Top Ten tips to tipping in Thailand

[dick dasterdly]

On 6/26/2019 at 8:37 AM, Netease said:

My wife gives 10% for good service and BHT 1  if the service or food is lousy just to let them know were not happy

My ex-husband left a one cent tip in a very busy American bar (possibly Beale Street - I can't remember as I'm not a blues fan) as the service was so lousy.

 

He regretted it as he'd left something in the bar, and so had to go back to ask for the bag he'd left ????.

[dick dasterdly]

On 6/26/2019 at 9:58 AM, Fairynuff said:

Yet another incorrect generalization. I’d say that I don’t know anyone Thai or European who doesn’t tip when it’s appropriate.I always tip appropriately. If a service charge is included but I’ve had excellent service I’ll add a bit extra. My local noodle shop treats me like family but tipping just isn’t expected. Every now and again I’ll take a tin of cookies or something and always at New Year.

I see nothing wrong in tipping good staff, the extra money will always help people who mostly earn very little. Bad service will never get a tip however.

The car park attendant at a place I eat at fairly often must make a fortune, I’ve honestly never seen anyone not tip him at least 20 baht

I agree, but do give a small tip to the assistant at the 'road-side stall type place' where I frequently buy takeaways - as I'm sure she earns very little and she always goes out of her way to help load the takeaways in my 'bike box.  The tip is not expected, but appreciated by both the assistant and owner.

 

Similarly, I'm happy to provide a small tip to gas station attendants who put the cap back on after filling up, as the cap is on the side of my 'bike making it more difficult to access.  Again - poorly paid/provide a service - and I am happy to tip.

 

When at a HomePro complex one day with a VERY wealthy friend, I was shocked when she wouldn't allow a trolley guy to take her trolley to the car because "he would expect a 20 bht tip".....☹️ 

 

To look on the bright side, it made me realise (I can be a bit slow at times...) why the trolley pushers are trying to help even when their help is not needed - and subsequently let them 'help' in order to give them a tip.

[dick dasterdly]

3 hours ago, Puwa said:

Here are 10 actual tips for tipping:

 

1) It's optional.

2) It is as much a social transaction as a financial one. Giver and receiver have roles to play. The giver tips nonchalantly (never ostentatiously), and the receiver wais upon receipt, regardless of the amount. It's ok to simply smile or nod in return.

3) Personally, I never tip anyone who asks for a tip outright, a huge breech of decorum.

4) Traditionally, tipping for meals was a "keep the change" situation. If that's a few coins at a simple shop, fine. Obviously, at nicer or more expensive places, a bit more thought is required when paying for 990B bill with a 1000 note. First get your 10 baht change, then add whatever you want to it. 

5) You always give a tip directly to the person, rather than just including extra when you pay, and they always must acknowledge it. This reported phenomenon of servers deciding for themselves to keep the change is entirely unacceptable and no Thai person would stand for that.

6) For most taxis, it's ok just round up to the next 10 baht, or 20, so a 47 baht fare is 50, a 49 becomes 60.

7) A generous tip is appropriate when you rent a van and driver for something like an interprovincial excursion. 

???? At a 3-4 star hotel, 20-40 baht per day for the housekeeper isn't required but is greatly appreciated; 5-star maybe 50 and up.

9) Thai people sometimes use the term "tip" as a euphemism for payment for a "special service," as at a massage parlor.

10) This goes a bit beyond tipping. I know there's a popular belief among farang that Thais will do anything for money, but in fact there are a lot of cultural sensitivities around money, especially the handling of cash. Maybe I'm a bit traditional/conservative when it comes to these things, but I tend to follow this old-school practice. In some situations, overtly taking bills from your wallet, counting it out conspicuously, and giving cash hand to hand is considered vulgar and insulting--especially if it is someone with whom you have a personal, professional, intimate, or ongoing relationship. Instead, when possible put the money in an envelope (a great use for hotel-room envelopes). The receiver will will appreciate the gesture. 

