Demand A Tip !

[highlander76]

I have never had anyone demand a tip in Thailand the most I have given in tip in Thailand was in the riverside restaurant in Chiang Mai 1000baht the girlfriend left her phone on the table after our meal the waitress found it and chased after us saved me having to buy the girlfriend a new phone

[zorro1]

Im not sure what to do if they add vat @tax to the bill. who gets that? I feel its sneaky as most people visiting dont know what ++ is and leave none the wiser

[geriatrickid]

This must be a Pattaya thing as it has never happened to me in Phuket. I'm a big tipper most times, especially where I am a regular. I like the premium service it brings me the next visit, especially at a couple watering holes I frequent. I don't know about Patts but in Phuket they often tag on a "service" charge at the nicer restaurants, so I just leave the excess coins when that happens. On our trip to Chiang Mai last week, I kept leaving Phuket sized tips and people appeared to be very pleased, that is until Miss You drink too much and spend too much, got annoyed and started checking the bills and saying, no I pay, you be quiet, I have enough poor people in my family to deal with.

I don't know what I'd do if someone asked for a tip, but I guess I'd mouth off and you'd read about the farang with a knife wedged in his skull in the TV news the next day.

[clausewitz]

I had my hair done the other day and was wondering how much to tip a beauty shop.I usually have it done back in the UK and this was just maintenence cut.MIL was with me,we tipped 200 baht,is this fine or should we have tipped more?

2000 baht is standard for hairdressers I think, or 5000 baht if they do a very good job.

Just arrrive recently did you?

[Gary A]

Plus, plus seems to be getting more popular. If it doesn't say plus VAT plus service charge on the menu I refuse to pay it. I always ask for the manager and I have NOT met a manager yet. Asking for a tip to me means a much reduced tip or non at all depending on how the service was. If the service was quite good, I will put a tip in their hand besides another small tip on the plate. Putting the entire tip on the plate means they normally have to share it.

I normally won't return to the plus, plus places.

[GuestHouse]

If I ever experience ill mannered service, and asking for a tip is ill mannered, I leave a Bht2 tip. They either get the message or they do not.

----

Oh and a tip to everyone.. the time to get shirty with anyone who is preparing or handling your food is after you have finished eating!

Edited April 23, 2008 by GuestHouse

[Neeranam]

I had my hair done the other day and was wondering how much to tip a beauty shop.I usually have it done back in the UK and this was just maintenence cut.MIL was with me,we tipped 200 baht,is this fine or should we have tipped more?

2000 baht is standard for hairdressers I think, or 5000 baht if they do a very good job.

Just arrrive recently did you?

Hairdressers do not get tips in Thailand

You'd get a similar reaction of shock/embarrassment/insult if you tipped the dentist.

If you want to bring your culture here it's up to you, but if you don't want people laughing at you learn the local customs.

[Ulysses G.]

I feel that most Thais are paid so badly that it is criminal not to tip. The only bad experiences I've had with them asking me for more is from pretty girls who flirt when they are asking. I just tell them that if they want more, it is up in my room.

[Gary A]

I had my hair done the other day and was wondering how much to tip a beauty shop.I usually have it done back in the UK and this was just maintenence cut.MIL was with me,we tipped 200 baht,is this fine or should we have tipped more?

2000 baht is standard for hairdressers I think, or 5000 baht if they do a very good job.

Just arrrive recently did you?

Hairdressers do not get tips in Thailand

You'd get a similar reaction of shock/embarrassment/insult if you tipped the dentist.

If you want to bring your culture here it's up to you, but if you don't want people laughing at you learn the local customs.

That's not necessarily true. My former barber in Jomtien always charged me the Thai price and I always gave her a 20 baht tip. To my embarrassment, she sometime took me before Thai customers who were waiting.

[Scott]

I have had a number of Thai friends working in the low end of the service industries--waiters, waitresses, etc. They very, very much appreciate tips and are usually quite generous. They have told me that if you leave a tip on the payment tray, it is split amongst all the workers and that if you specifically hand them a tip they get to keep it.

These folks didn't work in tourist areas and they said if money was left on the table, they presumed it was accidently forgotten and quite often ran after the person to give it back. By the way, I might add that they were often successful in their pursuit and the person did take the money back.

Excessively large tips were viewed with a level of uncertainty--they thought that maybe there were other 'services' or expectations.

[Huey]

Pattaya and other tourist resorts might be an anomaly with respect to the entitlement that Thais working there might feel towards your money for average / crappy service. Whatever. If service is poor, I don't tip.

Places like Patong in Phuket however seem to have an inclusive 10% service charge mandatory in every restaurant, bar, hotel, etc. You have to pay however indifferently awful the food or service. Which is worse?

...just another good reason to avoid these places...when will they learn I wonder?

First of all in that German restaurant example I would have told sweetness with the attitude to Tip Deeeezzzz! He would not have even got the 20 baht to begin with. I mean really WTH? Microwaved frozen crap with a attitude???

As for the 10% mandatory service charge that pisses me off too. I'm used to tipping well, 15-20% American style. However I refuse to leave a tip after they pretty much take it without letting me decide what the service is worth. Its like they are saying "We worth 10% you pay now!" so I just let them take that 10% and not a statang more. Unfortunately all the decent places I like to eat at here in BKK are all like this. Kinda sad because often times I get great service and food that I would normally do more for the tip, but they just limited themselves with their foolish greedy service charge policy. On the rare exception when I go to some place without a service charge, I usually tip and tip very well, as a thank you for them not being greedy.

[Huey]

I had my hair done the other day and was wondering how much to tip a beauty shop.I usually have it done back in the UK and this was just maintenence cut.MIL was with me,we tipped 200 baht,is this fine or should we have tipped more?

