Only In Thailand

[drdaveperry]

My wife and I have things happen like this everyday....... We often discuss what happened then she speaks to the Thai person making them aware. Most of the time the Thai person does realize what they are doing at the time.

Here is one of the many, many, many examples: Just last week we were eating at Scoozi Pizza. After we finished eating the server opened a menu put it in between my wife and I with the back side facing me barely 6 inches from my face. Then she turned her back to me and proceeded to ask my wife is she wanted any dessert. Needless to say I was a bit taken back by her actions. This action appeared to show me I am only a "Second Class Human Being." My wife spoke to the server and she apologized to me. The server said she did not realize what she was doing. She thought my wife being Thai would order for both of us according to Thai custom. I told her it was fine and I understand so she would not lose face.

[thaihome]

I love these threads where people are giving their experiences about learning to live in another country with a language and culture very different from what they know…

It says a lot about their character.

TH

[robblok]

Do you think a Thai would pay if the waiter screwed up ?

No.. then why would the farang pay ?

Do you think mistakes only occur between Thai - Farang (that it is always a language problem)

I doubt it mistakes are made without language barriers too.

So if it happened to me i would not pay for the stuff i did not order.

Seen it many times when my wife orders stuff that they bring wrong orders and she is Thai.

[Ulysses G.]

I usually just eat it if it is something that I like. Too many places make the staff pay for mistakes and they work for very little to start with.

Edited November 21, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Fookhaht]

Do you think a Thai would pay if the waiter screwed up ?

Yes, they would, and they do all the time. Aversion to confrontation. I know, it baffles me too.

[Jingthing]

I usually just eat it if it is something that I like. Too many places make the staff pay for mistakes and they work for very little to start with.

Nice to hear you are such a bleeding heart liberal. I wonder if they really have to pay for it, why not be more careful about getting orders right?

[ludditeman]

I usually just eat it if it is something that I like. Too many places make the staff pay for mistakes and they work for very little to start with.

Nice to hear you are such a bleeding heart liberal. I wonder if they really have to pay for it, why not be more careful about getting orders right?

Maybe they just eat the food themselves. Which would encourage them to

1) Try to serve you with the food they want to eat.

2) Hope you will pay, and then walk out without eating the food.

After all, this is Thailand.

[KKvampire]

I love these threads where people are giving their experiences about learning to live in another country with a language and culture very different from what they know…

It says a lot about their character.

TH

What about their character?I lived here more than 3 years (Traveled here more than 10 years before that) I know many Thais will not complain when they get bad customer service or even cheated, doesn't mean I have to. And don't give me the "culture act the same way " rant. One of the reasons politicians and officials get away with so much here is because the people dont stand up to them and demand more.Witness the Flood debacle.

[Ulysses G.]

I wonder if they really have to pay for it, why not be more careful about getting orders right?

It is not that simple. They do have to pay in many places and they often have to deal with farangs with all different accents speaking English badly or going on in terrible, broken Thai. It is not easy to get every order right.

Edited November 21, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Payboy]

I told her it was fine and I understand so she would not loose face.

When a waitress does that mutter "ee heeyaa" or "yet mare" fairly quietly, she will soon turn around.

Isn't that a bit too much?

[robblok]

I told her it was fine and I understand so she would not loose face.

When a waitress does that mutter "ee heeyaa" or "yet mare" fairly quietly, she will soon turn around.

Isn't that a bit too much?

You could end up in a big fight that way. Nice advice.

[hehehoho]

I've a feeling that many farang here would go around with a t-shirt calling Thais 'ee/ii heeyaa' on it, if they could do it without getting beaten to pulp, such is their disdain and built-up hatred for Thais, Thailand and Thai ways.

Yet here they are.

Edited November 21, 2011 by hehehoho

[ludditeman]

I've a feeling that many farang here would go around with a t-shirt calling Thais 'ee/ii heeyaa' on it, if could do it without getting beaten to pulp, such is their disdain and built-up hatred for Thais and Thailand.

Yet here they are.

The other night I saw a Thai lady proudly sporting a t-shirt that had "fuc_k you" written in large letters on the front.

I don't think she hated foreigners, but I may be wrong.

