Parking charges in Royal Garden

[KittenKong]

As of June 1 the parking charge structure in the Royal Garden has changed.

 

They have now imposed a charge of 30B an hour but anyone spending 100B can get two hours free, or 5 hours if you spend 3000B or more.

 

The catch is that in order to get the free time it seems that you have to go in person up to a desk on the first floor and get your ticket validated. The desk is poorly signposted. The automatic validation machines have been removed.

 

Personally I find this procedure much too tedious and time-wasting so I will probably just go elsewhere where parking is either free or simpler to validate. When I do go to the Royal Garden it's almost invariably to go to Sizzler anyway, and so I shall just use the branch in Central instead. I also occasionally go to Robin Hood in the Avenue and use the parking there, but there the individual outlets validate your parking ticket which is a much simpler arrangement.

[pegman]

Don't want the hassle pay the  ฿30? Too rich for you?

[KittenKong]

15 minutes ago, pegman said:

Don't want the hassle pay the  ฿30? Too rich for you?

 

A particularly stupid comment but no, I simply dont see the point of paying 30B in one place when I can park for free in another. I took the trouble of finding the desk and getting my ticket validated in order to know what the new procedure involves. Now that I know I will act accordingly.

 

If the Royal Garden had something that I wanted that was not available elsewhere then I might consider paying the fee, but in fact Royal Garden has nothing that I want that I cant get elsewhere. So elsewhere I shall go.
That said I do regularly spend several hundred Baht to drive to Bangkok and back for meals because I cant get the same meals here. But that's my choice. When I'm there I also dont pay for parking as validation is always done for free, or no validation is required at all.
Here I was just pointing out this change in parking conditions to other drivers who might be unaware of them. They are adults and can do what they like about it.

[NanLaew]

Thanks for the update. I guess they are struggling with the reduced parking spaces caused by Foodland taking over the lower basement.

 

I use RGP parking most times I am meeting my mates for a late afternoon beer on Soi Post Office and typically I got charged 10 baht when leaving after maybe 2-3 hours parking with no vailidation. Sometimes it would be 30 baht, probably on weekends when it is busier? Their arcane parking ticket validation has always been a chore... why can't they have the service desk on the ground floor for starters? But when the parking charge was so small, I never bothered with it. Anyway, since their parking charges are now the same as The Avenue, I will probably revert to using their parking since as KK says, their in-store validation is much more convenient. Grab something to go at McDonalds or the pizza place or pick up some milk at Villa and off you go.

 

Good luck with finding any cheaper or free parking anywhere in the area. Underneath Mike's Department Store springs to mind but TBH, I haven't parked there for quite a while and maybe they have some higher charges now? There was a decent pay-as-you-go car park inside Thip Plaza that the TQ had an agreement with for free parking but the owners inevitably turned that strip into (yet another) tourist tat market.

[dabhand]

KK, thanks for the update.

 

Was at RG early last week and they had a smart card system in place. No charge for the 1st couple of hours with a charge per hour thereafter. Was meeting someone at the hotel for an hour, so had no charge when exiting. Saw no signs indicating a change in the charging system - par for the course here.

 

was there before the opening time of 11am and was expecting it to be fairly empty. But no, it was quite busy so that may be the reason for the change in fee structure.

 

Presumably hotel guests can obtain a validation at the front desk. For those just visiting, looks like a limited shopping at Foodland will be the solution to avoid a parking charge, or just suck it up.

[newnative]

1 hour ago, KittenKong said:

 

A particularly stupid comment but no, I simply dont see the point of paying 30B in one place when I can park for free in another. I took the trouble of finding the desk and getting my ticket validated in order to know what the new procedure involves. Now that I know I will act accordingly.

 

If the Royal Garden had something that I wanted that was not available elsewhere then I might consider paying the fee, but in fact Royal Garden has nothing that I want that I cant get elsewhere. So elsewhere I shall go.
That said I do regularly spend several hundred Baht to drive to Bangkok and back for meals because I cant get the same meals here. But that's my choice. When I'm there I also dont pay for parking as validation is always done for free, or no validation is required at all.
Here I was just pointing out this change in parking conditions to other drivers who might be unaware of them. They are adults and can do what they like about it.

Thanks for the info.  I totally agree--30 baht an hour is ridiculous when other malls are free or the first few hours are free.  Royal Garden is really offering nothing special in regard to shopping or restaurants; they should be welcoming shoppers with open arms--and free parking.   If I have to pay for parking I'll just go to Festival, Marina, or Harbor.

