Most Baffling Thai Service

[surangw]

at the airport toilet stall, haveing the mop lady run the mop under the door a bit while you are taking care of business

[Kilgore Trout]

And as for the taxi's that refuse to go where you want. I always open the rear door of the car first then ask. If they say "mai..mai pai" , i just leave the rear door wide open and walk off....(against the flow of traffic mind you)

Always surprised at the horrible behavior some people will happily admit to.

The bathroom massage has to be the weirdest thing about Thailand. I never tell friends here for the first time about it, so they get a nice surprise the first time some strange man starts rubbing them while at the urinal.

I agree with you, some of the cabs might actually be finishing their shift or heading the other way for some reason. Also, talk about putting innocent bystanders at risk, like people on motorbikes, yikes. What a jerk.

I also agree with you about the urinal thing, people can't really comprehend it untill it happens to them. BTW, there was one place I used to go just to get the massage, this guy could crack my neck so great you wouldn't believe it.

[Scully]

I agree a price with a taxi driver to take us 40 kilometers up country.

Two kilometers into the journey he stops for petrol(gas) and asks for half the fare so he can fill his car up and get us there.

Funny thing is you get to a stage where this type of thing becomes normal and you don't bat an eyelid.

[fiercesnake]

Calling the "Call Center" (for Air Asia I think!)

Pasaah Thai got nueng

Pasaah Angkrit got song

There is some clear thinking in their IT/Communications department!

OMG! That is SO true! No common sense! Farangs that have been here many years get it, but is there any common-sense sometimes here? Thailand is great but it has just so many little bizarre occurrences on a regular basis that defy understanding as can be seen by this thread. Though some things are cultural, somethings are just plain stupid and annoying.

Still I'd rather put up with the annoyances here than the mega-stress of the "developed world"! Guess got to take the good with the bad

[jdinasia]

Calling the "Call Center" (for Air Asia I think!)

Pasaah Thai got nueng

Pasaah Angkrit got song

There is some clear thinking in their IT/Communications department!

OMG! That is SO true! No common sense! Farangs that have been here many years get it, but is there any common-sense sometimes here? Thailand is great but it has just so many little bizarre occurrences on a regular basis that defy understanding as can be seen by this thread. Though some things are cultural, somethings are just plain stupid and annoying.

Still I'd rather put up with the annoyances here than the mega-stress of the "developed world"! Guess got to take the good with the bad

I don't find it annoying .. but to call a company and get the automatic switchboard you would think it would say "For English press 2" in English and not Thai.

To be honest I use the English line and then speak Thai most of the time and only rely on their English skills if there is something I cannot get across clearly in Thai.

[needforspeed]

the irritated project developer explaining what to do this day at the construction site: he point to a wall saying : paint this blue, coming back 30 min later finding a blue circle on the wall right where he pointed his finger. Priceless!!

after 10 years still keeps amazing me and above all amusing me.

Cheers

dave

[Traxster]

I've been in a couple of restaurants where the first thing you get after ordering is even before your first drink arrives is ..........

the bill !!!

[Moonrakers]

I've seen one of those water trucks out and about watering the plants whilst it was raining once.

[bonobo]

Calling the "Call Center" (for Air Asia I think!)

Pasaah Thai got nueng

Pasaah Angkrit got song

There is some clear thinking in their IT/Communications department!

OK,  this one elicited a laugh from me!

[bonobo]

The most important one!

ATM machines giving cash first then the card! how many times do you grab the cash and walk off...should be card first followed by cash!

Done that twice so far including once in Panthip Plaza (probably the worst place I can imagine to lose your bank card!), of course my card was gone from the ATM just 6 seconds later when I realised and turned around. Called the bank and cancelled it immediately and then found out the next day that someone had tried to withdraw 20k for the rest of the day at various places all over Bangkok.

It should be card first then cash so you can high-tail it with the wad before all the murderers and muggers who hide around ATMs have a chance to jump you!

I kept trying like an idiot to put my card in a SCB ATM at Central Lad Prao.  After a fruitless minute, I realized there was another card there inside the slot (not even ejected so anyone could see it).  I gave it to the bank employee  inside, and he nonchalantly tossed it into a basket which had maybe a dozen or so cards already there.

[dingdongrb]

I find it amusing when going to a restaurant and sitting down the wait staff immediately comes standing at your table waiting for you to order when you have yet to look at the menu...

...get used to that, because that is the way it is here and it is considered as normal and polite by the locals. Read your Lonely Planet introductions to a foreign country first...

