Double pricing system in Thailand

[joey421]

Amen,Brother

[tucson]

I have been in Thailand for just over 2 years now. All I have to do is show my work visa and I pay no additional fee.

The simplified answer to those who consistently complain is that you can go home. When you choose to live in a country you choose to abide by their laws and customs, you do not expect them to convert to your expectations. Certainly there are many frustrations, I experience them all the time. But that is the price I pay to live and work here. You would not stay if it were too much for you. Pretty simple equation, staying in Thailand is a conscious choice.

[amazedat]

Simple solution, grin and bear it, then when Thai people come to your country, bearing in mind it is only the rich who can afford to do so, charge them double for everything. Furthermore, to make them really feel at home, have flower sellers, and touts of all trades, accosting them at their tables while they are eating. As these guys are Thailand's movers and shakers maybe they will have a re-think of policy when they return home. OH well, at least I have a dream.

[cspat64]

The conception that Farangs always have more money than local Thais is wrong. I am Thai/Canadian living in Canada. I have seen the homeless, the unemployed, and the lazy who just live on welfare. Wake up Thais, Farangs are no better. Farangs are not God or someone who the local should submit yourself to in whatever ways. There are good and bad Farangs. Rich and poor...Farangs maybe richer because of the currency exchange rate but that is going to change soon.. China and Russia said they would not honor the US dollar anymore in their trade...the US dollar is going down and down pretty soon. So don't think of Farangs as your father or god who you want to \\ //// the live blood out of them. They have their own problems too.

[Ian Wensor]

Thais who double price and rort falangs can be likened to adolescents with acne in that if and when it is cured, it often leaves scars that will disfigure the afflicted for life ... Thais must realise that unless and until they desist with their immoral practises , falangs will view Thailand as a virtual leper colony and avoid the place like the plague

[alpha]

Dear Ian, as a european freelance webdesigner i can tell you i have different pricelist if eg Porsche AG is asking for a website, than my flower shop around the corner. double pricing exists everywhere on the free market. thailand is no exception. but you are right to the point that it is disgusting to do it officially as for the Grand Palace in Bangkok - but its the same for the Tadj Mahal in Agra/India. so cool down a bit.

[thailand]

Double standards --> unfair. Do I agree that foreigners should be charged equally as Thais? Yes! I certainly agree. Now I have a question for you. Is it fair that Thais get lower salaries than foreigners? What is it that warrants us this lower pay? Our skin color. Our nationality. You see it in almost every company and school in Thailand. Foreigners, especially whites, get at least 50% MORE money that we do. Do I lack the degree? no. Do I lack the skill? no. Do I lack the ability to speak, read, and write English? no. Oh yes...I lack the skin color......pity.

Why have I never seen foreigners stand up for us on this? Do any of you care about our plight? Where is my advocate? Are any of you willing to take it up with my boss? After I talked to him about the unjust salary discrepancies, his reply was that whites needed more money because "they had a lot to pay for at home." What if I wanted to move to the States? Wouldn't I need the money as well? Grrr.. Double standards everywhere.

ps. even with my complaining, I do believe everyone should be charged equally.

[thailand]

1. When our children go abroad to study, we have to pay the international student fee...we pay MORE. A LOT more.
2. The ones who usually charge you extra are probably those who make a LOT less than you do. All they're trying to do is get out of the "unfavorable" circumstances there were born into. Born as a poor Thai --> cannot afford good education --> still poor and trying to make a living driving taxis and selling stuff to tourists, hoping that someday they will have 1/5th or 1/10th of what "farangs" have. 7000 baht versus 30,000 or even 70,000 baht.

When you come to Thailand, what do you do with your money? How many of you have NEVER tipped a girl in a bar? If you gave that same tip to a food vendor or a taxi driver, maybe they won't charge you extra.

[faranginkorat]

Dear K. Thailand,

I am an American and came here to manage a large industrial construction project for an American company.
We paid Thais who were fluent in English twice as much as Thais who were not for positions that had to interface with foreignors.
However, the largest salary was the project manager, and I can tell you it was a lot more than 70,000 THB.
Inclusive of expat benefits, like a house on the beach, car, driver, maid, local income taxes company paid, etc. it was about 1 million THB per month.
Why???
The company wanted top quality construction that can only be achieved when there is no corruption.
Once the management is putting project money in their pocket, the contractors are then free to substitute lower quality materials and labor and to dream-up all kinds of cost add-ons.
Management can no longer manage for fear of being revealed.
The company also wanted safety, and we worked 580,000 hours without a lost time injury compared to the construction industry average of a fatality on average for every 173,000 hours worked, and that number probably involves serious under-reporting.
I cost less than 1% of the total project cost, and everyone involved believed it was well spent.
You seem to think that is discriminatory.
Read the news.
Who can a foreign company trust here????????????
I am not going to complain about paying a couple hundred baht extra at a park.
However, if you are going to complain about expats here making higher salaries than Thais, maybe you should ask why they are getting paid more.

Farang in Korat

[faranginkorat]

And you might want to read todays article about Thailand's educational system ranking 47th of 58 surveyed.

I do not put much faith in the survey, however, as they appear to have measured everything except what people learned.

It is possible to spend a small amount of GDP on education, start when kids are 7, have 30 to 1 student-teacher ratios, and have excelkent results, as Finland does, but it takes parental support and participation.

Farang in Korat