Thailand to collect 400-baht national park entrance fee from foreign visitors

[webfact]

Thailand to collect 400-baht national park entrance fee from foreign visitors

 

 

BANGKOK, 6th March, 2017 (NNT) - The Tourism Ministry has reached a decision about the level of the national park entrance fee for foreign visitors. 

 

Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, recently held a meeting with executives from various state offices and representatives of the private sector in Krabi Province to discuss a resolution from the advisory committee on national parks and tourist safety. 

 

Mrs. Kobkarn said that the committee’s latest resolution recommended the national park entrance fee for foreigners remain at 400 baht but an updated, standard system to ensure the efficient administration of all parks, should be introduced. 

 

She added that the new system would also help the authorities bring order to the country’s tourism management and improve the quality of the tourism industry by controlling the number of tourists, the number of ferries visiting relevant islands and their safety standards as well as the allocation of the collected entrance fees to the local governments.

 

-- nnt 2017-03-06

[tracker1]

Well 1 thing Minister you won't be getting 400 baht from this little black duck or any foreign tourists that visit me !

[Smiley Face]

Four hundred baht to be able to experience nature that has been trashed by the many pigs that visit the parks and throw their trash all over the place.  Perhaps if they used the revenue to police and clean the parks there wouldn't be such a push-back.  Thai citizens should be ashamed of their parks and how they are poorly treated and maintained.

[Jessi]

More discrimination by the Thai Government. Double pricing standards all over this Country.

The Government does it so all small business think its OK to rip off the tourist.

[optad]

Representative of a broader attitude towards foreigners. 

[garyk]

That is more than I pay to get into the parks in America. And they have clean restrooms, hot showers. And no trash everywhere.

 

[Get Real]

Totally ok! They must make up for all the money they spend somewhere.

[WhizBang]

Guess I can scratch visiting any national park off my list.   400 baht, seriously?   Why are foreigners squeezed at every opportunity for money, and now officially so?   The bloom has certainly gone off this rose.

[kannot]

Wife is down in Krabi at the moment  with two Farang friends  (Tourists) she was  appalled that not  only was the park 40 baht Thais ,400 for  farangs but  many restaurants also had higher prices for farangs in fact she went in sat down and asked for for four dishes the same and was told farang is 80 baht Thai is 60 baht, she told  em where to stick it and they dropped the farang price to the Thai price. Everything in Krabi has been inflated for Farangs, theyre  just greedy  little shites.

 

[Thechook]

I might understand foreigners paying double but ten times is just greed and more than a days pay for thais.  It's like inviting friends around to your house and then charging them to come inside because you want to renovate the kitchen.  

[kannot]

4 minutes ago, Thechook said:

I might understand foreigners paying double but ten times is just greed and more than a days pay for thais.  It's like inviting friends around to your house and then charging them to come inside because you want to renovate the kitchen.  

And then surprisingly the renovations never get done in fact it continues to deteriorate,

[marquess]

Look at the minster's beaming face, another chip of the old stupid block. How can we keep fleecing farangs and keep a straight face at the same time!

[Thailand]

My guests were given the option of paying double pricing, that has now gone unless they decide to make their own way which is highly unlikely.

 

Also just heard that visitors from HK now need to carry 5K HKD cash  ( About 25,000THB) to enter the illustrious kingdom. They really do need to have a complete rethink of the current " lets try and piss off tourists" approach.

[leeneeds]

Upsetting,

officialdom with blinkers on.

[colinneil]

Some people use their brains, some people dont use their brains.

This woman is in the latter category.

Always spouting sh..e about tourist numbers up, and doing things to stop tourists coming back.   

[ezzra]

 

This is a country that sees nothing wrong with price and fare gouging it's

tourists, and why should they? they have so many millions of them

coming in every year so much  so that killing the goose that lays the

golden eggs seems the right thing to do.... 

[esprit]

A nation of nationalist extortionists based on this example

[metisdead]

An offensive post has been removed. An off topic nonsense post and a reply have been removed as well. 

[onemorechang]

Great.

Spend around  million Baht here each year.

Retired,  look after Thai citizens ,financially

New money into the Thai economy each year.

This is what they think of us.

 

Very true.