Edited November 21, 2011 by ludditeman

[hehehoho]

Perhaps it was a proposal/question.

They do like us whiteys, and are usually quite easy.

Perhaps that answers the last line of my previous post.

Edited November 21, 2011 by hehehoho

[Ijustwannateach]

Let's tone the thread down. This is not a discussion of 'who loves/hates Thailand', nor is it a discussion of what some posters may think about other posters' knowledge of Thailand. Some posts have been deleted on this basis, and further posts attempting to bait members on this basis may earn warnings.

[Ijustwannateach]

Getting back to the topic (which, unless I miss my guess, is misunderstandings in restaurants and how they have been/could be/should be/might or might not be resolved, another couple of anecdotes:

1. I take a Thai friend and her lady friends out to a pub- not one frequented often by foreigners- we're on a friendly basis, I've known her and her husband for 3 or 4 years now. I order some drinks and some soda and ice in perfectly passable Thai- she and her friends understand me just fine- and the waiter has no clue. He keeps trying to speak to me in English. Eventually, my Thai friend repeats my order- in exactly the same pronunciation- and he STILL doesn't get it. Finally another waiter comes along and helps him out and this waiter can understand both of us (my friend's theory is that the guy was maybe Cambodian or Burmese and sent over on the theory that he could speak English with me).

1.a. Same as above, but in a restaurant- where finally the Thai waitress that helped the poor Cambodian woman explained that she couldn't actually speak Thai.

CASE 1 ANALYSIS: Non-native Thai speaker- getting quite common in service jobs in Bangkok.

2. In another pub, a little guy that I eventually decide to feel a bit sorry for gets my order wrong 4 times in a row in Thai- he doesn't argue, he agrees each time that he is wrong- and when he finally gets it right he manages to spill one of the bottles all over the floor. We were both laughing at this point because the situation was informal and it was pretty funny. Poor guy- he didn't last long in that job.

CASE 2 ANALYSIS: Unfit for purpose- either he wasn't meant to be a waiter specifically or he just wasn't very on the ball at that job. Or maybe just a bit dim or unmotivated. He didn't try to deny his own responsibility, so I don't hold it against him.

3. At another pub, there is a greeter who apparently has indicated to the other waiters that he speaks English and attempts to monopolise all foreign customers. I've been there before and I know what I want, so I ignore all of his helpful and overly expensive suggestions. When he finally takes my order with a sniff (which is the same stuff everyone around me is eating/drinking), delivered to him in Thai, he delegates it to another waiter and manages to tell him the wrong thing. The 2nd waiter understood all of my Thai requests perfectly the first time.

CASE 3 ANALYSIS: Moneygrubbing twerp who hoped I was dumber than I am. Clearly he didn't care to provide good service once I demonstrated I was a 'normal' customer.

There are times when my pronunciation is off, but in those cases the waiter usually looks at me quizzically and I realise I haven't communicated well and try again- that's MY responsibility and my chance to blush. Those occasions aren't the types of things I'm mentioning here.

[mataus101]

how can anyone say this guy was wrong.

the waiter was obviously confused and probably thinking god help me i'm not really sure what to bring i will take a wild guess.

thinking he is right, he gets it wrong.

The waiter would have been embarassed and in his mind thinking oh now please get this right whats he saying, but it's at this point he should have sought help from another waiter.

now the customer who by rights is now fed up is expected to pay, this is wrong, in any language.

it's dishonest because the order was not on it's way, so the customer told a lie to 6 incoming customers, he was pissed off and driven to that.

my wife is thai born and bred and on more then one occasion people have given her the wrong order and then argued that she ordered it.

Edited November 22, 2011 by mataus101

[thaibeachlovers]

I usually just eat it if it is something that I like. Too many places make the staff pay for mistakes and they work for very little to start with.

I agree. Life is too short to make a scene about something as inconsequential as a particular dish. After all, it's not as though we can take it home and hang it on the wall, and it all ends up the same anyway.

Of course, if the alternative was far more expensive, or if I couldn't eat it ( pet mak mak ) I'd insist on the correct item.

