Thailand to collect 400-baht national park entrance fee from foreign visitors

[Shawn0000]

Just now, SoilSpoil said:

 

BS. Thais up to 18 also have free access to the Louvre.  EU citizens up to 25 do. So I, a EU citizen, have to pay the exact rate as a Thai of my age. Telling half truths is something you're quite good at, I've noticed.

 

It matters not, it is still dual pricing, something some of the poorly informed on here seem to think is illegal in Europe, turns out it is not.

[Notadoctor]

6 hours ago, Shawn0000 said:

 

That would be you making the assumption, not sure how you could have arrived at it as the parks do not release a budget showing how they spend the admission fees. Anyway, the year they introduced the dual pricing foreign visitor numbers at paid parks increased by 10.83% to 1,316,579, raising an additional 300 million baht, of course the largest part of their budget is from tax but, as was seen back in 1998 as they reached a crisis point and decided to change the fee system, the parks budget allowance is not enough, priorities are education and health, and the parks need to charge to support themselves, in 1998 they charged everyone 5 baht, now they charge much more but numbers are way up and they are surviving financially.  

You need to get up to speed.

[connda]

Spoken like a bureaucrat. <blah blah blah blah blah.....>

[Shawn0000]

18 minutes ago, Notadoctor said:

You need to get up to speed.

 

Come on then, enlighten us to the details of their budget that they have not released.

[elliss]

On ‎06‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 7:16 AM, catman20 said:

vote with your feet.i will not be going to any national park or beaches. all farangs need to stick together and do the same.

      Correct ,  vote with your feet , and go home .

       LOS , too many foreigner .

[docshock13]

On 3/6/2017 at 7:16 AM, catman20 said:

vote with your feet.i will not be going to any national park or beaches. all farangs need to stick together and do the same.

My thinking too. Why pay to see a rubbish tip when it is right outside your door? And no throngs of ppl and touts selling trinkets and elephant tours. 

That being said, there are some beautiful places and people in Thailand off the beaten track. Same like any country. 

[Karry Yokie]

On 3/5/2017 at 4:16 PM, catman20 said:

vote with your feet.i will not be going to any national park or beaches. all farangs need to stick together and do the same.

Agreed! So if a westerner goes to a park with his Thai wife,  he pays THB400 and she pays THB40. I don't suppose that technically fits into the category of 'racism' by any chance?

 

Tell you what, Thailand, you can stick your parks where the sun doesn't shine!

[chivo]

Whenever I went to Khao Yai Nat'l Park, I (american) showed my Thai driver's license, and then they only charged me the Thai price...

 

not sure if same holds true for Samed etc....

 

 

[rmacee]

Went to the Lotus lake near Udon ..400bt (£10) ..for a boat trip around a Lotus mess ..having a laugh ..off we went   ..

[yogi100]

On 06/03/2017 at 9:07 PM, wakeupplease said:

Did you miss out on schooling?

 

Got a dictionary, can you read? or get a friend to google, but here is the correct answer

 

Racial discrimination is when a person is treated less favourably than another person in a similar situation because of their race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin or immigrant status

 

True Scots do know the law

 

 

 

 

What's that meant to mean a

On 06/03/2017 at 9:07 PM, wakeupplease said:

Did you miss out on schooling?

 

Got a dictionary, can you read? or get a friend to google, but here is the correct answer

 

Racial discrimination is when a person is treated less favourably than another person in a similar situation because of their race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin or immigrant status

 

True Scots do know the law

 

 

Scottish and English people are of the same race.

[selftaopath]

On 3/6/2017 at 8:10 AM, cheapskatesam said:

Somebody should start a thread on TripAdvisor asking all farang to boycott. The average Farang /  Russian family on holiday will pay it thinking its normal.  

 

Do Thais double price Chinese tourists? Is there some kind of "fellow Asian" brotherhood that goes on? 

Or one can "share" the post on G+ etc. The word will get out.

[Shawn0000]

2 hours ago, chivo said:

Whenever I went to Khao Yai Nat'l Park, I (american) showed my Thai driver's license, and then they only charged me the Thai price...

 

not sure if same holds true for Samed etc....

