Do you tip (in Thailand)?

[timendres]

2 minutes ago, ed strong said:

Always intrigued about American always leaving tips, not really a thing in the UK, certainly not in a pub if just drinking but perhaps after a good meal.

 

Do the tippers that always tip any service, how do you deal with tipping flight attendants on a plane that have looked after you for the last few hours?

 

Presuming you still tip on a plane?

The problem in the US is that some time ago tips went from being an actual gratuity to being part of the server's wages. Because of absurd minimum wage and tax laws, restaurant owners started using the tips as part of the wage itself. In other words, if you do not tip your server, you are literally reducing their income. Insanity at its best.

[Fairynuff]

8 hours ago, murraynz said:

It's not needed in Thailand. 

You’re just trying to justify yourself saying that. Tipping is needed in any country. Staff rely on the generosity of customers because employers pay low salaries in Thailand the same as any other country. If you don’t get good service then don’t tip, I wouldn’t either. But showing appreciation should make you and someone else feel good.

[EVENKEEL]

4 hours ago, robblok said:

Just explaining the reason for Americans to tip, let me guess your American. Its a well known fact that often shames Americans so they don't like to hear it. They love to think its generosity while it is not. That is why the federal minimum wage for tiped workers is only 2 dollars 13 and main federal minimum wage is 7 dollars 25. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Folks trying to talk smack about the USA are just so sad. 

[robblok]

9 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Folks trying to talk smack about the USA are just so sad. 

If you say so its not smack talk with its the truth. Sorry truth hurts sometimes. I'm pretty sure there is plenty of negative stuff about my country. At least im not ashamed to admit it. 

[DJ54]

I tip when the service is good... nothing wrong with showing a little appreciation for a job well done ..

[ripstanley]

If the service is good I will give 40 baht in a Thai restaurant. At one restaurant I called the chef out. It was great food and gave her 50 baht. She was astounded. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by ripstanley

[FruitPudding]

3 hours ago, ed strong said:

Always intrigued about American always leaving tips, not really a thing in the UK, certainly not in a pub if just drinking but perhaps after a good meal.

 

Do the tippers that always tip any service, how do you deal with tipping flight attendants on a plane that have looked after you for the last few hours?

 

Presuming you still tip on a plane?

I have never ever heard of anyone tipping on a plane. Just restaurants, barbers, delivery guys, massage, maids.

 

I have only heard of tipping in bars in Asia cos we get our bill at the end. As you say, in the UK bartenders don't get a tip. Although in my old local back West, we would sometimes buy them a drink.

 

I don't get how some guys tip construction workers here or mechanics. I was a construction worker back in the West and I certainly didn't get any tips.

 

I wonder does anyone tip teachers? Serious question. Or would that be insulting to their profession?

 

It is funny, cos many Thai teachers earn 10,000-15,000 a month nowadays, yet a waitress is getting 15,000-20,000+ a month cos of the 10% service charge plus tips on top (at least that's what my EX was making 10 years ago in a well-known sports pub on Sukhumvit and she's borderline illiterate.....the irony!)

[natway09]

The monies you pay your golf caddy & the lady who shows you your way home are not considered tips, part of their income

[DaLa]

5 hours ago, ed strong said:

Always intrigued about American always leaving tips, not really a thing in the UK, certainly not in a pub if just drinking but perhaps after a good meal.

 

Do the tippers that always tip any service, how do you deal with tipping flight attendants on a plane that have looked after you for the last few hours?

 

Presuming you still tip on a plane?

This is an excellent point. Why just restaurant/bar/hotel staff.  Why not the person that serves you in a shop, why not the doctor or nurse that treats you why not the city planner, why not the guy that comes to unblock your drain, why not your teacher, why not the immigration officer (??), why not the bank clerk?

 

Surely they all serve you, and that service can be good, bad or indifferent. Op, you forgot the pilot, surely worth a good tip if s/he got you there safely. 

[Seeall]

12 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

Usually yes. Amount varies depending on the venue. 10% generally, but more for exceptional service...or if the waitress is exceptionally cute!

 

Rarely when in small open air restaurants and if so 5-10 baht, regardless the total cost. When out with Thai friends, they almost always say not to tip in places such as this.

 

Never at a place that already includes a service charge. 

 

Restaurant and grocery delivery usually 20-40 baht. Maybe B50 if she's hot! ????

cute?  well thats another story...   I ask if she would come with me .... done...

[stigar]

I let my lady take care of the tip.

