quote:

The solution is to sort out the mess in the Royal Forestry Department

yes ianb thats is what i have been saying all along....they need to look at how the places are being run...

if the cant operate without discriminating against people then something is wrong...

I believe a better option would be to set one rate for all and simply put donation boxes on site then those who feel we should pay more have a chance to do just that..

There is a lot of greed in Thailand and while double charging goes on more and more places will be influenced and give it a go, some hotels do it now after reading through some links i see on another post....

There can be no good achieved out of race related charges..

It is not the issue of the money involved because if i knew the money was going to the attraction then i for one would love to donate more, but charging one type of person ten times more is not the way to promote thailands tourist industry and help make any form of mult-cultural society...
Therefore not good for us..

For the people who feel these charges are justified i suggest you send your donations straight to the RFD in Thailand at least you know then that the money has got to where it is going anyway..

The rest of the worlds parks can survive without these practices so why cant Thailand??

Quick question.... if anyone knows the answer.

Does the same dual pricing go on in places like Malaysia and other touristy Asian countries.

Yes it happens in Hong Kong and certainly across east and west africa. It is also common in eastern europe but generally better hidden normally by insisting that foreigners pay with hard currency.

One restaurant in Hong Kong claims they charge more because foreigners get bigger portions .

ash

Just got home and I am so pleased that the Thai police system is not double priced as yet as I picked up my 7th get there quick toll today for a measely 154kmph 200bhat i think it is still a quite reasonable fee to get there quick, got a receipt the lot only another twenty or so to go to equal one in the UK and no endorsements

Mervyn, unless you are extremely fortunate, one day your "get there quick" toll wont be 200 baht; it will be some poor innocent's life. Will you think it's worth it then?

As for "ripping off" tourists, it certainly happens in London.

Nick, is this you?


Source: http://www.fistoffun.net/episodeguides/fistoffuntv0105.htm

quote:

Originally posted by Thaddeus:
Does the same dual pricing go on in places like Malaysia and other touristy Asian countries.

I don't think it is generally down to country, more down to a specific town or area. Certainly there are many national parks etc. in Thailand that make no distinction between falang and Thai as regards entry fees.

Just out of curiosity Thad, please breakdown touristy and non-touristy asian countries. I would hate to go on holiday to a country and be banned for being a tourist

quote:

Certainly there are many national parks etc. in Thailand that make no distinction between falang and Thai as regards entry fees

Are you sure that they are national parks lucky...
The RFD runs all Thailands national parks and thier director general raised all prices some time ago for foreigners....source

quote:

Originally posted by Noi & Nick:
Mervyn, unless you are extremely fortunate, one day your "get there quick" toll wont be 200 baht; it will be some poor innocent's life. Will you think it's worth it then?.

Nick why is it you always seem to have a caustic comment to make? what speed would you like me to do on a straight road dual carridge way, no junctions, good visibility, dry contitions and good road surface, just one car parked 50 metres off the road with a radar gun in radio contact with a police check about 5km further down the road (over the brow of a hill which I did slow down for).
By the way the police where very pleasant and we had quite a chat in Tinglish, sharing their coffee and some kanom that we had in the car (sticky rice in banana leaves. we stayed there about 15 minutes and not another car went past that is how quiet the road was.
I do consider I drive to the conditions, and realise that speed kills.

Mervyn,
I didn't think you drove too fast when you picked us up on Christmas day. I would certainly rather be in the car with you than lost in the middle of boys town with little and large.

quote:

I would hate to go on holiday to a country and be banned for being a tourist

Lucky

I think that Burma may not be an ideal tourist trap

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I would certainly rather be in the car with you than lost in the middle of boys town with little and large.

Are you looking at me......... and him.

I stand corrected Ian. Poor choice of words, I mean't local attractions like waterfalls,parks,ancient sites,gardens etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Thaddeus:

I think that Burma may not be an ideal tourist trap

It might be the biggest trap of them all

quote:

Originally posted by mervyn:
what speed would you like me to do on a straight road dual carridge way.......

The speed that is appropriate to the road, weather and traffic conditions. Conditions may mean that the appropriate speed is lower than the legal maximum, but it would not be higher.

Every day in every country people are killed by drivers who think that they are a 'good driver' and therefore the posted limit doesn't apply to them. Unfortunately this sort of driver wont learn until they kill someone, and then it will be too late.

Of course, excessive speed is not the only cause of road accidents, but if not the cause it is certainly a major contributing factor to most fatal accidents.

As for me making a "caustic comment," whilst you may think dangerous driving and putting the lives of others at risk is suitable for a throwaway comment designed to get a cheap laugh; I don't.

Anyway, this is way off topic, so if you wish to discuss this issue further then PM me or start a new thread.

quote:

or start a new thread.

PM would be great