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[raro]

CMSteve, on Yesterday, 19:43 , said:

It seems Thailand does have some laws that require charges to Visa usages.   Here is a quote from page 21 of the same document. This is specifically a notice of a change so we do not have the whole background or extent of this Thai law...  

"a variance has been granted to ATM Acquirers in Thailand to allow them to impose an Access fee on domestic ATM Cash Dispursements, as permitted by their local law.

You state "As Thai law does not require the merchant to surcharge, the shop was apparently in violation of Visa Card’s Core Principles." - How did you confirm this?

Also, a little diddy about the greater good. As you can see from the many other posters that prefer not to have to pay 3% when paying with cash just to make the few card users feel as though they are not being overcharged, maybe its in the best interest of the "whole" not to press this issue.

If the Thai law would "require" the surcharge, then it would happen on every purchase, right?

Thai law "permits" the surcharge, however it is breaching the quoted Core Principle. Further, the "variance granted" is for ATM transactions only.

The 3% surcharge are worked into the price of every product you buy at a shop that accepts credit cards. Paying with a credit card gives you your money's worth. Giving the choice of cash = net price versus credit card = surcharge would actually ruin the credit card business and therefore it cannot be in the interest of the credit card companies to allow this practice.

I prefer credit card payments simply because I hate having large amounts of cash on me.

[CMSteve]

So you are saying you did not/can not confirm your statement?

And yes the specific quote I gave is about ATM usages domestically, as I clearly stated. I also pointed out it was from a notice of changes and does not state the law nor the entirety of its reach.  

"If the Thai law would "require" the surcharge, then it would happen on every purchase, right? "  

The Visa regulations, as you quoted previously, "No Surcharging Unless Required by Law
Charging for the Advertised Price
Visa merchants agree to accept Visa cards for payment of goods or services without charging any
amount over the advertised or normal price as a condition of Visa card acceptance, unless local law
requires that merchants be permitted to engage in such practice."

Thai Law does not need to require a surcharge, it merely need to require that a merchant has the right to do so, or from the other direction, require Visa to allow the merchant to make the decision.  

And yes, I to prefer not to walk around with wads of cash, but have noticed that there are banks of ATM's outside or inside of every major store.  - Although, I don't rack up nearly as many points nowadays....

raro, on 35 minutes ago, said:

CMSteve, on Yesterday, 19:43 , said:

It seems Thailand does have some laws that require charges to Visa usages.   Here is a quote from page 21 of the same document. This is specifically a notice of a change so we do not have the whole background or extent of this Thai law...  

"a variance has been granted to ATM Acquirers in Thailand to allow them to impose an Access fee on domestic ATM Cash Dispursements, as permitted by their local law.

You state "As Thai law does not require the merchant to surcharge, the shop was apparently in violation of Visa Card’s Core Principles." - How did you confirm this?

Also, a little diddy about the greater good. As you can see from the many other posters that prefer not to have to pay 3% when paying with cash just to make the few card users feel as though they are not being overcharged, maybe its in the best interest of the "whole" not to press this issue.

If the Thai law would "require" the surcharge, then it would happen on every purchase, right?

Thai law "permits" the surcharge, however it is breaching the quoted Core Principle. Further, the "variance granted" is for ATM transactions only.

The 3% surcharge are worked into the price of every product you buy at a shop that accepts credit cards. Paying with a credit card gives you your money's worth. Giving the choice of cash = net price versus credit card = surcharge would actually ruin the credit card business and therefore it cannot be in the interest of the credit card companies to allow this practice.

I prefer credit card payments simply because I hate having large amounts of cash on me.

Edited by CMSteve, 8 minutes ago.