Reader submission: Farang entrance fees at Khao Yai National park
It's Christmas Day 2015, shining sun, you've washed your car, vacuumed it and you're dressed in your Christmas best. A wonderful day to visit the wine regions north of Khao Yai National Park.
Because I live about 60 km south of Khao Yai, I take the 3077 road right through the Khao Yai park. This road is much nicer than, say, the 304 to the north, which is usually full of smelly trucks, VIP buses, etc.
After an hour's drive we reach the southern entrance gate. The controller in the glass cubicle says to me: 470 baht. I ask my Thai wife, did I understand 470 baht? He is also surprised and says: Yes, I heard that too. I show the man my Thai driver's license, which usually gives a considerable reduction on the entrance fee. He waves that away as if I had held a piece of used toilet paper in front of him. He repeated his claim: 470 baht.
I answer him that I'm not going to pay that and want to turn around. I have to drive about 150 meters further, he says. I can run there. No sooner said than done. After I'm back at the checkpoint, I naughtily ask the inspector why I didn't have to pay 800 Baht. I read on the wall of the cubicle: adults 400 baht and there are two of us. He explains to me: Thais pay for the National Park (only) 20 Baht entrance fee, foreigners have to pay 20x as much more, namely 400 Baht. The car costs 50 baht. That together makes the requested 470 Baht.
I advise him not to stand in the bright Thai sun for so long. That is bad for the brain in the long run. Then I give full throttle and we are outside the park again. Imagine that the Thais would do that, for example, with a can of beer that normally costs about 35 baht. A foreigner then has to pay 20x more = 700 baht for the same can. Or, for example, you go to the cinema with a foreign friend in the Netherlands. For example, you pay € 9 for the ticket. Your friend may then pay € 180.
If you then hear on Thai TV that the government is doing everything it can to promote tourism, they are counterproductive in Khao Yai. According to this park, approximately 85% of all visitors are Thai and 15% are foreigners. If the park management would make each visitor pay between 20 and 25 Baht instead of 50, no one would notice and they would have more left over.
Did you also know that the park does not pay any damage if a mad (wild) elephant, as happened before in 2014, sits on your hood or completely destroys the front of your rental car including bumper? Your insurance does not pay for that and the National park certainly does not. This can be read in the agreement, which you tacitly conclude when you buy an entrance ticket. You must be able to read Thai. Even an English translation of this "agreement" was not available.
Khao Yai, you can close for me. I think the more than 200 wild animal species that live there would also welcome that. For them, the honking of impatient tourist buses and the stinking exhaust fumes have long been an eyesore.
Submitted by: TLK
Totally agree.
I also never understood why in every national park a highway was built right into the heart.
In some parks more than 30 km long.
Years ago there was talk that on holiday days they would no longer allow 100.000 visitors per day per park.
I never heard anything about it again.
Years ago I spoke to a park manager who said that the parks were poorly visited by foreigners.
Do you think it's crazy with such entrance prices and in the high season they are more attraction parks.
Unfortunately, these are the new rules, I was told, every foreigner (including from Asia) pays the main price,
Showing your driver's license does not help anymore, if it is privately owned, everyone may pay the same,
regards loan
Remember you are being made out to be a straight up Ebenezer Scrooge Farang Kiniau!
Personally it bothers me but I don't let it ruin my fun. If you look on Google for double entrance prices, you will discover that it is used in more countries outside Thailand and actually occurs quite often. In Bangkok itself you can even see that Thais can enter the Royal Palace for free and the Farang can pay 500 baht.
Regarding damage to your car in Khao Yai, I think that is also known in advance since many examples can be found on the internet. Particularly on Youtube. Why should the park be liable for 50 baht that you pay for your car to enter if an Elephant stands on your car? If you rent a car, remember to check whether that type of damage is covered. After all, despite all the warning signs you enter with such a car. It can sometimes turn out completely wrong, especially in Thailand where All Risk does not always turn out to be All Risk.
It doesn't bother me that we (tourists) pay more for the entrance to a park. We are talking about amounts of 200 or 400 Baht (so € 5 to 10). For that 400 Baht you can also spend a night in the park (does not include the tent or bungalow).
The admission we have to pay for our park De Hoge Veluwe is € 8,80 and € 210 from 9,15, plus € 6,50 for the car or motorcycle.
For a large number of Thai people, the entrance fee (with a daily wage of 300 Bath) would be unaffordable. And as one of the writers pointed out, 85% is Thai. Of course there are Thai people who can easily pay more. But there are also Dutch people aged 65+ and the disabled who earned more than many Dutch people.
Let's support these parks for those 3 or 5 beers. They give us great pleasure. I have stayed or visited many parks and have been able to enjoy the flora and fauna.
I stayed overnight in both Khao Yai National park and Phu Kradeng and it was a great experience.
Yes, and if you enter a park with your car, you naturally run a risk, but you used to run that when you entered a safari park in the Netherlands with your car. I once experienced myself that a lion lay on top of my hood. Then I also had to wait for guards to “liberate” me. Yes and the scratches on my old car were not reimbursed either.
The writer of the piece does not indicate how much he lost with the detour.
By the way, another great experience at this park is the daily flying out of more than 6 million bats, which is an incredible experience.
For tourists who have too much money OK?
But I've lived here for 20 years and I'm still treated this way and it stings.
Especially since most thai tourists in those parks have more money than me.
Of course my problem, but still? Why would such a thing be called discrimination in the Netherlands?
Say it.
