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

[johnnytuc]

15 minutes ago, retarius said:

It's racist.

Thais are racist

[MartinL]

6 minutes ago, Micbozy said:

In a way this is the easy solution to get rid of the low-budget tour groups tramping thru the national forests ...

Low-budget ... do you mean those who don't pay much to visit these places? Such as Thais?

 

As I said earlier; limit numbers and those who pay least will become non-preferred visitors. Thai-free zones, anybody (tongue in cheek)?

[nuananddon]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

What country is that?  It's certainly not in North America.  I've been paying discriminatory pricing to enter state parks and buy hunting and fishing licenses, and study in state universities all my life.  Same up in the Great White North where a foreign tourist can look forward to paying out the wazoo for a fishing or hunting license (which aren't required of anyone in Thailand, BTW).

 

Edit:  Not to mention scoring the Disney discounts based on having the correct state listed on my driver's license, and hotels that charge less because I hold an in-state drivers license.

Never thought of it that way, but, you are spot on there!

[NextStationBangkok]

If everything is paid by tourists, then what Thai government committed for public with the tax money ?

 

Sounds like Junta's are losing lot of income from other, now they are trying to squeeze from tourists.

 

Hope one day Cambodia will take over Thailand in tourism.

[yogi100]

10 minutes ago, helloagain said:

Yes you are so right. Its called thainesd. Write to your embasdy and ask them to do the same when thais want a visa. 20 times as much

 

That's pointless. When did you last see Thai tourists visiting your country?

 

We get very few Thai tourists in the UK. The vast majority of Thais could never afford it anyway. Those that do come are nearly all Thai girls visiting British men and it's those men that pay for the visas so all you'd be doing is making Joe Bloggs pay 20 times more money for his loved one to visit that he probably would not bother.

 

If Joe has to pay £300 or $400 for Noi's visa now he's hardly going to pay £6000 or  $8000 if they put it up 20 fold is he. I certainly would not. We'd only be punishing ourselves and things in the UK are already a big enough rip off as it is.

 

 

[vukovar77]

This is very unfair and I refuse to pay such a huge "farang tax"for a more than 3 years already.

Even I go with my Thai wife family,I do not want to go in.Maybe they think I am stinky,but I do not care!

It is the matter of human dignity,not about money!

[Wee Jimmy]

4 hours ago, tracker1 said:

Well 1 thing Minister you won't be getting 400 baht from this little black duck or any foreign tourists that visit me !

Ditto, Ditto,  Just had 7 guest whom I advised not to pay.  That's just a starter.

[abrahamzvi]

Does this fee apply only to non-Thai  tourists, or to all non-Thais, tourists or residents?

[Destiny1990]

May i assume that the Thai hospitals will now also shift  from their double pricing to ten times the price?

[Thechook]

1 hour ago, tagalong said:

Try Australia...Our national park in Sydney of over 100 years is FREEEEEEEEEE to all THAISSSSSSSS..and any other tourist.....

Same in Victoria, free even for Thais.  Took my wife down the Great Ocean Road and to the Otway National Park, absolutely beautiful and pristine.  My wife asked how much and I said free.  She was stunned and asked how do they make money?  I said it is a National Park and not a business, it's like the beaches and nobody owns them, they belong to everyone on the planet.

[TheFishman1]

Thailand at its Best TIT

[jesimps]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

What country is that?  It's certainly not in North America.  I've been paying discriminatory pricing to enter state parks and buy hunting and fishing licenses, and study in state universities all my life.  Same up in the Great White North where a foreign tourist can look forward to paying out the wazoo for a fishing or hunting license (which aren't required of anyone in Thailand, BTW).

 

Edit:  Not to mention scoring the Disney discounts based on having the correct state listed on my driver's license, and hotels that charge less because I hold an in-state drivers license.

The likes of you keep missing the point and just encourages the Thais to keep discriminating against farang.

The reductions in the US and elsewhere are for locals, oaps etc REGARDLESS of race. The lower prices here are just for Thais, ALL farang have to pay several times the price, even if they live locally, support Thai wife and kids etc. 

Multiple pricing here is racist and is morally wrong and I will continue to boycott venues that practice it. 

