"Double" charging of foreign tourists is killing our business, say Krabi long tail boat operators

[lahgon29]

So far I've not paid extra since having a Thai driving license and pink ID card. I'm in the North,  so not sure how I'd go down Krabi way, but no problems national parks,  Kong kaen,  Chiang Mai zoos etc. 

[KIWIBATCH]

Finally..........they have woken up......!!!

[wreckingcountry]

Strange way of thinking. Thai people don't travel, so we must pay a little more? 10 times is not a little. 1 time is too much.

Not strange to Thais! It can be national parks to buying an item in a market ! " falang pay more,he lot money "

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[Emster23]

31 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

"Double" charging?

40 (local) doubled equals 400 (farang)?

Maths on par with their ethics! 

Amen. What would the term be for charging 10x more? Deci-charging?

[wreckingcountry]

Why is it dirt poor Mexico can open all it's tourist sites and museums for free on Sunday's to locals and tourist alike but Thailand cannot?

Because it's Mexico! Thailand is getting one big reputation outside its bubble!


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[MartinL]

5 minutes ago, BlindMagician said:

This has been done to death ...

Yet it still always brings a big response from TVF members. That just demonstrates how emotive a subject it is for many foreigners living in Thailand. 

 

If the subject is important to posters here, it deserves to be raised again & again in the (vain??) hope that those in authority might notice and maybe ask themselves a few questions.

 

Of course, we all know that TVF posters' opinions are polarised on differential pricing and no amount of discussion here will change that  but it can get a grievance off your chest for a while.

 

 

[fantom]

4 minutes ago, lahgon29 said:

So far I've not paid extra since having a Thai driving license and pink ID card. I'm in the North,  so not sure how I'd go down Krabi way, but no problems national parks,  Kong kaen,  Chiang Mai zoos etc. 

I recently went up Doi Inthanon with a Thai group.

Showed my Thai licence at the pay booth and was told that I still had to pay 300 ฿ as they had changed the rules. The Thais in the car all paid Thai price.

I had the same experience in Krabi a few weeks ago.  Each time I insisted on showing my licence and (in Thai) pointing out that I live in Thailand whereas the Thai occupants of the car did not!!!

I think the boat owners in Krabi are on to something

[straylight]

Should start charging Thais accordingly for Disneyland etc.

 

[hdkane]

1 hour ago, taichiplanet said:

love it! They still think it is reasonable to charge foreigners only 5 times more instead of 10 times more. Personally i rarely go into anything if they charge me more than a Thai, especially if they try to be tricky and write the Thai price in Thai script.

I've had to educate my gf as to why double pricing is so offensive...she gets it...and is more than willing to walk away with me...as you said, it's the principle of the matter...and i don't give financial support to racism...

 

i have farang acquaintances who think it is not a big problem...i always think that they would have been quite happy riding on the back of the bus, with no problem...as a farang, i automatically pay about 20% for everything in Thailand...I had to "tip" to get electricity and water...I have to tip immigration, police, retailers, and the list goes  on for basic necessities...anytime I can take my business elsewhere I do...and I    tell them why I won't give them money...usually the Thais seem a bit confused...sometimes they get angry, which makes me happy 

[daveAustin]

10 years too late I'm afraid. And bearing in mind the long tail boat operators are only upset because they are losing money as opposed to any welfare for tourists. They are of the same mindset as the greedy so & sos that make these policies and would just rather the money in their pocket. Pfft!

 

UK national parks, which are beautifully kept, are open to ALL for FREE. I'm personally of the mind for the gov to charge Thais (aliens ) for the heck of it (many Thais visiting UK are more moneyed than I), but that would be a bit petty, no.

[prakhonchai nick]

44 minutes ago, Crash999 said:

Maintenance of the parks. Thais pay for it out of tax. Other countries do the same for out of state or out of country visitors, though not normally 10x more. 

Most Thais do not pay income tax, Foreign tourists pay tax in the form of 7% for hotels, restaurants, alcohol, etc.

Have you ever been to Ko Samet over a weekend, when the Thais visit in vast numbers. It takes all of Monday to clean upTHEIR mess Foreigners generally dispose of their rubbish in bins, not leave it all on the beach!  I imagine the same applies at all national parks.

[chrissables]

21 minutes ago, wreckingcountry said:

Not strange to Thais! It can be national parks to buying an item in a market ! " falang pay more,he lot money "

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I meant the guy who wrote the quote was strange in his thinking. The Thai's it seems don't seem to think it through at all.

