FruitPudding

Honestly, I think the only lower-mid Sukhumvit bar that is reasonably priced is The Red Lion. 89 baht a pint of Singha and it's a good pint too. And that's all day. The don't do the infantile, greedy, parasitical price increase as soon as it gets dark. Have to respect them for that.

90-100 a small bottle or 99 a pint.

Exactly. And they still make money.

I will save my sympathies for people who deserve it. The waitresses, certainly. They have my sympathy. Bar owners who have way over charged for years and decades: no sympathy at all. They can have an 8 month holiday. And they did! They were allowed to open for food, but most flat out refused until booze came back. They wouldn't get out of bed for the lesser income. They got used to the high margin booze business. Only a few pubs opened for food at the first available moment and I appreciate them for that. The others brazenly told me when I messaged them, they wouldn't open until alcohol came back. Obviously, they had enough in the bank and didn't want to get out of bed for a lower income. Up to them.

Well, the last time I was in Dollhouse on Soi Cowboy it was 80 a bottle, maybe a year ago (or perhaps that was just a covid promo). I think the street bar around the corner was 100 or 120 (like most other bars downtown). I have drunk in virtually every type of bar between Nana and Phrom Phong, as well as Silom and it ranges from 80 to 120 a bottle generally. I certainly have never ventured to Thong Lor though. Most places charge similar prices despite the venue being very different.

Nah, if you have lived in rural areas you will know beer drinking is common, probably more common that Lao Kao.

No, you don't. What are you talking about? You just made that up.

Fair point. And then they multiply it a few times over if they can get away with it. Like I said. I think it's just local mentality with those involved in tourist areas. Like the taxi drivers who won't turn their meters on and try to negotiate double or triple the price. Scammers at heart.

They must be running a 100k (or two) through their till a day, easily, when tourism is in full swing especially. Even if the rent is 200k a month for a big place on Sukhumvit, it is easily paid for in a few days. I walked down Soi 4 last night. I had to go halfway down the soi to find a bar that still had seats with a street view available. Everyone was sitting shoulder-to-shoulder (paying 100 plus a bottle). The soi was crammed.

Sometimes, it's 150 buddy. Sorry, after 8pm. lol????

Good answer. Imagine being a Somchai and earning 300 a day (probably 10-12 hours) and then paying 50 for a beer? Bloody expensive. That's like a minimum wager in the UK earning about 70 GBP for a day's work (8 hours) and then paying almost 12 pounds a beer. It just wouldn't happen.

I honestly believe, most just push it as far as they can because it's totally unregulated. I mean if they tried to serve a pint for 36 pounds in London, I think something would be done about that. But the tourist market in Thailand is just a free-for-all.

Funny thing is: the prices rarely vary in Thailand, haha.????

So, the poll allows multiple choices and its anonymous. I have just included typical beer prices that I have experienced recently in downtown Bangkok and other tourist areas in Thailand. I know it can be cheaper up in Isaan and maybe elsewhere and I also didn't include shop prices obviously. I also get that it's highly subjective. In most UK cities beer is cheap, in my opinion. Even good beers that are imported and let's not forget that income is much higher in general....and the owner has to pay decent salaries to their staff and higher taxes as well (and then there's rent, not to mention utility bills are expensive in many Western countries). In Thailand, I think it's just the rent that's high; the staff salaries are very low and I think taxes are low here too (also utility bills are cheap here right?) I tend to think beer is expensive here, especially for local grog. I could be sitting drinking fine Belgian beer in a British town in a pub with the heating on in the dead of winter being served by a barman getting paid fair income (and I assume the owner still turns a profit).......for the same price as sitting drinking Thai beer in an open air bar in Thailand being served by unprofessional barkeep. I mean, in some bars here the draft is like flat rotten eggs; you have no choice but to drink bottles. I was in a little bar down Sukhumvit the other night and I must have seen at least 100k pass through the till in just a few hours. I get that rent is probably high, but staff is cheap, utilities are a little, and taxes aren't that much here. I mean the mark up on a small bottle has to be like x4 the price they buy it at in many places (especially after 8pm...don't get me started on that policy). Anyway, what's a fair price for a beer? lol

Super generous, man. Now I know why Thailand doesn't allows us farang to do anything other than teach, lol. I'd be making 50k a month tax free on tips at that rate.

