Bangkok - The Land of a Lack of Smiles

[HamonRye]

Is it just me or has the fun gone out of the place compared to years gone by?

 

Recently just flew into Bangkok from Yangon. Spent a fair bit of time in Yangon. Liked the friendly atmosphere there and they seem to put the customer first, or at least attempt to show this and make some effort. I felt like my money was appreciated there.

 

In Bangkok on the otherhand there seems like a sense of entitlement in the air. What happened to the smiles when you hand over the cash?

 

White tourist numbers look way down to me.

 

Or are they all just abit depressed living in such a clusterf*ck city or something?

 

Heading towards Issan tomorrow.

The true land of smiles.

 

Peace.

[uli65]

everywhere in Thailand now

[Bang Bang]

Post-election blues. It'll pass. Just wait till after Songkran.

[from the home of CC]

it's just you..

[dddave]

Maybe they are just tired of farangs who wear disapproving frowns most of the time and don't smile back. 

Edited April 1, 2019 by dddave

[mstevens]

I felt exactly the same way when I was in Bangkok recently. I used to love visiting Bangkok but surly attitudes towards customers in restaurants and stores really put a downer on things. Parts of Bangkok are so heavily touristed that I get the feeling that Thais have been worn out by foreigners who behave a different way to what the Thais expect. But it was more than that, I just found the smiles lacking pretty much everywhere and not just in the tourist areas.

Edited April 1, 2019 by mstevens

[bkk6060]

3 hours ago, mstevens said:

I felt exactly the same way when I was in Bangkok recently. I used to love visiting Bangkok but surly attitudes towards customers in restaurants and stores really put a downer on things. Parts of Bangkok are so heavily touristed that I get the feeling that Thais have been worn out by foreigners who behave a different way to what the Thais expect. But it was more than that, I just found the smiles lacking pretty much everywhere and not just in the tourist areas.

Unfortunately many foreigners come here thinking they are better then this place.  The "treat me like a king I have more money" then you attitude.

Yes, I think the Thais are sick of it and I do not blame them.

It will probably never be recovered.

 

One other thing my opinion is the Bangkok Thais actually are better then Pattaya.

Edited April 1, 2019 by bkk6060

[Destiny1990]

10 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Unfortunately many foreigners come here thinking they are better then this place.  The "treat me like a king I have more money" then you attitude.

Yes, I think the Thais are sick of it and I do not blame them.

It will probably never be recovered.

 

One other thing my opinion is the Bangkok Thais actually are better then Pattaya.

The thais u know from Bangkok and the Thais u know from Pattaya probably both coming from isarn.

I rarely see rude foreigners here so the Thais are sick of what?

Sick of tourists who are keep thai business open or?

[HamonRye]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Unfortunately many foreigners come here thinking they are better then this place.  The "treat me like a king I have more money" then you attitude.

Yes, I think the Thais are sick of it and I do not blame them.

It will probably never be recovered.

 

One other thing my opinion is the Bangkok Thais actually are better then Pattaya.

What do they have to be sick of then exactly? Overpriced 600 baht shoe box rooms and 100 baht beers perhaps?

 

 

[Nanaplaza666]

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Unfortunately many foreigners come here thinking they are better then this place.  The "treat me like a king I have more money" then you attitude.

Yes, I think the Thais are sick of it and I do not blame them.

It will probably never be recovered.

 

One other thing my opinion is the Bangkok Thais actually are better then Pattaya.

You think the same way as me , if you treat people nicely ,they will treat you nicely. this is what all the ass faced tourist done for years to make thai people dislike tourist in many places 

[Skeptic7]

You are spot on. Thailand has changed drastically...not just BKK. Snarls, not smiles anymore. Been like this for years now. Baditude, entitlement, overpriced, overly serious, extremely sensitive and easily offended. Maybe for first timers, relative noobs with little time spent, it still seems OK. For anyone who loved the place a decade or 2 or 3 ago, it holds very little appeal nowadays. VERY little. 