[Alan Deer]

perhaps if more effort was put into statistical analysis of the effects of 2 tier charging then the government would chaNGE

the policiy.....but when has a thai authority ever made a policy decision based on real stats and reason?

[TheFishman1]

Paying 10 times more Sucks TIT

[badlad]

\ went to a golf course with 9 thai players the fee had already been agreed in advance but as soon as they saw me a price of more than double the thai price was demanded which i refused to pay so my fellow players all decided that they would each pay 10%of the extra cost ,very good of them to offer but i still refused and left them to play whilst i went for a game elsewhere, as others have said before it's the principle

[recom273]

I also see this as a problem for over inflating charges for everything ..

 

I live in a non-tourist area and when we travel it's by bike. My parents are here on holiday at the moment and after experiences in the past too terrified to drive a rental car.

 

So, we relied upon a car and driver last week, we went to Ratchapreuk gardens outside CNX, 1000B for the afternoon - no worries, the driver said - go to the temple high above the gardens before - another 300B - OK not a problem, but it was only 5 minutes from the gardens.

 

He then appeared to take us to Doi Inthanon the next day, we presumed 3300B was the cost of a driver for the day - no, when we stared asking him to go to waterfalls on the way, he told us no water, we went for a walk anyway - surprise surprise - a little, not impressive but enough. Then he mentioned that he was only contracted to go up the mountain and back and that he was usually home by lunchtime .. 

 

I have no reason to doubt the ferrymen are charging a good price, but over on Ko Lanta the other week chatting to budget tourists, 1200B for a 4 island trip on a longtail - I thought that was great value, we paid 3500B for a boat for the day in previous years for our family of 6 .. No, they replied, there were 15 on the boat ... now it doesn't take a genius to work out someone is making good coin on that single day. I know there is upkeep for the boat, fuel and labour aswell as a factoring for the low season. But still ..

 

Westerners on the whole aren't stupid - they know that Thais rip them off on every corner -- these guys are now feeling the pinch and looking for someone to blame.

[Pib]

3 hours ago, ourmanflint said:

what is the charge actually for? 

The honor of being allowed to view the beauty of Thailand which is normally reserved to only Thais.

 

Thai banksters have a similar belief when they charge you Bt220 per ATM withdrawal when using your foreign card....the honor of holding Thai baht in your hands.

 

Honorable people they are.

[Pattaya28]

Greed has taken control. Surprise Surprise.

[edwinchester]

1 hour ago, Crash999 said:

Maintenance of the parks. Thais pay for it out of tax. Other countries do the same for out of state or out of country visitors, though not normally 10x more. 

Foreigners pay tax in Thailand, vat, on virtually everything they buy even if they do not work.

[yellowboat]

1 hour ago, johng said:

well it seems some Thais have started to "smell the coffee" lets hope its a growing trend.

Here, here, they have started to learn upsetting people is bad business.  You make money by the volume of transactions, not trying to rip certain people off.  If you one cannot get the ethical part around one's head, then work on volume of transactions.  Met bar girls with greater ethics and business acumen than a number of business people. 

[SymS]

Normally if I go to a tourist attraction where I have to pay significantly extra over the locals (not only in Thailand, but throughout Asia), and I have souvenir sellers coming to me, I always tell them that I'm sorry, but the officer at the entrance took most of my money. :)

[Matt96]

2 hours ago, taichiplanet said:

love it! They still think it is reasonable to charge foreigners only 5 times more instead of 10 times more. Personally i rarely go into anything if they charge me more than a Thai, especially if they try to be tricky and write the Thai price in Thai script.

and it's perfectly reasonable. Thai society exists to make Thai people happy, not foreigners.

 

and foreigners will whine a bit and accept it. and those who can't afford 400 baht fee - who in Thailand needs them? anyway they are not going to spend significant amount of money -just cheap beer, cheap guesthouse and a cheap whore.

 

Tourist business exists to make money, not to make foreigners happy. it's not charity.

[sweatalot]

4 hours ago, manarak said:

Smile!

It is a victory for green environmentalists!

They do that everywhere in the world: pass some law to blow up the costs immensely, and then frustrated people stay away while business owners can only sit and cry.

Green environmentalists in Thailand?
I doubt this

[Matt96]

4 minutes ago, SymS said:

Normally if I go to a tourist attraction where I have to pay significantly extra over the locals (not only in Thailand, but throughout Asia), and I have souvenir sellers coming to me, I always tell them that I'm sorry, but the officer at the entrance took most of my money. :)

nothing wrong with that. it's better to take this money from you as an entrance fee that exchange them for a souvenir.