[cdemundo]

The idea that there is not a tipping culture in Thailand doesn't hold up, at least with respect to bars and restaurants.

There is a well-established custom of the "hand tip" where if you give the tip directly to the server it is for them alone, and if you leave the tip on the bill tray it is shared among staff.

Can't have a custom about tipping is there is no custom of tipping.

 

Street food no tip expected.

[Golden Triangle]

6 hours ago, timendres said:

The problem in the US is that some time ago tips went from being an actual gratuity to being part of the server's wages. Because of absurd minimum wage and tax laws, restaurant owners started using the tips as part of the wage itself. In other words, if you do not tip your server, you are literally reducing their income. Insanity at its best.

Yep, I have experienced that, I've been to the states more than a few times, last time I was there ( a few years back admittedly ) I forgot to tip the girl behind the bar, next day she asked me outright if I was unhappy with her service, man I was mortified.

 

Don't ask me why or how I forgot, I just did ????

[Hanuman2547]

13 hours ago, Stevemercer said:

 

I never give my tips in coin (only notes) as I heard somewhere (probably on a previous thread on this topic) that Thais consider it a little insulting to be given spare coins and change.

 

As was mentioned earlier, on a bill of 240 baht for a couple of beers in a bar you pay with 300 baht.  Most likely you will get back two 20 baht notes and two 10 baht coins or some other combination.  The idea is that you will leave all or part of the 60 baht.  I don't believe the Thais think it is insulting to receive the coins they just gave you.  They are hoping that you will leave all of it!

[Bogbrush]

49 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

Yep, I have experienced that, I've been to the states more than a few times, last time I was there ( a few years back admittedly ) I forgot to tip the girl behind the bar, next day she asked me outright if I was unhappy with her service, man I was mortified.

 

Don't ask me why or how I forgot, I just did ????

I had a similar - but more embarrassing- experience. Leaving a $1 note after having one beer, I left: only to have the barman shout loudly “Hey, bud - if that’s all you can afford, then you need it more than me..”

[Bogbrush]

There’s an interesting difference I’ve noticed between east and west; in the west, they dump the bill down and walk away, but hover for the tip. In Thailand, they hover for the bill but walk away from the tip, which they only collect when you leave. Face?

[Albert Zweistein]

I usually tip 10 % of the bill in restaurants, room maids in the hotel bht 200 per week. Of course depending on the service. If I come next year I will reduce it in order to compensate the bht 500 "entrance fee" starting January 1st.

[Captain Monday]

9 hours ago, timendres said:

The problem in the US is that some time ago tips went from being an actual gratuity to being part of the server's wages. Because of absurd minimum wage and tax laws, restaurant owners started using the tips as part of the wage itself. In other words, if you do not tip your server, you are literally reducing their income. Insanity at its best.

It is worse the stifflers are actually stealing from servers. This is because they are liable for income tax of imputed income from estimated tips.  The fact that the tipping culture has metastasized in Thailand is regrettable. It has been explained to me by service workers and Taxi man there are "good farang" and even Japanese, and then the bird droppings farang now, who should stay in their country and not even to bother coming.

 

Who to blame? I have been kicked out of a Chiang Mai Songthaew when the driver picked up Chinese girls who ask "How Much"?

Edited December 8, 2021 by Captain Monday

[RichardColeman]

I leave it to the wife, she's a real non-tipper for rubbish service

[sipi]

Depends how I feel.

Few years back I caught a cab from Suvarnabhumi into town and acted like the dumb tourist. He used the meter and took me the shortest possible route without knowing I knew were we were going. He had a photo of his wife and kids on the dashboard and only spoke a few words of English, but enough. I doubled his fare from about 1000bt to 2000. Couldn't help myself. The chap nearly burst into tears.

[EVENKEEL]

5 hours ago, Bogbrush said:

I had a similar - but more embarrassing- experience. Leaving a $1 note after having one beer, I left: only to have the barman shout loudly “Hey, bud - if that’s all you can afford, then you need it more than me..”

I call BS on that one, 

[kennw]

On 12/7/2021 at 4:00 PM, scubascuba3 said:

Tipping is annoying here, the worst is golf caddy tipping 300+ baht compulsory tip, for a caddy you didn't even want.

 

Thai food street food no tip, 

farang restaurants girls expect a tip, i usually give a tip "ask the boss for a pay rise"

 

You wont get many smiles from the caddie with a B300 tip B500 more the norm now.

[ColeBOzbourne]

I always feel safe walking around the streets in Bangkok, so I tip every Police Officer I see along the way. They deserve it. 