[freebyrd]

1 hour ago, Skeptic7 said:

You are spot on. Thailand has changed drastically...not just BKK. Snarls, not smiles anymore. Been like this for years now. Baditude, entitlement, overpriced, overly serious, extremely sensitive and easily offended. Maybe for first timers, relative noobs with little time spent, it still seems OK. For anyone who loved the place a decade or 2 or 3 ago, it holds very little appeal nowadays. VERY little. 

Ditto.

[alex8912]

Mostly smiles in BKK. You just came here from Myanmar and want to stir up the pot. Bangkok is huge,  one girl at 7/11 not giving you a big smile is because in Bangkok young girls can afford braces and are shy to smile a lot until they come off. 

Go have fun in smoky Isarn. 

[Pilotman]

16 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

it's just you..

it isn't just you, we all see it. Miserable, uncooperative and unsmiling is the general norm among Thais in the Cities nowadays. Mind you, London is no better, worse if anything, and as for New York: enough said. 

[fruitman]

6 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Unfortunately many foreigners come here thinking they are better then this place.  The "treat me like a king I have more money" then you attitude.

Yes, I think the Thais are sick of it and I do not blame them.

It will probably never be recovered.

 

One other thing my opinion is the Bangkok Thais actually are better then Pattaya.

For the western tourists BKK is an inferior place with unmannered uneducated people all over....and if they won't treat the tourists like a king there's no reason for them to visit thailand at all...for the price one pays in BKK these days we can expect some quality but it's not there....far from that.

[mstevens]

Where once I used to see Thailand as a place I would visit again and again and again, now I tell people who have never been that they should visit.....but probably once will be enough.

[NoshowJones]

8 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Unfortunately many foreigners come here thinking they are better then this place.  The "treat me like a king I have more money" then you attitude.

Yes, I think the Thais are sick of it and I do not blame them.

It will probably never be recovered.

 

One other thing my opinion is the Bangkok Thais actually are better then Pattaya.

Apart from those in the sex trade, how many Thais do you actually see in Pattaya?????

[scubascuba3]

Apart from those in the sex trade, how many Thais do you actually see in Pattaya?[emoji3]

That excludes wives and girlfriends but plenty of people in regular non sex trade jobs

[HamonRye]

3 hours ago, alex8912 said:

Mostly smiles in BKK. You just came here from Myanmar and want to stir up the pot. Bangkok is huge,  one girl at 7/11 not giving you a big smile is because in Bangkok young girls can afford braces and are shy to smile a lot until they come off. 

Go have fun in smoky Isarn. 

Have you been to Yangon though?

 

So couteous they are when you hand over the cash. And you can have a friendly chat. I felt my money was appreciated.

 

Here i feel like an inconvenience when handing over the baht.

 

Oh, an on the subject of 7 Eleven's what happened to the welcome when entering?????

[alex8912]

27 minutes ago, HamonRye said:

Have you been to Yangon though?

 

So couteous they are when you hand over the cash. And you can have a friendly chat. I felt my money was appreciated.

 

Here i feel like an inconvenience when handing over the baht.

 

Oh, an on the subject of 7 Eleven's what happened to the welcome when entering?????

All I remember was that they wanted USD and they had to be soo perfect without even a fold in them sometimes. Then they returned change with raggedy old Myanmar money lol. Let’s face it. For a city and concrete jungle with 8+ million people Bangkok is quite smily and friendly. We have all seen many more foreigners here frowning and acting like A holes too. So you never really know the personality of the poster on here. I also see very courteous foreigners here everyday as well. 

As for the welcome when entering 7/11 pay more attention I get sometimes 2 or 3 welcomes in Thai when entering sometimes. I’m not talking about the super annoying “hello welcome” auto responce from the door speaker lol. 

Even when they are checking me out they often say it like a robot when other new customers are walking in but it may be too soft to hear. 

I have to say staff in central BKK 7/11’s to me at least seem more awake and greet customers often at extremely busy times of the day. I actually notice more brain dead half asleep staff when I am traveling outside BKK. Maybe they just have a lot more downtime. I can’t even remember the last time I was ever the only customer in a BKK 7/11 even at 3 or 4 am. They seem to have customers 24/7.  

