Pattaya Attractions: Scam or Extortion?

Pattaya attractions are becoming "greedy" (I use the word of my friend) to foreigners/tourists. I had this thought after my last visit recently to two tourists places done on the same day; the Pattaya Floating Market and the newly opened unfinished Pattaya Dolphin World & Resorts.

Pattaya Floating Market now charges 200 baht entrance fee to foreigners but free for Thais. A place called per se as "market" containing shops with few activities, all with a cost. A very lucrative business no doubt, earning from both sides: the sellers and the buyers. Same thing with the Pattaya Dolphin World & Resort, it charges unreasonably extra high for foreigners but not worth the price as the place has not been fully developed yet and have only the 45 minutes Dolphin show as their front line and attraction.

I had been to Pattaya Floating Market for many times, my first was on December 2009 when it was just a small one and expansion was going on. There were already many people most specially tourists that came by flock and by buses but there was no entrance fee yet, maybe because it was not long time since it opened. 

With my last visit on December 9, 2012 I was with my Norwegian lady friend and we went to Pattaya Dolphin World & Resort to make use of the two vouchers I had bought from a discount website at a cheaper price. As I had not identified exactly in the map where the resort is located, I had been advised by the personnel when I called for direction that I rent a vehicle to bring us to the resort. So we did. To my surprise the place was underdeveloped yet, unfinished and the dolphin show was done in a small pool with a small stage. The dolphin show itself was not even extraordinary, performance was composed of 3 men and 3 medium sized dolphin. I have this observation because I had watched a dolphin show before in another amusement center in Bangkok. 

After almost an hour stay in the resort, I tried to find some vehicles to take us back but there was none. There are no public transportation on standby waiting for passengers as there were only few visitors. It is understandable as it is not worth visiting the place considering that it is unfinished yet plus the place is secluded. I inquired at the ticket booth and they arranged for a van to take us to the Pattaya Floating Market. I later on realized again that we were charged expensively for a fee of 300 baht as the distance between the two places was less than 10 kilometers.  

As I approached the entrance of the Floating Market, there were some personnel on guard but I just walked past them without saying a word. Take note! as I have mentioned above there is an entrance fee of 200 baht. Why was I not checked for a ticket? As an Asian, I am 100% mistaken as a Thai. But I noticed the driver haven't left and he followed us up to the entrance and he watched me get inside while he waited for my Norwegian friend to finish smoking.  As my friend approached the gate, the driver said something to the personnel at the same time pointing at us. Then there we were told about the entrance fee. At first, we thought it is 100 baht per person and the price was already unacceptable to me. Misunderstanding statements are very normal in Thailand due to language barrier. When my friend gave the money, it was 200 baht per person. 

Isn't it some people want to earn much money unreasonably at the expense of others? Don't they realize it that though for others the money that means much to them might not cost much to others, what matters most is the value of what being paid for.

 

(Update) Last February 2, 2014, I was in Chonburi province again with my friend and sister. We went to Nong Nooch Tropical Garden (my 3rd time), Khao Cheechan and Silverlake Vineyard. As the places can't be reached by public transportation, we hired a songtaew (taxi). On the way to our destination, while trying to be friendly with the driver and to get information as well, I have learned that half of the 200 baht entrance fee collected at the Pattaya Floating market is given to the taxi driver as commission, that is 100 baht per tourist. Same as in other tourist places, drivers are given commission from the entrance fees paid by their tourist passengers. Isn't it a double earning also? The taxi driver earns from the rent of his car plus the commission. The more tourists, more commission. Shooting two birds at the same time.

 

Thailand Visa and Re-entry Permits

     August 2012, I had to apply for the extension of my one year Non-immigrant B visa for the private company I am presently working for. I am the only foreign employee and the company is  owned by Thais. There were some difficulties when the one year visa was applied a year ago of the same month, but I thought extension processing would be much easier. I had informed the senior staff in the office in charge of processing my visa more than a month before the expiry date to give time for her to prepare the required company documents. The requirements on my side as an employee are easy to comply (copy of passport, last arrival stamp, departure card and last extension of visa) and so much of the bulk of the requirements are those papers from the company. In the list of 17 requirements, only 3 of which concerns me and the rest from the company.

      But I was wrong with what I thought. The Thai colleague who took care of processing my papers had to go back to the Bangkok Immigration Office  at Chaengwattana five times to complete the requirements and I had to be with her on the 1st, 2nd and 5th time of going to the Immigration. Perhaps it took a bit harder to process the papers because I am the only foreigner employee of our company. The Thai immigration officer carefully scrutinized each paper submitted and had to pay 1,900 baht extension visa for one week. Take note, 1,900 baht for one week extension of visa and it is the same fee for a one year visa.

      Upon application, I had told the Immigration officer that I want to apply for an extension visa with a multiple entry permit which I know costs 3,800 baht. She told me vaguely that it has to be done on another department pointing finger to another direction. My thought was that in applying for the extension visa, one can apply just for it with a  single entry or a multiple entry only to realize and learn later that it is not really the way as I thought. I had misunderstood the words used by others in referring to their visas, sometimes saying "single entry visa" and "multiple entry visa".

      Here it goes then. A visa (Non-immigrant B) may it be a first time visa or extension costs 1,900 baht for one year and one has to apply separately for the re-entry permit with two choices: single re-entry permit for 1,000 baht and 3,800 baht for multiple re-entry permit. Application for the re-entry can be done immediately after acquiring the approved visa since the expiration of the re-entry permit is the same as with the expiration of the extension visa. However, if one has to apply only for the re-entry permit, it can be done at every Immigration checkpoint and at the Suvarnabhumi airport. As a suggestion though, it is best to apply for a re-entry permit at least a day before the scheduled flight to leave Thailand rather than applying at the Suvarnabhumi airport on the time of departure because as indicated in the Immigration website, the granting of the re-entry permit at the airport would depend on officers approval as deemed necessary. Getting out of Thailand without an approved re-entry permit for those who got a visa would mean cancellation of the visa and work permit. Another thing, the re-entry permit at the airport has a service charge of 200 baht making it 1,200 baht instead of 1,000 baht for a single re-entry.