Blocked/reserved table in food courts?

[OneMoreFarang]

Sometimes I go to food courts, yesterday in Terminal 21 about noon. It was busy.

I went to the shop and bought my meal and then I looked for a table.

There were lots of tables without people, but on most of them were small or not so small items like an umbrella, maybe a keycard, or a shopping bag.

It seems some people "reserved" these tables by putting something on the table and then walk away and take their time to get the food. And then I guess they expect that everyone recognizes that the table is blocked/reserved by them and nobody else is allowed to use it.

 

I find this behavior strange and annoying. Sit there and use the table or the table is available for other people. It could be simple.

 

Luckily, I found a free table within a minute, and all was fine. But I considered already going to one of those reserved tables, put whatever someone put on the table to the side, and then eat there.

And if someone would come and complain: Yes, I noticed you forgot your bag. Here, take it back. 😉 

 

What do you do in such situation? 

 

[digbeth]

I find that annoying too,

but from their perspective, what happens if you go and bought a dish and caried around and found out there are no seats available? 

 

If there's enough seats then of course there should be no need to 'reserve' seats in such manner, but at office lunch times, there will not be enough seats

 

If you are an office workers on lunch break and walked in to the food court and find the seats are all 'reserved' you might go to a proper sit down restaurant instead

[Gsxrnz]

What's a food court? 

[bkk6060]

Get there earlier and do the same thing.

[JBChiangRai]

In hotels I collect all the towels on sunbeds and put them in a pile.

[seajae]

I stayed at a Bangkok hotel years ago that had an inclusive breakfast, we got our coffees and other things and put them on a spare table then went to get our food, when we got back a group of chinese had put our coffees etc on the floor and were just sitting there, I got very vocal and told them all where to go, luckily they got the message. Sometimes people ignore the fact someone is already using the table

Sometimes the people that want that table do need to go to get their food so by putting something on the table they hope to stop others from taking it. Where we often go for breakfast at a dim sum shop one of us has to sit at the table while the other goes and gets the food as when we have put our things on the table and both gone we come back to other sitting there and our things have been put aside, unfortunately many people are ignorant and do as they please ignoring others, while saying this if people put things on a table then disappear for a long time they have no one to blame but themselves if someone else sits there

Edited May 25 by seajae

[KhunLA]

It is what it is.   Who wants to buy food, then have no table available.   I rarely if ever eat alone, so one of us sits, while the other fetches food.   Not sure I'd leave anything on a table and walk away.  

 

Better simply to time your dining a bit off hours, which we usual do, as food courts do get packed at rush hour, and for me, too annoying or worth the hassle.

[freeworld]

Terminal21 food court is very busy and more so now that the Chinese are frequenting the place. Rarely go to Terminal21 food court anymore, it just too busy.

 

My wife and I do sometimes reserve a table like that at the busy times by putting my book and hat down to go and buy our food.

 

Had one time someone touched and moved my stuff and was quite annoyed about it. I sat down at the vacant chair and eventually the pair got up and moved to another table.

Edited May 25 by freeworld

[freeworld]

18 minutes ago, digbeth said:

I find that annoying too,

but from their perspective, what happens if you go and bought a dish and caried around and found out there are no seats available? 

 

If there's enough seats then of course there should be no need to 'reserve' seats in such manner, but at office lunch times, there will not be enough seats

 

If you are an office workers on lunch break and walked in to the food court and find the seats are all 'reserved' you might go to a proper sit down restaurant instead

Worse are those who have finished eating, and linger on staring into their phones and many when they get up do not clear their tables just leaving the mess behind for others to clear after them.

[HappyExpat57]

Another case of T.I.T.S.?

[steven100]

6 minutes ago, freeworld said:

Worse are those who have finished eating, and linger on staring into their phones and many when they get up do not clear their tables just leaving the mess behind for others to clear after them.

 

yes ....  just getting up and walking off leaving their dirty plates and tissues there is taking the p_ss.

some people are just arrogant idiots. 

