How can newbies to Thailand avoid paying farang prices?

[Saastrajaa]

2 minutes ago, YeahSiam said:

 

And how is the reaction i advised in my earlier post (walk away) in any way similar to the scenario you just described?

Walking away and taking your business down the street is nothing like that waffle you just wrote.

 

 

 

Haha, not directly related, it's just that your nonsensical statement reminded me of other types of nonsensical farang thought.

[YeahSiam]

Just now, kenk24 said:

 

ok, so if you are in a market where people bargain, and somebody quotes you 20 baht more than the last person, what principle is at work here? Just offer the same 100 baht... if you do not like shopping in markets where there is bargaining, go to a restaurant or supermarket... there are plenty of choices here. 

 

As I said in my earlier post, I don't shop in markets or buy off street hawkers.

I never have to deal with that kind of nonsense.

 

1 minute ago, Saastrajaa said:

 

Haha, not directly related, it's just that your nonsensical statement reminded me of other types of nonsensical farang thought.

 

So it's nonsensical to adhere to one's own personal principles, is it?

OK well if that works for you, fine. I wouldn't like to be overcharged on account of being a non-Thai so I walk away and give my money to someone who doesn't overcharge.

I don't fuss or protest; they know they've <deleted> up because they'll invariably offer the right price once they see the back of my head.

If I'm really hungry, I'll take it; if not, I figure they can whistle for it.

There's no hard & fast rule - each (very rare) case is dealt with according to how one feels at the time.

[paulsingle]

"And, for the "Thaier than thou" Somchai apologist crowd, I am NOT saying that all Thais are scammers--I'm just talking right now about the ones that are."

That made me smile. It's true that debates here do seem to promulgate competition to show who is more familiar with and integrated into life in Thailand. 

Dual pricing seems to be in decline. As others have said, many places don't operate this way.

Where prices are negotiable, I don't have a problem with a vendor making a little more on a deal but don't like to see vulnerable people being heavily exploited.

I find that sometimes my girlfriend does get a better price if I'm out of sight but it's usually not that much and I can always walk away if I don't want to pay a little premium.

Shop around and learn. You won't pay too heavy a price if you're sensible. 

[Peterw42]

Taxi's and meters, its not always about ripping you off. insist on the meter and that can mean the air-conn will be off and the driver wont take expressways etc. Agree on a price and the driver will have the air-conn on, will pay for all the tolls, toilets stops are included without the meter running etc. The same if you go to a restaurant out of town, the negotiated price can include the driver waiting to bring you back, this can be great if it just started raining and taxi's are not around etc.

 

I dont know how people can enjoy living or holidaying here with such a level of paranoia. Thai people run businesses and are aware of the benefits of a return customer, repeat business etc.

They may try a couple of extra baht the first time, normal pricing the second time, even an extra satay stick the third time because you are a good customer.

 

 

[bandito]

I don't bargain.

If a price looks right to me than I say ok otherwise I just walk away.

Most times they will come down in price without me asking.

There are times I get something cheaper than my Thai wife.

I had one construction company giving a price estimate for something I want  as BHT 34000-. I said no way, came back later and said it he made a mistake, the price was Bht 24000-, still no way and I will call you (Thai way of end of negotiation)

Found an other construction comp. and the estamated price was Baht 14000- negotiated by my Thai wife and I said ok.

After my wife went indoors came the Thai boss to me and said that the actual price was Baht 12000- but he said to my wife Baht 14000- "because Thais always ask to come down and he  did'nt realize it was me who decided. Price is Baht 12000-'

So much for bargaining and I told my Thai wife I will have none of it if I was present.

[SaintLouisBlues]

8 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Thai people run businesses and are aware of the benefits of a return customer, repeat business etc.

They may try a couple of extra baht the first time, normal pricing the second time, even an extra satay stick the third time because you are a good customer.

I live here and I can say that my attitude is there won't be a second or third time

[Zyxel]

[NoshowJones]

11 hours ago, naboo said:

Where I am, there's a price for people who speak Kam Muang, a price for people who speak Thai, and a price for people who speak English. The assumption is, people speaking English are rich, people spealing Thai are rich, and people speaking Kam Muang are poor.

 

Given its hard to learn a language that quickly, my advice is dress like you have no money, you will get the lowest price.

Yes, go shirtless, wear shorts above the knee then buy everything cheap. 