 

 

I agree unreservedly with most of these points.

 

Re. 10) - I made the mistake of once offering (an obviously very poor guy) 100 bht for helping me out, when I seriously needed help.  The horror on his face when I tried to offer him 100 bht. has remained etched in my memory ☹️.

[Fairynuff]

12 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

I agree, but do give a small tip to the assistant at the 'road-side stall type place' where I frequently buy takeaways - as I'm sure she earns very little and she always goes out of her way to help load the takeaways in my 'bike box.  The tip is not expected, but appreciated by both the assistant and owner.

 

Similarly, I'm happy to provide a small tip to gas station attendants who put the cap back on after filling up, as the cap is on the side of my 'bike making it more difficult to access.  Again - poorly paid/provide a service - and I am happy to tip.

 

When at a HomePro complex one day with a VERY wealthy friend, I was shocked when she wouldn't allow a trolley guy to take her trolley to the car because "he would expect a 20 bht tip".....☹️ 

 

To look on the bright side, it made me realise (I can be a bit slow at times...) why the trolley pushers are trying to help even when their help is not needed - and subsequently let them 'help' in order to give them a tip.

You and I are definitely on the same page!

[bluesofa]

12 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

{snipped}

When at a HomePro complex one day with a VERY wealthy friend, I was shocked when she wouldn't allow a trolley guy to take her trolley to the car because "he would expect a 20 bht tip".....☹️ 

 

To look on the bright side, it made me realise (I can be a bit slow at times...) why the trolley pushers are trying to help even when their help is not needed - and subsequently let them 'help' in order to give them a tip.

Why would you tip a trolley pusher?

You must be looking to throw money at people, surely?

 

My wife and I happened to go to HomePro today and bought some kitchen appliances. The staff put them onto the heavy-duty trolley for us, then followed us to the car and loaded them into the car as well.

After they'd done that, we said thanks to the staff for their help and they went off without any tip. 

That was my wife's doing, because you don't expect a tip for that, and neither do the staff, unless they spot a gullible ferang who want to pay them extra just for doing their job.

They are just doing their job, nothing at all to do with being tight-fisted.

[elliss]

On 6/27/2019 at 2:57 AM, cobra said:

We tip, because we can, 

 

 

 Brits, dont tip anymore, because we cant afford tips .

  Loss of face, tell me about it ..

      35 bht , coming your way soon , thx brexitears .

 

 

Edited June 30, 2019 by elliss

[madmen]

15 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Why would you tip a trolley pusher?

You must be looking to throw money at people, surely?

 

My wife and I happened to go to HomePro today and bought some kitchen appliances. The staff put them onto the heavy-duty trolley for us, then followed us to the car and loaded them into the car as well.

After they'd done that, we said thanks to the staff for their help and they went off without any tip. 

That was my wife's doing, because you don't expect a tip for that, and neither do the staff, unless they spot a gullible ferang who want to pay them extra just for doing their job.

They are just doing their job, nothing at all to do with being tight-fisted.

Dont agree. Its not just about doing their job but doing it for absolute minimum wage. Sometimes when I buy from home pro and its a no carry item the staff will take it down to street level and stay doing their best to flag down a taxi.

 

When I order tesco online they will send out just one person with a ridiculous amount of heavy bags at minimum wage.

 

Absolutely 20 baht for the above. Its bugger all, but some unbeleivabley tight arsed farang or Im starting to think the real reason is due to tough times. mr big bwana on a pension and with a family to support simply cant really afford it

[elliss]

15 hours ago, Puwa said:

Here are 10 actual tips for tipping:

 

1) It's optional.

2) It is as much a social transaction as a financial one. Giver and receiver have roles to play. The giver tips nonchalantly (never ostentatiously), and the receiver wais upon receipt, regardless of the amount. It's ok to simply smile or nod in return.

3) Personally, I never tip anyone who asks for a tip outright, a huge breech of decorum.