[ballpoint]

I don't blame those who do it.  They found an empty table and are making sure it will still be free after they've bought their food.  When with my wife, we will look for a free table before buying the coupons / cash card, and then one of us will sit at it while the other buys them and gets the food.  I see no difference between leaving a person at the table, or placing an object on it to "reserve" it.   I usually avoid food courts when I'm on my own, however, as I never have anything I can leave on a table that I don't want stolen, or doesn't look like rubbish that will be thrown away or ignored.  For that reason, I've always thought that when you buy your coupon / cash card you should get some sort of place marker that you can leave on the table indicating that it's taken.  The same goes for fast food restaurants when they're busy.  Grab a place marker by the door and put in on a table before ordering your food.  If I had a baht for every time there's been plenty of empty tables when I go in, but by the time I've been served, they're all taken, so I'm left walking around with a tray of food asking people if I can sit at their table, I'd have sagging pockets.

[2baht]

48 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

What do you do in such situation? 

My problems seem insignificant compared to this dilemma!

 

 

Edited May 25 by 2baht

[proton]

common practice at concerts go early and put something on the seats, if there are any!

[TroubleandGrumpy]

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

It is what it is.   Who wants to buy food, then have no table available.   I rarely if ever eat alone, so one of us sits, while the other fetches food.   Not sure I'd leave anything on a table and walk away.  

 

Better simply to time your dining a bit off hours, which we usual do, as food courts do get packed at rush hour, and for me, too annoying or worth the hassle.

We do the same. I get a table and the cutlery and sit there, while the wife gets the food.  If there is no table to get, we walk away. We used to arrive in the busy time and walk away sometimes, but now we arrive at the end of the lunch 'hour' and there is always tables available.  And as the wife said - it is best to arrive late not early, because if they do keep any food leftover from yesterday, it will be the first they sell on the next day - win/win. And I still am amazed at how cheap and good the food is in food courts - just as good as in most restaurants and way less cost. 

[KhunLA]

4 minutes ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

We do the same. I get a table and the cutlery and sit there, while the wife gets the food.  If there is no table to get, we walk away. We used to arrive in the busy time and walk away sometimes, but now we arrive at the end of the lunch 'hour' and there is always tables available.  And as the wife said - it is best to arrive late not early, because if they do keep any food leftover from yesterday, it will be the first they sell on the next day - win/win. And I still am amazed at how cheap and good the food is in food courts - just as good as in most restaurants and way less cost. 

Agree with part 2, and your wife ... avoid getting yesterday's leftovers, and wait till the rush is dying down.  Food courts offer AC (usually) good food, selection, value in a clean environment.

 

Added plus of parking usually since most at malls, or close to public trans.

[KannikaP]

3 hours ago, Gsxrnz said:

What's a food court? 

Where there are different dishes to be tried. 555

[TroubleandGrumpy]

10 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Agree with part 2, and your wife ... avoid getting yesterday's leftovers, and wait till the rush is dying down.  Food courts offer AC (usually) good food, selection, value in a clean environment.

 

Added plus of parking usually since most at malls, or close to public trans.

Yes indeed mate - a bit of lunch and then maybe some shopping in the Mall (they all have a Tops for me and a 'market' for her) and sometimes we catch a movie while there too. 

[PremiumLane]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Luckily, I found a free table within a minute, and all was fine.

 

so a non-issue then

[Yagoda]

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Sometimes I go to food courts, yesterday in Terminal 21 about noon. It was busy.

I went to the shop and bought my meal and then I looked for a table.

There were lots of tables without people, but on most of them were small or not so small items like an umbrella, maybe a keycard, or a shopping bag.

It seems some people "reserved" these tables by putting something on the table and then walk away and take their time to get the food. And then I guess they expect that everyone recognizes that the table is blocked/reserved by them and nobody else is allowed to use it.

 

I find this behavior strange and annoying. Sit there and use the table or the table is available for other people. It could be simple.

 

Luckily, I found a free table within a minute, and all was fine. But I considered already going to one of those reserved tables, put whatever someone put on the table to the side, and then eat there.

And if someone would come and complain: Yes, I noticed you forgot your bag. Here, take it back. 😉 

 

What do you do in such situation? 

 

I wouldnt care much. Life is too short. Go find a table or stand in front of random folks and eat Pad Krapow off the tray. Once I get a good krapow sprinkling on my beard, folks tend to leave. Or make incoherent noises...or gagging, yeah thats it. That frees up table space. Or just sit on the floor. Or sit with a stranger who doesnt speak English and have a conversation.

