Restaurateurs

[lawling]

Jingthing's recent experience and his being banned from a fish and chip place (see earlier topic) have started me thinking about what we should reasonably expect from restaurant owners here.

For maybe a year and a half I used to patronise a restaurant in Jomtien not far from Simple Simons. The first time I went there the owner, a fellow Brit, introduced himself and welcomed me nicely to his place – a gesture which I greatly appreciated.

However, friendly gestures more or less ended there and, at first, I wasn’t unduly concerned – the food and service were good and the staff were very welcoming and always made a big fuss of me. Usually I went there at least 3 times a week and, I would be pretty sure, usually spent more each time than the average customer.

At first, if he was around, I always made a point of giving a bit of a wave in the owner’s direction but when that was ignored I just assumed that he hadn’t see me or was having wife problems or whatever. He did have friends around from time to time and I could understand why, at such times, he would ignore others. But very often I was his only customer and I started to feel uncomfortable when he would walk past me, a couple of feet away, in an otherwise empty room and not even acknowledge my existence.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t looking for a free drink or for him to remember my birthday or even my name - I go to plenty of establishments where I don’t know who owns the place or where nobody speaks to me other than to take my order.

What annoyed me was the fact that over that year and a half, I was probably his best customer and that, whereas he seemed capable of acting courteously on occasions, he consistently treated me as if I didn’t exist.

I’d like to think that, while I’m not exactly the life and soul of every party, I’m mostly easy going and not usually paranoid, but eventually I concluded that, for some unknown reason, the guy had developed a positive dislike of me, so, with not a few regrets because I really liked the food and the staff, I stopped going to his place. Being made to feel unwelcome does get to even the most laid-back individual eventually.

I still see some of the staff regularly and I think they wonder what happened to me.

Obviously how restaurant owners treat their customers is a matter for themselves, but I would have thought that as they are evidently there to maintain and develop their businesses, they would at least realise the importance of good customer relations and try to see things from their patrons’ perspectives. Can any of them afford to alienate customers, and especially good customers, regardless of whatever personal feelings they develop towards them?

[PhilHarries]

My experience of farang run restaurants in Pattaya is that the owners usually have their own little clique of chums that fit their mold of "good guys". Outsiders to that clique get, at best, an aknowledgement of existance but only when the place is near empty and none of the "in crowd" are about.

There's nothing you can do about it. You either put up with or ignore it if you like the food and service or you go someplace else if you are not bothered either way. If the guy is plain ignoring you it is easy to do the former but if the body language indicates dislike then vote with your feet. Restuaranteurs need to attract customers, customers don't need to attract restaurants and in Pattaya there is no shortage of choice but it's a pain if it's a covenient location..

[JimmyTheMook]

Jingthing's recent experience and his being banned from a fish and chip place (see earlier topic) have started me thinking about what we should reasonably expect from restaurant owners here.

For maybe a year and a half I used to patronise a restaurant in Jomtien not far from Simple Simons. The first time I went there the owner, a fellow Brit, introduced himself and welcomed me nicely to his place – a gesture which I greatly appreciated.

However, friendly gestures more or less ended there and, at first, I wasn't unduly concerned – the food and service were good and the staff were very welcoming and always made a big fuss of me. Usually I went there at least 3 times a week and, I would be pretty sure, usually spent more each time than the average customer.

At first, if he was around, I always made a point of giving a bit of a wave in the owner's direction but when that was ignored I just assumed that he hadn't see me or was having wife problems or whatever. He did have friends around from time to time and I could understand why, at such times, he would ignore others. But very often I was his only customer and I started to feel uncomfortable when he would walk past me, a couple of feet away, in an otherwise empty room and not even acknowledge my existence.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't looking for a free drink or for him to remember my birthday or even my name - I go to plenty of establishments where I don't know who owns the place or where nobody speaks to me other than to take my order.

What annoyed me was the fact that over that year and a half, I was probably his best customer and that, whereas he seemed capable of acting courteously on occasions, he consistently treated me as if I didn't exist.