[silver sea]

21 hours ago, possum1931 said:

What is SWMBO? Remember you are on a forum here, not texting on your smartphone.

 

21 hours ago, Ohyesuare said:

I didn't know either. A quick google search shows: SWMBO, pronounced 'swimbo', is an acronym of 'She Who Must Be Obeyed', a tongue-in-cheek reference to a female partner.

She who Must Be Obeyed comes from books, like ‘She’ and ‘Alan Quartermain’ by H Rider Haggard in the 1880s. He was born in England but lived a large part of his adult life in southern Africa.
 

She is called Ayesha who is 2000 years old, immortalized by a flame that burns in her subterranean world. She is served by an African tribe. She is waiting for the reincarnation. of her lover. He is Alan Quartermain.
 

To cut a long story short: being a 19th century book, she is white, of course, and he is English. She wants him to get into the flame to become immortal too. He is reluctant, so she steps into the flame herself. Unfortunately, stepping into the flame a second time reverses the process and she withers into a hag.

 

There is a film from the 1960s with Ursula Andress.

 

John Mortimer revives the She Who Must Obeyed title in his Rumpole of the Bailey books. Rumpole, tongue in cheek, is referring to his wife

 

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=211511977535201

 

Bringing this post back ‘on topic’. I am not a rich farang (good luck to those who are) so I do not tip much: 20 baht in Thai or Indian restaurants where the bill is 200-300 baht, but no tip if under 120 baht; 20 baht to lady hairdresser, who charges 150 baht for a simple haircut. I stay at 800 baht hotels, not 5* stars, for one or two nights so no tip. I do not have motorbike, scooter or car so I go by public transport so again no tip  There is a small Thai coffee shop  I go to 3 or 4 times a week. The coffee is 35 baht. I give the waitress each time 40 baht and indicate she can keep the change. Other coffee shops I do not tip. 
 

I guess if I were more wealthy I would tip more, so I respect and understand the other posters on this thread who are more generous. These are difficult times for everybody, so if you can afford to give more money then that is a good thing. Although I am not wealthy, I am not complaining. I am happy in my life in Thailand; I have a good life here. I enjoyed reading other people’s experiences on this thread ☺️????

 

 

Edited December 9, 2021 by silver sea

[Bogbrush]

7 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

I call BS on that one, 

It’s true - Euclid Tavern, Cleveland.

[scubascuba3]

7 hours ago, kennw said:

You wont get many smiles from the caddie with a B300 tip B500 more the norm now.

so 900 baht \£20 about average for a caddy many people don't want. About £3,000 a year

[JimmyJ]

14 hours ago, Bogbrush said:

I had a similar - but more embarrassing- experience. Leaving a $1 note after having one beer, I left: only to have the barman shout loudly “Hey, bud - if that’s all you can afford, then you need it more than me..”

I wouldn't be embarrassed at all.

 

I would have collected the $1, then spoken to the manager as well as making every effort to get the owner's contact info, and also taking a photo of the bartender.

Hopefully I could get the guy fired.

 

Next I would highlight the incident on all the social media relevant to the bar.

 

To  use an overused term which I hate for the first time, this is the embodiment of feeling "entitled".

 

Tipping a bartender in general is ridiculous.

One orders a beer, the bartender takes 1 - 3 steps and gets one, opens it while almost always putting his dirty fingers on the top of the bottle,  and grabs a glass.

For that he is entitled to a tip of any kind???

Let alone several dollars???

 

F anyone with that attitude.

You are doing the bar owner a favor by getting him fired.

 

 

Edited December 9, 2021 by JimmyJ

[utalkin2me]

I would like to know info on the other side of this question. How many places actually try and rob the waitresses tips. I guarantee you this happens a lot. 

[piewarmer]

In my youth I only got a tip about once a year, I remember how awesome a nice tip is and will always do that for others in this country.

I avoid places that charge the 10% extra fee.

Edited December 9, 2021 by piewarmer

[ed strong]

18 hours ago, DaLa said:

This is an excellent point. Why just restaurant/bar/hotel staff.  Why not the person that serves you in a shop, why not the doctor or nurse that treats you why not the city planner, why not the guy that comes to unblock your drain, why not your teacher, why not the immigration officer (??), why not the bank clerk?

 

Surely they all serve you, and that service can be good, bad or indifferent. Op, you forgot the pilot, surely worth a good tip if s/he got you there safely. 

Indeed I have taken hundreds of flights and never seen anyone tip a pilot or steward.