The Most Incredibly Annoying Thing About Waitrons

[Jingthing]

So you go to a restaurant. The waiter hands you a menu. The menu is 10 pages long. He looks at you like you are expected to order RIGHT NOW. If you don't, they will hover over you really, really close, pressuring you to rush your decision. Then, if they do go away without an order, when you do decide what you want to order, it is like pulling teeth to get a waiter to come back to you. Cultural difference or not, this is just dumb.

Sighs and Tapping Toes Local waiters are an impatient lot. They tend to hover when they provide me with a menu, expecting an immediate order - an expectation frequently communicated with rolling eyes, tapping toes and an occasional sigh. Why give me the menu, if I'm not supposed to read it? Ordering drinks sometimes provides a little breathing (reading) room, but many waiters simply take the drink order and continue to hover impatiently. It's a real pain.

from where to eat bangkok website Edited May 22, 2007 by Jingthing

[qwertz]

Just tell him you need a little time to read an English menu or to go bring one in Serbian.

[cdnvic]

When I read "Waitrons" I thought there was a new high tech restaurant opened up in Thailand.

Surely a firmware upgrade would make them more patient.

[qwertz]

Is that the bar fine I can see on the screen?

[Jingthing]

Yeah, I guess it is one those silly PC words. It is a newish word at least in American dictionaries.

Waitron

Non gender specific term for waiter for waitress. Waiters and waitresses tend to use the term server to describe themselves.

[Jimjim]

I'll stick with waiter for both sexes. English is strange. Why is a female writer not a writress? All those words should all just end with -er and refer to both sexes.

As for the practice in Thai restaurants of hovering over you right after you order, it is quite strange. Perhaps ordering a quick drink will get them away. When they return with the drink perhaps you'll be ready to order. I don't know. I forget how I dealt with that. But many friends did remark on how it seemed odd they expected you to order right away. I don't know why that happens.

[grtaylor]

The other two annoyances being:

• you've just taken your last bite of food off the plate, and they whip it away from in front of you, even though the person you're with hasn't finished
  
• you've finished your meal, paid your bill and are about to leave, and they still come and fill your water glass up again!
  

G

[backflip]

"Why is a female writer not a writress?"

Because "writer" is gender neutral. On the other hand "author" and "authoress" are not.

[DrFisher]

If you want the "wait staff" (how's that) to go away just tell them you need a minute and when your ready just call them back I have never had a problem with this, sometimes I just let them stand there and get annoyed they get over it. It is obviously a Thai thing that the wait staff stands at your table everyone does it and I see Thais that don't order quickly either but it doesn't seem to be a big deal.

[The Skipper]

Locals seem to enjoy the waiter standing there and are usually pretty harsh with the staff.

They can't afford a servent at home but they can boss one around for an hour or two when they go out.

Having the staff standing there makes them feel superior.

[sutnyod]

Why be upset or annoyed? Just order a snack (fried cashew nuts or peanuts, whatever) and keep the menu. No problem.

[Sarpedon]

Just tell them you need a few minutes to go through the menu...it shouldnt really be a problem.

[naka]

C'mon guys ... It's pretty obvious ... They only have the one menu for the whole joint !

Naka.

[raslin]

I assume wiatron is a contraction of WAITer and moRON.

Is there going to be a Presidron?

Edited May 23, 2007 by raslin

[sinom]

The solution is normally quite simle .....

first order up the drinks..........

then off go the "waitrons" to fuss around organising, drinks, glasses, ice bucket, drinks trolley, pouring drinks etc.

by which time at least 15 mins has passed, people have selected their desired dishes and have started complaing about poor/ slow service

some you win ...... some you lose

[ProThaiExpat]

While on the subject of poorly trained Thai restaurant staff, what about their never keeping straight who ordered what.

I did get very good service at the Hard Rock Cafe in Pattaya, in my only visit there. Well trained staff by western standards. Rare, however, in most restaurants in Thailand.

You know what level of restaurant your at in the West when the service staff ask the following question when they arrive with your orders at the table "Who gets what?".

Ate at a hotel this week in Chiang Mai and we were the only couple in the restaurant. Waiter was attentive and my Thai mate ordered fried rice with pork, his perennial falang restaurant order. His order arrived fully ten minutes earlier than my fish and chips order. Another sign of poorly trained restaurant staff who don't arrange their order when submitting to the kitchen to be ready at the same time. The fish and chips were so incredible, the best I have ever had, I will go back. Tartar sauce was likewise terrific. Can only hope the quality of the food will continue when they have more customers.

While I am at it, many feel it is good service to remove empty plates immediately after the knife and fork are arranged in the "finished position" on the edge of the plate. Many feel sitting in front of the remains of a eaten meal, while a slower companion eats away, is not enjoyable. Having leaned not to put my elbows or forearms on the table as long as there is a plate in front of me, the sooner the plate is removed, the sooner that I am able to put my elbows on the table. So I find quick plate removal a plus rather than a negative. There really isn't anything attractive about a plate with the remains of an eaten meal on it and in a restaurant that attempts to make their tables attractive, removal of plates with the remains of eaten meals is a sign of a good restaurant, in my view.