 

 

 

I suspect it is largely down to your attitude, I have been charged the local rate many times entering parks, I have seen so many foreigners in Thailand belligerently making demands, pointing at the person they are speaking to, raising their voice and cursing Thailand, those types don't get discounts, and quite frankly, I am not missing them in the parks.

[Chip Allen]

What morons. Duel pricing taken to its logical conclusion.

[dominique355]

When the Minister of Tourism says "foreigner", she actually means "caucasian" and "african", because all Asians will not have to pay the 10 fold admission fee. It has nothing to do with nationality but all with race.
Shame on you!

[metisdead]

Some troll posts have been removed. 

 

Off topic bickering posts about economic migrants have been removed as well as the replies. 

[KMartinHandyman]

A little perspective on the righteous indignation over dual pricing. So far there have been 400 posts on this topic and if each post represented a foreigner who refused to enter the parks it would equal the loss of 160,000 baht to the system. Compare that to the millions of visitors who are paying without question and have never heard of thaivisa.

[Shawn0000]

14 minutes ago, dominique355 said:

When the Minister of Tourism says "foreigner", she actually means "caucasian" and "african", because all Asians will not have to pay the 10 fold admission fee. It has nothing to do with nationality but all with race.
Shame on you!

 

Utter nonsense, the odd foreign Asian gets charged the Thai rate without them noticing but normally they are charged the foreigner rate, do you really think they are going to miss out on the fees from their largest tourist group, the Chinese?

[Shawn0000]

5 minutes ago, KMartinHandyman said:

A little perspective on the righteous indignation over dual pricing. So far there have been 400 posts on this topic and if each post represented a foreigner who refused to enter the parks it would equal the loss of 160,000 baht to the system. Compare that to the millions of visitors who are paying without question and have never heard of thaivisa.

 

Exactly, they are now taking about half a billion from foreigner tickets, they really aren't going to miss a few expats.

[tomacht8]

1 hour ago, Shawn0000 said:

 

Utter nonsense, the odd foreign Asian gets charged the Thai rate without them noticing but normally they are charged the foreigner rate, do you really think they are going to miss out on the fees from their largest tourist group, the Chinese?

That is not correct.
The major tour operators with Chinese customers have  package prices with the parks and other attractions.
Wholesale price for chinese customers in tourist buses.
There are no queues in front of the cash booths, this is already arranged before.
Otherwise the Chinese tour operators could not hold their low prices.

[Ace of Pop]

I want more than 400 Bht to go in yet alone pay them.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[survivalblue]

400 baht should include a park ranger wildlife interpreter and hiking guide.

Make it worthwhile. 

 

[Naam]

40 minutes ago, survivalblue said:

400 baht should include a park ranger wildlife interpreter and hiking guide.

Make it worthwhile. 

 

and free beer!

[balo]

I wonder if the Chinese have to pay 400 baht ?  This is probably discrimination based on skin color. 

[Notadoctor]

On 07/03/2017 at 6:19 PM, Shawn0000 said:

 

Come on then, enlighten us to the details of their budget that they have not released.

I think it us up to you to find out the background info before you post on a topic....your info is inaccurate and wide of the mark. I think it is unfortunate that rather than inform yourself about the basics of NP funding and management you prefer to engage in schoolboy type facile arguments. It is however quite typical of many of "opinions " expressed about the situation that they are expressed from a position of only partial knowledge and a large amount of assumptions. As said, you need to get up to speed but it is up to you to inform yourself.

[Shawn0000]

53 minutes ago, Notadoctor said:

I think it us up to you to find out the background info before you post on a topic....your info is inaccurate and wide of the mark. I think it is unfortunate that rather than inform yourself about the basics of NP funding and management you prefer to engage in schoolboy type facile arguments. It is however quite typical of many of "opinions " expressed about the situation that they are expressed from a position of only partial knowledge and a large amount of assumptions. As said, you need to get up to speed but it is up to you to inform yourself.

 

Wow, are you actually saying that I should inform myself of others assumptions rather than learn the facts?  Have the parks released a budget that details how the entrance fees are spent or not? All I see is an article with someone from the tourism ministry stating that they have not.

[Shawn0000]

8 hours ago, tomacht8 said:

That is not correct.
The major tour operators with Chinese customers have  package prices with the parks and other attractions.
Wholesale price for chinese customers in tourist buses.
There are no queues in front of the cash booths, this is already arranged before.
Otherwise the Chinese tour operators could not hold their low prices.

