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Yodsanklai you might not have all the facts. Nobody flew across the world. The offender is a Thai person, that’s why the garbage was deliverable by postal mail

Yodsanklai you might not have all the facts. Nobody flew across the world. The offender is a Thai person, that’s why the garbage was deliverable by postal mail. Doubt that the national park would pay for international mail. Their budgets are very tight. Also foreigners are not asked for their home address. The ranger just noted down the ID card number of the person who rented the tent. Furthermore the entry to Thailand is very restricted and NO foreign tourists are yet allowed to enter. So no it wasn’t a foreign tourist. Anyway majority of tourists in Thai national parks are Thai nationals. Considering that they charge foreigners 5-12x more for entry it isn’t a surprise. Please don’t state details that weren’t part of original article. In this case it strengthens xenophobia. Edit: typo and corrected addressing the commenter above

yodsanklai 6y ago
Indeed, I didn't read the paywalled article, wrongly assuming that "tourist" meant foreign tourist, and generalizing personal experience with some foreign tourists in Thailand (unrelated with this article content). That being said, tourists visiting national park such as Kao Yai are better behaved than in some beach locations. Also Kao Yai entry fee is about $15, which is affordable for foreigners (who are plenty there in regular times).
- unnameduser1 6y ago
  Yodsanklai, again you assume things. A Thai person pays entrance fee of 40 THB (1.29 USD). This is regardless if they are poor or rich, if they pay income tax or not. A foreigner who for example lives in Thailand, and who pays income tax, still has to pay 400 THB (12.9 USD) entrance fee. That’s 10x more. Pure discrimination. Let’s say an average foreigner family of 4 (2parents, 2children). That’s 2x 400 THB and 2x 200 THB incl vehicle 50 THB. 1250 THB. A rich Thai family of 4, pays 2x40 THB, 2x 20 THB and 50 for vehicle. Total 170 THB. You don’t decide what’s affordable for foreigners or not. Not every foreigner is rich. Lots of expenses are higher for foreigners, many venues and restaurants charge higher prices to foreigners. Rental is often higher for foreigners,... Not all foreign tourists are rich either. Many save the whole year to afford a two weeks trip to Thailand with their family. National parks that charge them 10x more, restaurants that charge 2x more etc aren’t helping with welcoming foreigners. If you do feel that paying 10x more is justified because it’s little money to you, why not sponsor not so well off foreigner families who wish to visit Thai national parks.
  - yodsanklai 6y ago
    Really, this is Thailand business how they determine the fees of their national parks. These parks aren't free to maintain and they don't have an obligation to set up a price considered affordable to all the tourists in the world. A lot of Thai people are poor, much poorer than the tourists who visit their country. I'm glad if they can have access to their national park. I agree it's not the most fair situation for expats living in Thailand with Thai wages, but it's the compromise they have found, and I don't think there is a big scandal here. Thailand is a very welcoming country for foreigners, and really I think they tolerate a lot of crap from tourists.
    - unnameduser1 6y ago
      I will repeat. Most of visitors to Thai national parks, vast majority of them are Thai citizens. The Thai government has increased prices for Thai citizens and reduced price for foreigners for exactly that reason at Doi Inthanon. And also because foreigners dont appreciate being ripped off. There is huge online movement against dual pricing of foreigners in Thailand. You might not have heard about it. Yes its precisely Thailands business. Thailands tourism industry revenue comes 2/3rds from foreign visitors. A discriminatory surcharge harms the tourism industry, and other countries in SEA proved that by making such practices illegal. Thai people aren’t charged double or 10x more to enter national parks in other countries just becuase they are Asian :) its illegal there, its called discrimination. Filipino and Malay people get Thai price at national parks in Thailns, because they look similar to Thais. So its then racism if caucasians get charged 10x more. Would you think it fair if foreign operated business in Thailand charge their Thai customers 2-10x as much as foreign customers? It would be a big scandal if they did. Overcharging foreigners is also a big scandal. Check social media. Its being reported on a daily basis and its bad for reputation of Thailand. Tourism Authority of Thailand thinks its not fair to charge foreigners more. Not sure why you think discrimination is ok. A fair equal price would bring more visitors :) im sure of that. On a trip to a national park nearby my Thai friends were shocked that i would get charged 10x as much. Each of them gave extra money to pay for my ticket. Not because I couldnt afford it. But because its discrimination. Since then we visit national parks less often. Not because we cant afford it. But because it feels bad to be discriminated against. It ruins the experience at such places. There are lots of other beautiful places to explore in Thailand, for free, with good Thai friends. Edit: just to add, now that Thailand does not allow foreign tourists entering the country due to Covid, relying on tourism by expats living here has become much more important. The revenue generated by Thai tourists traveling to other parts of the country has brought occupancy in hotels just to 10%. Thats not counting those hotels/guesthouses/restaurants that already closed forever. Edit2: embarrassing typos

