r/nottheonion • u/novagridd • 6h ago

Thailand's Prostitution Patrol on High Alert as 5,000 US Sailors Drop Ship After 200 Days at Sea

https://www.fashiontimes.co.uk/pattaya-police-intensify-prostitution-patrols-us-navy-visit-1763395
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u/IamGeoMan 6h ago

ExpatFIRE gonna have to re-evaluate their CoL estimates now that demand is gonna spike certain costs

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u/AzureDreamer 6h ago

You are joking but I bet prices of everything do spike geographically near where this boat ports, the sailors are problably going to have consumption rates of 2-3x and normal person so thats like 10k-15k visitor influx.

This would mean nothing to a city of a million but a city of 30k who knows.

I am just speculating I know nothing in specifics feel free to disregard.

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u/semisociallyawkward 6h ago

I was traveling through Thailand with a Thai and amused discover that Thai has its own number system. Every place had a Thai price and a foreign price, with the latter easily 2-5x higher.

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u/Dhiox 5h ago

Yeah, we saw Bangkok with my cousin and his wife, who is Thai (Technically I think she was Laotian, at least ethnically, but besides the point), and not only was she amazing at getting us Transportation to the places we needed to go, I have no doubt she was making sure they weren't randomly spiking prices on us.

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u/AzureDreamer 5h ago

I bet that was an awesome experience

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u/Dhiox 4h ago

Absolutely. After Bangkok we went home with them to Ubon where they and my other Cousins lived, and got to visit with all our Thai family we had not met before, and see their farm.

My cousin really wanted to send us home with rice from her farm, but sadly US customs wouldn't have appreciated that, so I had to decline.

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u/zobbyblob 4h ago

I'm pretty sure dried foods are okay. I took home beef jerky and dried squid without issue.

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u/Dhiox 4h ago

Pretty sure they don't want you bringing agricultural goods straight off a farm.

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u/Albireookami 3h ago

rice is a grain and a lot of shit can hide in a bag of grain.

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u/xkenn 3h ago

Just use Grab for transport. Don't think they'll upcharge you unless they have a way to detect foreigners on the app. Can even use it to order food. Its fast as heck and much better than uber.

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u/milkhotelbitches 5h ago edited 5h ago

In Vietnam it's the same. There's the local price and the foreigner price.

It made me feel a little better when I found out they also overcharge other Vietnamese if they are from a different part of the country. If you weren't a local and didn't know the local market price of goods you were going to get ripped off.

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u/90210fred 2h ago

Eastern Europe hotel, three price lists:

Locals,

Ex Pats / anyone who can speak local, and

Foreigners and tourists. 

Standard stuff outside the capital.

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u/Terpomo11 4m ago

Why it pays to learn at least a bit of the language before going abroad, I suppose.

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u/PurbulentTriest 3h ago

Where though? I lived there almost three years and didn't experience that.

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u/dell_arness2 1m ago

I feel like I didn't really experience this in vietnam. That, or everything was cheap enough that I could survive getting ripped off by the tune of a dollar.

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u/Invisible7hunder 4h ago

Its not personal, price discrimination is just good business if you can do it correctly. Just look how much effort airlines and hotels put into it.

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u/milkhotelbitches 3h ago

Of course it's good business. It's questionable ethically.

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u/GrimKaiker 2h ago

It combats overtourism and helps prevent the local community from being priced out of their own neighborhood. It's only unethical if you think tourists need to be treated fairly when it comes to consumerism. Tourism is not really a sacred pact as far as I am concerned.

Keeping goods and services costs low is a good way to get exploited by foreign capital.

This is obviously less relevant for tourist destination like Paris or Lisbon, but for Southeast Asia we don't need tourists driving the prices of food up for locals.

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u/AzureDreamer 5h ago

Absolutely does, that just happens when you travel to a place with lower relative incomes, but even those prices they inflate I imagine can be subject to supply and demand.

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u/Sakarabu_ 4h ago

Not really, most places around the world don't have a separate pricing system, Thais are just insanely greedy and money motivated as a culture. Easily one of the worst cultures I’ve ever visited, they are incredibly two faced but stupid foreigners seem to fall for the "land of smiles" facade they put up while they secretly hate you behind your back.

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u/Simp_Simpsaton 3h ago

A while ago I read factors of why thailand wasn't colonized, and one of the old ass letters that appeared during it mentioned them being greedy lol. It's interesting that could persist for hundreds of years

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u/Ni_Peng_NeeeWom 2h ago

Not really, most places around the world don't have a separate pricing system

have you been to, like, any tourist hot spot?

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u/FrostyD7 2h ago

A culture motivated by money? How exotic.

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u/enceinte-uno 5h ago

Iirc some places in Japan also do this and honestly I get it. Locals can be repeat customers and you have to live with them. Tourists might only come once and could potentially have unreasonable demands/attitudes or might not understand local culture.

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u/stupidjapanquestions 4h ago edited 3h ago

Sort of. Bit more complex in Japan, though you have the right idea. But what OP is talking about is largely a SE Asia thing.

Japan does a thing where they have "tourist" prices, but they're mostly one or two items specifically aimed towards a western palate for tourists who are trying to have a specific "experience". For example, most people living here do not eat "Wagyu Burgers" with any degree of frequency. Those are basically tourist bait.