 

The only foreign groups who get the local price at national parks are educational groups, I don't know where you got that about Chinese groups getting in cheap but I think you just made it up, right?  What on earth would queues have to do with the price?  Their rep goes up to the office while they are in the bus, not prearranged at all, I have seen it myself.  And the Chinese tour operators are not always low priced, they are available in a wide range of prices, not all get to do things like visit national parks, presumably due to the cost of the tickets.

[Mosha]

Punyaban waterfall Ranong, even at local prices is a rip off. You basically pay to sit in a restaurant. Best view is free, from the highway.

Sent from my iris 505 using Tapatalk

[Notadoctor]

There are some vey distorted perspectives on how the parks re funded.

it's not racist, it not a conspiracy against foreigners its not even a misconception about foreigners ability to pay  it's not even effective...it is just a lie, a smokescreen to cover up the authorities inaction.....

 

Basically the funding for NPs comes from the government’s coffers and successive government are deliberately trying to dodge their responsibility by diverting attention away from themselves and claiming that entrance fees make a difference - this is bull.  Entrance fees contribute little as they are affected by the WTP factor or are too small to make a difference.

 

Thailand has a huge number of NPs of varying sizes and conditions.

The problem has been that although the number of parks and the areas covered has increased exponentially, the funding has remained almost static.....this means with every new opening the funding has had to be spread more and more thinly.

People bandy about figures for numbers of visitors as if they are real or even relevant - the fact is that visitors paying entrance fees rarely helps.

 

Parks like Khao Yai and attractions like Doi Suthep accept large numbers of visitors - mostly Thais who pay only a “nominal fee.......research has already shown in these places that WTP would allow considerable price increases to Thai visitors and this in turn should be accompanied by the abolition of the 2-tier system........

 

Other larger or less visited parks have vey few visitors throughout the year and the numbers of foreigners are in all respects negligible.....therefore have not noticeable effect on income for the park.

 

 

In fact the whole concept of charging both for Thai people and foreigners is basically flawed and needs to be scrapped.......but it is the ignorance and obduracy of the authorities that is preventing this and as a result perpetuating the underfunding and concomitant damage to wildlife and the environment.

 

What we are witnessing is a slow and painful disaster - the loss of Thailand’s remaining natural environment, in the hands of incompetent administration.

 

The solution which has been researched in places like Khao Yai is to tailor admission fees to the facilities offered (most of which need improving) and the WTP of the customer demographic. This does not include a 2-tier system, and a one-price-fits-all blanket charge throughout the country is just nonsense.

 

If extra funds need to be raised from the visiting public a far more effective way is though “value-added experience” - visitors are encouraged to make use through choice the  facilities, activities and products that reflect the particular nature of the attraction or park they are visiting. This has been shown time and again to make more money that admission fess and creates a much higher level of customer satisfaction.

 

Furthermore with correct management of the areas in their charge the DoNP can dramatically increase the numbers of visitors without increasing damage to the environment -

 

It is essential that the government faces up to their responsibilities and rather than hiding behind the non-issue of entrance fees, addresses the reality of the situation and increases funding to ALL National Parks and related facilities; if this is achieved, it would improve the environment, improve the experience and improve the conservation of wildlife. Charging foreigners extra is just self destructive on so many levels and will NEVER solve the problem....although that appears to be what the authorities would have us believe.

 

 

 

 

[Shawn0000]

42 minutes ago, Notadoctor said:

 

There are some vey distorted perspectives on how the parks re funded.

 

it's not racist, it not a conspiracy against foreigners its not even a misconception about foreigners ability to pay  it's not even effective...it is just a lie, a smokescreen to cover up the authorities inaction.....

 

Basically the funding for NPs comes from the government’s coffers and successive government are deliberately trying to dodge their responsibility by diverting attention away from themselves and claiming that entrance fees make a difference - this is bull.  Entrance fees contribute little as they are affected by the WTP factor or are too small to make a difference.

 

 

Thailand has a huge number of NPs of varying sizes and conditions.

 

The problem has been that although the number of parks and the areas covered has increased exponentially, the funding has remained almost static.....this means with every new opening the funding has had to be spread more and more thinly.

 

People bandy about figures for numbers of visitors as if they are real or even relevant - the fact is that visitors paying entrance fees rarely helps.

