E-Ticketing coming to Thailand national parks

[Gaybutton]

While I realize that not too many reading this are going to be visiting Thailand's national parks, I think this E-Ticketing idea is just one example and will catch on and we will start seeing more and more venues applying similar systems. I also believe that a great many venues that charge entrance fees will offer both E-Ticketing and paying by PromptPay or similar at the ticket booth.

I have been saying that Thailand has made it quite clear that they are trying to evolve to a "cashless society". Those living in Thailand, or who spend a lot of time in Thailand, need to adapt to this system. Whether you like it or not, the handwriting is very obviously on the wall.

I don't see how Thailand could become totally cashless because how would tourists who don't hold Thai bank accounts be able to pay other than with cash or credit cards, at least until something is established that tourists will find convenient, easy, reliable, and tourists will want to do? Whether that will actually happen and how far into the future we are looking at remains to be seen.

I would advise those of you who spend substantial time in Thailand try to open a Thai bank account if you don't already have one. If you have difficulty opening an account on your own, I suggest using Mots Services. They are able to get bank accounts for foreigners. https://www.mots-services.com

I am wondering just how Thailand is going to handle this kind of system for tourists. I don't think things like PromptPay will work with foreign bank accounts. Has anyone tried it?

Perhaps they will relax the banking rules so foreigners can more easily open accounts, although I doubt people in Thailand for a holiday want to spend time in a bank trying to open an account. I opened my first Thai bank account many years ago when the only documentation I needed to show was my passport. At the time I was in Thailand on the 30 day privilege. I had no problem at all opening the account. But now things have changed and opening a Thai bank account is very difficult without the retirement visa, I believe mainly to try to combat money laundering.

For tourist convenience maybe they will come up with some sort of temporary account system for tourists that they can load up upon arrival or maybe online before they even go to Thailand. I think eventually they will need to come up with something if things go cashless to that extent. We'll see. The QueQ app is a start.
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GB: The QueQ app is a smartphone app. See also: http://www.queq.me/?fbclid=IwAR3kbF3qAx ... 1hFLqvtZAM
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Six national parks will test e-ticketing from Saturday as an alternative to cash for tourists to pay entry fees, the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation announced on Monday.

by The Nation

January 2, 2022

The department said the e-tickets would be issued at Ao Phang Nga National Park, the Mu Ko Similan National Park, Hat Noppharat Thara-Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park, Khao Yai National Park, Doi Inthanon National Park and Erawan National Park from Saturday in a pilot project.

The department said tourists can start buying e-tickets from Monday by using the QueQ app but the e-tickets can be shown to park officials at the entrance of the six national parks from Saturday onwards.

Those who buy e-tickets on the QueQ app can pay for the tickets by using their credit card or using the Thai QR Payment service.

The department said the new e-ticketing system would reduce the burden on park officials in storing large amounts of cash before transferring them to the department.

The department explained that the e-ticket service was started at the six parks first because they had mobile phone signals that are needed for park officials to check QR codes on the purchased e-tickets.

Once the system is found to be stable and after mobile phone signals cover more parks, the services will be extended to cover all parks in the future, the department added.

https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand ... m/40023668

[Jun]

(Edited to clarify). In response to your foreign bank account question, my UK bank account app doesn't have a QR code reader, so I'm not sure how to try "prompt" pay with that. Prompt pay works fine with my Kasikorn app, but is far slower than the contactless card. So less prompt.
Contactless card payment also works with my UK account, although I prefer to use my Thai account to make the accounting easier.

As for e-ticketing, I hope they operate it more professionally than the Roong Reung coach company, which has the following restrictions:
1 They always show no availability for about 4 hours before departure, so preventing online purchases or checking of actual availability
2 They charge an online booking fee, so it's more expensive
3 Having booked online, you're supposed to visit the counter 30 minutes before departure. Thus removing any convenience and adding pointless cost

Hence, I've never bothered booking online. It should simply be a matter of booking online and showing your ticket at the door to the bus. Since that has no labour cost, there should be no additional fees.

As for national parks, I don't recall paying any fee when visiting Ko Chang with another board member. Erawen took cash.

[BKKDreamer]

...although I prefer to use my Thai account to make the accounting easier.

Jun - if you would instead use the QR code that should be embedded within your Thai bank account mobile phone app - in theory you should be able to partake in the "prompt pay" system. Of course this assumes that your Thai bank account is a domestic account held within Thailand and not a commingled WISE baht account - where I believe that you do not have an actual true Thai bank account. I use WISE and I have not seen within the WISE app a way to use the Thai "prompt pay" system.

[Jun]

Jun - if you would instead use the QR code that should be embedded within your Thai bank account mobile phone app - in theory you should be able to partake in the "prompt pay" system.

I was responding to the question about foreign bank accounts. Since my response wasn't entirely clear, I've now edited it.