What you apparently don't understand is that it works the same in the Netherlands. If I go with a foreigner to a park, a zoo, a theater in the Netherlands, we pay the same amount at the gate, but I have already paid hundreds of euros through the tax, with which the park, theater, etc. is kept alive. Public transport just like that. So open your eyes and understand the local culture (including that of the Netherlands) and don't worry about an amount of 10 euros.
Driving on the 304 instead of the 3077 would be about 35km more. That does not outweigh 400 baht just to drive through.
Have you experienced the same thing, together with a couple of friends,
And decided to boycott these practices, more falangs should
Do think.
It's really crazy for words, we also pay taxes when we go shopping,
Because that is always the argument you don't pay tax and the Thai do.
In Erawan Falls, the Thai driver's license no longer counts since
25 ……. It was written in Thai and couldn't decipher the month.
I already drove past a new attraction several times, located along the Bahnrotfai Road in Pattaya. I saw many buses with Chinese making their entrance there. Still curious, I went to inquire and it was about a park where they had recreated all kinds of houses, available for viewing and of course a place where you can eat the necessary things, for absurd prices. The entrance costs the falang 1600 bath and the Thai can enter for free. My Thai driver's license didn't cause a stir either, but my white nose did. I got into my car laughing and shaking my head and left this attraction for the rich and the famous.
Another example of the white nose being seen as a walking ATM. Too bad for them I'm not retarded Gerritje. I will have to make do with my ABP pension here.
Double that for a Farang is up to that, but 20 times that is really ridiculous (and unacceptable to me). I once turned around at a park where the entrance fee for a Farang was 10 times as much as for a Thai; I reported there that I did not like the park for that reason.
Perhaps the ambassador can send a letter to the Thai government about this, stating that this is not a promotion for tourism, because it comes across as very unsympathetic.
The Pattaya tower is located in Pattaya. Entrance for Farang 600 bath. Thai girlfriend 400 bath, but……….including dinner, unlimited. Very well cared for!!! This does not include alcoholic drinks and that's a good thing because otherwise it's a big drink.
You can argue whether the entrance fee for foreigners is too high or not. He's not about me. The fact is if a government agency makes foreigners pay 10x as much, it sends a signal to others (shops, etc.) that this is normal. It incites the deportation of foreigners and for that reason will never participate in it.
Yes I also recognize this problem over the years as long as I stay here.
Thinking about a few visits to the Doi Ithanon park (highest mountain in Thailand) not far from my hometown.
Unfortunately, your Thai driver's license is not worth a wink in this matter.
It will be different if you can show a copy of your original yellow house book ( Tambian Baan ) written in Thai in combination with a legalized proof of who you are .
Here your Dutch passport or even the Thai driver's license can offer a solution.
Whether it also works with a copy of a residents statement written in Thai, I have no experience with that.
I have both , but always have a copy of the tambian track with me when I go somewhere where this problem of double pricing may occur .
But for many, this is a major frustration that can certainly arouse great anger and annoyance.
Therefore that is my personal experience , no matter how long you live in Thailand , once a farang always a farang .
This is how I have experienced it since many years that I stay here .
But also, I often resist this without getting angry, and you are often right.
As a foreigner and human being, I am less like a Thai, I sometimes say. See how they react to this.
Jan Beute.
This double payment system is known in many countries where the population earns around three euros a day. We also need to have our permits and resident statements with us to be able to enter for the local rate. The fact that locals can be cheaper means that they experience the culture of their country and hopefully fight to preserve it. Education gives development.
Also visited this park 4 years ago, with a yellow book to show as much as ne thai
later visited an aquarium park I think Suphan buri, don't remember right, also the Thai price income
8 years ago in Bangkok, went to see a crocodile show and zoo, 400 baht
but the punch line was after going out of this park, my then girlfriend went to the till and got 480 baht back
incredible here
Hate it too. You've lived here for years and go! Pay More Than Your Relatives.
But this is not only the case in Thailand.
Disneyland near Paris has the same practice: Parisians pay less than foreigners.
So make your choice : pay and enjoy or turn around and be annoyed ... .
What a storm in a teacup. Remarks like: "once a farang always a farang" are the same as: "once a Chinese always a Chinese" Sure, a truth as a cow, can't be otherwise, right?
We, farangs, are all happy, we don't pay taxes, so a little extra for a National Park is okay with me, no problem. Even the foreign pension is tax-free here... where is that still possible? I have a friend who can make ends meet on Baht 40.000, try that in the Netherlands with a decent house, an annual blue envelope and a bicycle, and certainly not with a day at Artis included.
We all live here in a paradise, so smile and be happy and if you are dissatisfied, go back to the nice, warm Netherlands! Eric Smulders
I respect what the Thai do in their nature parks.
If you don't like the rules, turn around. That is your right.
I am glad that some people do NOT visit the parks, because few have respect for nature.
I do not want to comment on the proposal to castrate elephants. That's even too stupid for words.
Pay or go, the latter is the best thing that can happen to nature…
Should they also introduce such a system with double prices in the Netherlands?
We have already coughed up 480.000.000 euros for the renovation plus the purchase of one painting for one museum.
Then I don't think it's unreasonable if a foreign tourist pays a lot more to enter.
For museums, cultural performances, in short, the sectors that are structurally heavily subsidized, this is not at all surprising.
Of course there are individual cases for which the consequences are not pleasant, but as you know, the ladies / gentlemen politicians are expected not to concern themselves with individual cases. Unless it suits them politically correct, of course.