The 26-year-old man who was outraged when he was asked to pay a tourist fee at the popular Emerald Pool in Krabi is not a Thai citizen as he claimed — congratulations to those who called his bluff.
On Saturday, Grittapohn Chattreesagoon complained in a Facebook post about how unfair it was to be asked to pay the ridiculous THB200 entrance fee while his Thai friends paid much less. “I went with three Phuket guys, and the staff asked my friends for a THB20 fee. Then they looked at me and asked me for THB200,” Grittapohn wrote in Thai. “My friends said I’m from Phuket too, but they insisted, so we just left.”
Yesterday he admitted to the press that he is actually an American citizen who doesn’t have a Thai ID card.
READ: Thai man outraged at paying ‘farang price’ at Krabi
Grittapohn may have been born and raised in Phuket and mastered the Thai language, but he does not qualify for the Thai price because, erm, he isn’t Thai.
“I want equality. I showed the officials my driver’s license. I can speak Thai and pay taxes. I should be treated like a Thai citizen,” he told Thairath. “I don’t have problems with the high THB200 tourist fee because many national parks in Thailand also collect higher fees for foreign visitors.”
So let’s make this clear: he doesn’t see anything wrong with the double-standard farang price as long as he doesn’t have to pay it?
Grittaphon said his parents are American citizens, and that he prefers Thailand over America and is in the process to change his nationality. Maybe he should wait until then before he visits national parks?
Meanwhile, Wutthipong Chusangkarach, head of Krabi’s Khaopra-Bangkram Wild Sanctuary which operates the Emerald Pool, said officials had to request a tourist fee from Grittapohn as the rule states foreigners have to pay ten times more than Thai.
Besides, Grittapohn did not present his ID card, only the driver’s license which is not proof of Thai citizenship.
“Although he has lived in Thailand for a long time. He is still a foreigner and not a Thai national. Therefore, we had to collect the tourist fee from him. No exception,” Wutthipong said.
Exceptions are known to be made for the foreigners who can present their work permit, but it doesn’t always guarantee expats the so-called “Thai price.”
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