Dual pricing tends to get a lot of farang hot under the collar. Especially expats. Half the time that you are being charged a higher fee than locals are you don’t even realize it; the signs cluing Thais into the cheaper prices are written in their language. This one at Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai – a mountain top temple that most touri make a pilgrimage to – is quite blatant about it. Entry to the wat is free for Thais. And if you are too lazy to walk up the long flight of steps, the elevator ride costs twice as much for farang too.

Maybe it’s not fair, but then a buck to see the incredible sights within the temple’s grounds is well worth it in my book. My friend Noom, to whom 30 baht has more meaning, always tries to buy me a Thai-priced ticket whenever there is a dual-pricing scheme in effect, and is seldom successful. It bugs him more than me. But then to Noom it’s not the fairness of dual pricing that upsets him but rather that his wallet that just happens to be in pocket ends up a few baht lighter.

I took this shot, however, not because of the dual pricing in effect but because my travelling companion Cheap Chris had asked since no one seemed to be collecting tickets if he could get away without paying the fee. I told him there were ticket collectors inside the wat, so he paid his admission. There are not. He was livid. Considering the laugh I got out of it, that was the best $1 he ever spent!

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