most BKK temples free

[pattaya127]

Could not resist. I have been a bit temple sightseeing the last couple days, and was afraid after our farang-fleecing discussions, prices would be up. Well, actually, I have only paid for one temple (seen WPK last year, did not go, it is the heftiest), WAT PO, and it was still the same 20 bahts as 12 years ago. Wat Benjamabopit was free and of course all the lesser ones too. I was only charged once, in Wat PO (ie.not double-priced) as my TGF got in free in Wat PO :: :: ::.

BTW, if some are interested by the traveling pix i am gathering as I go on, I will be happy to send you a link to them. Just let me know. Latest collection is the full 51 Buddah collection, complete with info plate, of Wat Benjamabopit. Though these images are hard to really shoot, as they are set against a whitewashed wall, and it does trick to the camera, even with the flash.

[sanukdee]

The more famous well known Wats aren't free... Wat Pho, Wat Traimit, Wat Arun, and Wat Phrae Kheo all charge falangs.

 

I don't have a problem if they charge a nominal amount to falangs and let the Thais in free; falangs view the wats as tourist attractions the Thai people go there for religious reasons.

[Pescator]

Neither do I. Although the entrance fee to Wat Phra Kaew can hardly be said to be nominal anymore.

But then again it cannot compete with Angkor Wat in Cambodia. 1 day entrance fee 20 US dollars.

 

Cheers

Hua Nguu

 

[samak]

wat po has backside gates, where you can get in without paying.

at wat ben there is normally a monk talking farang tourists into a entrance donation....

at wat phra kaeow look at all the non thai asian tourists that queue up in the free entrance for thai line; many chinese or japanese makes it; the ones that say hallo to the guard get caught immediately!

[Flashermac]

It always pisses off expats that the reason foreigners are charged to visit the major temples is that the Thais pay taxes to support them. In all the years I've lived here, I imagine I've paid a lot more taxes than the average Thai does in a life time. (Doesn't matter that the admission isn't much; it's just the principle. What it amounts to is simply descrimination.) But what has really make me shake my head is when foreign Buddhist monks are charged to enter the wat. If you are not a Theravada Buddhist in the proper Theravadan robes, it doesn't matter if you are a lifelong Buddhist monk. The Mahayan monks pay the same as the foreign tourists simply coming in to ooh and ahh. I've seen it happen with Korean and Chinese monks, plus fairly high ranking Tibetans.

[Flashermac]

<< at wat phra kaeow look at all the non thai asian tourists that queue up in the free entrance for thai line; many chinese or japanese makes it>>

 

 

A couple of years ago, Dr Giles Unpakorn, a half-English professor at Chulalongkorn Uni, was outraged when some underling gate guard at Wat Prakaew insisted that he and his family pay the foreign admission fee. Dr Giles' father was a national hero, a Free Thai officer in WWII who was dropped in to cooperate with the underground, the man who turned the Bank of Thailand into a success and the rector of Thammasat at the time of the 1976 student massacres -- after which he was driven into exile. (His statue stands in a prominent spot at the Rangsit campus of Thammasat U.) Dr Giles himself is a Thai citizen and a Thai civil servant, with the documents to prove it. His whole family are Thai citizens. But unfortunately, he does look a bit Farang-ish because of his English mother. As a Chula prof, he is head and shoulders above the nutcase at the gate on the Thai pecking order. But no way -- you must pay! Giles furiously took his family home and started writing letters to the papers about his treatment.

 

 

[Straycat]

[color:"blue"]But what has really make me shake my head is when foreign Buddhist monks are charged to enter the wat. If you are not a Theravada Buddhist in the proper Theravadan robes, it doesn't matter if you are a lifelong Buddhist monk. The Mahayan monks pay the same as the foreign tourists simply coming in to ooh and ahh. I've seen it happen with Korean and Chinese monks, plus fairly high ranking Tibetans. [/color]

 

That's just bloody plain sick!

 

Perhaps, something for the Chinese to pick up on now during the Holy Lord Buddhas Tooth Exhibition at 'Buddha Monthon', Nakhon Pathum?

[pattaya127]

I told my TGF about the double-pricing argument we often have on the board. She thought (and me too), that does not mean that thais do not pay, since she hardly knows anyone thai who has not made a donation yearly to some temple. For her, everyone pays his own way, I guess.

And usually, by the time I have finished a 20 bahts visit, she has already spent 60, in food or fruits, and 20 bahts worth of gold leaf maybe to put on the Buddha, or even buying an amulet with some effigy on it .

Today, in Ayuthaya, it was easy to skip the gates, but she would not accept me being dishonest. I paid , and skipped the other paying sites as they are so easily seen on the outside, plus there are so many temples free to visit around here, and it's basking in the atmosphere of the whole ruined city that is great.

I also asked her if she'd pay to visit a temple, even 200 bahts for WPK. She said yes. All i am saying is that the authorities in charge of the temples are the only ones who think there should be a double pricing policy, not thais in general. They're being scammed by their own gov as much as we do on other terrains.

 

PS:

About taxes. how does it work? How can we be sure one pays the right amount if , as i hear it, it's paid by the employer. Can you figure out yourself how much you owe the thai IRS, and then, do your actual taxes amount to the same number? Just curious.