Posters should not come to BKK for an afternoon and make such broad statements. Walk into 10 7/11’s randomly and pay attention you will be welcomed but I don’t  think it’s such a big deal anyways , I just notice it a lot. 

Yangon has way less foreigners as well and they probably have more time to chat. 

The time to chat for some friendly old guy in BKK is NOT at 7/11 or the supermarket line or the bank or the post office. 

Edited April 2, 2019 by alex8912

[thedemon]

3 hours ago, fruitman said:

For the western tourists BKK is an inferior place with unmannered uneducated people all over....and if they won't treat the tourists like a king there's no reason for them to visit thailand at all...for the price one pays in BKK these days we can expect some quality but it's not there....far from that.

 

But that's the thing isn't it? Price vs Quality

 

Whereas else can you get, if not the best quality, an acceptable quality and at if not the cheapest price, still an acceptable price?

 

Can you suggest another destination in Asia with a better overall price/quality ratio? I don't think you can.

[fruitman]

10 minutes ago, thedemon said:

 

But that's the thing isn't it? Price vs Quality

 

Whereas else can you get, if not the best quality, an acceptable quality and at if not the cheapest price, still an acceptable price?

 

Can you suggest another destination in Asia with a better overall price/quality ratio? I don't think you can.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia..and so on.

 

Bangkok is the 2nd most expensive city in Asia, just behind Singapore which is a total different level (even better than the West).

[thedemon]

3 hours ago, fruitman said:

For the western tourists BKK is an inferior place with unmannered uneducated people all over....and if they won't treat the tourists like a king there's no reason for them to visit thailand at all...for the price one pays in BKK these days we can expect some quality but it's not there....far from that.

 

11 minutes ago, fruitman said:

Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia..and so on.

 

Bangkok is the 2nd most expensive city in Asia, just behind Singapore which is a total different level (even better than the West).

 

Vietnam and Indonesia are both good examples of what I mean. If a westerner wants to they can find local level street food at cheaper prices than Thailand. The problem is the quality of raw materials and level of hygiene sucks. In Thailand, mostly it's acceptable. 

 

If you go even slightly upmarket e.g imported goods, then both Vietnam and Indonesia are far more expensive than Thailand.

 

Malaysia? I can't think of anything that's cheaper/better there. Do you have some examples?

[thedemon]

21 minutes ago, fruitman said:

Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia..and so on.

 

Bangkok is the 2nd most expensive city in Asia, just behind Singapore which is a total different level (even better than the West).

 

BTW, pretty ridiculous to suggest that Bangkok is the 2nd most expensive city in Asia. That statement has no credibility.

[natway09]

All you grumpy old men are drinking in the wrong bars or is it that if a beer is over 100 Bht  you won't buy it. ??. Still great value for accommodation,,, 2,000 Bht buys you a good room !!

See what you get in Australia for that IF you can find one.

It is not Thailand's fault that your money has devalued. Talk to your MP

[fruitman]

57 minutes ago, thedemon said:

 

BTW, pretty ridiculous to suggest that Bangkok is the 2nd most expensive city in Asia. That statement has no credibility.

https://www.thailand-business-news.com/asean/71192-bangkok-2nd-most-expensive-city-in-asean.html

[Thingamabob]

Not as much fun as 30 or so years ago, when  it was amazing, but still fine with me relative to anywhere else.

[mike787]

You haven't lost your mind.  Nothing wrong with your perception of reality.  BJ's military is exceeding their objective to make sure we all are aware our presence is unwelcome here.  Either start tipping with fat large brown envelopes, or join the Russian mafia if you want to stay. Nothing is easy in this country anymore.

[JordanJones]

No difference to 10 years ago. Maybe people are just getting more critical as they age and expecting strangers in a busy shop to give a big booming smile all the time is just ridiculous. Find some friends to smile at you.

[impulse]

10 hours ago, HamonRye said:

What do they have to be sick of then exactly? Overpriced 600 baht shoe box rooms and 100 baht beers perhaps?

 

Try making a living renting out 600 baht rooms -any sized room- in a high cost area like BKK and see how much you smile when the bills come due.