Terrace Restaurant Makro - Hang Dong

[BigWheelMan]

Today while shopping in Makro, Hang Dong branch, I decided to have a meal at their Terrace Restaurant on the first floor.

Sat down and on the tables are large flat card menus, text in Thai with numbered photos of meals and prices.

I fancied the pork steak with French fries, marked up as 35 baht, no 1 item on the menu.

The waiter approached my table and swiftly took away the Thai menu, then handed me a menu in English.

On that menu I noticed that the no 1 item, pork steak with French fries was 40 baht. So from another table I grabbed a Thai version of the menu and begun comparing the prices against the English version menu.

Most of the items on the English version are 5 baht more than as priced on the Thai menu.

I also noticed that when Thai customers came in, the waiter gave them a jug of water with ice as they sat down, but not me.

I called over the waiter, ordered my meal, pointed to the jugs of water on the Thai customers tables and asked for the same. The waiter returned with an open bottle of water and poured it into a glass for me. So it was too late to change my mind. I was going to pay for my drinking water and that was that.

I never argued, not worth it for those small amounts of money, the extra 5 baht is insignificant, but it does make me feel angry and in some sort of way, even abused. Not the money, just don’t like being treated like an idiot as if I’m to stupid to realise what’s going on and that the philosophy is, the Farang is going to pay more, like it or lump it.

Have been a regular customer in there for some time. This is the first time I caught on to it`s duel pricing policy and I certainly will never eat there again.

[sarahsbloke]

Ow Yew-ak nam plow Kap = want jug drinking water

Mai ow ku-at = not want bottle

Tell em what you want, and they can't screw you!

(they can pour whatever they want into a glass .... if I didn't order it, I won't pay for it)

PS

it's rude to point!

Edited June 7, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[annabel]

Ow Yew-ak nam plow Kap = want jug drinking water

Mai ow ku-at = not want bottle

Tell em what you want, and they can't screw you!

(they can pour whatever they want into a glass .... if I didn't order it, I won't pay for it)

PS

it's rude to point!

Wonder what happens when a farang goes and sits down with a Thai friend ...?? Jug of water with one glass + Thai menu for the Thai friend and and English menu for the farang and of course water only if asked ...

I go there often... maybe I'll try it just for fun

[getgoin]

I believe the restaurant is probably rented out but I will ask the manager about it the next time I see him.

Edited June 7, 2010 by getgoin

[Jingthing]

They will probably tell you that they are giving you bottled water because foreigners get sick when they drink the jugged water. So caring ...

And the 5 baht surcharge, that's for having to listen to your bad Thai or for using their bad English ...

Edited June 7, 2010 by Jingthing

[garyh]

Don't have those issues with my wife there to take care of the ordering etc.

[Bill97]

I have been there with farang friends, we ordered with the Thai menu, got a free jug of ice water and paid the prices on the Thai menu. Sarahsbloke is correct with their post above.

[Donnyboy]

you can always go to farang restaurant and pay 150 baht and get no dual pricing for pork and fries and stick to yr principles

btw, did you leave a tip?

[Maejo Man]

Perhaps now would be a good time to learn Thai so that you don't have these problems in future

[Jingthing]

Perhaps now would be a good time to learn Thai so that you don't have these problems in future

You reckon the waiter had vision difficulties? The OP point to the free water, yes? Also, why would people assume a lone non-Thai would be offered the Thai price at such a place even if fluent? I don't get the apologies for this rude behavior, I really don't.

Edited June 7, 2010 by Jingthing

[Donnyboy]

Perhaps now would be a good time to learn Thai so that you don't have these problems in future

You reckon the waiter had vision difficulties? The OP point to the free water, yes? Also, why would people assume a lone non-Thai would be offered the Thai price at such a place even if fluent? I don't get the apologies for this rude behavior, I really don't.

cause its only rude in non local eyes,

get with the program and find a thai to have lunch with

[JimmyTheMook]

I'd write to Makro - they are not a Thai Company and probably would not like to hear about this.

[Jingthing]

Perhaps now would be a good time to learn Thai so that you don't have these problems in future

You reckon the waiter had vision difficulties? The OP point to the free water, yes? Also, why would people assume a lone non-Thai would be offered the Thai price at such a place even if fluent? I don't get the apologies for this rude behavior, I really don't.

cause its only rude in non local eyes,

get with the program and find a thai to have lunch with

I think you are very wrong. Many Thais also know pricing based on Thai-ness vs. non-Thai-ness is morally wrong.