Quote

A nation of nationalist extortionists based on this example

 

Amazing Thailand.

 

 

 

 

[trogers]

It's okay with me as long as they announce it to the world. In fact, they should raise the fee to Bt4000.

 

I would just sit and prepare the 'I told you so' speech...

[PatOngo]

Coming from a country where price discrimination is a criminal offence, this is a bit hard to swallow!

[impulse]

14 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Coming from a country where price discrimination is a criminal offence, this is a bit hard to swallow!

 

What country is that?  It's certainly not in North America.  I've been paying discriminatory pricing to enter state parks and buy hunting and fishing licenses, and study in state universities all my life.  Same up in the Great White North where a foreign tourist can look forward to paying out the wazoo for a fishing or hunting license (which aren't required of anyone in Thailand, BTW).

 

Edit:  Not to mention scoring the Disney discounts based on having the correct state listed on my driver's license, and hotels that charge less because I hold an in-state drivers license.

[Naam]

4 minutes ago, impulse said:

 Not to mention scoring the Disney discounts based on having the correct state listed on my driver's license, and hotels that charge less because I hold an in-state drivers license.

correct! when our son visited us he got a Florida driver's license  and saved a big bundle visiting Disney, MGM, Seaworld and some other attractions.

[Suttisan]

Kaosan rd having turnstiles and an entry fee for unwanted outsiders can't be far off. 

[catman20]

1 hour ago, WhizBang said:

Guess I can scratch visiting any national park off my list.   400 baht, seriously?   Why are foreigners squeezed at every opportunity for money, and now officially so?   The bloom has certainly gone off this rose.

vote with your feet.i will not be going to any national park or beaches. all farangs need to stick together and do the same.

[MartinL]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

... improve the quality of the tourism industry by controlling the number of tourists, the number of ferries visiting relevant islands and their safety standards as well as ...

 

If they start controlling the number of tourists, who's going to lose out? It'll probably be the low-fee-paying Thais rather than the more lucrative foreigners. 

 

 

 

[Jeremy50]

So, don't go. Not a lot to see anyway, no animals, and a lot of trash. It's not like it's Snowdonia, The Cairngorms, or Yosemite. 

[Notadoctor]

This exercise in obduracy will do the Thai government's international reputation no favours.

It will also ensure a hardcore of grumpy visitors to the country.

About 2 decades ago, an in depth report did an analysis on Khao Yai and a few other national attractions with a view to coming up with suggestions for entrance fee pricing. It analysed amongst other factors, WTP (will to pay). The overall conclusion was that there should not be a 2 tier system and a flat base fee could be raised to a certain degree without affecting the numbers of visitors, but would in fact raise more money for the parks. It also concluded that different attractions should analyse what they had to offer - especially in terms of WTP and the entrance charges set accordingly, rather than a universal rate regardless of what the attraction was.

 

Successive governments - true to form? - have completely ignored this report.

 

National Parks etc are the countries national heritage - it is the responsibility of governments to provide the lion's share for funding these places - entrance fees can only contribute a limited amount in any circumstances - that is why in most countries entrance is frequently free - the idea or philosophy being that they are there for the people to enjoy - not to have restricted access. The people BTW should logically include visitors as they have travelled up to halfway round thew globe to see the delights of Thailand, not to be told they are regarded as a second-rate encumbrance.

 

Thai National parks are a mess - they are underfunded and poorly staffed, run by those who are not qualified to do the job properly.

In all this attitude by the Thai government shows that they neither understand nor care about any of the issues that surround the conservation or preservation of the countries natural resources. the responsibility extends further than the national borders - the environment does not have passports and thailand is a part of the planet and the international community. It is about time they sat up paid attention and took hold of these responsibilities and set about establishing a modern scientific system of husbandry that is in step with the rest of the international community.

 

 

[captspectre]

2 hours ago, Jessi said:

More discrimination by the Thai Government. Double pricing standards all over this Country.

The Government does it so all small business think its OK to rip off the tourist.

been going on a long time, BUT the tourist seem not to give a dam! they still pay, just proves that there are charlie tuna's everywhere.

[maccastime]

So when Thai people visit our countries do we charge them these prices?no everybody pays the same.absolute rip off.all foreign people stay well clear of this blatant rip off