What OP is describing in SE asia, unlike Japan, is more of an "off book" thing that affects the final bill. And is at many places.

Japan, when it does this, which is pretty rare, is usually in extremely high frequency tourist areas and honestly, makes sense for the reasons you pointed out. There are exceptions, like super rare hole in the wall places which will try to charge you more off-book, but they're not even close to the level you'll see in SE Asia.

Those are usually places where tourists try to force themselves into a space that clearly does not speak English and are basically paying a higher price for the hassle, which is reasonable because, again, not everywhere speaks English. Most of those places have a staff of like 1 or 2 people and asking them to read your janky ChatGPT translation in addition to their regular duties, at a place that doesn't even take tips and is only earning a bit above a very low minimum wage, is kind of a crazy ask.

Source: Live in Japan. Lived in Vietnam.

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u/AgustinCB 4h ago

For example, most people living here do not eat "Wagyu Burgers" with any degree of frequency. Those are basically tourist bait.

That said, we went there a few months ago, eat some wagyu burgers knowing full well they were bait, and they were also delicious. I don’t think I ate better burgers in North America.

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u/nikchi 3h ago

Wagyu is known for its excellent marbling. When you mince it and put it through a grinder to make it into a burger that's no different than just making a burger with more fat.

It's the ultimate bait.

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u/stupidjapanquestions 3h ago edited 3h ago

To be clear, it's not entirely bait.

Two days ago on national television here, there was a showdown between the major Japanese burger chains. The one offering a wagyu burger actually won unanimously among entirely Japanese judges. This program was not aimed towards tourists, it was completely in Japanese and intended for natives.

It's bait mostly because people Wagyu Burgers are aimed at tourists because it became popular on social media. Japanese people would never think to order one because, as you noted, it not meat intended for a burger and they don't consume content aimed at tourists lol.

But it is pretty dope in its own way, if not a bit of a waste of the meat being used. Not sure of the logistics, but I'm pretty sure they're not using high grade cuts for it.

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u/Ni_Peng_NeeeWom 2h ago

now I wanna see a blind trial with wagyu burger vs normal meat + extra fat

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u/duckamucka 1h ago

One of the best burgers I've had was by a small restaurant that ground their own mix of Chuck, brisket and back fat.

It was amazing and had more flavor in one burger than many places have in the entire joint.

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u/DiggWuzBetter 3h ago edited 2h ago

Haven’t been to Thailand, but they had this in a very open, official way in many places in Ecuador. Like on the sign there was a price if you could present an Ecuadorian passport, and a price otherwise. I totally get it and appreciated the transparency.

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u/Mitheral 3h ago

It's official government policy in many provinces of Canada. Government campsites, parks, fishing and hunting licenses, etc can be priced higher for out of province visitors.

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u/AspiringTS 5h ago

That's like Regional Pricing except it's Origin Pricing.

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u/Sad-Indication2128 3h ago

When I was in Bali, our hostel owner said that if you could bargain someone to 10% of their original asking price, you're only paying slightly more than what they would charge a local.

I felt super scummy bargaining at first, but it quickly becomes a fun game and the seller is definitely having fun with it too (most of the time at least)

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u/Bakoro 2h ago

Ah, the good ol' D&D "adventurer economy".

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u/taurfea 5h ago

Good for them :)

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u/SirDarwin_Fingerbang 3h ago

Accepted racism

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u/Neuchacho 3h ago

Nah, just basic economic balancing to prevent inflation related to stronger currency spending so actual residents can afford to live.

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u/SirDarwin_Fingerbang 2h ago

They give a different price based on race, correct?

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u/Neuchacho 2h ago edited 2h ago

No, dumb shit. It's based on being a local/resident. The white guy who moves to Thailand and has their residency card can get the Thai price just the same.

Speaking Thai and not being a dick would probably get any shopkeep to give the Thai price even without being an actual resident.

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u/SirDarwin_Fingerbang 2h ago

Not my experience at all having lived in a low income country for several years as a white Westerner, even while speaking the local language. Every purchase ends up in a debate and a struggle. Treatment and pricing is according to race - this is racism, albeit less harmful than other types. It's OK to call it what it is.

And no need to be so hostile. I hope your day improves from here.

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u/AssistanceCheap379 3h ago

Not surprising. Locals come back and price gouging means they go elsewhere. Tourists go maybe once or couple of times (in which case they return largely based on “they treated me nicely” and because its a place they now recognise) so it doesn’t really matter if they price gouge, plus its still usually cheap for the tourist.

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u/PurbulentTriest 3h ago

I've lived in the region most of my adult life and this isn't the case for every place at all.

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u/TazBaz 2h ago

That’s pretty standard when traveling anywhere lower income. Most of SE asia, large chunks of south america and africa…

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u/Elegant_Run_8562 2h ago

Every place had a Thai price and a foreign price, with the latter easily 2-5x higher.

False lol

Some places charge more for foreigners, but that's pretty rare. You're more likely to get a discount if you're local and ask for it though.

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u/WechTreck 1m ago

City state Monaco in Europe has a ~2x similar