Does Tourist=Sucker?

The more and more I travel, the more and more I see the same things again.  So... Does being a tourist mean you have to be a sucker (pay more than others for the same goods/services)?  I've seen plenty of people who can travel the world and not break the bank, but I'm constantly reminded of all the others.

I know that people come from different "normal" budgets for how much stuff costs.  Let me give you an example, in the Eugene it takes anywhere from $7-13 dollars to buy a Thai dish at a restaurant.

Food:
Plate of food for a local 50c. (~estimate)
Plate of food for a tourist that is looking around and finding decent prices $1.50   (3 times the "real" price)
Plate of food for a tourist that doesn't care $7 (14 times the "real" price)

So,  why do people traveling let themselves spend more money than they have to for the same things?  Well there are some reasons.  Some people don't care that they are paying to much, they have plenty of money and don't need to worry about it.  For others, bargaining or finding the best prices is allot of work, and sometimes to much energy.
People who are traveling from countries that cost less than the country they came from are used to spending a certain price for things. so if they have habits for buying food for $8-15 a meal, then when they travel is still seems normal for them to spend that kind of money.
People from some other countries don't know how to negotiate to find out what the bottom price really is.
People in other places expect to negotiate for prices, and as such most things don't have price tag on them.

All these reasons combined go to sometimes propagate that a tourist can pay more than is excepted.

If you want to save some money, here are some ways to do so.  Do a little research, do a little asking, a little negotiating   A little hard work goes a long way. Perhaps one day,  tourists won't automatically have a "You a sucker?" stamped on their back.