I'd like to think that, while I'm not exactly the life and soul of every party, I'm mostly easy going and not usually paranoid, but eventually I concluded that, for some unknown reason, the guy had developed a positive dislike of me, so, with not a few regrets because I really liked the food and the staff, I stopped going to his place. Being made to feel unwelcome does get to even the most laid-back individual eventually.

I still see some of the staff regularly and I think they wonder what happened to me.

Obviously how restaurant owners treat their customers is a matter for themselves, but I would have thought that as they are evidently there to maintain and develop their businesses, they would at least realise the importance of good customer relations and try to see things from their patrons' perspectives. Can any of them afford to alienate customers, and especially good customers, regardless of whatever personal feelings they develop towards them?

Today is a crappy raining day here in Pattaya and on my way home from getting some rental movies from Carrfore I stopped to p/u some soup.

The resturant is new and they sell "Bummee Bet" noodle soup with duck.

Located on 3rd road right before soi Sophon Cable and in a shophoue next to the large motorcycle repair shop (I'd post a pic if it were not raining so hard when I left the place).

Now I have eaten here a few times already by myself and with a whole group of family members , often the screwed the amount of the check up - wrote it off as growing pains for a new place.

Today they lost a customer over it.

I was over charged and given less than ordered , this was a take home order and glad I pulled everything out of the bag to look after they charged me 50 baht per soup.

Normally it is 35 baht for bummee with duck and dumplings , so hitting me for 50 baht per soup was just stupid and I'll never go back there again.

Told them this and they gave the normal BS about blaming the poor girl making the soups.

But this is a Thai run place and figured they would be happy to get some Farangs interested in eating there.

I will be very suprised if they are still open by years end.

[Mighty Mouse]

It cost nothing for an owner to offer friendly acknowledgment of a customer's presence, especially a regular customer. Just a nod, a simple wave of the hand or maybe a smile, after all, it is the Land of Smiles.

I can understand the point that the OP has made and I too would stop frequenting a certain restaurant if the owner constantly ignored me, particularly if that owner was a fellow countryman and more particularly if we had chatted together on past occasions.

Friendliness and pleasantness is just a normal part of good service.

If restaurant owners want to ignore customers, then customers should vote with their feet......just keep on walking.

[bmanly]

lawling, it happens in quite a few places unfortunately. There is a cheap but good Thai food restaurant run by Thais in 2nd road that the wife and I loved going to but we have banned ourselves from there. One day went in and it took 10 minutes to get a menu and a further 10 minutes to take our order and we were in a kind of hurry so wasn't impressed but dismissed it as a one off. Then a second time it was only the 2 us in there and there were 4 staff on duty to take care of us, you won't believe it, for 15 minutes nobody gave us a menu. They were too busy having a chat and having a good time, we walked out and we have never been back since. I think you just have ban yourself from bad service establishments and just move on, plenty of other restaurants around.

Edited May 1, 2007 by bmanly

[Jingthing]

What I find both funny and sad how often business owners assume you are a one off tourist and treat you badly, when for all they know you could be a real expat, maybe even one who will spill the beans on their bad behavior on thaivisa ...

The Thai overcharging thing is just a fact of life here. If you let it get to you, it'll drive you crazy. Best answer is to stop giving business to the offenders.

Edited May 1, 2007 by Jingthing

[tropo]

Jingthing's recent experience and his being banned from a fish and chip place (see earlier topic) have started me thinking about what we should reasonably expect from restaurant owners here.

For maybe a year and a half I used to patronise a restaurant in Jomtien not far from Simple Simons. The first time I went there the owner, a fellow Brit, introduced himself and welcomed me nicely to his place – a gesture which I greatly appreciated.

However, friendly gestures more or less ended there and, at first, I wasn’t unduly concerned – the food and service were good and the staff were very welcoming and always made a big fuss of me. Usually I went there at least 3 times a week and, I would be pretty sure, usually spent more each time than the average customer.