It's a cultural thing, actually. So, it depends where you are. From my experience, at least, Thais don't tip. The problem I have with tipping (in Thailand) is that my family have worked as waitresses in restaurants where the customers are almost only Thai (proper restaurants, like Thai steak houses where you get waited on....I don't mean streetfood) and they have never received an actual tip from a Thai customer, like virtually nothing (maybe 1 or 2 baht change sometimes.....no joke). So, when I tip a Thai waitress I wonder would she also tip when she goes to the Thai steak restaurant my daughter works at, for example? If she ordered a Thai pork steak and a drink and it came to 200, would she even leave 10 baht tip? I don't think so. 5 baht? probably not. It'll be the usual: nothing at all, or maybe 1 or 2 baht coins. At least this is my experience. So, I do kinda have a problem tipping a Thai waitress because I am sure she won't tip anyone else. Why tip someone in a country where they don't tip? It doesn't make sense. It could be your own kid waiting on them and they wouldn't give anything.

I had a funny experience the other night actually at my local Sukhumvit Soi 4 bar (I won't say which one, but it has been there a long time and the bar staff get smashed drunk regularly). So the barmaids were absolutely drunk and I paid with a 500, the bill was 460 or something. And she was like, "I keep the change, hahaha!" And she did! I think she thought she was being cute, lol. This is a bar I usually tip in anyway because the staff are a lot of fun and service is good, so I didn't mind. But her attitude on the topic was certainly interesting.

I have never ever heard of anyone tipping on a plane. Just restaurants, barbers, delivery guys, massage, maids. I have only heard of tipping in bars in Asia cos we get our bill at the end. As you say, in the UK bartenders don't get a tip. Although in my old local back West, we would sometimes buy them a drink. I don't get how some guys tip construction workers here or mechanics. I was a construction worker back in the West and I certainly didn't get any tips. I wonder does anyone tip teachers? Serious question. Or would that be insulting to their profession? It is funny, cos many Thai teachers earn 10,000-15,000 a month nowadays, yet a waitress is getting 15,000-20,000+ a month cos of the 10% service charge plus tips on top (at least that's what my EX was making 10 years ago in a well-known sports pub on Sukhumvit and she's borderline illiterate.....the irony!)

Ouch! Farang Kee Nok, is it? I have never thought of Westerners as being stingy, especially here in Thailand. In fact, I often see a white knight syndrome where they perceive the locals to be poorer than they are and then are over-generous. This, does however, sometimes wear off with time and experience.

I am imaging a Trump hairstyle.

Reading comprehension! I know it's hard! Let me show you what I wrote: "There have been only a few reasons this year that have caused me to feel compelled to tip, yet I tip regularly. Strange isn't it?" I even highlighted the part for you which says I tip regularly (cos I think you missed it). The point is: while I tip regularly, I don't feel I have received anything more than mediocre service, and just do it out of etiquette (yet, from my experience it is not part of Thai etiquette). And, yeah, this year I can think of only a few times where I felt the person did anything worth a tip. I always tip in my local down on Soi 4 Sukhumvit. The birds always remember your name and what you drink and their level of hospitality and good company is unrivalled. But most other places range from rude, to pushy, to incompetent, to mediocre (at best). I was actually so grateful of my kid's tutor's immense effort that I happily paid her during our summer holiday while we were up country for a month this year; I certainly ain't stingy.

Almost, 15 years. Well, I have waitresses in my family at restaurants and they have never received a single tip from a Thai customer and we are talking over years. And I am not talking about noodle stalls or even Isaan restaurants. I am talking about Thai steak houses and other such sit-in aircon restaurant.

Exactly, for the low class women the only choice is: village bloke or farang. The upper classes don't marry down. Of course, they could remain single and support themselves, but for many low class women (with the education and rearing they have had), the only choice they have is: minimum wage or sex work.

You raise a good point: there should be a reason to tip; it shouldn't be out of habit or something like that. There have been only a few reasons this year that have caused me to feel compelled to tip, yet I tip regularly. Strange isn't it?

Of course you understand her: she wants a lot of money, but she has no qualifications to get a lot of money. I haven't seen any shame in these parts, darling.