This is Thailand

[Lacessit]

Each to his own. With luck, I'll be in Melbourne tomorrow.

I can't say I am looking forward to it, I would much rather stay here.

$5 for a cup of coffee, $30 for a pub meal. $80 for a one hour massage.

Bloody ridiculous.

[Dolf]

15 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   That is true , but there are less Aussies in CM than non whinging Poms , as most Poms dont whine

Read that again.

[Dolf]

10 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Each to his own. With luck, I'll be in Melbourne tomorrow.

I can't say I am looking forward to it, I would much rather stay here.

$5 for a cup of coffee, $30 for a pub meal. $80 for a one hour massage.

Bloody ridiculous.

Eat 2 minute noodles

[2baht]

19 hours ago, Lacessit said:

How the hell do some of these guys make a living?

Who cares?

[brianthainess]

19 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I then drove my scooter no more than 50 metres to another exchanger who happily gave me $450 for my Thai baht.

Oh you poor thing. So you went to one 'no hab' then the next one no more than 50mts 'hab' that must have been soo exhaustingly frustrating for you. 

Did you then go for lunch and have a lay down. Phew what a day you had.

[Sandboxer]

My only takeaway from this post is that it takes a special kind of financially illiterate person with near zero awareness of modern standard methods of obtaining money to purchase one's home country currency overseas. Jesus Christ.

[brianthainess]

Meanwhile in more important news, there is no Branston pickle anywhere in the whole country. Out of stock everywhere.      

[fredwiggy]

15 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I've wondered that a lot too over the years....  It seems there is no genuine interest in giving the customer what they need. 

 

There are so many scenarios where I walk away from 'business'.. .buying something etc because the owner or staff are so apathetic and just can't be bothered.

 

 

My thoughts: How do these people survive when they can so readily lose custom ???

 

This is the best answer to Lacessit's question. An exchange place in a major city should have in stock anything they advertise exchanging for. Common sense. I have seen this quite a few times in other scenarios. It seems, although a majority are poor or just get by, that they are lazy and don't want to do their jobs. Another thing I see here is lunch time breaks. In America, and I'm guessing most other places, they have a few different lunch break times, so some are always working. When I go to a place that works on my car, they all take breaks at the same time. There are at least 20 mechanics there at any one time, and they're all gone at once, so you have to wait the extra hour, even if your car is 10 minutes from finished.

[Thingamabob]

His business, his choice. 

[norfolkandchance]

36 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Meanwhile in more important news, there is no Branston pickle anywhere in the whole country. Out of stock everywhere.      

In other news. My local Hardware store has new Rivets in stock.

[EVENKEEL]

There are many examples of poor business practices here in Thailand. I shake my head at auto repair places that are in shambles with dirt and old sh*t laying around. Local foreigner bars that don't open till 1500. 

[Bangkok Barry]

17 hours ago, Dolf said:

Well the guy is a goose. That is life. I see a lot of Thais and I can't figure out how they make money. Maybe they just settle for cheap life.

 

They do, yes. Their choice. It doesn't make him a goose, whatever that means.

Edited March 19 by Bangkok Barry

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, fredwiggy said:

they all take breaks at the same time. There are at least 20 mechanics there at any one time, and they're all gone at once

 

Asian culture, people do things as a group. The customers are still there when they return. But yes, infuriating.

[kingstonkid]

20 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Would you think it reasonable if you went to the same shop, with the GBP listed, and he told you he didn't have any?

It's a money EXCHANGE shop, how would anyone make a living if they had nothing to exchange?

 

Did you consider that maybe he just didn't have any.  I am sure if you had asked after lunch he might have helped you.  Timing is everything.

[fredwiggy]

20 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

Did you consider that maybe he just didn't have any.  I am sure if you had asked after lunch he might have helped you.  Timing is everything.

Mai mee means no.

[AustinRacing]

I encounter various shop attendees who are quick at responding “mai mee”. Work ethics is fairly poor in Thailand especially if dealing with employees and not the owners. Some even can’t detach one eye from social media stuff they’re looking at while trying to serve you. 

[Kinok Farang]

21 hours ago, still kicking said:

Nonsense there is more Aussies in Chiang Mai than whinging POMS.

And a lot more Poms that don't winge than Aussies.

Been a while since i last heard that slur from our Aussie cousins with the inferiority complex.

[georgegeorgia]

6 hours ago, 2baht said:

Who cares?

I care 

I often wonder myself how they do it 

 

Edited March 19 by georgegeorgia

[georgegeorgia]

7 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Each to his own. With luck, I' be in Melbourne tomorrow.

I can't say I am looking forward to it, I would much rather stay here.

$5 for a cup of coffee, $30 for a pub meal. $80 for a one hour massage.

Bloody ridiculous.

Welcome back Daddy 

I was just listening to that Welcome back Kotter theme ,who remembers that?

