It's all relative and the 5 baht scam

[Guest]

MadStockBroker said:

rmorris22 said:

..... and the farang makes about 60000 baht per month.....

 

 

English teachers maybe but I wouldn't get out of bed for 60 grand a month !

 

 

 

MSB

 

 

 

 

 

a very interesting statement considering the topic of the thread. would you care to enlighten us as well about your dick size?

[iuytrede]

double pricing is quite common in Europe. Not the examples from Western Europe mentioned above, but double pricing in the former communist countries. Prices for Westerners can be anything from 2 to 200 times the price for locals. You find "official" double pricing (like TAT's national parks) and you find double pricing by street vendors. As opposed to Thailand, double pricing by small private vendors in Eastern Europe means usually a mark-up of let's say 100 or 1000 %. Thailand's "5 Baht scams" (an almost unnoticeable markup of just 20 %) are relatively benign.

 

In Eastern Europe, you can hardly say this is based on race. It's based on the fact that you come from a rich country.

As more and more of these countries move towards EU membership prices there generally rise so there is often no more room for double pricing. Locals and Westerners - everybody pays the same inflated prices. When Thailand arrives at that stage, we won't have these discussions on the board anymore.

 

In Western Europe foreign visitors are actually subsidized. Asian backpackers from Hong Kong and Taiwan - not exactly poor countries anymore - happily use cheap and clean youth hostels whereas farang backpackers in HK and Taipei have to stay in the dumps that the private market offers (youth hostels are mainly for local Chinese). Many kinds of European railpasses - the budget tourist's transport of choice in Europe -can only be bought abroad and only if you have a foreign passport.

 

Oh, but Britain charges 60 pounds for a tourist visa and the US embassy uses a phone number that costs you 1 USD per minute to listen to a recording how to apply for your visa - and after spending 50 bucks for the phone it's another 50 bucks non-refundable application fee ... so we Westerners do have a way of getting our money back

[Guest]

All of this over a lousy 5 baht! What is the world coming to?

[pattaya127]

your side does always lose.

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Dude, we are all on the same side as yours, ie. farangs. Just think you guys draw too big a dagger about it, when it's so easy, sorry to repeat myself, to vote with your feet.

You can criticize Thailand all you want, and so will I, but I still think you love her maak maak, just like me. So, in the end, we vote with our plane ticket.

I hope Thailand never looks like Switzerland, BTW (i don't mean geography of course). Some here would cry a lot over it if that happened.

Cordially

 

 

FlyW:

it is pure racism

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Only if tourists (non-residents) are considered a race, IMO.

[Guest]

I think many of us can understand the whole "it is the principal" thing. What I hate is when the Thai's have that wicked little smile on thier face when they are ripping you off. Now that is a slap in the face!

 

I think maybe the learning lesson here is to always give the Thai's exact change or ask "how much". Maybe this simple lesson gets lost when you are not a newbie anymore. The Thai's are always two steps ahead of us....I think maybe some get too comfortable over there and forget this?

 

Rug

[lembeh]

elef said:

Hi BB,

 

if the museums are fully financed by the entrance fees or national taxes I agree. But if - and that's normally so - the local taxpayers pay most of the costs they have already paid more than you!

 

elef

 

Bollocks. Pure and simple. I have been paying tax since I have been here, and something like well over 70% ( and I *think* the number is actually about 90%, belive it or not) of Thais pay NO tax.

 

The double pricing is, pure and simply on race (or even more pissy, *perceived* race, as quite often other asians get admited on the Thai rate).

 

However, that being said, I am hitting about 50% for getting the "Thai rate" when pull out my Thai work ID card.

-j-

[Guest]

One year I visited probably over a dozen federal parks in the US with my girl friend. She was amazed that everybody else was paying to get into the parks, but we did not. Why? I was able to get an ID card that allowed me to enter the federal parks, along with all of my guest, for free. Cost of card - nothing. Why I am saying this, is that if we approach things from a different angle, for example from a business - like perspective, we should be able to buy at a lower price then our wives/girl friends can. They may be Thai, but normally we have more experience (age) and more education then they do. We should not look at it as a nationalistic or racial view point but from how we handle business transactions. We should strive to handle situations better instead of thinking we are being victimized.

[pattaya127]

something like well over 70% ( and I *think* the number is actually about 90%, belive it or not) of Thais pay NO tax.

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well, how much do these 70% make a year? Which situation is better, yours or theirs? Are you happy with your life in thailand? Just asking because sometimes, I sense a lot of bitterness or resentment behind the posts, but maybe it's the written form.

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

"how much do these 70% make a year?"

Some of that 70% makes a LOT of money.

 

I seem to remember that the Bangkok Post ran a list of Top 25 tax payers in the country a few years back. Several very rich Thais, who should be paying lots of taxes, were missing from that list.

 

Sanuk!

[pattaya127]

samesame here in the USA. Though these filthy rich thais have their own parks where no thais or farangs, uninvited may enter. Either that, or they'll have the public park or temple grounds closed or part perimeters barred by police.

Thailand is not the most equal country, nothing new, and thais are bigger wolves to other thais than to farangs.