 

 

Parks like Khao Yai and attractions like Doi Suthep accept large numbers of visitors - mostly Thais who pay only a “nominal fee.......research has already shown in these places that WTP would allow considerable price increases to Thai visitors and this in turn should be accompanied by the abolition of the 2-tier system........

 

 

Other larger or less visited parks have vey few visitors throughout the year and the numbers of foreigners are in all respects negligible.....therefore have not noticeable effect on income for the park.

 

 

 

In fact the whole concept of charging both for Thai people and foreigners is basically flawed and needs to be scrapped.......but it is the ignorance and obduracy of the authorities that is preventing this and as a result perpetuating the underfunding and concomitant damage to wildlife and the environment.

 

 

What we are witnessing is a slow and painful disaster - the loss of Thailand’s remaining natural environment, in the hands of incompetent administration.

 

 

The solution which has been researched in places like Khao Yai is to tailor admission fees to the facilities offered (most of which need improving) and the WTP of the customer demographic. This does not include a 2-tier system, and a one-price-fits-all blanket charge throughout the country is just nonsense.

 

 

If extra funds need to be raised from the visiting public a far more effective way is though “value-added experience” - visitors are encouraged to make use through choice the  facilities, activities and products that reflect the particular nature of the attraction or park they are visiting. This has been shown time and again to make more money that admission fess and creates a much higher level of customer satisfaction.

 

 

Furthermore with correct management of the areas in their charge the DoNP can dramatically increase the numbers of visitors without increasing damage to the environment -

 

 

It is essential that the government faces up to their responsibilities and rather than hiding behind the non-issue of entrance fees, addresses the reality of the situation and increases funding to ALL National Parks and related facilities; if this is achieved, it would improve the environment, improve the experience and improve the conservation of wildlife. Charging foreigners extra is just self destructive on so many levels and will NEVER solve the problem....although that appears to be what the authorities would have us believe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They increased the budget by 500 million baht last year and their revenue from ticket sales was 1.82 billion, almost 20% of the total 10 billion baht budget and about double the revenue raised the year before, the decision to increase ticket prices was made in the 90's to ease the strain on the taxpayer, since then the budget has still increased by about 8 times within the same time that you claim they used the ticket price increases to avoid increasing the budget, and it is now approaching a 10,000% budget increase since 1990, with a big difference being that now the ticket sales approach 20% of costs while before they were less than 1%.

 

I have no idea why you think charging foreigners more is self destructive, it happens throughout the developing world, has happened at the parks in Thailand since the 90's and since then foreign visitor numbers have massively increased, revenue has increased and the parks have made some of their biggest achievements.  

 

The parks already make money through value added experience; from their accommodation, camping, shops and restaurants, but no one wants to see the parks developed like they have done in some countries, the good thing about Thai parks is that they are managing to get people to visit and pay without having to disturb the forrests, people are quite happy to camp on the edge and not venture more than a few KM's into the park, that is perfect from a conservation perspective, you make it sound as though they are not succeeding, like a few grumpy expats threatening to boycott who probably never went anyway is evidence over the doubled revenue last year.

[optad]

On 3/8/2017 at 2:26 PM, chivo said:

Whenever I went to Khao Yai Nat'l Park, I (american) showed my Thai driver's license, and then they only charged me the Thai price...

 

not sure if same holds true for Samed etc....

 

 

Like most, i use the licence, sry, present the licence and ask for local rate and recently did so on Samet with small luck. The 'ranger' descended like Johnny Weissmuller swinging through the trees, landing in the surf as the boats arrived on the samet sand to whip up  the fees. He had all sorts of receipt books in hand. We stuck a deal after some seriously haggling in passathai , wife at thai rate and me half the farang rate. I think it was more in deference to the audience we had and attention he was getting that that accord was made in thai. How that works i still do not know but that was what happened less than twelves months ago. Everything is negotiable when they are pocketing 50 percent of the fee.

 

It is a significant increase for koh samet in particular given access. Also, the very poor management of that island's effluent waste, particularly beachfront resorts, makes this ruling more pathetic. Those posting  in favor really do not have much to hang their hat on given the manner in which funds are spent in these parks, in a needs analysis sense let alone pure ethics.

Edited March 9, 2017 by optad