 

Your annoyance level is way too low. Mine would be if I rhodesian drilled some skell and my lawyer wouldnt answer the phone. Or my plug takes off for a month and forgets to give me a bag to tide me over. Or if my hemmies act up when Im ready to go to an FKK.

 

People taking tables? Rude taxi drivers? Overcharging by .25 cents? A cockroach in the hotel? Toe fungus? Stupid farangs? America Bashers? Meh. Life is too short. I save annoyance for serious issues.

[brianthainess]

4 hours ago, Gsxrnz said:

What's a food court? 

Where Potatoes are grilled then given a roasting ?...

[Yagoda]

4 hours ago, Gsxrnz said:

What's a food court? 

Its a place that sells street food without exhast fumes or visible rats  for 50% more. If designed for tourists, it will be airconditioned.

[brianthainess]

I buy KFC then find a table in the food court and wait for the Missus. 

[OneMoreFarang]

4 hours ago, freeworld said:

Terminal21 food court is very busy and more so now that the Chinese are frequenting the place. Rarely go to Terminal21 food court anymore, it just too busy.

 

My wife and I do sometimes reserve a table like that at the busy times by putting my book and hat down to go and buy our food.

 

Had one time someone touched and moved my stuff and was quite annoyed about it. I sat down at the vacant chair and eventually the pair got up and moved to another table.

And why did you think you have the right to reserve that table for you? 

[Bangkok Barry]

 

They appear totally unable to grasp the concept of customer rotation and that, while they are collecting their food, tables will become free. I've read over the years of people leaving their things to 'reserve' a table, like a bag or phone, and returning to the table they abandoned their things on to find them stolen. I for one find their naivety quite amusing.

[pentagara]

It's extremely bad manners, since the consequence is that a high perentage of tables remain empty at the busiest times while people stand in line getting their food.

 

This poor behaviour likely was imported from Singapore. There it's very common that during rush hours a third of tables are occupied by tissues and office badges and not by people eating. People who reserve the tables occupy the tables around 30% longer (first waiting in line and then when they eat), compared to people who don't block seats.

 

So to to be able to seat the same number of people, an operator has only two options:

- increase seating capacity by 30%, so there are enough empty tables to 'seat' all those tissue papers and office badges

- outlaw this self-centered behaviour.

 

 

[Dexxter]

5 hours ago, Gsxrnz said:

What's a food court? 

It's a place where Food gets judged and punished if it is Bad but eaten if it is Good..

Edited May 25 by Dexxter

[OneMoreFarang]

4 hours ago, ballpoint said:

If I had a baht for every time there's been plenty of empty tables when I go in, but by the time I've been served, they're all taken, so I'm left walking around with a tray of food asking people if I can sit at their table

Obviously, nobody wants to wait. And if people only sit when they actually eat then there are more tables available compared to if many people reserve their tables. 10 tables reserved and not used are like 10 tables less in the room.

[topt]

1 hour ago, Yagoda said:

Mine would be if I rhodesian drilled some skell and my lawyer wouldnt answer the phone. Or my plug takes off for a month and forgets to give me a bag to tide me over. Or if my hemmies act up when Im ready to go to an FKK.

Any chance of a translation in understandable English?

[BusyB]

5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

 

I find this behavior strange and annoying. Sit there and use the table or the table is available for other people. It could be simple.

 

Luckily, I found a free table within a minute, and all was fine. But I considered already going to one of those reserved tables, put whatever someone put on the table to the side, and then eat there.

And if someone would come and complain: Yes, I noticed you forgot your bag. Here, take it back. 😉 

 

What do you do in such situation? 

 

 

Speaking as a singleton who frequently dines alone in food courts that line sums it up ... even at rush hour I've never failed to find a table within a couple of minutes.

 

I still find it arrogant of people who do that though and I'd have no sympathy if their belongings got stolen or trashed.

 

I've also learned to simply envy those who have partners/family to hold the fort - or hold a space in a queue at the check out or the check in or the ticket desk or ... Swings and roundabouts really: there are huge advantages to being single as well. Autonomy, freedom and owing noone an explanation to mention only a couple.

 

Just part of life - just gotta deal with it. And if I've got some deadline to beat I make sure I'm early enough. Easy really.

Edited May 25 by BusyB