Hua Hin food sellers to sign MoU not to overcharge customers

[webfact]

Hua Hin food sellers to sign MoU not to overcharge customers  

 

 

Food-shop owners and street food sellers in Hua Hin seaside resort town will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Hua Hin municipal administration which requires them to strictly abide by trading rules and, most importantly, not to overcharge their customers, especially for seafoods.

 

The measure to rein in the food sellers in the famous resort town popular among vacationers from Bangkok and foreign tourists follows a recent social media post by a Sea Write author Somchai Liewwarin, aka Win Liewwarin, who complained that he was charged several thousand baht for just a few plates of seafoods when he dined with a few friends at a seafood shop in the municipal area about two months ago.

The post has drawn many responses from netizens criticizing overcharging practice by seafoods restaurants and food-shops on the famous walking street.  It has also prompted the district chief officer, Thanon Panphipat, to take action to address the problem.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/hua-hin-food-sellers-to-sign-mou-not-to-overcharge-customers/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2018-11-21

[ezzra]

Now if only someone can sign an MOU with just anyone else in Thailand that over charge and gouge foreigners in general,  like 5 times more than what the locals pay just to enter a national parks) that will make Thailand a much better place to be..

[colinneil]

So every food seller in Hua Him signed the MOU.

Just another load of BS.

[bluesofa]

Perhaps the MOU should have been signed using squid ink - then there could have been a photo-op too.

Pointless? Just as pointless as signing an MOU in Thailand.

(No squid were harmed in the writing of this cynical comment)

[Darcula]

I, Somchai, do solemnly swear that I shall not cheat by means of overcharging seafood served to my customers. So help me Buddha.

[Lungstib]

I assume the sea-food sellers will attach the same importance to these signed bits of paper as the government does to its commitments to free speech, free assembly and human rights of asylum seekers. Little or none.  

[lensta]

Well that's it then, problem solved.

[RotBenz8888]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Somchai Liewwarin, aka Win Liewwarin, who complained that he was charged several thousand baht for just a few plates of seafoods

He accidentally got a foreigners bill....

[worgeordie]

They should be forced to display a menu with prices,a simple

solution,a MOU with not worth the paper is written on.

regards Worgeordie

[bluesofa]

17 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

He accidentally got a foreigners bill....

Funny! But didn't that happen a couple of months back when the food-stall owner had thought the customer was Chinese, not Thai.

 

[asiaexpat]

The government sets the example with dual pricing at national parks and attractions. Vendors just follow the example, take profits where you can.

[fruitman]

We wanted to buy a nice new condo in Hua-hin....it's the new one consisting of 2 buildings with huge pools between them and faux grass gardens (forgot the name). 

 

But outside the building grounds it was impossible to walk over the trottoirs because the foodvendors put tables and chairs all over it...

 

Also the Thai liked to swim in the pool fully dressed....so dirty.

 

So we lost interest . Their restaurant was very good though.

[korkenzieher]

This is kind of interesting, because who defines overcharging? Chicken at Gordon Ramsey is always going to cost more than chicken at at KFC - but it is still just chicken. You would think ordinarily this is simply a market forces problem - enforce pricing displays and the customer takes care of the rest. I think this more reflects a back-story suggesting that consumers / tourists are losing confidence on a scale which is beginning to trouble local policy makers. High profile interventions seemingly are aimed more at restoring confidence. I was very interested to see how busy Cha-Am has become this year - most of the Thai seem to be cutting their journey south by 30km or so. Never seen the beaches there so crowded as they were a couple of weeks back; a stark contrast really, to Hua Hin, outside of places like Baan Khun Por. If internal tourism starts turning its back on the place, there's a lot of money at risk.

[CALSinCM]

In a free market, the MOU is your feet.  If you don't like the price - walk away.

[PETERTHEEATER]

The Municipality must enforce the displaying of price lists by each restaurant However, it the so called 'Night Market' area two central streets are taken over nightly by stall and food vendors who surely pay 'duties' to the municipality and include that in their prices.

[Ulic]

10 hours ago, CALSinCM said:

In a free market, the MOU is your feet.  If you don't like the price - walk away.

Yes, but the prices have to be posted so you know you are overpaying. 

[geriatrickid]

23 hours ago, korkenzieher said:

This is kind of interesting, because who defines overcharging? Chicken at Gordon Ramsey is always going to cost more than chicken at at KFC - but it is still just chicken. You would think ordinarily this is simply a market forces problem - enforce pricing displays and the customer takes care of the rest. I think this more reflects a back-story suggesting that consumers / tourists are losing confidence on a scale which is beginning to trouble local policy makers. High profile interventions seemingly are aimed more at restoring confidence. I was very interested to see how busy Cha-Am has become this year - most of the Thai seem to be cutting their journey south by 30km or so. Never seen the beaches there so crowded as they were a couple of weeks back; a stark contrast really, to Hua Hin, outside of places like Baan Khun Por. If internal tourism starts turning its back on the place, there's a lot of money at risk.

Cha Am short term Thai tourists are usually low end and are a very different demographic than the visitors to Hua Hin.  HH has always been the preferred destination for young professionals and upper middle income families. There is a cachet to say one is holidaying or taking the weekend at the town of the King's summer palace. Cha Am's higher end hotels and resorts target foreigners, not Thais. Inside Cha Am there have always been  low cost  guest house options available for locals. HH has few low cost guest houses for Thai visitors, unless they stay on the outskirts of HH. 

The Thais with money are still visiting Hua Hin.   

Edited November 22, 2018 by geriatrickid

[GeorgeCross]

On 11/21/2018 at 10:35 AM, CALSinCM said:

In a free market, the MOU is your feet.  If you don't like the price - walk away.

 

its not a free market when all the vendors collude to set pricing - thats a cartel in a tourist trap

[observer90210]

Some HH restaurants selling a dish of average tasting shrimps preparation (for 1 person) at around 750 THB have apparently not signed the treaty !!...And no this was not in any 5 star hotel, but a seedy foreign restaurant,  not far from the pussy zone of HH !!

[webfact]

Hua Hin food shop-owers sign MoU not to overcharge customers

 

 

Forty-eight food shop-owners in Hua Hin seaside resort town signed a memorandum of understanding today with local authorities promising not to overcharge their customers, especially for seafoods.

 

The 48 food shop-owners who represented seafood street shops at the Hua Hin night market and 22 beach-front food shops were invited to a meeting with officials of Hua Hin municipal, consumers’ protection network, police and the provincial commerce office by Mr Thanont Panpeepart, the district chief officer, to discuss the price overcharging problem.

 

Allegations of price overcharging, especially on seafoods, have been going on for a long time from both Thai and foreign tourists, but without any action being taken by authorities concerned to resolve the problem until recently when a SeaWrite author wrote a comment in the social media complaining of an unpleasant experience two months ago when he visited a street food vendor with some friends and was charged 1,000 baht for each of the prawn he ordered.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/hua-hin-food-shop-owers-sign-mou-not-to-overcharge-customers/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2018-11-27

[ChrisY1]

It should be called fresh farmed crap.....almost zero to do with seafood other that it swims!

[PETERTHEEATER]

Within the night market area the vendors who set up nightly street stalls including 'street food' pay a 'rent' to the authorities. No doubt there is stiff competition for 'permits' since there is good money to be made and this drives up prices.

[shady86]

Consumers can always ask for food price before ordering it.