[sandemara]

The best way to avoid paying farang prices is to not visit in the first place. The biggest rip-off prices you will pay will be those you won't even be aware of.  Have a nice holiday.

[jaiyen]

Learn some Thai so you can ask things when shopping.  Buy the Lonely Planet phrase book. It is the best and you will learn from it too. I learnt most of my Thai from it. Better to learn phrase when you are learning. Grammar and words will be easy to learn later

[NoshowJones]

10 hours ago, GuiseppeD said:

I always pay Thai price.  My Italian looks and charm always works a dream.  I might occasionally pinch the bottom of a saucy Thai lady just to keep her on her toes.  Arrivederci. 

Yes, just you go right ahead and pinch a Thai ladys bottom, and I hope some Thai guy and his mates see you. 

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, Saastrajaa said:

"Just-arrived" newbies, though?  Especially those only visiting?  It's kind of inevitable you're going to pay farang (tourist) prices.  But hey, after all--you're a TOURIST!  And paying the ridiculous (for Thais) price of 400 baht for an hour of massage (as opposed to the Thai price of 250-300 baht for two hours) is not going to break you...it's still better than the 1,000 baht an hour it is where I live (USA)!!!

I remember the very first time I came to Thailand, I was in a market with the first Thai girl I had ever taken out, I saw something I was interested in, and she pulled me away, took me round the corner, then told me to wait, she then went back to the stall and asked the price, then came back and told me. 

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, YeahSiam said:

It's easy to avoid dual pricing.

Shop in places where prices are marked clearly.

Don't buy stuff in markets or off hawkers in the street.

 

Renting a condo - don't be an idiot and rent off introductions made by a local - they'll almost certainly be in it for a commission from the landlord - that'll be passed on to you.

Use Craigslist, an agent or one of the countless Facebook real estate groups. I've been here nearly 8 years - always had my security deposit returned - no quibble

 

Don't buy a house in a shitty backwater like the idiots who aspire to to being a lord of the manor walking around in a blazer and  cravate do -

 

If you buy street food, observe what Thais are charged; if you're asked for more (very, very rare), walk without any comment. Trust me, they know you're offended

Taxis - insist on  the meter or just use GrabTaxi/GrabBike - the price is agreed by the app before the ride even turns up

Shop for groceries at places like Villa, Tops, Foodland or Gourmet Foodhalls - No dual pricing

Buy clothing and electronics online (Lazada, Amazon) or from quality stores/malls like Central, Emporium, Robinsons etc - No dual pricing

Avoid tailors (especially Sukhumvit) - 90% of them are shit and, in terms of quality, you're hardly ever given the quality of material you've requested

If you ever need to engage a tradesman, ask a Thai to agree a price beforehand. If the tradesman turns up and demands more, show him the door.

Don't visit national parks - they're mostly shit anyway

 

Shop for groceries at places like Villa, Tops, Foodland or Gourmet Foodhalls - No dual pricing".

I would leave Villa out of that one, check their prices for corned beef.

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, PoorSucker said:

If you were one of the following, you will pay more.

1. Chang singlet.

2. Singha singlet

3. Same Same T-shirt

4. Socks and sandals.

5. No shirt.

 

 

 

Not according to one poster.

[tandor]

...they seem to think Thais are not so good at math...all the ones i have seen in action can think of a number and double it without any trouble at all..without a calculator.

[Gary A]

If you want Thai prices, shop at the big chain stores. The prices marked are the same for everyone. Once in awhile I stop at a local mom and pop shop to buy cigarettes. If the lady is working she charges me 51 baht. If the old man is working, he charges me 55 baht. Sometimes it is the opposite with the lady overcharging. You have to remember that most of these small shops buy their products from Makro so you have to expect that the prices will be a little higher. I  find it more amusing paying different amounts depending on who waits on me than irritating.

[Peterw42]

Dual pricing goes on all over the world, a little more subtle in the west. It may not always be price, sometimes a larger portion for locals, free meal for the local if you bring your visitors in to dine etc.

I had a friend with a convenience store at bondi beach  in Australia and he actually had tourist and local keys on the till. Parking at the same beach was free for locals and charged for others. I have lived in lots of places with free admission for locals to tourist attractions.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

1 hour ago, kenk24 said:

 

It is not stupid, just a little elitist. My friend, 'Charlie from another planet' likes expensive/classy hotels in Bkk and I have enjoyed the Shangri La as well.. but I don't think it will help the OP any... and these hotels, like all hotels, if you buy online their prices fluctuate like the stock market which though understandable is a form of price manipulation too...  

