Re: 5% tourist discount at Siam Paragon

On Sat, 03 Nov 2007 04:56:07 -0700, Tchiowa <tchiowa2@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

On Nov 2, 10:14 pm, Chris Blunt <chris_bl...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Fri, 02 Nov 2007 04:47:11 -0700, Tchiowa <tchio...@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Well, I completely disagree but I respect your consistency.

Actually, I'm a little confused about exactly what your stand is on
this now. From previous discussions, you've said you're quite happy
that farangs pay more than Thais for things. You're now disagreeing
with me when I said above that I didn't think that farangs should be
paying less than Thais. That only leaves one other option, which
happens to coincide with my own personal view, and that's that these
companies should just treat all their customers the same.

Actually I never said that I'm happy that farangs pay more than Thai.
I said that it was appropriate, fair and not racist. I still think
that.

Take a look at your statement that businesses should treat customers
the same.

If a business charges prices that one set of customers can afford but
the other can't, is that "the same"? I suppose it is if the price is
fixed, but if it's not fixed and the business has a choice, then I
don't think it's "the same".

The way I look at it is quite simple. Businesses have to find a way to
maximize profits. That's why they're in business. No profits, they
close the doors. In many cases different customer groups have
different financial needs and view the value of things differently. In
those cases, the business *must* price differently to those groups.

Businessmen flying to meetings can afford a higher airfare than
tourists families headed to Disneyland. That's why airlines charge
more for people who buy on short notice (usually businessmen) and less
for people who plan months in advance (usually vacationers). It's why
Disneyland charges locals less than they charge tourists for entry
tickets. It's why businesses in Thailand give discounts to tourists on
high ticket items that they could buy at home. It's why baht bus
drivers charge locals a lower price than tourists.

If a business charges a price that is fair then that's appropriate.
What is fair? Simple: They charge what the product or service is
worth. What is a product or service worth? It's worth exactly, nothing
more and nothing less, than what people will pay for it.

If two groups of people have a different view of the value of
something then a smart business will price appropriately. I hate
asparagus. My wife loves it. She will happily pay 10 times as much for
it as I will. If the grocery store sells asparagus to all the people
who love it and still has some left, it's in their best interest to
find the people like me and convince us to buy it. How do they do
that? They give me a deal.

Baht bus in particular: 10 baht (which is the clearly advertized rate)
for tourists and 5 baht for locals. If they charged the tourists 1,000
baht then no one would ride them. That's because they would be
charging more than the tourists think it's worth. But they charge 10
baht and have no lack of customers. Thus the tourists have announced
that they think it's worth 10 baht.

Thai people, on the other hand, might feel differently. If the fare
for them was 10 baht the buses would probably lose customers. So they
charge Thai people what *they* think the ride is worth.

If tourists quite riding the baht buses, the fares would drop. But
they don't. Because they think it's worth it.

If you pay for a product or service and if *you* think that what you
paid is worth it, why should it make any difference to you if someone
else got a lower price?

I can see where this is heading. Sorry, but I've no intention of
getting further involved in yet another discussion with you on this
one, only to end up having you call me a liar when you can't convince
me of your view. This subject has been debated quite enough here
already and I think Sandy and Ian, who responded with suggestions of
outlets in Siam Paragon were actually hinting that there are more
useful things to talk about. If, by raising this old chestnut again,
you're trolling for a fight I'll leave you to carry on that with one
of your regulars.
.

Relevant Pages

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