4) Traditionally, tipping for meals was a "keep the change" situation. If that's a few coins at a simple shop, fine. Obviously, at nicer or more expensive places, a bit more thought is required when paying for 990B bill with a 1000 note. First get your 10 baht change, then add whatever you want to it. 

5) You always give a tip directly to the person, rather than just including extra when you pay, and they always must acknowledge it. This reported phenomenon of servers deciding for themselves to keep the change is entirely unacceptable and no Thai person would stand for that.

6) For most taxis, it's ok just round up to the next 10 baht, or 20, so a 47 baht fare is 50, a 49 becomes 60.

7) A generous tip is appropriate when you rent a van and driver for something like an interprovincial excursion. 

???? At a 3-4 star hotel, 20-40 baht per day for the housekeeper isn't required but is greatly appreciated; 5-star maybe 50 and up.

9) Thai people sometimes use the term "tip" as a euphemism for payment for a "special service," as at a massage parlor.

10) This goes a bit beyond tipping. I know there's a popular belief among farang that Thais will do anything for money, but in fact there are a lot of cultural sensitivities around money, especially the handling of cash. Maybe I'm a bit traditional/conservative when it comes to these things, but I tend to follow this old-school practice. In some situations, overtly taking bills from your wallet, counting it out conspicuously, and giving cash hand to hand is considered vulgar and insulting--especially if it is someone with whom you have a personal, professional, intimate, or ongoing relationship. Instead, when possible put the money in an envelope (a great use for hotel-room envelopes). The receiver will will appreciate the gesture. 

 

 

 

  Wow , good info , i have printed it , and will take it with me , when i go out.

If ever,  i am from uk , 38 and falling fast.

       Many thanks , much appreciated . Enjoy Thailand ..

 

 

Edited June 30, 2019 by elliss

[Fairynuff]

12 hours ago, dick dasterdly said:

I agree unreservedly with most of these points.

 

Re. 10) - I made the mistake of once offering (an obviously very poor guy) 100 bht for helping me out, when I seriously needed help.  The horror on his face when I tried to offer him 100 bht. has remained etched in my memory ☹️.

After a very lengthy trip back home I returned to a flat battery. I made the mistake of only driving to a petrol station to fill up. Flat again! A taxi driver came to the rescue and got me started. I wanted to give him 100 baht, he point blank refused

[Fairynuff]

33 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Why would you tip a trolley pusher?

You must be looking to throw money at people, surely?

 

My wife and I happened to go to HomePro today and bought some kitchen appliances. The staff put them onto the heavy-duty trolley for us, then followed us to the car and loaded them into the car as well.

After they'd done that, we said thanks to the staff for their help and they went off without any tip. 

That was my wife's doing, because you don't expect a tip for that, and neither do the staff, unless they spot a gullible ferang who want to pay them extra just for doing their job.

They are just doing their job, nothing at all to do with being tight-fisted.

I regularly tip the trolley pusher at my local Makro. I can only imagine the tiny salary he gets and giving him 20 baht is nothing to me but possibly half of his next meal to him. Throw money at people, what a callous response. 

[elliss]

24 minutes ago, madmen said:

Dont agree. Its not just about doing their job but doing it for absolute minimum wage. Sometimes when I buy from home pro and its a no carry item the staff will take it down to street level and stay doing their best to flag down a taxi.

 

When I order tesco online they will send out just one person with a ridiculous amount of heavy bags at minimum wage.

 

Absolutely 20 baht for the above. Its bugger all, but some unbeleivabley tight arsed farang or Im starting to think the real reason is due to tough times. mr big bwana on a pension and with a family to support simply cant really afford it

 Correct , the days of the big white hunter , big spender are over .

Not before time. 

 Interesting to observe , how the poorer white man , exists in LOS..

 

 

Edited June 30, 2019 by elliss

[Jdiddy]

I tip my flight attendants everytime they bring me something, I tip the customs guy and the passport control officer. I also add a tip to my police bribes or even if they dont want any bribe at all

 

 

 

Nah seriously, can you yanks <deleted> off with your tipping culture?