If I cannot pay with cash, payment with the Kasikorn card would be my second choice, as the next quickest option for small payments.

[Gaybutton]

Prompt pay works fine with my Kasikorn app, but is far slower than the contactless card.

"Contactless card" is a new term to me. I have no idea what it is. Where do you get it and how do you use it? Are there any fees?

I would appreciate whatever you can tell us about it.

[Jun]

My Kasikorn ATM card was renewed 1 year ago and is contactless. No additional fees, as far as I can tell. I did not ask for contactless.

Look for the contactless logo on your card, which is 4 curved lines, rather like the wifi strength meter on your phone, but turned on its side.

The first time I used it, the contactless didn't work. I think that's because they require you to do one chip and pin transaction first, for security. Just like in the UK. After that, it worked.

Just tap the card on the top of the reader in the shop and it should acknowledge the transaction. These also now work on the Bangkok MRT. Tap in, tap out and eventually the correct fare is debited from your account.

What I don't yet know is what the maximum limit for contactless transactions is. In the UK, this has been increased to £100.

My UK banking app has the facility to set a lower limit or disable/enable the card.
As far as I can tell, the Kasikorn app just has the disable/enable facility. Personally, I would only use such a card if I have an app on the phone, with real time notifications and the disable card facility.

In the UK, you will occasionally be asked to use a PIN for security. I wouldn't be surprised if that happens here.

It's faster than prompt pay. The only disadvantage is likely to be fees paid to the Visa/Mastercard duopoly. These are baked into the price of goods sold, but I'm still wary of monopolistic pricing and don't like it much.

[BKKDreamer]

Jun, your description above reminds you of a not so funny story from when I lived in Rome, Italy and they introduced contactless cards.

When you were on crowded public transportation (bus, tram, or metro) people would try to stand VERY close to you as unbeknownst to you they had a hidden contactless card reader on their body. In Italy, the without PIN maximum was up to Є25 euros. So, these "thieves" would stand near you to auto debit any amount up to Є25 euros without you knowing it until you saw your bank statement.

So, if you see someone you do not know standing very close to you who is VERY happy to see you - this may be the reason why.

I do not remember if Italy resolved this type of thievery by lowering the NO PIN required maximum as my job transferred me to Hungary and I did not follow up on this issue. Some of my friends resolved this issue by putting their contactless cards in tin/aluminum paper as this supposedly blocks the NFC signal required.

[Gaybutton]

My Kasikorn ATM card was renewed 1 year ago and is contactless.

Thank you. My card does not have the logo and is due to expire this year. Until you described it, I had no idea such a thing exists.

To use it, I would have to dig the card out of my wallet. For PromptPay I need to open the bank's app on my smartphone. Either way, it takes a moment, but for me I like not having to carry a lot of cash.

Three questions:

1. Does your UK contactless card work in Thailand?
2. If all you have to do is tap the card on the reader, if your card is lost or stolen, how do you prevent a thief from using it before you even realize the card is gone? I don't like the idea of not having to enter a PIN code. What protects your card from fraudulent use without a PIN code?
3. With PromptPay, the transaction amount is sometimes entered automatically on the app, but just as often you have to enter the amount manually. How does that work with a contactless card?

I hope there are good answers for those questions. Otherwise I think it is safer to stick with PromptPay.

[Jun]

1 Yes, my UK contactless cards work here.

2. Anti theft measures
(i) We rarely lose cards
(ii) Every time there is a transaction on my account, the phone buzzes with a notification. If anything has gone wrong, I could stop the card with
the app.
(iii) Banks periodically require a PIN for a transaction.

I presume this all works, as the UK increased the contactless limit from £30 to £100 relatively quickly.

[Gaybutton]

Yes, my UK contactless cards work here.

That could be part of the solution for tourists if Thailand goes cashless. Do they charge fees for international transactions? I wouldn't want to have to end up paying transaction fees for a cup of coffee at that place in Bangkok that no longer accepts cash.

You get a notification every time there is a transaction, but you don't get that until immediately after the transaction, do you, when it is already too late to stop the transaction? Who, then, is going to be the loser - the bank because they didn't have protection built in to prevent such losses or you because the bank won't accept responsibility for the loss?

Why do I think that you, the customer, is the one who ends up losing money if that happens?

In my opinion, while that may be convenient and a solution for international tourists, along with the odds being well in your favor that theft or loss won't happen, but speaking only for myself the protection is simply not good enough for me.

I will be sticking with PromptPay. When I get a new bank card I hope they offer contactless as an option that you can accept or reject. Until I can be guaranteed protection from any kind of fraudulent use, I don't want it and I will reject it if I can. For me, the only reason I can think of as to why I might want a contactless card would be if I travel internationally and would want to use it at my destination. Other than that, for me it just is not good enough.

"You'll have to do better than that."
- Nicol Williamson (Merlin), 'Excalibur'