yodsanklai 6y ago

Indeed, I didn't read the paywalled article, wrongly assuming that "tourist" meant foreign tourist, and generalizing personal experience with some foreign tourists in Thailand (unrelated with this article content). That being said, tourists visiting national park such as Kao Yai are better behaved than in some beach locations. Also Kao Yai entry fee is about $15, which is affordable for foreigners (who are plenty there in regular times).

unnameduser1 6y ago
Yodsanklai, again you assume things. A Thai person pays entrance fee of 40 THB (1.29 USD). This is regardless if they are poor or rich, if they pay income tax or not. A foreigner who for example lives in Thailand, and who pays income tax, still has to pay 400 THB (12.9 USD) entrance fee. That’s 10x more. Pure discrimination. Let’s say an average foreigner family of 4 (2parents, 2children). That’s 2x 400 THB and 2x 200 THB incl vehicle 50 THB. 1250 THB. A rich Thai family of 4, pays 2x40 THB, 2x 20 THB and 50 for vehicle. Total 170 THB. You don’t decide what’s affordable for foreigners or not. Not every foreigner is rich. Lots of expenses are higher for foreigners, many venues and restaurants charge higher prices to foreigners. Rental is often higher for foreigners,... Not all foreign tourists are rich either. Many save the whole year to afford a two weeks trip to Thailand with their family. National parks that charge them 10x more, restaurants that charge 2x more etc aren’t helping with welcoming foreigners. If you do feel that paying 10x more is justified because it’s little money to you, why not sponsor not so well off foreigner families who wish to visit Thai national parks.
- yodsanklai 6y ago
  Really, this is Thailand business how they determine the fees of their national parks. These parks aren't free to maintain and they don't have an obligation to set up a price considered affordable to all the tourists in the world. A lot of Thai people are poor, much poorer than the tourists who visit their country. I'm glad if they can have access to their national park. I agree it's not the most fair situation for expats living in Thailand with Thai wages, but it's the compromise they have found, and I don't think there is a big scandal here. Thailand is a very welcoming country for foreigners, and really I think they tolerate a lot of crap from tourists.
  - unnameduser1 6y ago
    I will repeat. Most of visitors to Thai national parks, vast majority of them are Thai citizens. The Thai government has increased prices for Thai citizens and reduced price for foreigners for exactly that reason at Doi Inthanon. And also because foreigners dont appreciate being ripped off. There is huge online movement against dual pricing of foreigners in Thailand. You might not have heard about it. Yes its precisely Thailands business. Thailands tourism industry revenue comes 2/3rds from foreign visitors. A discriminatory surcharge harms the tourism industry, and other countries in SEA proved that by making such practices illegal. Thai people aren’t charged double or 10x more to enter national parks in other countries just becuase they are Asian :) its illegal there, its called discrimination. Filipino and Malay people get Thai price at national parks in Thailns, because they look similar to Thais. So its then racism if caucasians get charged 10x more. Would you think it fair if foreign operated business in Thailand charge their Thai customers 2-10x as much as foreign customers? It would be a big scandal if they did. Overcharging foreigners is also a big scandal. Check social media. Its being reported on a daily basis and its bad for reputation of Thailand. Tourism Authority of Thailand thinks its not fair to charge foreigners more. Not sure why you think discrimination is ok. A fair equal price would bring more visitors :) im sure of that. On a trip to a national park nearby my Thai friends were shocked that i would get charged 10x as much. Each of them gave extra money to pay for my ticket. Not because I couldnt afford it. But because its discrimination. Since then we visit national parks less often. Not because we cant afford it. But because it feels bad to be discriminated against. It ruins the experience at such places. There are lots of other beautiful places to explore in Thailand, for free, with good Thai friends. Edit: just to add, now that Thailand does not allow foreign tourists entering the country due to Covid, relying on tourism by expats living here has become much more important. The revenue generated by Thai tourists traveling to other parts of the country has brought occupancy in hotels just to 10%. Thats not counting those hotels/guesthouses/restaurants that already closed forever. Edit2: embarrassing typos