[Fairynuff]

48 minutes ago, Jdiddy said:

I tip my flight attendants everytime they bring me something, I tip the customs guy and the passport control officer. I also add a tip to my police bribes or even if they dont want any bribe at all

 

 

 

Nah seriously, can you yanks <deleted> off with your tipping culture?

No

[faraday]

2 minutes ago, FredGallaher said:

I can understand why you don't like Americians.  We don't accept you imposing your values on others or accept your false feelings of superiority.  So you resort to insults.  If my leaving a tip is a put down on you, its OK. But, I follow local customs not those imposed by someone who chaims to know better. 

I really think his post is a joke.... surely nobody is that daft, are they?

 

????

[bluesofa]

9 hours ago, Fairynuff said:

I regularly tip the trolley pusher at my local Makro. I can only imagine the tiny salary he gets and giving him 20 baht is nothing to me but possibly half of his next meal to him. Throw money at people, what a callous response. 

No, it's not a callous response.

It's the way I perceive it, albeit as someone who doesn't come from a tipping culture.

My experience with two businesses here in the past has shown me that a lot of Thais, while they do appreciate a tip, do see ferangs as a soft touch.

 

Immigration is a prime example of when they have (or apparently 'used to have') tip boxes in immigration offices.

I have had the box shaken at me when doing a 90 day report. I see that as what Thais describe as 'ugly', but some of the staff have 'learnt' get as much out of the 'customer' as possible.

I remember one arrogant IO shook the tip box at me, demanding 100 Baht. I just use Thai tactics and lie, smiling saying I said I hadn't been to the ATM yet so had no money. He said that 20 Baht would be OK. I said sorry, but said I didn't even have that in my wallet.

If that isn't demanding money with menaces, I don't know what is.

 

[Fairynuff]

1 hour ago, bluesofa said:

No, it's not a callous response.

It's the way I perceive it, albeit as someone who doesn't come from a tipping culture.

My experience with two businesses here in the past has shown me that a lot of Thais, while they do appreciate a tip, do see ferangs as a soft touch.

 

Immigration is a prime example of when they have (or apparently 'used to have') tip boxes in immigration offices.

I have had the box shaken at me when doing a 90 day report. I see that as what Thais describe as 'ugly', but some of the staff have 'learnt' get as much out of the 'customer' as possible.

I remember one arrogant IO shook the tip box at me, demanding 100 Baht. I just use Thai tactics and lie, smiling saying I said I hadn't been to the ATM yet so had no money. He said that 20 Baht would be OK. I said sorry, but said I didn't even have that in my wallet.

If that isn't demanding money with menaces, I don't know what is.

 

Totally agree that we are seen as a soft touch and when I encounter this I resist with all my might. I’ve never been “asked” or made any attempt to tip at my immigration.

My point about tipping is that it IS a part of Thai culture in many circumstances. I tip appropriately and never over tip.

A Thai owner in my condo, relatively well off married to an English woman and living in London for a long time was horrified when he discovered I tip the staff here and insisted I stop!. He said they’ll fight with the other staff showing off. Utter nonsense of course. I tip the cleaners, the doorman and the car park staff, but only the ones who are always polite and do their job well I sometimes buy their lunch if I see them in the food court nearby. I don’t tip often, perhaps 3 or four times in a year but I know it’s appreciated and I don’t feel I'm seen as an easy touch because of it.

[brokenbone]

19 hours ago, Fairynuff said:

After a very lengthy trip back home I returned to a flat battery. I made the mistake of only driving to a petrol station to fill up. Flat again! A taxi driver came to the rescue and got me started. I wanted to give him 100 baht, he point blank refused

i ran out of gas with my chopper, a guy with a car went and bought gas for me, i gave him 400 baht tip, he was happy, but not nearly as happy as me not having to haul that thing 1km

Edited July 1, 2019 by brokenbone

[brokenbone]

On 7/1/2019 at 10:50 AM, Fairynuff said:

I tip appropriately and never over tip.

