The Tourism Authority of Thailand says it is eager to scrap the controversial two-tiered pricing entry system that currently applied throughout the country.
Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents Club, when asked by popular blogger Richard Barrow, Tanes Petsuwan, the Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications at TAT, said that “it does not make sense” to charge foreigners more than Thais, as they have all been doing for many years.
Mr Tanes said TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn had recently spoken to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the government department responsible for the national parks in Thailand, about the two-tier pricing issue.
Mr Tanes went on to say that while the country is waiting for the return of tourists it “is a very good time for Thailand to reform the tourism industry structure”.
“What we did wrong [in the past] we must make it right this time, he added.
He might have also added that this behavior is one of the many reasons foreigners come to Thailand once, and do not return.
The practice of two tier pricing in Thailand sees foreigners, even expats who live and pay tax in Thailand, forced to pay much more than Thais to enter places such as national parks, museums and historical sites.
While some of the reduced entry fees for Thai nationals are the result of government subsidy, many two tier pricing policies are simply in place due to the idea that foreigners can afford to absorb the higher prices and therefore should pay more.
Many restaurant and shops do the same thing in tourists areas such as Pattaya, Phuket and Bangkok.
Taxi drivers do it throughout the land.
Dual pricing: What happened when a Thai was charged the ‘tourist price’
Those against the practice say not only is it discriminatory against foreigners, it is also largely futile as many foreigners are put off by the fact they have to pay more and therefore the overall number of foreigners to visit attractions where two tier pricing is in place is greatly reduced.
This means the attraction doesn’t actually earn any more money and also gives foreigners a negative impression of the tourism industry in Thailand overall.
Well, HELLO…. is the penny finally dropping now that there are no foreigners in Thailand and the people are suffering?