[realthaideal]

But JingTing, wouldn't the fair thing be to discount the Farang an additional 5B for having to listen to poorly spoken English ? So actually he eats for 25B ! But if Falang initiates with poor Thai and the waiter is the one who has to deal, ok, he scores the extra 5B as his tip for work hardship: 35B.

[twofortheroad]

To the OP,

How long have you been here? Quite a while, I gather, and you're still bothered by double-pricing . That's amazing. You ate there before and paid the extra 5 baht and liked it enough to go back regularly. So you were happy with the food and the price, but because you discovered that someone else gets it 5 baht cheaper (an insignificant amount, you say), you're now unhappy. You'll never eat there again. After all these years! I don't know whether to laugh or cry, so I'll give you one of each.

BTW, if you're ever thinking of flying home, whatever you do, don't ask the passenger next to you how much he paid for his ticket, otherwise you're going to find yourself stranded .

Edited June 7, 2010 by twofortheroad

[Jingthing]

Can't answer for the OP, but personally I do avoid businesses that I find are practicing institutional discriminatory pricing. Normally, we are talking about much more than 5 baht, but there is a principle involved. I don't see any comparison between this and airline ticket pricing. If you arrived and they were selling drinks on the plane with different prices if you were a whitey, that would be an apt comparison.

Edited June 7, 2010 by Jingthing

[BigWheelMan]

To the OP,

How long have you been here? Quite a while, I gather, and you're still bothered by double-pricing . That's amazing. You ate there before and paid the extra 5 baht and liked it enough to go back regularly. So you were happy with the food and the price, but because you discovered that someone else gets it 5 baht cheaper (an insignificant amount, you say), you're now unhappy. You'll never eat there again. After all these years! I don't know whether to laugh or cry, so I'll give you one of each.

BTW, if you're ever thinking of flying home, whatever you do, don't ask the passenger next to you how much he paid for his ticket, otherwise you're going to find yourself stranded .

There may be a lot of fact in what you say about don't ask the passenger next to you how much he paid for his ticket.

This is what concerns me:

I do realise that my Makro restaurant experience is not a major calamity and as some posters have commented, there are options such as insisting on ordering with the Thai menu, etc, etc, etc, although to me the practice is still unacceptable and taking the peeccce in my opinion.

But what about the tricks and under handedness we don’t see that are operated on a much larger scale, even by the established and well known companies that may involve costing Farangs thousands of bahts over the going prices? Such as the purchasing of vehicles, house building materials, travelling fares, where promotions are not mentioned and not passed on to us and the list goes on.

After my wife had her house built here, I made cost comparisons with other similar size and style homes in the area that were being built not long after her property was built. It transpired that my wife was charged thousands of bahts more than what the locals were paying. This was probably because of her Farang married name and I was on the scene, even through my wife has absolute proof it is her money.

There is also the pricing for labour, other services including medical that I’m convince as a Farang I’m am paying much more than the Thais.

These days when doing any sort of business transaction here, whether it be a purchase or requiring some sort of service, it is wise to be cautious and not take anything at face value.

I love Thailand and glad to be here, but sometimes it`s extremely difficult not to become a paranoid fruitcake with this unwritten underhanded duel pricing system attitudes of the Thais.

Ex-pats are penalised enough for the privilage of living outside they`re own countries, on their pensions, bank fees, bank rates, no entitlement to social benefits, expected to buy for more and sell for less.

This is my whing of the month about a subject I think should be brought to peoples attention. You can either believe that this policy is acceptable, not acceptable or like it or lump it, that`s up to you.

Edited June 7, 2010 by BigWheelMan

[twofortheroad]

 To the OP,

How long have you been here? Quite a while, I gather, and you're still  bothered by double-pricing . That's amazing. You ate there before and paid the extra 5 baht and liked it enough to go back regularly.  So you were happy with the food and the price, but because you discovered that someone else gets it 5 baht cheaper (an insignificant amount, you say), you're now unhappy. You'll never eat there again. After all these years! I don't know whether to laugh or cry, so I'll give you one of each.    

BTW, if you're ever thinking of flying home, whatever you do, don't ask the passenger next to you how much he paid for his ticket, otherwise you're going to find yourself stranded .  

There may be a lot of fact in what you say about don't ask the passenger next to you how much he paid for his ticket.

This is what concerns me:

I do realise that my Makro restaurant experience is not a major calamity and as some posters have commented, there are options such as insisting on ordering with the Thai menu, etc, etc, etc, although to me the practice is still unacceptable and taking the peeccce in my opinion.