 

a tip is not appropriate if its a business transaction,

if i make a deal to buy a cup of coffee,

then the company actually hand me the coffee is part of the transaction, no coffee, no money.

 

there is a special clause when its appropriate to override principals,

for example high quality massage,

those are rare and i pay tip to ensure

i will get help again,

but a coffee ?? pah, i can get those anywhere and it matter not in the slightest how it is handed over

Edited July 3, 2019 by brokenbone

[Fairynuff]

9 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

a tip is not appropriate if its a business transaction,

if i make a deal to buy a cup of coffee,

then the company actually hand me the coffee is part of the transaction, no coffee, no money.

 

there is a special clause when its appropriate to override principals,

for example high quality massage,

those are rare and i pay tip to ensure

i will get help again,

but a coffee ?? pah, i can get those anywhere and it matter not in the slightest how it is handed over

Thank goodness I’m nothing like you.

[emptypockets]

My only rule is , is if there is a service charge -no tip. If I do tip I hand it to the person, with bar girls into the shirt/bra, she giggles, I laugh, all good. Never ever leave it on the change tray as the bar owner gets that.

What annoys me though is the obvious setup for a tip. For instance the Nana Hotel will sell a beer at some crazy price like 162 baht which makes finding the right change pretty well impossible and they know you will end up with a heap of shrapnel and more likely to hand that over as a tip rather than having it weigh down your pockets. They do it with soft drink as well.

Not a problem if you want to settle in for a few drinks, but who wants to do that with the three resident ex bar girl hags leering at you. One free welcome drink, one bought one and I'm off!!

[fhickson]

forget it, man. your in a country now where tipping is not in the culture.

 

get used to it and let your old habits die or your just going to be seen as an oddity.

[PhilAtUbon]

A few years ago, my Thai friends decided to “celebrate” my 60th birthday for me in Zaap Soi 9 in Ubon.

 

There were ten of us (naturally, I footed the bill!!). There was a young lad who waited upon us all night – I’m not sure if he just picked us up, or was “allocated” to us, but he stayed with us - and only us - throughout the entire evening.

 

His service was utterly impeccable. He was polite, attentive, made sure my glass of Chang never got anywhere near half-way empty ????, made sure all the ladies had their weird pink drinkies, and at times would join in with “witty banter” when he considered it appropriate. He made our evening run so smoothly and was thoroughly appreciated.

 

I have never ever experienced anything like that in any restaurant in my life, and it was such an enormous pleasure to have this young lad look after us.

 

When the time came to pay the bill, I asked (through my Dearly Beloved) if tips were shared out amongst all the staff. He said they were, so I put 50 baht in the tip pot, and quietly slid him a 500 baht note and said "Thank You". The look of wonderment on his face was something to behold.

 

We went back a fortnight or so later with a slightly diminished party (only seven of us this time) and had a rather surly youth plonking down dishes and plates, spilling my beer etc. No tip that time I can assure you.

 

We have gone there loads of times since, and it’s quite obvious that the bad waiter was very much a one-off.

 

Now, every time I come to Ubon, we always make a point of having a big “family” night out at Zaap Soi 9, and, since that bad experience, I have never found a reason not to show my full appreciation to the staff.

 

And they show their appreciation to us through their wonderful service.

 

P.S.

I’m English ????

 

 

Edited July 7, 2019 by PhilAtUbon

[SteveStevens]

There is a hotel I regularly stay at and one day rather than tip the hotel security guard - a poor and weak old man of at least 70 years of age - I happened to be walking out of the hotel as he was buying his lunch at the street and I paid it for him before he could get the money out of his pocket ... 50 baht if I can recall correctly.  I couldn't believe how grateful he was after that.  He wouldn't stop wai-ing me every time I walked by.

Edited July 8, 2019 by SteveStevens