[NanLaew]

5 minutes ago, dabhand said:

For those just visiting, looks like a limited shopping at Foodland will be the solution to avoid a parking charge,

But then one has to go from the bottom basement up 2 floors to get the Foodland receipt validated before heading back down 2 floors to get the car and leave. I need the exercise but I would think that most wont bother.

[johng]

 they should be welcoming shoppers with open arms--and free parking.   If I have to pay for parking I'll just go to Festival, Marina, or Harbor

Central Marina where charging for parking last time I went....20 baht if I remember correctly !
On 2 previous occasions
(after the renovations) they where not charging but had signs saying they would charge.

Tuk com car park is still free for the first 3 hours.

[JSixpack]

11 minutes ago, newnative said:

Thanks for the info.  I totally agree--30 baht an hour is ridiculous when other malls are free or the first few hours are free.  Royal Garden is really offering nothing special in regard to shopping or restaurants; they should be welcoming shoppers with open arms--and free parking.   If I have to pay for parking I'll just go to Festival, Marina, or Harbor.

 

There is something special now, under discussion: the new Foodland. Festival and Marina don't have one. Maybe Terminal 21 will? Harbor's great (Foodland close) if you're nearby but if you're in Central Pattaya it's not worth fighting the traffic to get there, depending on time of day.

 

You do get free parking for 2 hours if you spend B100 and validate. Not too convenient to validate if you're carrying a load of groceries!

 

Well, this is how the worsened parking shortage at RG is being alleviated. But really it was only a matter of time anyway.

[JSixpack]

28 minutes ago, dabhand said:

Presumably hotel guests can obtain a validation at the front desk.

 

That hotel. Not broadly applicable, unfortunately. Solution: We should lobby RG to work out a deal with the nearby short-time hotels on Sois Post Office and Yamato where our members normally stay. I mean, 3 hours would meet the maximum room rental limit and for our Fast Freddies should permit a bit of shopping as well. 

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

But then one has to go from the bottom basement up 2 floors to get the Foodland receipt validated before heading back down 2 floors to get the car and leave. I need the exercise but I would think that most wont bother.

 

Yes, that's the killer. Hopefully they will introduce the same system as the Avenue where each outlet can validate your parking ticket and you dont have to wander around unnecessarily, though I still think that one hour free would be better as that allows enough time for people to have a quick meal, or pay their electricity bill, or visit the bank, or get groceries, or even look for some other item that they may need but arent sure of where to find.
The idea of having to pay because I couldnt find what I wanted just puts me off looking there in the first place, and I suspect that store owners will discover this when customer numbers drop.

[newnative]

5 hours ago, johng said:

Central Marina where charging for parking last time I went....20 baht if I remember correctly !
On 2 previous occasions
(after the renovations) they where not charging but had signs saying they would charge.

Tuk com car park is still free for the first 3 hours.

 

I was at Marina the other day and there was no charge for parking--but I was there less than 2 hours.

[Oink]

The charge of B30 is clearly to discourage people, who in the past who have parked for free but do not shop there.

Seems to be working judging by the above comments.

Lets face it, you had to get your ticket validated under the old system, so not much has changed!

[digbeth]

I do admit using the RGP's carpark when visiting outside businesses like Hopf brewhouse in Soi Yamato or when going to Walking street

 

It used to be that to validate the ticket the information desk is at the 2nd road end on the ground floor where the escalators are, maybe they thought forcing people to walk up to first floor in the middle of the mall will drive foot traffic through the shops.... fair enough when they'd just validate you no question asked, no matter how much you spend. Sometime I'll even pay for the parking without bothering to go up to the validating station just because it's inconvenient.

 

But now that there's a minimum spend of 100 baht, (which I feel is fair) they should have validating desk on ground floor at both ends or at least in the middle escalator that go down to the carpark, going up 1 level is a convenience that'll drive people to Central

 

Parking there is a problem, at 9 before the mall even open the carpark is nearly full already, I suspect a lot is the staff in both the hotels and all the shops there taking up the space

[NanLaew]

47 minutes ago, digbeth said:

Parking there is a problem, at 9 before the mall even open the carpark is nearly full already, I suspect a lot is the staff in both the hotels and all the shops there taking up the space

I left my truck there overnight a few months back and when I picked it up around 8:30, there was only a couple of other cars in there. The new motorbike parking has possibly eaten up around 30 of the previous car parking bays but there's never been any excessive mall staff or hotel parking issues. I can't imagine that the extra morning cars are all Foodland customers so maybe another nearby car parking option has either closed or upped their rates causing more to start using RGP? Is the one on the empty plot of land north side of Soi 12 still available?