But what about the tricks and under handedness we don't see that are operated on a much larger scale, even by the established and well known companies that may involve costing Farangs thousands of bahts over the going prices? Such as the purchasing of vehicles, house building materials, travelling fares, where promotions are not mentioned and not passed on to us and the list goes on.

After my wife had her house built here, I made cost comparisons with other similar size and style homes in the area that were being built not long after her property was built. It transpired that my wife was charged thousands of bahts more than what the locals were paying. This was probably because of her Farang married name and I was on the scene, even through my wife has absolute proof it is her money.

There is also the pricing for labour, other services including medical that I'm convince as a Farang I'm am paying much more than the Thais.

These days when doing any sort of business transaction here, whether it be a purchase or requiring some sort of service, it is wise to be cautious and not take anything at face value.

I love Thailand and glad to be here, but sometimes it`s extremely difficult not to become a paranoid fruitcake with this unwritten underhanded duel pricing system attitudes of the Thais.

Ex-pats are penalised enough for the privilage of living outside they`re own countries, on their pensions, bank fees, bank rates, no entitlement to social benefits, expected to buy for more and sell for less.

This is what concerns me:

I do realise that my Makro restaurant experience is not a major calamity and as some posters have commented, there are options such as insisting on ordering with the Thai menu, etc, etc, etc, although to me the practice is still unacceptable and taking the peeccce in my opinion.

But what about the tricks and under handedness we don't see that are operated on a much larger scale, even by the established and well known companies that may involve costing Farangs thousands of bahts over the going prices? Such as the purchasing of vehicles, house building materials, travelling fares, where promotions are not mentioned and not passed on to us and the list goes on.

After my wife had her house built here, I made cost comparisons with other similar size and style homes in the area that were being built not long after her property was built. It transpired that my wife was charged thousands of bahts more than what the locals were paying. This was probably because of her Farang married name and I was on the scene, even through my wife has absolute proof it is her money.

There is also the pricing for labour, other services including medical that I'm convince as a Farang I'm am paying much more than the Thais.

These days when doing any sort of business transaction here, whether it be a purchase or requiring some sort of service, it is wise to be cautious and not take anything at face value.

I love Thailand and grateful to be here, but sometimes it`s extremely difficult not to become a paranoid fruitcake with this unwritten underhanded duel pricing system attitudes of the Thais, including the disadvantages as mentioned above.

This is my whing of the month about a subject I think should be brought to peoples attention. You can either believe that this policy is acceptable, not acceptable or like it or lump it, that`s up to you.

I heard you the first time.

[sarahsbloke]

I do agree that dual pricing is wrong, but when you can see both prices there is usually a way around it.

It is the unlabelled dual pricing that is hard to avoid, building house, medical, dental being the classic rip offs.

Edited June 7, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[Donnyboy]

Perhaps now would be a good time to learn Thai so that you don't have these problems in future

You reckon the waiter had vision difficulties? The OP point to the free water, yes? Also, why would people assume a lone non-Thai would be offered the Thai price at such a place even if fluent? I don't get the apologies for this rude behavior, I really don't.

cause its only rude in non local eyes,

get with the program and find a thai to have lunch with

I think you are very wrong. Many Thais also know pricing based on Thai-ness vs. non-Thai-ness is morally wrong.

so why do they charge more then? Or is it just the minority that own businesses? Or they know it morally wrong but they do it anyway?

whether im right or wrong is irrelevant, i suggested a solution to the OPs problem, with a smile i might add

i remember you defending Fabrique or Mandalay (cant remember which) for their charge Farang entry with coupon policy. Now would that be morally wrong as they have a farang -non farang policy there too? Be honest now.

[Loaded]

My wife is Thai and owns a very nice car. Thais sometimes try to charge her more if they see the car.

The night market along Changklan Road charges Bangkok Thais more than Chiang Mai Thais.

Maybe dual pricing is not necessarily because you are farang but is because you are perceived as wealthier than the average Thai and more able to pay a higher price. Many of the farangs I see shopping in the large supermarkets in Hang Dong don't work but can afford a family, house, SUV and social life. This is not missed by the average Thai who often thinks farang are super rich.

Most farangs I know living in Thailand think Thais have the same social and moral conditioning as them, and judge them according to their values. Thailand is a hierarchical society that involves obligations (bhun khun is an example) up and down the social ladder. One of them is that the puu yai often pays more than the puu noi.

Edited June 8, 2010 by Loaded

[Thailand]

Surely they are entitled to charge more as they will have had to have paid to translate the menu in to English. Probably got ripped off by a farang who overcharged for the service and they have to recoup their outlay.

Bigger choice and better cheaper food at BigC food court just around the corner-vote with your feet.