Is 'dual pricing' on the increase

[Tomtomtom69]

I was disgusted when I found out KFC have dual pricing for Thai/Falang on thier home delivery service here.

I have not and shall not ever eat there again.

Dual pricing isn't the reason you should avoid KFC.

There is no dual pricing on KFC home delivery. Another Thai visa myth.

[Tomtomtom69]

Absolute madness.......but for this Gym....no problem.

Oh...i seem to heard they went bankrupt....a new sporting business is rising up.....

lets wait and see.

Name and shame this fine gym please.

(At least they wrote 'thanks')

Simple solution - go to Fitness First or another multinational place. Mom and pop businesses like this gym will go out of business quickly enough if no one is stupid enough to pay their fees.

[Tomtomtom69]

i employ my own form of dual pricing by always leaving a small tip, 20 or 40thb. is worth it to see the look of surprise from the guy who filled up my pickup at the gas station. stuff is so cheap here paying an extra dollar here or there dose not make much difference. having a thai drivers licence and speaking a few words of thai normally gets around the double pricing thing. i was just in new zealand where the topic of making national parks more expensive for tourists came up. i doubt it will happen but it was still being discussed.

You tip for having your pickup filled with gas? You must be the only one to do that. I'd sooner self-service anyway with the reluctant reduction in price. Plus I don't think I'd get 12 liters into my 8 liter can as has happened a few times when filled by an attendant here.

i love the look of surprise i get tipping for the guy fueling my pickup. last guy did a great job of cleaning my windscreen while truck was being fueled. he did such a great job i gave him 40thb. is nothing ontop of the 1000thb i normally put in.

believe it or not it is illegal for a foreigner to fuel his own vehicle. guy was done filling up his motorbike a few years back, story is they were watching him as he was renting out motorbikes in competition with the thais and that was the best way to get him.

What a crock. First of all, most "Thais" filling up your tank are actually Burmese or Cambodian. If that were true, why aren't they all being arrested?

Secondly, there are a couple of self-service petrol stations where you fill up your own tank. All of them operated by Bang Chak. I haven't seen any recently, not sure if they've disappeared but as of 2-3 years ago I used to visit one and everyone fills up their own tank there.

The reason why there are still people filling up your tank for you is because labour is cheap here. Eventually there will come a day when this practice comes to an end. In Malaysia, at nearly every petrol station you fill up yourself but you have to pay first.

And really, tipping someone for cleaning your windscreen? That's just ridiculous.

[Tomtomtom69]

Dual pricing doesn't bother me, as long as it's within reason. I'm a farang; I'm rich compared to most Thais. A 20-30% markup on some things doesn't bother me. But a 100% or more markup? Nope, not gonna accept that.

I have to say, though: a respectful attitude and solid command of Thai goes a LONG way. I almost never get charged more than the locals for most things. And if it's an establishment with posted "farang prices"? I'll just (SILENTLY--this is important, no "well, you'll be getting none of my business, sir or madam!" posturing) take my business elsewhere. Example: I would never get a massage in a shop oriented toward farang tourists that charges 300 baht an hour or some similar ridiculous price. I'll go to a place that charges the correct price of 200-300 bath for two hours. Simple.

Are you saying that these massage places charge 300 only for "farang"? More than likely, they will charge everyone 300 but Thais just don't frequent these places.

My principle is I'll pay whatever they're asking as long as everyone else pays the same as me. For example, I'd much rather eat a 1000 Baht steak in an expensive restaurant than pay 60 Baht for a crap bowl of noodles where a local would pay only 40. That is discrimination. It's the principle that matters, not the amount.

That was a bit of an extreme example but fortunately, I just don't encounter all this dual pricing nonsense. I think it says something about the types of businesses that some farangs frequent. The only times I know it will occur are at some tourist attractions such as national parks and temples. In which case I will refuse to go in.

When I go to a restaurant I usually choose sit down restaurants, both independent and chain restaurants with proper menus and prices displayed. Hairdressers - I go to the ones located in shopping malls or other busy places. There are plenty of nice "salons" that charge only 100-120 Baht for a nice haircut where they shampoo your hair 3 times. I once went to a local hole in the wall hairdresser in Lampang where I paid just 40 Baht, but for that money my hair wasn't washed, there was no air-conditioning and the fan blew hot air into the shop. I was the only customer there and I came out covered in a pile of sweat.

