Krabi hotel accused of favouring foreigners over Thais

Thai tourists condemned a hotel in Krabi for discriminatory service standards after the hotel provided better treatment to foreign guests and neglected domestic tourists. They claimed that the hotel prioritised foreign guests with higher purchasing power over them for financial gain.

A Thai man posted three videos on his TikTok account, @thetharm, to share his bad experience at a hotel on Railay Beach in the southern province of Krabi.

The incident was reported to have happened last Sunday, January 29, at Railay Beach.

In the videos, the man and his friends explained to the hotel staff that they booked the hotel for 5,000 baht per night. The fee included a shuttle golf cart from a car park to the Nam Mao Pier and a boat trip from the Nam Mao Pier to Railay Beach, where the hotel was located.

When they arrived at the car park, hotel staff notified them that the shuttle car from the car park to the pier was not available. They were told they had to carry their bags and possessions to the pier.

The group later found out upon arrival at the pier that a group of foreign tourists came from the car park in a shuttle van. They were angry because no one notified them that a shuttle van was available.

The Thai group believes that the hotel provides a better service to foreigners than Thais because it is assumed they have more money, which is not always the case.

A woman in the video revealed her support for the hotel during the pandemic when there were no foreign guests. She paid a rate of 2,500 baht per night and received outstanding service. However, upon returning with friends, she faced a vastly different experience.

The name of the hotel was not mentioned in the video.

A local boat driver who witnessed the incident gave an interview with Thairath yesterday. He said it was an issue with the hotel. He said the local tour boats and vendors in Krabi or Railay Beach provide the same level of service to all tourists at the same price whether they are Thai or foreign.

The man added that he believed the issue occurred because the hotel staff was busy with an increased number of tourists. He thought the hotel would admit its fault and improve its service.

Another Thai woman who had a foreign boyfriend also complained on Facebook that she and her boyfriend spent nearly 100,000 baht to travel for two weeks.

She said restaurants, hotels, and vendors at each tourist attraction charged them more compared to domestic tourists just because her boyfriend was a foreigner.

She gave the example that a tour boat at Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in the central province of Ratchabuti charged them 5,000 baht for a two-hour boat trip along the Damnoen Saduak canal.