Welcome back ....welcome back... welcome back !

[cdemundo]

On 3/18/2024 at 12:52 PM, Lacessit said:

In preparation for a return to Australia, I went looking in the main drag of Chiang Rai for a money exchanger.

I like to have cash as well as a debit card, belt and braces.

The first shop I came to, the employee/proprietor was just locking up, presumably for lunch.

What time do you come back? 1 pm ( at 11.30 am ). Do you have Australian dollars? Mai mee.

This despite a big sign in the window,  listing AUD, among other currencies.

I then drove my scooter no more than 50 metres to another exchanger who happily gave me $450 for my Thai baht.

How the hell do some of these guys make a living?

So it sounds like a good result.

What's the problem?

You got your Australian dollars, drove no more than 50 extra meters, I don't see the problem.

[jesimps]

On 3/18/2024 at 12:52 PM, Lacessit said:

In preparation for a return to Australia, I went looking in the main drag of Chiang Rai for a money exchanger.

I like to have cash as well as a debit card, belt and braces.

The first shop I came to, the employee/proprietor was just locking up, presumably for lunch.

What time do you come back? 1 pm ( at 11.30 am ). Do you have Australian dollars? Mai mee.

This despite a big sign in the window,  listing AUD, among other currencies.

I then drove my scooter no more than 50 metres to another exchanger who happily gave me $450 for my Thai baht.

How the hell do some of these guys make a living?

I've often wondered that myself, there seems to be a "take it or leave it" attitude among a lot of local businesses.

[MarkyM3]

On 3/19/2024 at 12:58 AM, Lacessit said:

Each to his own. With luck, I'll be in Melbourne tomorrow.

I can't say I am looking forward to it, I would much rather stay here.

$5 for a cup of coffee, $30 for a pub meal. $80 for a one hour massage.

Bloody ridiculous.

Whingeing Aussies eh 😉

[MarkyM3]

18 hours ago, Kinok Farang said:

And a lot more Poms that don't winge than Aussies.

Been a while since i last heard that slur from our Aussie cousins with the inferiority complex.

Seems to be the elderly ones inhabiting this forum mainly, thankfully not representative of your average Aussie I met when living in the country 😄 

Edited March 20 by MarkyM3

[Kinok Farang]

2 hours ago, MarkyM3 said:

Seems to be the elderly ones inhabiting this forum mainly, thankfully not representative of your average Aussie I met when living in the country 😄 

Cheers Mark,enjoy Melbourne.

[Lacessit]

On 3/19/2024 at 12:24 PM, Sandboxer said:

My only takeaway from this post is that it takes a special kind of financially illiterate person with near zero awareness of modern standard methods of obtaining money to purchase one's home country currency overseas. Jesus Christ.

So you rely on your smartphone or a card for all your financial transactions? What happens if there's an computer outage, or your phone/card gets lost, stolen, or skimmed?

Cash is accepted nearly everywhere, except for the richardheads who think it is vulgar and behind the times. I don't shop with people who have that attitude to customer service.

You lose your card on the plane or whatever, you have no backup to pay a taxi to get you home. I don't know about financially literate, I do know I've never been stranded without money any time I moved around.

 

[Lacessit]

On 3/19/2024 at 12:14 PM, brianthainess said:

Oh you poor thing. So you went to one 'no hab' then the next one no more than 50mts 'hab' that must have been soo exhaustingly frustrating for you. 

Did you then go for lunch and have a lay down. Phew what a day you had.

I think I get more exhausted from dodging snipers on ASEAN.

[Lacessit]

On 3/19/2024 at 6:12 PM, Kinok Farang said:

And a lot more Poms that don't winge than Aussies.

Been a while since i last heard that slur from our Aussie cousins with the inferiority complex.

Given the way Aussies wipe the floor with the Brits in almost any sport, and one-third of the UK's population, I'd say it's the Poms who have the inferiority complex.

[Kinok Farang]

8 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Given the way Aussies wipe the floor with the Brits in almost any sport, and one-third of the UK's population, I'd say it's the Poms who have the inferiority complex.

Au contraire mon ami.

Being British always qualifies us as being top of the losers chart.We play every sport but are not so good at most of them.We are however the worlds best and honest losers who would never dream of cheating. Unlike some ball-tampering (sandpaper) nations.

[OneMoreFarang]

On 3/18/2024 at 12:52 PM, Lacessit said:

In preparation for a return to Australia

 

It sounds like Australia is more suitable for you.

[Prubangboy]

Skipping to the end -as I increasingly do in this loser-autism-fest- to point out that a street-side FX booth is a very shoe-string operation. Expecting them to have much beyond dollars, euro's, and yuan may be unrealistic.

 

I'm In Oman at the moment. I tried to exchange some baht at the airport. They don't see or need a lot of baht here. They directed me to a bank. And this being super-solicitous Oman, had a printed list of banks to give me.