Quality has it's price. But as my examples show, it's about what you are prepared to pay - I would never frequent a business that charges two different prices based on nationality or perception of what someone can pay. I'd go out of my way to buy a 100 Baht coffee from McCafe rather than spend just 5 Baht more than a local for a cup of coffee, at a business that practices dual pricing (say 60/55 Baht). As I have yet to encounter such a situation and I usually gravitate towards businesses I'm already familiar with anyway, this example was purely theoretical.

[Clamhua]

Many Malaysian servos have attendants again...Bangladesh or Nepalese workers

i employ my own form of dual pricing by always leaving a small tip, 20 or 40thb. is worth it to see the look of surprise from the guy who filled up my pickup at the gas station. stuff is so cheap here paying an extra dollar here or there dose not make much difference. having a thai drivers licence and speaking a few words of thai normally gets around the double pricing thing. i was just in new zealand where the topic of making national parks more expensive for tourists came up. i doubt it will happen but it was still being discussed.

You tip for having your pickup filled with gas? You must be the only one to do that. I'd sooner self-service anyway with the reluctant reduction in price. Plus I don't think I'd get 12 liters into my 8 liter can as has happened a few times when filled by an attendant here.

i love the look of surprise i get tipping for the guy fueling my pickup. last guy did a great job of cleaning my windscreen while truck was being fueled. he did such a great job i gave him 40thb. is nothing ontop of the 1000thb i normally put in.

believe it or not it is illegal for a foreigner to fuel his own vehicle. guy was done filling up his motorbike a few years back, story is they were watching him as he was renting out motorbikes in competition with the thais and that was the best way to get him.

What a crock. First of all, most "Thais" filling up your tank are actually Burmese or Cambodian. If that were true, why aren't they all being arrested?

Secondly, there are a couple of self-service petrol stations where you fill up your own tank. All of them operated by Bang Chak. I haven't seen any recently, not sure if they've disappeared but as of 2-3 years ago I used to visit one and everyone fills up their own tank there.

The reason why there are still people filling up your tank for you is because labour is cheap here. Eventually there will come a day when this practice comes to an end. In Malaysia, at nearly every petrol station you fill up yourself but you have to pay first.

And really, tipping someone for cleaning your windscreen? That's just ridiculous.

[Tomtomtom69]

Many Malaysian servos have attendants again...Bangladesh or Nepalese workers

You tip for having your pickup filled with gas? You must be the only one to do that. I'd sooner self-service anyway with the reluctant reduction in price. Plus I don't think I'd get 12 liters into my 8 liter can as has happened a few times when filled by an attendant here.

i love the look of surprise i get tipping for the guy fueling my pickup. last guy did a great job of cleaning my windscreen while truck was being fueled. he did such a great job i gave him 40thb. is nothing ontop of the 1000thb i normally put in.

believe it or not it is illegal for a foreigner to fuel his own vehicle. guy was done filling up his motorbike a few years back, story is they were watching him as he was renting out motorbikes in competition with the thais and that was the best way to get him.

What a crock. First of all, most "Thais" filling up your tank are actually Burmese or Cambodian. If that were true, why aren't they all being arrested?

Secondly, there are a couple of self-service petrol stations where you fill up your own tank. All of them operated by Bang Chak. I haven't seen any recently, not sure if they've disappeared but as of 2-3 years ago I used to visit one and everyone fills up their own tank there.

The reason why there are still people filling up your tank for you is because labour is cheap here. Eventually there will come a day when this practice comes to an end. In Malaysia, at nearly every petrol station you fill up yourself but you have to pay first.

And really, tipping someone for cleaning your windscreen? That's just ridiculous.

Some do, but mostly in the sticks. Most don't. I first drove to Malaysia in 2003 and already back then I was filling up my own tank. In 2007 there was one servo a local Malay attendant filled up for me, but it was somewhere in the middle of nowhere on the eastern coast near Johor where tourists don't normally go. I had to practice my rusty Malay - I wanted 45 Ringgit worth of fuel but he filled it up to full, costing me 74 RM. I paid for something I didn't want because he couldn't understand English.

[Pundi6446]

Everything is increasing, the end is near

[xkkpafi]

Even getting greedy falang business owners in on the act, like the rip off gym up on soi 88. The clowns in there tried it on me, the end result being me telling them to stuff it and all three of us (wife + daughter) going somewhere else. Great business model, like "Rip One Off, lose all Three!"