 

By the way, I no longer use my local fishing venue. The price for a days fishing went from 100 to 1500 baht overnight. I don't need a license but have to pay through the nose to the owners if I want to fish. In France my year's fishing licence cost 78 euros.

 

 

[anon4637435435]

Ive travelled the world and so has my thai family. They are ashamed of this country. All thais should be ashamed to treat people like this. I know they only see the money and not the inequality so for the only way for these resus monkey postive dna slave drivers to learn is to drive away all financial aid.

Just yesterday we told our neighbours we were nolonger supporting them. It was hard because ive never had to be tough but it hink a line needs to be drawn. The us and them mentality needs to be what it is. Iv been putting their kids through school, feeding them, sitting by there sick relatives in hospital when no one else will, maintenance on the house, utility bills, charge all the phones, etc because they are to pathetic to do anything so i said go ask your government for assistance now. In life you treat people the way you want to be treated as fat as im concerned. Theyve taken my money in an imoral fashion for too long. Time to treat thais the way they treat us. I will nolonger fix the roads, elec, drainage, get out in the rain in my excavator to save neighbours homes when flooding comes. Everyone can go to hell and ill enjoy my lavish lifestyle instead all be iy with now no savings thanks to caring about thais too much. Ive been avoiding my family for too long and always helping the pathetic peasants. No more. Cant wait to kick all the squaters off my wifes land later this week that we let be there because we felt sorry for them and helped them. No more. 

[irwinfc]

usually when one asks for a hand, the whole arm is taken. i hope that the greed being shown here gets them the dirt under a fingernail.

[SpeakeasyThai]

If i ever return to England or Australia i will open up a small business and wait for a Thai customer and charge only Thais 10 times more than anyone else. I wonder how the Thai smiles would react to that?

Oh, sorry i forget can't do as i would rightly be arrested and charged for being blatently racist.

[eggers]

Last week, in Chiang Mai/Rai & given discounts at various parks & other local attractions.

Understand Expat residents get discount by showing Thai drive licence or other proof of residency for entry to National parks & other tourist areas? 

[jesimps]

5 minutes ago, vukovar77 said:

This is very unfair and I refuse to pay such a huge "farang tax"for a more than 3 years already.

Even I go with my Thai wife family,I do not want to go in.Maybe they think I am stinky,but I do not care!

It is the matter of human dignity,not about money!

"Maybe they think I am stinky,"

 

Is that because you smell of money? Sorry, couldn't resist that :-)

 

[cyberfarang]

3 hours ago, Jessi said:

More discrimination by the Thai Government. Double pricing standards all over this Country.

The Government does it so all small business think its OK to rip off the tourist.

This is not about tourism, this is about discriminating against people who are not ethnic Thais. The report clearly states; foreign visitors, not tourists.

 

To me this is a slap in the face. As a long term retiree in Thailand I have a minimum of 800000 baht in a Thai bank and spend a minimum of 50000 baht per month, not working, not breaking any laws to remain here, all monies I bring over from abroad, I do not take even 1 baht out of Thailand except for my bank interest rates that I would get in any country where I decided to open a bank account if I am a resident.

 

I get no concessions for bringing over my British income, spending and investing my money in Thailand and yet I`m still considered a foreign visitor according to the Government here although in fact I am not a visitor, I am a resident and registered as a resident with immigration.

 

This is just penalisation for being born in another country, pure and simple.

 

 

[jesimps]

1 hour ago, Naam said:

correct! when our son visited us he got a Florida driver's license  and saved a big bundle visiting Disney, MGM, Seaworld and some other attractions.

Which he'd also have got if he'd been Thai, or any other nationality.

 

[dieseldave1951]

3 hours ago, jackinthebox said:

>The Tourism Ministry has reached a decision about the level of the national park entrance fee for foreign visitors

 

Ohhh,  Thank you for this Solomonic finding Mrs. Kobkarn! Was it hard to "reach that decision"? I am sure a lot of experience, expert knowledge, infield-research and nightlong meetings were necessary to come to this wise and prudent decision. Please allow me just one small remark: the entrance fee for foreign visitors WAS, IS and WILL BE 400THB and NO ONE expected a reduce! Because TIT. So why don't you just sh...t the <deleted> up?!