[garycm]

This thread brings to mind two events I've experienced in Thailand. The first was in Bangkok, at a modest restaurant/bar in a side soi near Khao San Rd. I was with my Thai GF. I forget what it was we ordered but neither dish was correct or properly cooked. I wanted to complain but my GF dug me sharply in the ribs and glared at me "Cannot complain, make everyone lose face" she said. "Why not? We didn't get what we ordered. If no-one complains then how do they know they have a problem?" Futile. She wouldn't let me make a fuss so we just picked at the food, paid and left. "We never go back again" she said as we walked out as if that was sufficient punishment.

Another was in Trat. The waiter took our order and was gone nearly half an hour. When he came out of the kitchen with our food on a tray, he stopped and looked around, clearly having forgotten who had ordered it. We were trying to attract his attention as he went from table to table to try to find the foods' 'owner'. Eventually, by a process of elimination, he found our table. About 40 minutes later he went through the same routine with our main course! Not having any more time to waste waiting for desert, we gave him a reasonable tip (the food, when we eventually got it, was very good) and left. Looking back it seems humorous now but wasn't so at the time.

sitting in a restaurant with 4 or more people. Waiter comes and the first of the 4 orders his food. Waiter writes it down and walks away. This happend to me more than one time. I always think this funny

[pnm]

That was good for a laugh.

What a sad and pathetic story.

Visit a country where you cannot speak any of the language, then get upset and angry that a young uneducated waiter gets your order mixed up. Refuse to wait. Refuse to pay. Then lie to a large group of potential customers in order to cost them more business.

Agree 100%.

On a different and possibly off-topic note, I've noticed that most of the negativity on this forum comes from people whose IQ lies in that tedious range that starts at about 100 and ends at about 115. These are people who finished high school and, perhaps, attended a low-ranking university. These people are not strictly speaking stupid, but neither are they particularly bright.

Put another way, they believe they are intelligent but are not intelligent enough to see that actually they are not particularly intelligent at all.

Here are some examples:

1. An unintelligent person.

So I goes down to this restaurant at the end of my Soi. It ain't a bad place, and the Thai guy who works there is a decent bloke. I admit he's a Man U supporter, but that's okay coz I always take the piss out of him by saying that Fergie's a wan-ker.

Anyway, I orders a bit of fried rice and chicken. And a few minutes later he comes back with pork. So I tells him that I don't want pork and that I asked for chicken. He kind of looked a bit surprised at first, but then he understood. And after that, he comes back again with my chicken fried rice.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we both had a good laugh about it and there weren't no bad feelings.

2. An intelligent person

I ordered chicken fried rice the other day from a local restaurant. But the waitress got my order wrong and came back with pork fried rice. I politely pointed out that I'd asked for chicken and not pork, so she took the plate back and then returned a few minutes later with what I'd originally asked for.

3. A fool

Imagine my profound discontent when, upon ordering what is locally known as khao phad gahi, I was served approximately 5 minutes later with something that most definitely was not chicken. In fact, it was pork.

I duly summoned the waiter. "Boy", I exclaimed, "how exactly does one equate pork with chicken".

Did he answer me? Did he attempt any sort of intelligent discourse? On the contrary. He simply offered me that blank and somewhat moronic stare which frankly speaking sums up just about the entire population of this god forsaken country.

Unwilling to accept further mediocrity, I stood up and proceeded to make my exit. Profanities were hurled at me; accusations regarding my parentage followed forthwith.

I detest these peasants. They are simply inferior.

[Warhammer820]

One time my gf ordered me a smoothie. I received some purple liquid for the smoothie with cubes of ice. We were informed after my gf paid that the blender was not working and the worker did not want to give our money back.

Edited November 22, 2011 by Warhammer820

[mataus101]

getting money back is hard in thailand,

sometimes it does your head in, the extent you have to be on your toes hear to ensure you don't lose something.

i'm not being paranoid but people here are trying anything and everything to get just a few bht from you.

I always ask them is that what the buddha taught you.

particularly hate seeing people go to temples to get lucky lotto numbers.

[ExpatOilWorker]

I was in Singapore last week and had lunch at one of the many shopping centers. Pointed at a picture and ordered some kind of beef Bolognese. