prices vs. university costs are not relatable.

One key element here is that the authorities DID allow aliens to produce something (driver's license, work permit or house registration, etc.) to obtain common prices for fees. But that has been taken away. Interestingly, there must be one person somewhere in some office who thought, "The foreigner is taking advantage of us. We need to close all doors for them to get normal prices."

Forget that some foreigners here are working and paying taxes (all working foreigners I know pay more tax in a month than any middle-class Thai makes in salary during the same time).

The crux of this thread was to point out that there had been a few avenues where foreigners living here could be treated with equanimity with the local population, with whom they have chosen to live (and spend their money). Now this reasonable set up has been dismantled to disfavor the foreigner.

Like it or hate it, this is the fact.

[HooHaa]

Not a problem - just don't go.

Most of them aren't worth the Thai price of admission anyway.

It's only a problem for those who feel discriminated against,mainly those who stay long term on extensions of stay for retirement purposes or the like and those that work for example.

What you must remember is that is the way it works here,irrespective of your immigration or work status your still not Thai nor are you entitled to anything like your hosts.

To be honest I think it's perfectly fair for them to charge foreigners more it's clear that they don't won't expats to be like their own,I mean Thai nationals don't tell immigration their address every 90 days do they.

Weeeeeeeeell, seeing as I brought up Thai kids when their 'dad' buggered off from any kid support, I do feel a bit pissed off...

Did you want a Pat on the back and free entry to the park?

One would have hoped that bringing up any child would have been done out of the goodness of your heart and would have its own rewards irrespective of the price of admission to a park.

[TheSiemReaper]

Ladies and gentlemen. Let's introduce the members of the Chiang Mai Thaivisa forum, who would have thought we had so many would-be Rosa Parks among us? People who cannot tell the difference between nationalism and racism but are willing to endlessly moan about the state of affairs on Thaivisa (a forum so influential that it shapes exactly no public policy in Thailand whatsoever) about it anyway.

Those unable to spot the insane advantages that every single expat has over the AVERAGE Thai person. That's the average Thai person who will never be able to afford a plane ticket to your country, the average Thai person who even if they were foolish enough to pay for a visa would be turned down immediately by your immigration authorities, etc. Those people who are discriminated against both economically and straight up racially are denying you, your right to a discount on entry fees to attractions? Get over yourselves already.

Every nation in the world is entitled to discriminate in favor of its own citizens and every single one of them does. That's not racist, it's a perk of being a citizen. Those of us working or retiring in Thailand are not citizens. There is an expectation that you will leave one day. If you want the discounts, jump through the hoops and get a Thai passport, don't qualify for a passport? Then you don't get the discounts. Pretty simple. It is 100% impractical to gauge people's incomes when applying this policy - so it works on the simple idea that the AVERAGE Thai is poorer than the average foreign tourist. And yes, even if you've lived here 40 years - when you visit a site of natural heritage, if you don't have a Thai passport, you're a foreign tourist. Expecting foreign tourists to pay more for the upkeep of tourist sites seems incredibly practical to me and saves on taxing Thai people (and foreign earners) to pay for the upkeep of such heritage by collecting fees from those who use that heritage and exempting those who do not.

[Kwasaki]

OP not that I go parks much this days because done that been there and all over some years back.

Not sure if charges now have been changed in all places re - Thai DL, I used mine 2 weeks ago in a place in Phitsanulok with 2 tier pricing, just said I am person Thai in Thai and showed them my DL which has my Thai ID number on which is from my yellow house book.

Before yellow book my DL only had my passport number.

[Trujillo]

TheSiemReaper,

As I said before, my guess is if you look at all the country's national parks, for example, you will find that a very large percentage of people visiting the parks are Thais, not foreigners. So the idea that the government is using the increased 'farang price' "for the upkeep of tourist sites" in untenable. In many (but certainly not all) sites, the foreigners' contributions are exceedingly minor. In fact, most of the money coming in from tourists is money coming out of the pockets of the Thais. So this argument of yours doesn't apply.

I understand your ideas on discrimination being a heritage event in different countries, but I still find it hard to argue against the alien working legally in Thailand who pays his goodly share of taxes and yet is still being told he has to pay the "tourist from abroad" prices.

You say: "It is 100% impractical to gauge people's incomes when applying this policy - so it works on the simple idea that the AVERAGE Thai is poorer than the average foreign tourist."

The average Thai's wealth being compared to the average foreign tourist's wealth IS gauging people's income (even an average is a gauge) -- what else could you call it?

Anyhow..., remember, we are talking about foreigners who, under the previous system, were charged as Thais IF they could produce certain documents showing that they were NOT tourists. Tourist prices are another thing altogether.

So....

I am a little curious... as to the folks who go on about how the difference in price should not be worth worrying about, what if the average Thai and the average foreign resident/worker did have the same wealth? Would two-tier pricing be acceptable to you then?

[MyFriend You]

I used to go to Hua tong thao lake ( sp ?) quite a lot .Not now since they increased it from B20 to B50 for Falang .

So the price went from a dollar to a dollar and a half (pre-97 exchange rate to present exchange rate)

[MyFriend You]

Yes, its Their Country, and they can do what they want - just don't let me catch any of MY Countries' National Parks charging more for a foreigner than a local, I'll sue them!!

[daveAustin]

Correct me if I am wrong, but if you are in the USA, is there a ticket for a national park that says one price for Americans and a higher price for "foreigners"?

Is this how it works in Australia? England?

National parks in the UK are free for everyone, although I think they should start charging Thais only to make a point.