At first, if he was around, I always made a point of giving a bit of a wave in the owner’s direction but when that was ignored I just assumed that he hadn’t see me or was having wife problems or whatever. He did have friends around from time to time and I could understand why, at such times, he would ignore others. But very often I was his only customer and I started to feel uncomfortable when he would walk past me, a couple of feet away, in an otherwise empty room and not even acknowledge my existence.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t looking for a free drink or for him to remember my birthday or even my name - I go to plenty of establishments where I don’t know who owns the place or where nobody speaks to me other than to take my order.

What annoyed me was the fact that over that year and a half, I was probably his best customer and that, whereas he seemed capable of acting courteously on occasions, he consistently treated me as if I didn’t exist.

I’d like to think that, while I’m not exactly the life and soul of every party, I’m mostly easy going and not usually paranoid, but eventually I concluded that, for some unknown reason, the guy had developed a positive dislike of me, so, with not a few regrets because I really liked the food and the staff, I stopped going to his place. Being made to feel unwelcome does get to even the most laid-back individual eventually.

I still see some of the staff regularly and I think they wonder what happened to me.

Obviously how restaurant owners treat their customers is a matter for themselves, but I would have thought that as they are evidently there to maintain and develop their businesses, they would at least realise the importance of good customer relations and try to see things from their patrons’ perspectives. Can any of them afford to alienate customers, and especially good customers, regardless of whatever personal feelings they develop towards them?

I'm surprised you kept going there as long as you did...the food must have been great.

[tropo]

Jingthing's recent experience and his being banned from a fish and chip place (see earlier topic) have started me thinking about what we should reasonably expect from restaurant owners here.

For maybe a year and a half I used to patronise a restaurant in Jomtien not far from Simple Simons. The first time I went there the owner, a fellow Brit, introduced himself and welcomed me nicely to his place – a gesture which I greatly appreciated.

However, friendly gestures more or less ended there and, at first, I wasn’t unduly concerned – the food and service were good and the staff were very welcoming and always made a big fuss of me. Usually I went there at least 3 times a week and, I would be pretty sure, usually spent more each time than the average customer.

At first, if he was around, I always made a point of giving a bit of a wave in the owner’s direction but when that was ignored I just assumed that he hadn’t see me or was having wife problems or whatever. He did have friends around from time to time and I could understand why, at such times, he would ignore others. But very often I was his only customer and I started to feel uncomfortable when he would walk past me, a couple of feet away, in an otherwise empty room and not even acknowledge my existence.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t looking for a free drink or for him to remember my birthday or even my name - I go to plenty of establishments where I don’t know who owns the place or where nobody speaks to me other than to take my order.

What annoyed me was the fact that over that year and a half, I was probably his best customer and that, whereas he seemed capable of acting courteously on occasions, he consistently treated me as if I didn’t exist.

I’d like to think that, while I’m not exactly the life and soul of every party, I’m mostly easy going and not usually paranoid, but eventually I concluded that, for some unknown reason, the guy had developed a positive dislike of me, so, with not a few regrets because I really liked the food and the staff, I stopped going to his place. Being made to feel unwelcome does get to even the most laid-back individual eventually.

I still see some of the staff regularly and I think they wonder what happened to me.

Obviously how restaurant owners treat their customers is a matter for themselves, but I would have thought that as they are evidently there to maintain and develop their businesses, they would at least realise the importance of good customer relations and try to see things from their patrons’ perspectives. Can any of them afford to alienate customers, and especially good customers, regardless of whatever personal feelings they develop towards them?

I'm surprised you kept going there as long as you did...the food must have been great.

[Basset]

My experience of farang run restaurants in Pattaya is that the owners usually have their own little clique of chums that fit their mold of "good guys". Outsiders to that clique get, at best, an aknowledgement of existance but only when the place is near empty and none of the "in crowd" are about.

There's nothing you can do about it. You either put up with or ignore it if you like the food and service or you go someplace else if you are not bothered either way. If the guy is plain ignoring you it is easy to do the former but if the body language indicates dislike then vote with your feet. Restuaranteurs need to attract customers, customers don't need to attract restaurants and in Pattaya there is no shortage of choice but it's a pain if it's a covenient location..