....I am used to it as I've been here for many years and have been traveling here for twice as many, just think it's strange.... Perhaps as strange and unusual as driving down the highway and seeing a Thai standing near their vehicle whizzing away..... but hey, I'm used to that too only thing is you don't see that in the USA, we use toilets.

[lucjoker]

I find it amusing when going to a restaurant and sitting down the wait staff immediately comes standing at your table waiting for you to order when you have yet to look at the menu...

...get used to that, because that is the way it is here and it is considered as normal and polite by the locals. Read your Lonely Planet introductions to a foreign country first...

....I am used to it as I've been here for many years and have been traveling here for twice as many, just think it's strange.... Perhaps as strange and unusual as driving down the highway and seeing a Thai standing near their vehicle whizzing away..... but hey, I'm used to that too only thing is you don't see that in the USA, we use toilets.

Cose to my house is the new 7RD extension to Pattaya,new,3 lanes......and nobody wants to drive on the left slow traffique -lane (in europe :if the road is free ,you have to drive on the slow lane ),most of the thais drive in the middle at 70km/h,or in the fast lane ,same slow speed AND a GSM in the hand .

I use to pass them left ,giving a horn when i'm close to them ,to wake them up ! Probably theyno bno dont understand the whole thing ,no liscens,no inshurance ,no active brain........

In the night ,normaly there are no tail lights ,(cars &motorcycles&cycles),if there is light in the front :it is blinding you ,not ajusted.Turn signals :dont thrust them !

If the pick-up car in front of you has 15 to 20 people in the back,completly normal,wach out for empty "Lipo" bottles trown in front of your wheels .

NO thai ever looks in his rear mirrors ,exept to check there looks !In their "mind" there is only an empty street behind them ,even if they just past you.

Driving against traffique is permitted if it saves you time?

Never ask your lady to step out of the car and ask for directions ,she can be attact and eaten !She will not

like it !

If you ask directions ,go the opposite direction !

In restaurants: they will bring the dessert first , 1 min later the soup and the rest ,this is normaly 30 min after your wife started eating.

Home works: no slip rubber carped : 5bht ! I ask if this is for 1 m ? No he says : for 1 cm !So the price is infact 500 bht /m but too expensive to announce like that !

I can continue ......for weeks

but my desert just came .........

[tolsti]

Didn't read it. Anyone talked about the masseuse in the men's room yet? Off putting the first time, but after awhile you kinda miss it if it's not on offer. I'll shake myself though, thank you!

I don't think it was a masseuse

Masseur.... Male

Masseuse...Female

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/masseuse

muppet

[Colabamumbai]

I was in Ayutthaya last week at the temple ruins and thought I would buy a keychain made of wood for the Thai girlfriend, she was not with me. The price was 20 Bhat. I made my selection and gave the man the money. He said what name do you want painted on the wood, I told him the name and thought ok here it comes probably another 20 Bhat. Then he asked me what color ink I wanted him to use. I said red, you know why. He painted the name in red paint added some hearts around the side, used a hairdryer to make sure the paint was dry, put it in a small plastic bag and said thank you. 20 Bhat everything included. What a pleasant surprise.

[tfc]

Ice in my milkshakes! Blasphemy!

[Moonrakers]

Ice-cream sandwiches

[gotglue]

ISP's selling you 3..4..8..10 MB packages, but failing to tell you, that due to over loaded servers means you're only going to get about half MEG

[Colabamumbai]

Calling the "Call Center" (for Air Asia I think!)

Pasaah Thai got nueng

Pasaah Angkrit got song

There is some clear thinking in their IT/Communications department!

OMG! That is SO true! No common sense! Farangs that have been here many years get it, but is there any common-sense sometimes here? Thailand is great but it has just so many little bizarre occurrences on a regular basis that defy understanding as can be seen by this thread. Though some things are cultural, somethings are just plain stupid and annoying.

Still I'd rather put up with the annoyances here than the mega-stress of the "developed world"! Guess got to take the good with the bad

I don't find it annoying .. but to call a company and get the automatic switchboard you would think it would say "For English press 2" in English and not Thai.

To be honest I use the English line and then speak Thai most of the time and only rely on their English skills if there is something I cannot get across clearly in Thai.

AirAsia's call center is in Malaysia I had an experience with them today and when they could not give me the address of a Bangkok office after I asked 5 times, she admitted that she did not know because she was answering the phone in Malaysia.

[gotglue]

And as for the taxi's that refuse to go where you want. I always open the rear door of the car first then ask. If they say "mai..mai pai" , i just leave the rear door wide open and walk off....(against the flow of traffic mind you)

Always surprised at the horrible behavior some people will happily admit to.

The bathroom massage has to be the weirdest thing about Thailand. I never tell friends here for the first time about it, so they get a nice surprise the first time some strange man starts rubbing them while at the urinal.

