Tipping (not A City In China)

[Loz]

Hi,

Not been playing here long and wondered what the appropriate tip is for a Caddy. I play 18 holes and it costs 520bht. the Caddy receipt is for 160bht. The guys I played with first time tipped 200 so I did the same. Is this high/low/appropriate?

thanks for your help.

I don't want to offend the caddy as each time I have played ( play alone now in the wee small hours) I have had a good caddy and enjoyed the walk with them.

[cleggit]

Hi,

Not been playing here long and wondered what the appropriate tip is for a Caddy. I play 18 holes and it costs 520bht. the Caddy receipt is for 160bht. The guys I played with first time tipped 200 so I did the same. Is this high/low/appropriate?

thanks for your help.

I don't want to offend the caddy as each time I have played ( play alone now in the wee small hours) I have had a good caddy and enjoyed the walk with them.

Tip whatever you feel is appropriate.

Personally i usually tip between 200 and 500 baht depending on how well i have played

[KhunMarco]

Hi,

Not been playing here long and wondered what the appropriate tip is for a Caddy. I play 18 holes and it costs 520bht. the Caddy receipt is for 160bht. The guys I played with first time tipped 200 so I did the same. Is this high/low/appropriate?

thanks for your help.

I don't want to offend the caddy as each time I have played ( play alone now in the wee small hours) I have had a good caddy and enjoyed the walk with them.

Tip whatever you feel is appropriate.

Personally i usually tip between 200 and 500 baht depending on how well i have played

It's your money guys , so you have the right to give them what you think is appropriate, but you are basically giving your Caddies, the amount or even double the amount of their daily wage as a tip. Just think about it.

[Loz]

Marco, Do you think 100 bht is better?

Iam asking what the concensus is on an appropriate amount. My Caddy told me she was going home after our round. Does that mean they only do one round a day and then? A 4 hour working day for their share of the 160bht fee, plus 200bht tip.

a 6am start with two rounds would be 400bht a day in tips then? or 1000 if you get two happy cleggits!

1000 a day aint bad by anyones standards!

[KhunMarco]

Marco, Do you think 100 bht is better?

Iam asking what the concensus is on an appropriate amount. My Caddy told me she was going home after our round. Does that mean they only do one round a day and then? A 4 hour working day for their share of the 160bht fee, plus 200bht tip.

a 6am start with two rounds would be 400bht a day in tips then? or 1000 if you get two happy cleggits!

1000 a day aint bad by anyones standards!

I think 100 baht is a great tip when you think in BHT and not in $, and the caddie sure thinks in BHT, the best thing would be to ask to a Thai player what they give, unfortunately I can't help you, because I don't play golf.

Thus maybe I'm totally wrong and 200 baht is the norm? Ehe, not really helpful, sorry.

Let's see if someone a bit more experienced can help you here

edit: Ok I just asked my Thai neighbor (golf player), he says 70-100 baht is the norm, 150-200 on very rare occasions and in expensive/exclusive clubs.

He also told me, Farang crazy with money (I told him about a 500 bht tip), mak mak hehe. Hope it helps

Edited April 16, 2007 by KhunMarco

[Phil Conners]

Caddys in Thailand expect a tip of 200 baht. If you give them 100 they will not be happy. Yes it's stupid but TiT.

[sinom]

Caddys in Thailand expect a tip of 200 baht. If you give them 100 they will not be happy. Yes it's stupid but TiT.

Agreed 200 THB minimum, but has been that way for a long time, sometimes give more for exceptional caddy or good score, or good mood or help with balls in the rough !!

[chuckd]

I usually give a minimum of 300, unless the caddy is a real dipster.

If I break 80, she usually gets 500. That doesn't happen too often, I might add.

[KhunMarco]

Caddys in Thailand expect a tip of 200 baht. If you give them 100 they will not be happy. Yes it's stupid but TiT.

Yes it's stupid overtipping because they expect it

And by the way if their are not happy, who gives a fcuck? It's not our problem, it's their expectation skewed by a few thoughtless farang, that is wrong.

It's easy to feel superior throwing money around because your buying power is 5 times here, is it the right thing to do? I don't think so, it only reinforce the wrong attitude of some Thai.

The question is would you give a tip equal or double the daily wage in your country? We all know the answer, now surely we can agree in Thailand many jobs are underpaid , so you can give a little help, that's nice of you. Throwing money like confetti is plain wrong.