[KittenKong]

10 hours ago, Oink said:

The charge of B30 is clearly to discourage people, who in the past who have parked for free but do not shop there.

Seems to be working judging by the above comments.

Lets face it, you had to get your ticket validated under the old system, so not much has changed!

 

The old system was self-validation and no obligatory purchase. So I would say quite a lot has changed.

 

I fully understand that they dont want people parking there for hours on end whilst going to other nearby venues, but a one hour window of free parking would not encourage this.

 

I also wonder how you demonstrate to the RG validation desk that you have spent 100B if you have only visited your bank to make a deposit or update your passbook? You are still a valid customer. In the Avenue the banks all have their own stamps to validate parking.

[newnative]

11 hours ago, NanLaew said:

I left my truck there overnight a few months back and when I picked it up around 8:30, there was only a couple of other cars in there. The new motorbike parking has possibly eaten up around 30 of the previous car parking bays but there's never been any excessive mall staff or hotel parking issues. I can't imagine that the extra morning cars are all Foodland customers so maybe another nearby car parking option has either closed or upped their rates causing more to start using RGP? Is the one on the empty plot of land north side of Soi 12 still available?

Losing 30 parking places, when parking is already often very tight, to open a grocery store in a rather bad location in the mall to me wasn't a very smart decision.  I would have put the grocery store somewhere else in the mall rather than lose parking spaces--especially with Pattaya growing.  We had a hard time finding a parking space late morning the other day on a weekday--the cars were already double-parked.  If it's going to be a hassle to find a parking space we'll probably go elsewhere--especially if we are food shopping for the week. 

[NanLaew]

4 hours ago, newnative said:

Losing 30 parking places, when parking is already often very tight, to open a grocery store in a rather bad location in the mall to me wasn't a very smart decision.  I would have put the grocery store somewhere else in the mall rather than lose parking spaces--especially with Pattaya growing.  We had a hard time finding a parking space late morning the other day on a weekday--the cars were already double-parked.  If it's going to be a hassle to find a parking space we'll probably go elsewhere--especially if we are food shopping for the week. 

I'm not in town for a while but you should check if there's still the parking lot on Soi 12. Also check out the underground parking at Mike's Dept Store. The sudden early morning uptick in parking under RGP must be due to something other than Foodland. Maybe they increased the rates at the Wat Chaimongkol parking lot on Pattaya Tai?

[balo]

Parking at Mikes is 10 baht per hour but if you show a receipt from any of the shops incl the coffe shop you can get a stamp at the information desk .

[NanLaew]

14 hours ago, balo said:

Parking at Mikes is 10 baht per hour but if you show a receipt from any of the shops incl the coffe shop you can get a stamp at the information desk .

Thanks for the info.

[bbi1]

On 2017-6-2 at 4:24 PM, KittenKong said:

The catch is that in order to get the free time it seems that you have to go in person up to a desk on the first floor and get your ticket validated.

Geez, it's such a chore to take the escalator up one flight of stairs and walk a little bit to get your ticket validated. Doing a bit of exercise is good for people. Not to mention Royal Garden is a small shopping centre and certainly not far to walk from one end to the other.

[pegman]

On June 2, 2017 at 5:17 AM, KittenKong said:

 

Yes, that's the killer. Hopefully they will introduce the same system as the Avenue where each outlet can validate your parking ticket and you dont have to wander around unnecessarily, though I still think that one hour free would be better as that allows enough time for people to have a quick meal, or pay their electricity bill, or visit the bank, or get groceries, or even look for some other item that they may need but arent sure of where to find.
The idea of having to pay because I couldnt find what I wanted just puts me off looking there in the first place, and I suspect that store owners will discover this when customer numbers drop.

Minor International, the mall owner, also owns many of the hotel, retail stores and restaurants. The American owner is a very shape, selfmade operator who likely knew what portion of parked cars and bikes were from customers. 