I agree with you, some of the cabs might actually be finishing their shift or heading the other way for some reason. Also, talk about putting innocent bystanders at risk, like people on motorbikes, yikes. What a jerk.

I also agree with you about the urinal thing, people can't really comprehend it untill it happens to them. BTW, there was one place I used to go just to get the massage, this guy could crack my neck so great you wouldn't believe it.

Trout...I'm sorry for being such a jerk. I usually get a taxi to come to the side of the road, so I can't see how it's a hazzard to bystanders ,bikes of what ever. I CAN see however, someone frequenting a particular toilet, just to get a rub off the attendant, a hazzard to the general public

[xen]

The pre-sugared coffee is another one that gets me. No choice is offered . Happened again to me in S & P last week.This was the first time (and last) i will ever go there. I took a mouthful and almost spat it out everywhere. I called the waiter over and told him there was too much sugar in there and he just grins stupidly so my gf explains the problem so he calls another waiter over and the story is repeated. More stupid grins. Ask for the manager and explain again that we didn't order coffee flavoured sugar, just a cup of coffee and could we have it re-served with no sugar in it this time. The manager of S & P then tells us it was all our fault because we did not specify when we placed the order that we did not require sugar in the coffee.

[Colabamumbai]

The pre-sugared coffee is another one that gets me. No choice is offered . Happened again to me in S & P last week.This was the first time (and last) i will ever go there. I took a mouthful and almost spat it out everywhere. I called the waiter over and told him there was too much sugar in there and he just grins stupidly so my gf explains the problem so he calls another waiter over and the story is repeated. More stupid grins. Ask for the manager and explain again that we didn't order coffee flavoured sugar, just a cup of coffee and could we have it re-served with no sugar in it this time. The manager of S & P then tells us it was all our fault because we did not specify when we placed the order that we did not require sugar in the coffee.

Some Starbucks locations don't understand that Americano means with milk, when you tell the that you did not order black coffee, I guess they cannot read the menu boards posted above and behind the counter.

[tigerfish]

why is it that when ever you try and make things easy and order in good time, it never turns out to be a good move.

just been down to the local som-tam and b.b.qed beef, pork, chicken and fish man and lady with the wife outside our local 7/11.

its usually me that goes alone and the wife can never understand why i take so long, so this time she thought she would come along.

so we roll up, everything orderd in thai by her indoors and left it that we would be back in about 15-20 minutes to collect the food.

20 minutes later, we come back and the lady says "what was it you wanted again?". the wifes face was a picture! while i just stood there pissing myself.

it happens so often though, when trying to save just a little bit of time.

the words "couldnt organize a piss up in a brewery" often come to mind.

[Kilgore Trout]

And as for the taxi's that refuse to go where you want. I always open the rear door of the car first then ask. If they say "mai..mai pai" , i just leave the rear door wide open and walk off....(against the flow of traffic mind you)

Always surprised at the horrible behavior some people will happily admit to.

The bathroom massage has to be the weirdest thing about Thailand. I never tell friends here for the first time about it, so they get a nice surprise the first time some strange man starts rubbing them while at the urinal.

I agree with you, some of the cabs might actually be finishing their shift or heading the other way for some reason. Also, talk about putting innocent bystanders at risk, like people on motorbikes, yikes. What a jerk.

I also agree with you about the urinal thing, people can't really comprehend it untill it happens to them. BTW, there was one place I used to go just to get the massage, this guy could crack my neck so great you wouldn't believe it.

Trout...I'm sorry for being such a jerk. I usually get a taxi to come to the side of the road, so I can't see how it's a hazzard to bystanders ,bikes of what ever. I CAN see however, someone frequenting a particular toilet, just to get a rub off the attendant, a hazzard to the general public

Regardless, its a jerky thing to do and until you had your neck cracked by that particular attendant, well you don't know what you are missing.

[gotglue]

@Kilgore Trout...OK, I surrender on this one, And yes I gotta admit, having a SHOULDER rub whilst taking a pee, is somewhat nice

[kurnell]

I sat down at a cafe inside the Big C building opposite Central World, looked through the menu and noted that they sold waffles and ice cream as 2 seperate dishes. I asked the waitress if I could order waffles and have ice cream with them. This seemed to baffle her so my Thai missues explained what I wanted, just to make it 100% clear. After listening to my missus, she walked away and spoke to what I assume was the manager, who in turn came over to confirm what the waitress said. My missus confirmed what I wanted and they both walked away, looking completely puzzled and had a long discussion before returning to the table. The manager said I could not order waffles and put ice cream on them as the waffle dish was a seperate meal to the ice cream. However, if I ordered the ice cream, they could include a waffle on the side and would that be satisfactory? I said that would be fine.