[curber]

I play 3 times a week at my home course....have the same caddie for the 3 or 4 months I am in Thailand.....on the final round before going home I give her 1000 baht for each month I have been there.She`s a great caddie and has a good sense of humor,makes even a bad round fun.At away courses I tip 250 to 350 baht depending on how good they are........I play for fun and a caddie that can make me laugh is worth as much as one that really knows the game and course

[Phil Conners]

I have yet to see a caddy that can make me laugh, most of them can barely say 5 words English. ...

[curber]

I have yet to see a caddy that can make me laugh, most of them can barely say 5 words English. ...

That`s original....a Thai should learn English to amuse another farang....I struggle thru with a bit of Thai and most caddies I have used know a lot more than 5 words of English....guess I`m just lucky

[p_brownstone]

Caddy Fees vary greatly depending on the Course, so too does the amount which goes to the Caddy.

I think it may be sensible to find out how much of the Caddy Fee the Caddy actually gets, then top up, as a Tip, to whatever you think is reasonable total recompense for the work he / she did; if you want to be more scientific about it you could also take into account how many rounds a day the Caddy will get and relate the total to the Thai minimum wage – up to you as they say.

I play usually at the Sports Club and the Caddy Fee for “A” Caddies is Baht 360.- , of which they get 100%. Most people playing – Thai and Farang – seem to give a total of Baht 400.- . Caddies there will get at least 2 rounds a day (if they want the work), so a monthly income of around Baht 20,000.- (allowing for a few days off per month) is, I think, pretty good.

Patrick

Edited April 17, 2007 by p_brownstone

[Phil Conners]

I have yet to see a caddy that can make me laugh, most of them can barely say 5 words English. ...

That`s original....a Thai should learn English to amuse another farang....I struggle thru with a bit of Thai and most caddies I have used know a lot more than 5 words of English....guess I`m just lucky

A Thai who wants to earn a living servicing farangs definitely should, otherwise it's back to the rice paddies. You have a problem with that?

Edited April 17, 2007 by Phil Conners

[Minpin]

Caddying in Thailand

As this thread always reoccurs at regular intervals, I as a Thai will give in general terms what a caddies life is.

Firstly I tip 200 baht on none competition events and perhaps 500 baht in a major competition if a very good caddy. IE knows the line of putts and distances to the pin.

My home course has 384 caddies. At 8 minute tee times this equals to 7 hours of play per day. Thailand gets dark at 6 30pm. Multiplied by approximately 7 groups per hour, slower if a Pattaya group, this equals 49 groups X 4 players which is approximately 200 players per day.

If the course was fully booked every day the caddy would have one round every two days.

Sunday will be a guaranteed round due to some Thais taking an umberella caddy.

Of the 250 baht caddy fee, she pays 60 baht booking fee, that goes to the club, plus 10 baht trolley rental that goes to the club.

Last month, high season remember, with no days off, my caddy had 21 rounds of golf x 180 baht = 3780 baht plus 5000 baht in tips = 8780 baht per month for a 31 day work month equals 283 baht per day. Beats planting rice? Sure but it is not the road to fame and fortune as some people seem to think.

The tip

Up to you

Go with the Thai flow 200 baht!

Perhaps a Phuket golfer will confirm but the last time I played Blue Canyon and PCC there was a sign saying that the tip was a compulsory minimum of 300 baht.

[RonanTheBarbarian]

"Last month, high season remember, with no days off, my caddy had 21 rounds of golf x 180 baht = 3780 baht plus 5000 baht in tips = 8780 baht per month for a 31 day work month equals 283 baht per day. Beats planting rice? Sure but it is not the road to fame and fortune as some people seem to think."

How did he or she work for 31 days in the month if he or she only caddied 21 rounds?

I know nothing about golf but surely a round is completed in one day?

Edited April 18, 2007 by RonanTheBarbarian

[britmaveric]

One would assume that she only had 21 rounds in 31days - meaning caddies are rotated unless requested.

[Forkinhades]

I usually tip 200 baht, reguardless, but some very interesting points made. Next time I will ask caddy how much of the fee she/he gets and will tip to take money up to 400 baht, so if caddy gets 100 baht after paying booking etc etc, i will tip 300 baht

[Minpin]

Sorry RTB that it was not clear to you but as a Thai, English is not my first language, that being available for work means that she has to be at the golf club ready for the off.