Looking at it from an owners side what happened to Lawling was wrong and theres no exuse for it however as Philharries says many have there own Cliques ( yes even here and I admit to it ) and its down to the owner to make a point of both remembering this and most important doing something about it. I am a little shy at coming forward so to speak, so dont tend to approach people when they enter but even when I am in company I try and make a point of saying thanks etc when they leave, its of course immposible to catch everyone but i try. I agree with most if not all the comments made but were not all the same and some really are a little reserved.

[lawling]

Looking at it from an owners side what happened to Lawling was wrong and theres no exuse for it however as Philharries says many have there own Cliques ( yes even here and I admit to it ) and its down to the owner to make a point of both remembering this and most important doing something about it. I am a little shy at coming forward so to speak, so dont tend to approach people when they enter but even when I am in company I try and make a point of saying thanks etc when they leave, its of course immposible to catch everyone but i try. I agree with most if not all the comments made but were not all the same and some really are a little reserved.

Thanks Bertie(?). I appreciate your comments and those of the rest of you who have taken the trouble to reply.

I think most customers aren’t looking for any special treatment and if they get what they consider to be a nice, value-for-money meal they will go away happy – and, more importantly from the owner’s situation, come back again or make recommendations to their friends. Certainly it’s always a nice bonus if the owner acknowledges them but most people won’t feel offended if he is a reserved type or if sometimes he’s involved with his friends.

I think one of the difficulties I see here is that some people come to Thailand, maybe after a successful career in the West, and feel that they can combine relaxing in semi-retirement with running a lucrative business in catering, or whatever. They may well start out with high ideals but over time and against a background local difficulties, cultural differences, etc lose their initial enthusiasm. I have been here quite a long time and seen it happen too often. And there are many who are simply not prepared to put in the effort they would be expected to if they were running a similar business back home. So things like good publicity and staff training and supervision often seem to be neglected. (I don’t know, and would prefer not to know, too much about hygiene behind the scenes in the kitchen and elsewhere!)

Obviously, these things aren’t straightforward but if owners who hope to build a business around both the short-time and resident farang population don’t realise the importance of such things as having staff who understand English or attend to them promptly or take steps to prevent overcharging, then they are seriously misguided and don’t deserve to succeed.

Rant over – but Tropo, yes, I really like the food in that place and since I black-listed it I often wonder if I did the right thing! Incidentally, I was never short-changed there or had any other complaint. The only problem was that for some reason I seemed to get up the owner’s nose!

[wpcoe]

Now, this may be way out of left field, but the thought just flashed in my mind: What with work permit restrictions and such, might a restaurant owner/manager be concerned about someone turning him in for a violation ... i.e. would greeting and thanking a customer be considered "work"?

I think that's an extreme take on things, but there are legendary tales such as the police entering a bar/shop to talk to the farang owner, and when the owner reached up to turn down the music to better hear the police, he was arrested for performing "work".

[gharknes]

Jingthing's recent experience and his being banned from a fish and chip place (see earlier topic) have started me thinking about what we should reasonably expect from restaurant owners here.

For maybe a year and a half I used to patronise a restaurant in Jomtien not far from Simple Simons. The first time I went there the owner, a fellow Brit, introduced himself and welcomed me nicely to his place – a gesture which I greatly appreciated.

However, friendly gestures more or less ended there and, at first, I wasn’t unduly concerned – the food and service were good and the staff were very welcoming and always made a big fuss of me. Usually I went there at least 3 times a week and, I would be pretty sure, usually spent more each time than the average customer.

At first, if he was around, I always made a point of giving a bit of a wave in the owner’s direction but when that was ignored I just assumed that he hadn’t see me or was having wife problems or whatever. He did have friends around from time to time and I could understand why, at such times, he would ignore others. But very often I was his only customer and I started to feel uncomfortable when he would walk past me, a couple of feet away, in an otherwise empty room and not even acknowledge my existence.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t looking for a free drink or for him to remember my birthday or even my name - I go to plenty of establishments where I don’t know who owns the place or where nobody speaks to me other than to take my order.