 

 

It's stupid.

 

First of all there is nothing elitist about "expensive" hotels in Bangkok. I have stayed at Hilton so many times here because it's the same price as Super 8 hotel in Canada. Actually, just spent 6 days in Crowne Plaza and Renaissance. Paid both hotels with points and even with this currency it cost me a lot less than I would spend back home.

 

As for "fine dining" it costs so much more here than in the West (with food being a lot worse) that I wouldn't particularly brag about not being overcharged and paying "farang prices". That whole point of bragging just made me lol. Some people are so stuck up in Thailand that think paying over 3000 baht for a lunch buffet at the Oriental and being served 300b Chilean wine is something "hiso".... rofl. 

 

In the past 3 years I never paid a "farang price". Before I moved and was visiting Thailand as a tourist with my gf, staying near BTS lines, yeah.... I would get overcharged. 

 

Tourist traps like Phuket and Pattaya.... yes, it happens.

 

 

[chuang]

Here we go again, it;s a matter of principle sad to say sometimes this so-called "principle" is worth only one baht..

[smotherb]

Well, short of learning Thai and getting plastic surgery to look Thai; I suggest staying away from the tourist areas and learn how to barter.

[YeahSiam]

14 minutes ago, smotherb said:

Well, short of learning Thai and getting plastic surgery to look Thai; I suggest staying away from the tourist areas and learn how to barter.

You're more likely to be overcharged in an area where the locals aren't used to foreigners

[TSF]

I haven't bartered for years. Whatever I need to buy I go to Big C, or Lotus, or 7-11 and pay the marked price. 

 

As for restaurants, whenever I go to a restaurant for the 1st time I take a look at the menu before taking a seat. I check the prices of food and the prices of beer, if the prices are OK I take a seat. If there are no prices listed on the menu I walk off. 

 

I don't drink much in bars but when I do I always check prices first.

 

As for national parks & temples charging foreigners 400%, they can stick them where the sun don't shine. I've seen enough gaudy temples to last 10 lifetimes. same goes for caves & waterfalls.

[smotherb]

Just now, YeahSiam said:

You're more likely to be overcharged in an area where the locals aren't used to foreigners

Well, I do not believe that and my opinion is based upon almost 50 years of living in Asia and ten years living in Thailand. For example, I live in a non-tourist area and enjoy cheaper prices on almost everything I have also purchased in tourist areas--e.g., Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Samui, Chiang Mai.  My house is a three-story row house with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, backyard, carport and rooftop deck in a very nice in-town neighborhood; my rent just went up to B8k/mo. Meals in restaurants; local or Western, are cheaper than in the places above, I can buy a Jack Daniels and Soda--my drink of choice--for B60 in Hatyai, and its at least double that price in tourist areas mentioned above. I ride motorcycles and often get irritations in the eyes, the eye drops I prefer cost B30 where I live and the same eye drops in Phuket just a few months ago cost me B120. My wife is the shopper of the family or I could give you more specific examples, but she has often mentioned how high prices are in the tourist areas. 

[Deepinthailand]

Stop being paranoid your as likely to be ripped of in your home country. This is like those people who live here have done for years but still insist on reverting all cost back to there mother countries currency. I know of 3 people who do this it drives me mad. 

[smotherb]

14 minutes ago, TSF said:

I haven't bartered for years. Whatever I need to buy I go to Big C, or Lotus, or 7-11 and pay the marked price. 

 

As for restaurants, whenever I go to a restaurant for the 1st time I take a look at the menu before taking a seat. I check the prices of food and the prices of beer, if the prices are OK I take a seat. If there are no prices listed on the menu I walk off. 

 

I don't drink much in bars but when I do I always check prices first.

 

As for national parks & temples charging foreigners 400%, they can stick them where the sun don't shine. I've seen enough gaudy temples to last 10 lifetimes. same goes for caves & waterfalls.

Well, I don't base my patronage on price alone--good value is generated by much more than cost.  I will try the food and make-up my mind; a one-time higher price is not going to break me and I have better reason than a few baht to like or dislike the place.