With tourism in massive decline and every Thai who has a vested interest tourists knows it, (apart from TAT) they deem it prudent to fix this rate

!!! brilliant a directive from those in power giving the green light to the rank and file to rip of tourists (only), 

Whats the difference between tourists and Thais visiting a national park,???after all we go for the same thing

MONEY and the fact on many occasions respect the area more than the local populous 

seems like there is a taste of ''i like my butter thick on my bread" i for one will not pay this 

10 fold entrance fee to anywhere

this fallacy that tourist can afford it will never die here in LOS

[MartinL]

1 minute ago, jesimps said:

The likes of you keep missing the point and just encourages the Thais to keep discriminating against farang.

The reductions in the US and elsewhere are for locals, oaps etc REGARDLESS of race. The lower prices here are just for Thais, ALL farang have to pay several times the price, even if they live locally, support Thai wife and kids etc. 

 

 

 

This has been repeated again and again yet there are still people who can't or won't see the very clear distinction.

[Lupatria]

An honest statement would be:

"Sorry we can't reduce the price as there are too many opens hands to cater. However, we give you some brandnew empty promises in return."

[Shawn0000]

4 hours ago, Smiley Face said:

Four hundred baht to be able to experience nature that has been trashed by the many pigs that visit the parks and throw their trash all over the place.  Perhaps if they used the revenue to police and clean the parks there wouldn't be such a push-back.  Thai citizens should be ashamed of their parks and how they are poorly treated and maintained.

 

I have seen rubbish in some of the most popular parks, but in the evening, after the hordes left, they came and cleaned everything up and they were spotless again by the morning, by in large I would say that they are among the cleanest places in Thailand.  It seems you are opposed to paying, have you actually visited the parks?

[DoctorG]

Just for comparison I lifted the following for NSW Aust.

 

Motor vehicle entry fees are charged at 45 of over 850 NSW national parks and reserves.

This fee relates to motor vehicles, not to people, so you only need to pay for each motor vehicle you bring into the park (including motorbikes). If you ride a bike or walk, entry is free.

 

The average price for these 45 parks appears to be 8AUD PER VEHICLE not PER PERSON. So a thai visitor being taken to a park would pay nothing.

 

As I said, just for comparison.

[MartinL]

3 minutes ago, cyberfarang said:

This is not about tourism, this is about discriminating against people who are not ethnic Thais. 

 

Wouldn't it create a real stink among those of Thai nationality if differential pricing was applied to Thai-Chinese, Thai-Vietnamese etc. etc. - those who aren't ethnic Thais.

[Shawn0000]

2 minutes ago, MartinL said:

 

This has been repeated again and again yet there are still people who can't or won't see the very clear distinction.

 

That's because the distinction made falsely by some posters is that it is based on race when in reality it is based on citizenship, living here as an expat (non-immigrant) does not get you the Thai discount, get permanent residency and it does.  I know in other countries having an address is enough, and I agree it should be here, but that does not translate to racism as it has nothing to do with race.

[jesimps]

1 hour ago, captspectre said:

been going on a long time, BUT the tourist seem not to give a dam! they still pay, just proves that there are charlie tuna's everywhere.

It's like those who pay to enter the "Floating market" in Pattaya. They're bussed in and so have the choice of paying or sitting on the bus for hours waiting for the others to return, because there's nowhere else to go around there. I suppose at the national parks, you'd have to wait by the gate until the bus returned.

 

[Khun Paul]

You are all assuming logic was used. That cannot be rue as THAI Governments or even Govt agencies have no logical thinking abilities  at all. .

[Shawn0000]

2 minutes ago, MartinL said:

Wouldn't it create a real stink among those of Thai nationality if differential pricing was applied to Thai-Chinese, Thai-Vietnamese etc. etc. - those who aren't ethnic Thais.

 

Exactly, but it does not, neither does it discriminate against those who are Thai-European, just those whose visa shows that they are not here permanently.

[Saraphee]

Just back from Laos. Price for most Wats or even places of interest is 3,000 kip for locals 10,000 for foreigners.

I could live with that and visited a few spots my Thai friend wanted to see.

I haven't visited any location of a similar nature in Thailand for many years and advise our visitors not to.

This mature and well meaning decision by the MOT will not change that, rather harden my attitude.