1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

True. And many Thais who look poor are not. I knew of a noodle seller who had three houses. They tend to not spend the money they have on stuff like foreign holidays and 60" tvs etc like we do.

 

I rich Thai men I've met seem to spend on land, gambling and giks.

You know how they always say that price negotiation is part of the culture here? Well, just as the customer is always trying to chisel the price down, many vendors are trying just as hard to push the price up. My favorite explanation for a sudden unexpected price increase? 'Oh, the price went up.' Sometimes it's true, but sometimes it's BS. The only way to guard against this is to know your prices and do research beforehand.

 

If anyone thinks that speaking Thai or projecting 'Happy-Go-Lucky' affablility is going to magically protect you from the price gouging werewolves, I have to respectfully disagree. For one thing, a surprising number of Thais simply don't seem to make a mental connection between your ability to speak Thai and your savviness about pricing. Another thing is that some vendors affect a palsy-walsy friendliness as a means to get you to drop your guard before making an egregious price gouging move. I've noticed that when you're a new customer quite often many market vendors are initially on their best behavior and that it's only after they've gotten used to you or you've become a semi-regular customer, that the price chicanery starts. What I'm trying to say is that while speaking Thai and trying to build rapport with vendors DOES work with many vendors, it definitely doesn't work with all of them.

 

After years and years of taking the "build rapport" approach with vendors, I have adopted a more reserved demeanor lately, consciously trying to project a no-nonsense approach to shopping. Trying to be buddy-buddy with vendors has as much of a downside as an upside. For example, it becomes more difficult to disengage from a potential purchase if you have an emotional investment in maintaining your relationship with the vendor. If you manage to wheedle a discount out of them this time, they're only to make it back in spades when you come back next time. I've noticed that many Thai shoppers at talaat nats don't engage in a great deal of small talk with the vendors when they're shopping, and I've also learned the hard way that fresh markets are gossip pits and unless you want the whole world to know something, that's probably not a good place to spill your guts. So, in summary, I've come to take more of a 'business-is-business' approach to dealing with small vendors, and have downplayed the interpersonal bonds, except for a handful of vendors who I feel have truly established that they are 100% trustworthy.

Went for my vehicle test today, folk were given their papers and a nice looking goodie bag...Isn't that nice,  my turn came to collect my papers, big smile, waiting for my goodie bag...They never gave me one....I was devastated...????

On 9/21/2018 at 10:20 PM, CharlieH said:

House services / builders /repais etc

Any Store (that doesnt display prices)

Csr/bike services

Hospitals / Dentist / Vet

 

Just about anything that involves cash that doesnt have a ticketed displayed price I find an attempt is made to extract more money if you are not Thai.

 

 

 

 

I look for price tags, when there are none I ask in very nice voice in Thai, "Something like this is how much??"   If the price is ridiculous, I put it down start to walk away - if they say "How much you pay??"  I walk faster.   I don't care if they want to just about give it away, any attempt extract more than somthing is obviously worth is an assault in my eyes...............I'll go somewhere else.

Thais even rip off Burmese too. In Chiang Mai, I've seen Thai phone vendors talk about how they try to rip the newbie Burmese off for overpriced phone plans and phone cards, since they don't know much about the Thai phone system. The said the Europeans are harder to rip off because they only want the basic SIM card.

The 'rip off' is human nature at work.

Banks, governments, and mega corporations, should be of more concern.