[Ajarnbrian]

A fair price is whatever you are willing to pay. Staying longer and gaining more knowledge of local prices helps in making more informed decisions if you have the chance. This is harder to do in places with many farang so avoid those farang ghettos and make more Thai friends. This takes time but it is more rewarding, not just in a shopping sense. If you are on a short holiday, enjoy, don't worry for minor purchases but don't buy anything major without giving it more thought. 

[elgordo38]

22 hours ago, sanemax said:

There is no way to avoid paying felang prices .

There are felang shops and there areThai shops and felangs are not allowed into Thai shops .

7/11's are felang shops and 7/12's are Thai shops

Felangs are not allowed into 7/12 shops, they dont even tell us where they are, they are hidden in the back streets .

    There is no point in asking your Thai partner to go into these 7/12s to buy goods at HALF-PRICE of 7/11's because they are part of the conspiracy to make us pay more for everything

Your answer has scored a 9 out of 10 on my scale well for knowledge of numbers anyways. 

Edited January 3, 2017 by elgordo38

[peter267]

16 hours ago, fruitman said:

 

They do have to pay that 10foulded price at the national parks. Why not? They are farang and the Thai don't give a poop if you helped their country in the past or never at all.

 

It's the same with the tsunami, they got big money from my homecountry but still treat them like criminals. And only the G7 have special visa-rules, the others are all the same to them.

Hmm thats not quite right about the Tsunami and funding - despite fading memories of 12 years ago.   By and large Thailand looked after its own disaster costs at that time - the man in charge said at the time something like "Thailand does not need the worlds money - if the world can do something for us -  please buy our chickens again"  - yup  Tsunami was proceeded by the big bird flu epidemic - possibly the  Tsunami wave caused by the dumping of frozen chickens en mass off the west coast of Indonesia and not an earthquake (more data required to support this theory).   Thailand was kissed by the wave and 6000 souls died on Phuket beaches - but the news hit the  world media instantly and put Thailand at the centre of the story - 3 days later people wondered why nothing had been heard from Banda Aceh in Indonesia where 130,000 lives were lost and an entire city flattened.   OK it was surely  images from Thai beaches that got hands into pockets around the world - and duly that relief aid made available  mostly to Banda Aceh  and the sum was truly substantial.  

 

More on the original topic - recall the free hotels being freely offered to survivors,  free mobile calls, flights support - the Thais truly offered all they had in a show of direct assistance - did not look at it as any way a money making venture.   In general in Thailand  outside clear tourist areas I personally found Thai traders at pains to demonstrate a flat payment  very little evidence of dual pricing.  I do remember 10pence cans of coke on sale to thirsty foreign visitors in London for £1 in the 80's  no great example to the world there. 

 

There  is a lot more to Thailand and its people than mithering about the money traders make.

 

[lungnorm]

On 1/2/2017 at 3:44 PM, sanemax said:

There is no way to avoid paying felang prices .

There are felang shops and there areThai shops and felangs are not allowed into Thai shops .

7/11's are felang shops and 7/12's are Thai shops

Felangs are not allowed into 7/12 shops, they dont even tell us where they are, they are hidden in the back streets .

    There is no point in asking your Thai partner to go into these 7/12s to buy goods at HALF-PRICE of 7/11's because they are part of the conspiracy to make us pay more for everything

Gee learn something every day. I have been to Thailand many many times for 2-3 months at a time and never heard of 7/12 stores. My Thai wife was not aware of them either. They must be a new thing prior to 2011? I have seen admittance fees into beaches, zoos, and parks with Thai and Ferang prices.

[lungnorm]

2 hours ago, smotherb said:

Well, I do not believe that and my opinion is based upon almost 50 years of living in Asia and ten years living in Thailand. For example, I live in a non-tourist area and enjoy cheaper prices on almost everything I have also purchased in tourist areas--e.g., Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Samui, Chiang Mai.  My house is a three-story row house with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, backyard, carport and rooftop deck in a very nice in-town neighborhood; my rent just went up to B8k/mo. Meals in restaurants; local or Western, are cheaper than in the places above, I can buy a Jack Daniels and Soda--my drink of choice--for B60 in Hatyai, and its at least double that price in tourist areas mentioned above. I ride motorcycles and often get irritations in the eyes, the eye drops I prefer cost B30 where I live and the same eye drops in Phuket just a few months ago cost me B120. My wife is the shopper of the family or I could give you more specific examples, but she has often mentioned how high prices are in the tourist areas. 

I would suggest you buy some goggles to wear when riding.