Dec 27 2011
Kuala Lumpur's biggest scam: Discriminatory pricing for foreigners
It is a sad fact of travel that tourists are seen as ripe for ripping off by a dedicated band of con artists, whether that be credit card fraud, elaborate gem scams, or even fake charities. However clever these cons are, with a little bit of common sense they are perfectly avoidable. The problem with Kuala Lumpur's biggest tourist scam -- discriminatory pricing -- is that it is not only endemic, but also officially sanctioned.
An increasingly common scam netting visitors.
KL Bird Park is one of the city's top tourist attractions, and were it not for its pricing policy, I would not hesitate to recommend it to visitors. Foreign tourists are charged a whopping 48 ringgit to get in, with a paltry 10 ringgit discount for kids. For a family of four that's 172 ringgit, just shy of 60 US dollars. If that same family was Malaysian, they would pay just 60 ringgit, about a third of the price.
Time to turn your back on discriminatory pricing?
The management of KL Bird Park clearly knows it is doing something wrong, otherwise it would not go to such great lengths to disguise its ticket regime. While the charge for foreigners is marked clearly in English, and in numerals, the local price is written out in Malay, so unless you know that dua puluh means 20, you would be completely unaware what was going on.
Something fishy in the ticketing policy.
The bird park is part of a growing band of tourist attractions that charge foreigners more than locals. Others include Aquaria KLCC , the National Zoo and the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus. As recently as three years ago, the Skybridge tour at the Petronas Twin Towers was free. Then the price went up to 10 ringgit for a while. Now it's 50 ringgit for foreigners, and 25 for locals.
Sky high tourist rip-off.
The price differential is disguised by referring to locals as "MyKad holders" (MyKad is the Malaysian national identity card), the most popular technique used by KL's double pricers.
A view to a con.
Excluding long-term expatriates from the local price undermines one of the main arguments used for double pricing, that nationals pay for attractions through taxation. Even if this were true, and plenty of the worst double chargers are private concerns, expats tend to pay shed-loads of tax. Another argument is that tourists are richer than locals; but take one look at the cars parked outside KL Bird Park and you can see what nonsense this is.
It's not just the money, it's the principle.
One of the city's oddest cases of double pricing is at the National Museum. Foreigners are charged five ringgit, and locals two ringgit. Is the management really saying that Malaysian visitors cannot afford to pay an extra three ringgit? Few foreigners probably mind paying such a trifling amount. But with many KL attractions, the differential is anything but trifling. All the more reason to support attractions that are either free, or charge the same price for everyone, such as the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia.
Not just a great museum, but an example to Tourism Malaysia.
Tourism Malaysia does not seem to appreciate why many visitors find being charged a vastly higher price so offensive. Then again, that's probably because most Malaysians have not been on the receiving end of similar treatment abroad. When they visit North America, Australia, or Europe, double pricing is practically unknown. Often it is illegal. Would that were the case in Malaysia.
No related posts.
This raises an interesting point. I'm living in Thailand, where I've gotten used to paying up to ten times (or more) what Thais pay for attractions, national parks, etc.
I've come to terms with this for the most part, at least it doesn't bother me much anymore. But what does get under my skin (no pun intended) is when a group of tourists from Hong Kong or Japan walk through the gates of an attraction and do not get charged the "foreigner" fee. In Thailand, "farang" (foreigner) refers explicitly to white people. Japanese or Chinese might get charged the foreigner rate, they might not, but they definitely aren't referred to as "farang". Coming from New York City – one of the most racially diverse places on earth – it's tough for me to get used to the racial prejudices here. I once had a Thai person tell me that an African American friend of mine who also was living in Thailand is not a farang because they're not white. Hmmm… Not sure exactly where I'm going with this but it's certainly food for though. Thanks for the article.
Same here. Before moving to Malaysia, I lived in London and Manchester, two of the most racially diverse, tolerant places on earth. So coming to a country where unequal treatment is a way of life, has taken some getting used to. The odd thing is that on a personal level, Malaysians are generally so pleasant/friendly/welcoming to foreigners, whether they be tourists or expats.
Stop the discrimination!
I've kicked off about this a few times. I noticed the bird park price scam, and made a lot of noise in Malay about it – only by threatening to notify the freshly arrived tour bus occupants did they shut me up by giving a "discount". Most recently I discovered the appalling mark-up rip off in Sabah, for trips to Maliau basin. There they charge locals rm1400 and foreigners rm2600. Let's face it, national museum prices are ok, there are a great many poor families for whom rm3 is a lot of money, but if you can afford to shell out over a grand for a few nights, you don't need a discount
In Vietnam, higher entry fees apply to foreigners visiting the Nguyen Dynasty Citadel in Hue. Citizens pay less for favorable access to this historical site since it is their national heritage. Double pricing in many situations occur however, where it has nothing to do with this principle and is simply opportunistic profiting from transient customers. It seems that in Malaysia, the latter is the case since the sites mentioned cannot be considered a national heritage where citizens (identified by their Mykad) should have favorable access. If foreigners are to be charged more, it should be an officially designated "Malaysian heritage site" and the different prices clearly stated. This is certainly an issue that should be addressed by National Tourism Organizations.