Before I get started on this I want everyone to know that I truly think that society here in Thailand is preferable to society in the west. Things are very different here and most of that is an improvement in my mind but a lot of this probably has to do with the fact that I am reasonably young and don't have much to compare it to. I'm one of those people that kind of just wants to be left alone and this is one thing I quite enjoy about Thailand. Other than getting new visa stamps, I have almost zero interaction with the government here. In my home country and state in USA, dealing with the government is a constant pain in the ass. You need a permit for almost anything. Here, if you want to go fishing somewhere, you just go fishing there and that is it - if you told people they had to get a permit they would riot.
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That's funny to me because that sounds like I am making it up but that's really the way it is. The people would never comply if some money making scheme was introduced under the auspices of "protecting wildlife." Here the government would need to make it illegal outright, or let anyone do it. None of this "oh if you pay $40 you can fish here, that will protect the species!" All of that horse-shit in America can stay there if you ask me.
Anyway, it isn't all sunshine and rainbows in Thailand and here are a few small gripes that I have about the place..
The dual pricing system
This only applies if you are a foreigner and in some situations I can understand why it would exist. The idea behind this is that the locals pay taxes and therefore should be entitled to cheaper entry to things such as national parks. Fair enough but they go crazy with the price difference and it is clearly a rip off when that happens.
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you dont need to be able to read Thai to understand what is going on here. I could understand charging a bit more for the people that don't contribute to taxes as greatly, but 10 times the amount? That is pure insanity.
Unfortunately this extends well beyond just national parks and is noticeable in shops and taxis as well. A group has popped up that will identify these places that charge two different rates depending on your nationality and a movement of sorts has begun to boycott the places that engage in this sort of thing. Therefore the frequency that one encounters this has gone down a lot. Also the introduction of Taxi apps like Grab - which is the same thing as Uber - have all but eliminated taxi rip-offs.
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Some ticket counters will use the Thai numerals to attempt to conceal the dual-pricing but I have found that since using the Thai numerals is totally unnecessary since ALL Thai people understand regular numbers. If you see that these are being used anywhere on a sign or ticket counter, you can be guaranteed there is a dual-pricing system in place. I know some foreigners that will kick up a fuss and speak Thai to the people in the box and sometimes manage to get the Thai price because of their insistence and familiarity with the language. For me, since I didn't bother to learn very much Thai, I just kind of let it go and walk away from said businesses.
The fact that this isn't targeted or at least addressed by the authorities suggests to me that this is another one of those "fishing license" sorts of things. The government knows they cannot force these people to do their bidding, so they don't even bother trying. I don't really know. It is just as likely that doing this actually is illegal, but they pay of the police to look the other way.
I suppose to a certain degree that locals should be entitled to better deals than foreigners but when it happens as frequently as it does in this country, you find that you are always on your guard. Because of this many expats avoid shopping anywhere that doesn't have the prices marked on the items out of fear of getting ripped off every time they turn around. Some people are on their guard a bit too much, and end up making a scene everywhere that they go.
Their fear is not unwarranted though because I once went with a friend to a restaurant and a few Thai people were with us as well. The menu at the restaurant had different prices depending on what language the menu was in and they were dramatically different prices too. We didn't make a scene but just told the waiter that we wont eat at places that have different prices for different people. We did this quietly and just left.
I think you should go ahead and expect this if you are ever thinking of coming here. Most tourists don't even notice it is happening and to them, things are already so much cheaper here than back home that they don't really complain. Once you live here for a while though you start to notice that while it isn't everywhere, it is in enough places to keep you on your guard anytime you go anywhere new.