[newnative]

4 hours ago, bbi1 said:

Geez, it's such a chore to take the escalator up one flight of stairs and walk a little bit to get your ticket validated. Doing a bit of exercise is good for people. Not to mention Royal Garden is a small shopping centre and certainly not far to walk from one end to the other.

It would be a chore if you are loaded down with groceries.

[JSixpack]

6 minutes ago, newnative said:

It would be a chore if you are loaded down with groceries.

 

Exactly. And some of those groceries might need to go into the fridge ASAP.

[newnative]

4 hours ago, pegman said:

Minor International, the mall owner, also owns many of the hotel, retail stores and restaurants. The American owner is a very shape, selfmade operator who likely knew what portion of parked cars and bikes were from customers. 

If the owner has any business smarts he'll change his poor method of validating parking.  Foodland, at least, should be able to validate on-site since it's down in the basement. 

[bbi1]

1 hour ago, newnative said:

It would be a chore if you are loaded down with groceries.

I haven't looked, but is there no lift there? Otherwise go put them in your car then go for a leisurely stroll back up for some exercise :)

 

1 hour ago, JSixpack said:

 

Exactly. And some of those groceries might need to go into the fridge ASAP.

lol those groceries can't wait a few mins in an aircon shopping centre and are going to get spoilt not being in a fridge?

[newnative]

41 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

I haven't looked, but is there no lift there? Otherwise go put them in your car then go for a leisurely stroll back up for some exercise :)

 

lol those groceries can't wait a few mins in an aircon shopping centre and are going to get spoilt not being in a fridge?

Parking garage isn't airconditioned and ice cream melts pretty fast.  I think you're missing the whole point, though.  Foodland sells groceries and I assume they hope you come in a buy a whole shopping cart full of food--and I usually do.  So, you've checked out and, indeed you have your shopping cart packed full of food.  Now, how to get the parking validated.  Hmm.  Yes, option 1, you can wheel the groceries over to wherever you've parked and load the car and then walk back and wait for the small, rather slow elevator.  Then make your way up to wherever the validation place is, get validated, walk back to the elevator, wait some more, then get back down to the basement and try to remember where your car is. Or, option 2, wheel your grocery cart to the elevator, get on the elevator, hoping nobody else is also waiting to get on because then you and the cart probably won't fit, and repeat the option 1 process only this time dragging your loaded cart along for the ride.  Or, option 3, you're at the checkout counter at Foodland and the clerk stamps the validation on your grocery receipt and, presto, you're done and can be on your way.

[bbi1]

31 minutes ago, newnative said:

Parking garage isn't airconditioned and ice cream melts pretty fast.  I think you're missing the whole point, though.  Foodland sells groceries and I assume they hope you come in a buy a whole shopping cart full of food--and I usually do.  So, you've checked out and, indeed you have your shopping cart packed full of food.  Now, how to get the parking validated.  Hmm.  Yes, option 1, you can wheel the groceries over to wherever you've parked and load the car and then walk back and wait for the small, rather slow elevator.  Then make your way up to wherever the validation place is, get validated, walk back to the elevator, wait some more, then get back down to the basement and try to remember where your car is. Or, option 2, wheel your grocery cart to the elevator, get on the elevator, hoping nobody else is also waiting to get on because then you and the cart probably won't fit, and repeat the option 1 process only this time dragging your loaded cart along for the ride.  Or, option 3, you're at the checkout counter at Foodland and the clerk stamps the validation on your grocery receipt and, presto, you're done and can be on your way.

Option 3 sounds fantastic if they would do that. Why not do what they do at Tops in BKK, just have the stamp on the counter of the "Customer Service" counter and the customer just takes the stamp and stamps it themselves. But then again, that leaves it open to anyone to park for free, even if they don't buy anything.

[KittenKong]

11 hours ago, bbi1 said:

Geez, it's such a chore to take the escalator up one flight of stairs and walk a little bit to get your ticket validated. Doing a bit of exercise is good for people.

 

Tell that to the disabled.

[JSixpack]

9 hours ago, bbi1 said:

I haven't looked, but is there no lift there? Otherwise go put them in your car then go for a leisurely stroll back up for some exercise :)

 

Duh. Maybe you're on a motorbike.

 

Quote

lol those groceries can't wait a few mins in an aircon shopping centre and are going to get spoilt not being in a fridge?

 

Yours could but I want mine in the fridge ASAP as I said. Next.