I do know there are likewise many people who feel that one person finishing their meal without others having a plate in front of them somehow makes that person feel something, but I don't understan what it is? Perhaps people who abhor eating alone, feel abandoned when a companion's plate is removed, I just don't know?

Edited May 23, 2007 by ProThaiExpat

[Luckydog]

When they hover, I say I don't have my reading glasses would you tell me what is here on the menu, Please......

More annoying than the original point, is the fact that you and the GF NEVER get your food at the same time! WHY?

[swindonabroad]

Lucky dog! Thank you!

Didnt want to be a moaning farang but the timing of the 'waitrons' and kitchen gets me the most.

The concept of starters then main? Food at the same time? rice on the table for 10 mins then food?

Oh and love Thailand before i get 'why are you here?' remarks.

Just commenting on my own experience.

[sgunn65]

I must be going to the wrong places. Usually when we eat out the waiter will bring the menu then shoot off before I can utter "We...... I then have to get them back to order a drink at which point they hover before being asked to give us time.

The food coming at different times may have something to do with they way Thais eat bringing food to the table when it is ready. It is a western thing having seperate courses.

Of course that is no help when you go to a western restaraunt!!

[Jingthing]

They often go away if you take too much time, and then they don't come back. They don't seem to get the classic cue of closing the menu. If you order a drink, they often just keep waiting for the rest of the order. Also, if you ask them to go away, they will, but they don't easily come back. If they take the drink order and go for it, you are OK if you are ready to order when they come back, otherwise you are back where you started.

Edited May 23, 2007 by Jingthing

[jumnien]

I've eaten out with many farangs over the last 10 years and they really are an odd bunch. Many of them will go to the same restaurants and order the same dish obsessively over and over again each time they go there. If their favorite dish is out, they are frustrated. Often when a waiter brings a menu, they are ready to order immediately and furious if the waiter gives them time. Many are in the buddhist hel_l realm of instant gratification it seems. Suffering...

[alexth]

What about when you send them away and they forget to come back for 5 or 6 minutes? Usually, if this is how they know to treat a customer, I either order the drinks first, either look on the menu and pretend I don't even see them, it always works.

Now, the most annoying thing is when I order by phone...Subway for example; I know exactly what I want, but see, they are trained to do it step by step, so no matter what I tell them, they are still going to ask me everything step by step..."Do you want cheese?"(the sandwich has already got cheese) "and any vegetables?" (I just told them tomatoes and olives), "And do you want any sauce?" (I've finished my sentence with NO sauce) and on and on and on and on...makes me hang up and go get some chicken rice from the lady next to my building.

[Crossy]

Maybe I've led a sheltered life, but I've NEVER come across the word 'waitron', <deleted> is wrong with waiter and waitress (or in McDonalds speak, 'server')???

Anyway, whenever we eat out there's usually at least three Thai ladies having major discussions before we get near the restaurant, poor waiter never even gets his menu out before being bombarded by three simultaneous orders often of the same things (in different sequence of course), probably a couple of changes as well to cause confusion

Food never seems to tie up with the order anyway. TiT

[Mid]

What about when you send them away and they forget to come back for 5 or 6 minutes? Usually, if this is how they know to treat a customer, I either order the drinks first, either look on the menu and pretend I don't even see them, it always works.

Now, the most annoying thing is when I order by phone...Subway for example; I know exactly what I want, but see, they are trained to do it step by step, so no matter what I tell them, they are still going to ask me everything step by step..."Do you want cheese?"(the sandwich has already got cheese) "and any vegetables?" (I just told them tomatoes and olives), "And do you want any sauce?" (I've finished my sentence with NO sauce) and on and on and on and on...makes me hang up and go get some chicken rice from the lady next to my building.

given that tomatoes and olives are fruits ,

do you want any vegetables ???

[alexth]

What about when you send them away and they forget to come back for 5 or 6 minutes? Usually, if this is how they know to treat a customer, I either order the drinks first, either look on the menu and pretend I don't even see them, it always works.

Now, the most annoying thing is when I order by phone...Subway for example; I know exactly what I want, but see, they are trained to do it step by step, so no matter what I tell them, they are still going to ask me everything step by step..."Do you want cheese?"(the sandwich has already got cheese) "and any vegetables?" (I just told them tomatoes and olives), "And do you want any sauce?" (I've finished my sentence with NO sauce) and on and on and on and on...makes me hang up and go get some chicken rice from the lady next to my building.

given that tomatoes and olives are fruits ,

do you want any vegetables ???

Maybe I should get some strawberries with my sandwich next time

Edited May 26, 2007 by alexth