2000 baht is standard for hairdressers I think, or 5000 baht if they do a very good job.

Just arrrive recently did you?

Hairdressers do not get tips in Thailand

You'd get a similar reaction of shock/embarrassment/insult if you tipped the dentist.

If you want to bring your culture here it's up to you, but if you don't want people laughing at you learn the local customs.

That's not necessarily true. My former barber in Jomtien always charged me the Thai price and I always gave her a 20 baht tip. To my embarrassment, she sometime took me before Thai customers who were waiting.

I always tip the Barber, she's the only one I can find to cut my hair properly but she's awesome and as far as I can tell her only customers are foreigners.

[lannarebirth]

I had my hair done the other day and was wondering how much to tip a beauty shop.I usually have it done back in the UK and this was just maintenence cut.MIL was with me,we tipped 200 baht,is this fine or should we have tipped more?

Shave and a haircut costs me 50 baht. I usually tip 20 baht which earns me a "tip too much speech" from the gf. I note Thais tip zero.

You tip almost half the price of the service. In this case 40%, yes.Which can only tell the staff/owner one thing: You feel the value of the service is worth quite a bit more to you than the stated price. Yes, in this case that's true. So do not be surpriced when your shave/haircut is priced at 80 Baht next time... Wouldn't be surprised in the least. In fact hope it happens soon, so I can stop tipping.

I might come through as a Cheap Charlie, but I think tipping in general is a bad idea. Do you tip the checkout girls at the grocery store? Do you tip the store staff at the shopping mall? If not, why not?

If you buy a service, why is that different from a product? Unless of course a level of service unexpected was provided.

[Mosha]

If we go for a meal, and the same person is serving us all night, my wife will tip them personally. I asked why, and she said if you tip with the bill, they have to share. If you give them the money, it is theirs to keep. I must say though if someone demands a tip, then I would not give them anything.

[tropo]

It's not too much, it's the fact that you tip at all. These people have pride and you are insulting them by tipping inappropriately.

You've got be joking, surely? You probably like to think this because it makes you feel comfortable about not tipping.

Edited April 23, 2008 by tropo

[tropo]

Most Thais in my experience refuse tips when offered. On the occasions that they have done an exceptional job and I do offer, I end up basically forcing on them.

I say to people, read a travel guide, tipping is not the norm in LOS.

Most Thais refuse tips when offered??? You must be living in a different Thailand, or perhaps even a different planet.

Your Filipino wife doesn't want you to tip because she's probably thinking about her poor relatives back at home who could use the money.

[tropo]

outside of that its always 20baht cause i hate having 20bahts in my wallet... my coins go 100% in gf purse for future savings.

20 baht notes are an essential item in my wallet. Never leave home without them.

[mrtoad]

If they ask for a tip, the tip I give them is this, "don't ask and you'll get a tip, ask and you'll get nothing".

I have encountered this few times, but as I now tend to drink and eat in the same places I always get good service from the staff and tip them accordingly. Some of the Taxi drivers will occasionaly try it on, and again they get nothing.

I always tip my hairdresser.

[Ulysses G.]

I say to people, read a travel guide, tipping is not the norm in LOS.

This was true when Joe Cummings first discovered Thailand 110 years ago and wrote the first Lonely Planet by candle light on the back of an elephant, but people started tipping here about the time that they got their first 7 -11 back during the Vietnam war.

Edited April 23, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[orchis]

What I really dont like is the kind of bill which says :

total + service charge 10% + tax 7% and then below it says 'tip' and they expect you to fill in an amount.

In some hotels you get these bills in the outlets and when you check out and settle all bills, under grand total it says again 'tip' and fill in again what you like/they expect. Nevah.

[tropo]

Hairdressers do not get tips in Thailand

You'd get a similar reaction of shock/embarrassment/insult if you tipped the dentist.

If you want to bring your culture here it's up to you, but if you don't want people laughing at you learn the local customs.

Speak for yourself. My hairdressers get tips.

There's absolutely no comparison between a hairdresser and a dentist, but if that makes you feel good about not leaving a tip for a good haircut, then so be it.

Edited April 23, 2008 by tropo

[kmart]

I usually give tips to my hairdresser. "Don't wear those shoes with that dress," for example.

[soundman]

If somebody has the audacity to demand a tip, I won't give one.

[naka]

I only tip Farang staff in Thailand. They need the extra money to get into the National Parks.

Naka

[deckx]

I say to people, read a travel guide, tipping is not the norm in LOS.

errr , what travel guide have you read ??

most of the restaurant staff are pretty poorly paid so depend on tips to make ends meet.

I always tip except in small family owned shops/stands but obviously if asked for a tip i would have a different approach.

[way2muchcoffee]

I get my hair cut at barber shops. Pretty simple cut - Skinhead #2. Usually the price is around 70 bt. I always give 100 bt. When I return I get big smiles, sometimes a jump in queue, and they pay attention to the fine details every time.

[Jockstar]

I have never been asked for a tip and i lived in Thailand for 5 years. But if they add a service charge to my bill. I will not tip. Regarding just leaving coins. This has been taught to me by a few Thai friends. That Thais will usually leave coins that come as change as they dont want to seen as stingy.So have had it drilled into me to do the same. I used to go to leave a note. But been told off.

[Blazer]

I think unfortunately that a lot of it may be down to the unwary American tourist who are doing as they do at home and tipping the 10 or 15% of the check bin as is expected in the US

The tip rate in the US is 15-20% or more.

[scousemouse]

A tip is something you EARN .

You don't get anything for free in this day and age .

[ttthailand]

I think the best tip you can give these as.holes is " buy high sale low". That tip is also good for all those who have money to burn and tip too high in the first place.