Not this little black duck !!

[georgegeorgia]

Two kinds of expat farangs 

Both I know personally

How would you describe them ?

 

First guy I seen in Pattaya , 70's age  Scottish guy 

 

I heard him talking to a taxi 

" Oh don't give me that mate, you told me 1000 baht !

I watched for a moment then after he paid the taxi he walked towards the hotel guesthouse  I was in and I asked him about it ,he told me the taxi had quoted 1000 baht but then wanted 1500 because of traffic , I said most people would pay it !

Something I always remember he said to me "Not this little black duck ! 

 

The second example is a guy named Kevin  I personally knew from my work , ,but back in 2014 I met up with him on Pattaya ,in his 50's then and a gambler he never owned his own home and rented a apartment nearby to my work in Australia

 

Anyway to cut a long story short Kevin met up with me in Pattaya ,one afternoon after eating in a mom pop Thai place we left and I thought he had paid the around  80 baht bill,he hadn't ,he forgot 

 

Only to have the Thai guy chase us , I went to give a 100b note but the Thai guy said it was someiomethibg like like 240 baht ,I knew it wasn't but was prepared to give 150b , then  kevin got out 1000 baht note to my astonishment and said to the  Thai guy ,keep it !!!

 

I was shocked ,he said you know these people are poor etc etc 

 

The next day we were in a taxi from jomtien to big C at Pattaya ,I remember not seeing the meter on or something like that and I remember the cab driver telling me a outrageous price I remember 500 b and I started to query it only to have Kevin in the backseat shouting just pay it !

Just pay it mate !!!

Just pay it ,you getting it cheap compared to Australia 

 

So question to you is are you a wise man ,not only when it comes to money matters but life in general, examples are , 

Are you easily ripped off ?

Do people use you ?

Are you clever & cluey ?

Are you gullible?

We all heard of the cases where farangs are tipping big money , I'm not sure if U describe them as gullible in that sense 

 

Can you be gullible living in Asia as a farang that's the question 

 

Just like the above example I find Scottish people very shrewd and cluey 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by georgegeorgia

[ezzra]

You said 'to cut a long story short' but it's still long and worse, pointless.

( i know you goanna give me the sad-confused feedback but it had to be said)

Edited April 24, 2023 by ezzra

[bignok]

Just bill the normal bill. Maybe round up to nearest 10 baht.

[ozimoron]

One one level I can sympathize with the little black duck and I have read that Bangkok taxi drivers have been ripping off tourists. That said, I would use discretion and if I thought the driver had a point and was trapped by worse traffic than he could have reasonably foreseen I would pay the extra. Fair's fair is my motto.

[Snugs08]

10-20baht tolerance on price before I re-query, got to stay sharp. Could be a coffee, chicken and rice, sugar cane drink, or a sub 500baht restaurant bill that I've calculated in my head etc..  I don't query on less than 20baht when into 100s because always forget small things like ice and they always have an excuse - give you special size, you fat falang. But if there is clearly a mistake or attempt to lift the price i do query and usually sorted

 

On a taxi I pay meter plus a tip - tip can be anything from 10-80 baht.  Avoid unmetered taxis, if fix fare is unavoidable no tips.

 

Flat fare already has tolerances for traffic etc so that doesn't work on me.

 

Scottish guy is right.. Kevin well, well up to him, but that's just silly, isn't gaining any respect doing that

Edited April 24, 2023 by Snugs08

[CharlieH]

Round up to nearest piece of paper, hate shrapnel in my pocket ????

 

And NO, I ain't being taken for a sucker by no one ! If it's fair and reasonable, no problem, if not, let battle commence ????

[LaosLover]

As a newcomer with low language skills, I lean a bit Kevin-ward, but am in no way a Kevin-level sucker. Cuck-Kevin would be more like it.

 

For the dinner bill, 150 would have been my bluff, with a lot of head-shaking drama, with 2 100's at the ready if they mention Muay Thai.

 

I'm vacationing in Hua Hin. The tuk tuk has 4 prices for a run around town: 40 baht for a local, 60 baht for an expat, 80 baht for a Lonely Planet-type who likes to haggle, 100 baht is the asking price.

 

I tend to go for the 100 baht deal just because it's hot out, I do feel bad about local income, and 20 baht makes virtually no difference in my life.

 

Also, when there's a line of tuk tuks like outside of a mall, a driver who goes cheap will be razzed by his little tuk tuk posse around him.

 

Let me free him from that brute peer pressure -and let me cover his next M-80 energy drink while I'm at it. It's worth 20 baht due to the whole Thai-face thing.  I read a book about it; they take a lot of white people behavior to heart.

 

Dipping another toe into Kevin-dom, A lot of time, the tuk tuk likes to deposit me on the wrong side of the road, leaving me to cross 4 lanes of traffic.

 

I always make them take me around, after some grimacing and scolding, and then I alway toss them an extra princely 20 baht.

 

Whereas Kevin would feel that that drive around gesture would entitle them to dinner at The Sizzler.

Edited April 24, 2023 by LaosLover