[Khun Robert]

The price of 400 Thb for entrence of the National Park Islands like Koh Poda, Chicken Island and Koh Phi Phi is there for many years.

Tourists not stay away because the price of National Park, the biggest problem is the Longtail Boat drivers.

 

Tourisme is less and changed to customers who prefer more quality.

But we need more and more longtailboats, 3 years ago there were 250 longtail boat for taxi around the beaches and

islands. Last year we had 700 boats and this year nearly 1000 boats.

 

The boat drivers pay a lot money to the "Longtail boat company" for a license and number to operate and he knows from an old friend

you will make shits loads of money transferring tourists. If you know somebody tell him this is the way to make money, buy a longtail boat,

pay for the number and sail around the beaches and fill your pockets.

 

In real life: buy a boat, pay your fees and wait in line with the other 1000 boats to hopefully have 1 trip a day.

Complain about National Park Fee, the price of gasoline etc and increase the rent price because you make no money.

Price 1 day private long tail boat tour to islands was 2 years ago 1600 Thb now 3500 Thb, not include National Park Fees.

Taxi ride to first island to stay on beach: 800 Thb a person an boat only goes with 8 people.

To compare: Speedboat tour to visit 4 Islands 2 years ago 800 Thb now 1000 Thb, not include National Park Fees.

Speedboats are fully booked

[Diamondbob]

4 hours ago, Suttisan said:

Was always annoying the dual pricing living in Thailand. As a holiday maker now I'll give Krabi a miss along with Koh Tao for obvious reasons. Had an argument with her when I had to pay 200 thb for Samet, she didn't understand it's the principle and not the cost. 

Agree completely, to be able to go around the island in Ko Samed, you need to enter the "National Park" which is currently guarded/supervised by the Military. To enter they charge foreigners (adults 200 THB and children 100 THB) but the fees for Thai nationals are (adults 40 THB and children 20 THB).
Also on golf courses there are different fees for foreigners and Thais.
It's really a shame that the government allow this practice and should be punishable by law!!!
Try in most organized countries to charge tourists/foreigners double or more and they will call foul ;-(

 

[recom273]

33 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

10 years too late I'm afraid. And bearing in mind the long tail boat operators are only upset because they are losing money as opposed to any welfare for tourists. They are of the same mindset as the greedy so & sos that make these policies and would just rather the money in their pocket. Pfft!

 

UK national parks, which are beautifully kept, are open to ALL for FREE. I'm personally of the mind for the gov to charge Thais (aliens ) for the heck of it (many Thais visiting UK are more moneyed than I), but that would be a bit petty, no.

Yes they are, but no they aren't .. they are administered by the National Trust, which is (as far as I remember) an accountable charity, that has members, publishes accounts and plans for improvement.

 

My folks tell me that just to park you car in most free national trust places is a fiver - however, you can buy a season ticket that allows free entrance to the 'special' places and free parking at all the parks/buildings.

 

In addition to the freebies there has always been a sense of belonging and collective good that the U.K. people do something for the good of future generations and visitors.

[ableguy]

Seems by reading past news that a large percentage of the enterancee fee finishes up in the pockets of the park officials, suspect this will never change in our life time.

[impulse]

If anyone pays thousands of dollars and takes their precious vacation time to visit Thailand, then grouses about having to pay $13 to visit an island, they have lost any sympathy or support I may have had.

 

I'm in favor of dual pricing, but for very selfish reasons.  Many of the venues I enjoy wouldn't be open, or at a poor level of amenities if everyone paid the ridiculously cheap Thai price.

[MartinL]

7 minutes ago, recom273 said:

Yes they are, but no they aren't .. they are administered by the National Trust, which is (as far as I remember) an accountable charity, that has members, publishes accounts and plans for improvement.

 

My folks tell me that just to park you car in most free national trust places is a fiver - however, you can buy a season ticket that allows free entrance to the 'special' places and free parking at all the parks/buildings.

 

In addition to the freebies there has always been a sense of belonging and collective good that the U.K. people do something for the good of future generations and visitors.

UK National Trust and National Parks are two entirely separate entities.

 

Entry to UK National Parks (as distinct from National Trust) most certainly is free since there are no entrance gates or toll booths. I could drive into any UK National Park and, apart from (maybe) a sign telling me I'd entered, I wouldn't know I'd crossed the boundary. My brother lived inside a National Park and I never paid an entry fee to visit him or to park my car in his village.