Tipping

[NoshowJones]

On 4/5/2025 at 2:52 PM, save the frogs said:

whats the official "laws of the land" for tipping?

 

is tipping mandatory/expected? restaurants only? hairdressers? masseuses?

does it differ in tourist spots? 

 

do you tip? usually? sometimes?  

 

 

Years ago before I made my first trip to America, I was reading about their customs, one thing said that I should expect to pay about 20% of my spending money on tips.

I then decided no tips for anything and that applied to my trip and future trips. I did make a point to never use the same restaurant etc a second time for obvious reasons.

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

use the same restaurant etc a second time for obvious reasons.

exactly.

they will spit in your food. 

 

[NoshowJones]

Just now, save the frogs said:

exactly.

they will spit in your food. 

 

Spot on.

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

Spot on.

I think I read somewhere that Uber Eats keeps track of tips and people who tip less end up getting slower service for future deliveries. I don't know how much truth there is to it. But it wouldn't surprise me.

 

 

[rough diamond]

17 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

I think I read somewhere that Uber Eats keeps track of tips and people who tip less end up getting slower service for future deliveries. I don't know how much truth there is to it. But it wouldn't surprise me.

 

 

Rather than a "policy" I would think that if they have a number of orders all roughly equidistant that they would deliver in order of previous tips!

[Lorry]

11 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Believe it or not this sign is real, and was posted on the front door of a restaurant in California. I don't mind tipping but when somebody demands a 25% tip I literally run for the hills. 

 

Recently we got together with some friends for dinner and my friend suggested that we bring food rather than having them cook as usual, so he picked up some paella at a fancy Spanish restaurant in Los Angeles for $110 for two dishes. He then proceeded to tip them 20% because it was on the iPad, we had a bit of a tiff over that as I never have and never will tip for takeout. It's just a ridiculously woke concept and homie don't play that game. I gave him my share of the food and told him the tips on you, that was your mistake. 

 

 

I don't know whether this is funny or ridiculous. 

So the letters "tip" in American English translate into "that part of the price that we don't write on the menu (but that you have to pay, of course,  because it's part of our price)"

They should correct the dictionaries accordingly. 

[Yellowtail]

55 minutes ago, Lorry said:

I don't know whether this is funny or ridiculous. 

So the letters "tip" in American English translate into "that part of the price that we don't write on the menu (but that you have to pay, of course,  because it's part of our price)"

They should correct the dictionaries accordingly. 

I'm from the US and have worked over much the country, and tipping is generally not mandatory, unless you have a large group. 

 

 

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

I'm from the US and have worked over much the country, and tipping is generally not mandatory, unless you have a large group. 

 

 

Disagree ... it's quite rude not to leave a tip, unless crap service, which is usually very rare, or, used to be.   Standard is 15%, if a CC at least 10%.

 

Unless service was a bit lacking, I usually tipped 20%.  Worked a couple jobs where tipping was a good part of one's salary, so 15% or more is definitely appreciated.

[save the frogs]

I stayed in a hotel in Thailand for one month.

They added 500 Baht cleaning fee at the end.

I was never told this in advance. 

I didn't debate it.

I guess the cleaners work hard and are under-paid and the hotel can't quite pay them the salary they deserve, so they have to pick our pockets. Fair enough. Hotels are cheap here anyway. 

 

 

[Ralf001]

1 minute ago, save the frogs said:

I stayed in a hotel in Thailand for one month.

They added 500 Baht cleaning fee at the end.

I was never told this in advance. 

I didn't debate it.

I guess the cleaners work hard and are under-paid and the hotel can't quite pay them the salary they deserve, so they have to pick our pockets. Fair enough. Hotels are cheap here anyway. 

 

 

During that 1 month stay.... how many times was the room cleaned ?

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

During that 1 month stay.... how many times was the room cleaned ?

Once a week.

 

[Acharn]

It may be different in Bangkok. My belief is: Thais don't tip, so neither do I. Restaurant and bar owners pay living wages, unlike the barbaric United States. I consider a need for a tip to be a sign of desperation, taking a bad job.

[Yellowtail]

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Disagree ... it's quite rude not to leave a tip, unless crap service, which is usually very rare, or, used to be.   Standard is 15%, if a CC at least 10%.

 

Unless service was a bit lacking, I usually tipped 20%.  Worked a couple jobs where tipping was a good part of one's salary, so 15% or more is definitely appreciated.

That it's considered rude not to, does not make it mandatory. A fair percentage of people in the US do not tip. 

 

Tipping all service the same is insulting to competent staff. 

 

 

[Yellowtail]

42 minutes ago, Acharn said:

It may be different in Bangkok. My belief is: Thais don't tip, so neither do I. Restaurant and bar owners pay living wages, unlike the barbaric United States. I consider a need for a tip to be a sign of desperation, taking a bad job.

Not from the US huh? 

 

 

[ChaiyaTH]

Tipping today is a failed economic design from the USA from owners to take away their responsibility to pay proper wages. It's been proven as well by countless studies. Tipping was intended to be a optional bonus, for exceptional service.

[Yellowtail]

4 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Tipping today is a failed economic design from the USA from owners to take away their responsibility to pay proper wages. It's been proven as well by countless studies. Tipping was intended to be a optional bonus, for exceptional service.

What are proper wages for wait-staff? 

[ChaiyaTH]

Just now, Yellowtail said:

What are proper wages for wait-staff? 

Stop asking stupid questions, you know very well what would be an acceptable wage according to standards in the given country you hire.