What annoyed me was the fact that over that year and a half, I was probably his best customer and that, whereas he seemed capable of acting courteously on occasions, he consistently treated me as if I didn’t exist.

I’d like to think that, while I’m not exactly the life and soul of every party, I’m mostly easy going and not usually paranoid, but eventually I concluded that, for some unknown reason, the guy had developed a positive dislike of me, so, with not a few regrets because I really liked the food and the staff, I stopped going to his place. Being made to feel unwelcome does get to even the most laid-back individual eventually.

I still see some of the staff regularly and I think they wonder what happened to me.

Obviously how restaurant owners treat their customers is a matter for themselves, but I would have thought that as they are evidently there to maintain and develop their businesses, they would at least realise the importance of good customer relations and try to see things from their patrons’ perspectives. Can any of them afford to alienate customers, and especially good customers, regardless of whatever personal feelings they develop towards them?

Speaking of Fish and Chips, out the sukhumvit road towards rayong same side as tesco near the thrapaya junction, very good

there is also one on the same soi as crazy daves just up a little also not bad

Most things out here should be at a price ratio of 1 to 4 including food, so if fish and chips in the UK is 3 quid it should be well under 100baht, someone here is making big money in the food chain, maybe not the retailer but certaintly somewhere through the supply chain

Edited May 2, 2007 by gharknes

[edh]

Jingthing's recent experience and his being banned from a fish and chip place (see earlier topic) have started me thinking about what we should reasonably expect from restaurant owners here.

For maybe a year and a half I used to patronise a restaurant in Jomtien not far from Simple Simons. The first time I went there the owner, a fellow Brit, introduced himself and welcomed me nicely to his place – a gesture which I greatly appreciated.

However, friendly gestures more or less ended there and, at first, I wasn’t unduly concerned – the food and service were good and the staff were very welcoming and always made a big fuss of me. Usually I went there at least 3 times a week and, I would be pretty sure, usually spent more each time than the average customer.

At first, if he was around, I always made a point of giving a bit of a wave in the owner’s direction but when that was ignored I just assumed that he hadn’t see me or was having wife problems or whatever. He did have friends around from time to time and I could understand why, at such times, he would ignore others. But very often I was his only customer and I started to feel uncomfortable when he would walk past me, a couple of feet away, in an otherwise empty room and not even acknowledge my existence.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t looking for a free drink or for him to remember my birthday or even my name - I go to plenty of establishments where I don’t know who owns the place or where nobody speaks to me other than to take my order.

What annoyed me was the fact that over that year and a half, I was probably his best customer and that, whereas he seemed capable of acting courteously on occasions, he consistently treated me as if I didn’t exist.

I’d like to think that, while I’m not exactly the life and soul of every party, I’m mostly easy going and not usually paranoid, but eventually I concluded that, for some unknown reason, the guy had developed a positive dislike of me, so, with not a few regrets because I really liked the food and the staff, I stopped going to his place. Being made to feel unwelcome does get to even the most laid-back individual eventually.

I still see some of the staff regularly and I think they wonder what happened to me.

Obviously how restaurant owners treat their customers is a matter for themselves, but I would have thought that as they are evidently there to maintain and develop their businesses, they would at least realise the importance of good customer relations and try to see things from their patrons’ perspectives. Can any of them afford to alienate customers, and especially good customers, regardless of whatever personal feelings they develop towards them?

Still surprised you went there for such a long period of time if you felt so unconfortable...

But then again, it was probably that good that you cared o ignore it and enjoyed every meal and service provided until, the owner didn't wave back at you?? No offence, I'm just amazed you going there for so long and don't liking it

[kurgen]

Most things out here should be at a price ratio of 1 to 4 including food, so if fish and chips in the UK is 3 quid it should be well under 100baht, someone here is making big money in the food chain, maybe not the retailer but certaintly somewhere through the supply chain

That may be true for Thai food Gharkness but I doubt it still stands when the food is imported by airfreight from Europe.