Sure sitting around all day should not be considered work for some people, but if you were 23 on the list for that day and 22 golfers turned up that day, with the last one at 1400 pm you would be p---ed, tough luck come back tomorrow.

Remember, 8 hours waiting at the club house for a golfer means that she is unavailable to pursue other employments, and yes it does occur, but that is not what this discussion is about.

BTW sorry for the typo but it should have been 284 caddies

If anyone is interested I will post the golfer rounds for one month and you can do your own maths

17 April 37 golfers. Maybe Songkrang scared them.

18 April 82 golfers

[Jai Dee]

Caddys in Thailand expect a tip of 200 baht. If you give them 100 they will not be happy. Yes it's stupid but TiT.

Agreed 200 THB minimum, but has been that way for a long time, sometimes give more for exceptional caddy or good score, or good mood or help with balls in the rough !!

My friends and I also usually give the caddies a tip of 200 baht at the end of a social round... plus buy them a couple of drinks at the various watering holes around the course.

If playing a charity day competition or business related tournament and I've pre-booked a special caddy to add some fun to the event, a special tip of 400-500 baht would be her reward.

More fun for everyone that way...

[Phil Conners]

Sorry RTB that it was not clear to you but as a Thai, English is not my first language, that being available for work means that she has to be at the golf club ready for the off.

Sure sitting around all day should not be considered work for some people, but if you were 23 on the list for that day and 22 golfers turned up that day, with the last one at 1400 pm you would be p---ed, tough luck come back tomorrow.

Remember, 8 hours waiting at the club house for a golfer means that she is unavailable to pursue other employments, and yes it does occur, but that is not what this discussion is about.

BTW sorry for the typo but it should have been 284 caddies

If anyone is interested I will post the golfer rounds for one month and you can do your own maths

17 April 37 golfers. Maybe Songkrang scared them.

18 April 82 golfers

Boo hoo hoo. Maybe they could just make it VOLUNTARY to have a caddy like in the rest of the world, huh, what a noble idea ... then get rid of 3/4 of the caddies or however many needs to be ditched to reach the needed numbers.

One of my biggest gripes about golf in Thailand is that you're forced to drag around a caddy. I'd much rather be on my own with friends. Not all of us are between 80 and dead and needs someone to carry our clubs or tell us what clubs to use (they usually guess wrong anyway).

Edited April 19, 2007 by Phil Conners

[Minpin]

As my husband said I are wasting my time trying to inform guests in my country as to the ways of this country. You are sure to get a comment as per Phil Conners

Phil you have two choices. Move to CNX join the Gymkana club where as a member you are not required to take a caddy or move out of Thailand.

Thank you and goodbye TV

[Phil Conners]

I have a 3rd option: Stop playing .. which is so far what I've done. Too much hassle for what it's worth! Why the bitchy reply anyway - a fourth option would be that the Thai golf clubs would stop making caddy use obligatory. What's the point anyway? To earn a couple of baths extra on the caddy trade?

Edited April 20, 2007 by Phil Conners

[Jai Dee]

Enough of the ranting thanks Phil...

Re-read what Minpin has posted. As a Thai female she is only trying to be helpful and informative. I for one appreciate her input.

[Phil Conners]

No rants? Is that a new rule on TV?

[Jai Dee]

No rants? Is that a new rule on TV?

No, but you have singled out her posts in a negative manner, whilst she is only trying to be informative.

Fair play huh?

[Phil Conners]

Not really. Reread it and I think you'll find my post was directed at the Thai caddy system, not her post per se.

[Jai Dee]

Not really. Reread it and I think you'll find my post was directed at the Thai caddy system, not her post per se.

I understand that... but you did quote her post in a reply. I can understand how a Thai would feel slighted by this, and as a resident in Thailand you should probably understand that too. Minpin, I know Phil meant nothing negative towards you personally.

Anyway, I hope no harm has been done, and Minpin will continue to post on the forum... despite being an expat forum we enjoy receiving input from Thais as well. It makes for an interesting discussion forum with different perspectives.

to Minpin.

Now... can we get back to discussing how much to tip our caddies?

[bkkmadness]

So what he quoted her post, can't we quote posts now in case people get upset? Do we really have to post now according to a presumed Thai sensitivity?

I think they both made great points. I didn't realise a caddy was compulsory in Thailand, it'd annoy me too.

[Phil Conners]

The quote was just to keep it in context. Feel free to remove the quite. I'd do it myself but due to TV's strange settings we're only able to edit our own posts for a few minutes after posting