[Yellowtail]

27 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Stop asking stupid questions, you know very well what would be an acceptable wage according to standards in the given country you hire.

You claimed owners in the US don't pay proper wages, yet you have no idea what proper wagers are. 

 

You must be a leftist, yes? 

[Acharn]

8 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Not from the US huh? 

 

 

Oh, yes, I'm from the U.S. I spent twenty years in the Army, half of it overseas. I was in high school during The McCarthy Years, and things have been that crazy since 2016. Maybe since 2001. I've mostly lived away from farang areas, among lower-/middle-class Thais.

[DonniePeverley]

They add a pesky service charge on in most restaurants in Bangkok. Should be illegal unless they can prove the staff get that money. 

[FruitPudding]

10 hours ago, Acharn said:

It may be different in Bangkok. My belief is: Thais don't tip, so neither do I. Restaurant and bar owners pay living wages, unlike the barbaric United States. I consider a need for a tip to be a sign of desperation, taking a bad job.

 

I agree.

 

I only really like tipping when I have been given some amazing service, like a fantastic massage.

 

Tipping just makes no sense, especially here. Why are teachers, nurses, police officers, soldiers, etc. etc. getting 15k a month, but waitresses and taxi drivers make 25k including tips?

 

Service here usually sucks too. Maybe I'll tip them when me and my family eat our meal together at the same time. They can't even serve a table together.

 

I understand the concept of wanting to tip, but being socially expected to do it is just dumb.

[Yellowtail]

2 hours ago, Acharn said:

Oh, yes, I'm from the U.S. I spent twenty years in the Army, half of it overseas. I was in high school during The McCarthy Years, and things have been that crazy since 2016. Maybe since 2001. I've mostly lived away from farang areas, among lower-/middle-class Thais.

You were in high school in the '40s & '50s? 

 

[Yellowtail]

1 hour ago, FruitPudding said:

 

I agree.

 

I only really like tipping when I have been given some amazing service, like a fantastic massage.

Right

1 hour ago, FruitPudding said:

Tipping just makes no sense, especially here. Why are teachers, nurses, police officers, soldiers, etc. etc. getting 15k a month, but waitresses and taxi drivers make 25k including tips?

Waitresses here make 25K? 

1 hour ago, FruitPudding said:

Service here usually sucks too. Maybe I'll tip them when me and my family eat our meal together at the same time. They can't even serve a table together.

Service is usually good, and meals generally come out at the same time in the US. 

 

I wonder why that is? 

 

1 hour ago, FruitPudding said:

I understand the concept of wanting to tip, but being socially expected to do it is just dumb.

Why? 

[FruitPudding]

2 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

 

Waitresses here make 25K? 

 

Easily with tips.

 

They were making 15,000-20,000 (including tips) when I first arrived back in 2009.

 

Thai massage too, down Sukhumvit. It's pretty easy to get that even without happy endings. They'll make 50k plus if they do happy endings. 

 

Hell, where I live I saw an advertisement for a barista in a little gas station coffee shop offering 13,000-18,000 a month......and I live almost an hour from Sukhumvit, not far from the edge of Bangkok.

 

2 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Service is usually good, and meals generally come out at the same time in the US. 

 

From my experience they just bring food when it's ready without trying to serve the whole table together.

 

Often someone is sitting there 10 mins (maybe longer) without food while others eat.

 

2 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

 

Why? 

 

Why should society expect you to pay more regardless of service standards?

 

Many people feel obliged to leave something regardless of service standards and American restaurants often demand a tip, I think.

 

There's a lot of social shame not leaving a tip in the West.

 

Makes no sense. 

[jas007]

In the US, the tipping thing is getting to be too much.  Even at fast food type restaurants, they have a payment screen with a number of tipping options listed. 10%, 15%, 20%, and so on.  There's also a an option for "no tip," but at a food place, you wonder what'll happen the next time you order food from that same place.   Anyway, it doesn't seem right when all you're doing is paying for some food to go.

 

 

[impulse]

4 hours ago, Acharn said:

Oh, yes, I'm from the U.S. I spent twenty years in the Army, half of it overseas. I was in high school during The McCarthy Years

 

Joe or Eugene?

 

[bunnydrops]

I live rural. I went to a new restaurant that just opened last night. The food was good, and you couldn't get half your drink down before the waitress would come and top it up. When I was leaving, after paying my bill, I gave the waitress a tip. She stopped, looked confused, and asked, "Is this for me or the restaurant?" I told her it was for her, she looked very surprised. I also have had places that were run only by the owner and his family tell me that a tip was not necessary.

Although there isn't a real tipping custom, I have heard that people who take every baht coin in change are called "ขี้เหนียว".

[save the frogs]

I'm going to the same restaurant daily now.

Because it's close to me, it's clean, the waitresses are nice, and the food is reasonably priced.

I am not tipping. Loyalty to the same restaurant is good enough, as far as I'm concerned.

 

 

 

 

[Yellowtail]

3 hours ago, jas007 said:

In the US, the tipping thing is getting to be too much.  Even at fast food type restaurants, they have a payment screen with a number of tipping options listed. 10%, 15%, 20%, and so on.  There's also a an option for "no tip," but at a food place, you wonder what'll happen the next time you order food from that same place.   Anyway, it doesn't seem right when all you're doing is paying for some food to go.

 

 

It is getting out of hand in the US

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

It is getting out of hand in the US

 

And that's why I don't think it's a good idea to encourage this practice in Thailand as the same thing will eventually happen here.