Can someone please have a go at explaining that one to me as I will be farked if I know what goes on in the Thai mind sometimes?

[sanook2me]

I sat down at a cafe inside the Big C building opposite Central World, looked through the menu and noted that they sold waffles and ice cream as 2 seperate dishes. I asked the waitress if I could order waffles and have ice cream with them. This seemed to baffle her so my Thai missues explained what I wanted, just to make it 100% clear. After listening to my missus, she walked away and spoke to what I assume was the manager, who in turn came over to confirm what the waitress said. My missus confirmed what I wanted and they both walked away, looking completely puzzled and had a long discussion before returning to the table. The manager said I could not order waffles and put ice cream on them as the waffle dish was a seperate meal to the ice cream. However, if I ordered the ice cream, they could include a waffle on the side and would that be satisfactory? I said that would be fine.

Can someone please have a go at explaining that one to me as I will be farked if I know what goes on in the Thai mind sometimes?

I can't explain to you what happens in their mind..Here is my service story...

I lost my atm card (haha see previous post) when i went to the bank to get a new one..i was told i could not as it was not the branch i opened the account at.

So I had to track across Bangkok to go to my original branch to get a new atm card.

I asked what happens if i am in Chiang Mai or on an island and lose my card? You have to come back here sir...

No <deleted>..... how crap is that! its UOB to so its not even Thai...what a rubbish system...

[DP25]

I sat down at a cafe inside the Big C building opposite Central World, looked through the menu and noted that they sold waffles and ice cream as 2 seperate dishes. I asked the waitress if I could order waffles and have ice cream with them. This seemed to baffle her so my Thai missues explained what I wanted, just to make it 100% clear. After listening to my missus, she walked away and spoke to what I assume was the manager, who in turn came over to confirm what the waitress said. My missus confirmed what I wanted and they both walked away, looking completely puzzled and had a long discussion before returning to the table. The manager said I could not order waffles and put ice cream on them as the waffle dish was a seperate meal to the ice cream. However, if I ordered the ice cream, they could include a waffle on the side and would that be satisfactory? I said that would be fine.

Can someone please have a go at explaining that one to me as I will be farked if I know what goes on in the Thai mind sometimes?

If you go to the A&W just down the road at Pantip (or any other A&W) they serve waffles with ice cream. They also have waffle sandwiches with chicken or fish.

[kurnell]

I sat down at a cafe inside the Big C building opposite Central World, looked through the menu and noted that they sold waffles and ice cream as 2 seperate dishes. I asked the waitress if I could order waffles and have ice cream with them. This seemed to baffle her so my Thai missues explained what I wanted, just to make it 100% clear. After listening to my missus, she walked away and spoke to what I assume was the manager, who in turn came over to confirm what the waitress said. My missus confirmed what I wanted and they both walked away, looking completely puzzled and had a long discussion before returning to the table. The manager said I could not order waffles and put ice cream on them as the waffle dish was a seperate meal to the ice cream. However, if I ordered the ice cream, they could include a waffle on the side and would that be satisfactory? I said that would be fine.

Can someone please have a go at explaining that one to me as I will be farked if I know what goes on in the Thai mind sometimes?

If you go to the A&W just down the road at Pantip (or any other A&W) they serve waffles with ice cream. They also have waffle sandwiches with chicken or fish.

I think I'm all waffled out after that first attempt.

[crazygreg44]

I don't catch Tuk Tuk's anymore as some want to take you to a shop first.

Off course they say you don't have to buy anything just walk in the shop and walk out.

"Then they will give me gas money" he says.

I said "Mai OW"! just take me to BTS station like I said!

Get a Taxi it's got Air Con.

And as for the taxi's that refuse to go where you want. I always open the rear door of the car first then ask. If they say "mai..mai pai" , i just leave the rear door wide open and walk off....(against the flow of traffic mind you)

that s very impolite of you , leaving the door open ! Mind you, in big cities the taxi driver might have a purely economic reason for refusing to take you to XXX , mainly because it might be rush hour or heavy traffic on the said route. They know their city really well ! And the taxi does not make him any profit because the meters don t reel when the car is stuck in traffic. It just does not pay off for him to take you there. For example, if I am at Pantip Plaza at 4 pm, three out of four drivers won't take me to the Khaosan Road ! I do not intend to be a nuisance for a honest working guy , that's why I will shut the door even if I am refused the ride.

[surangw]

all good stuff, anyone care to make a list of what thais find irritating ( quirky by thai standards) about "guests " in thailand?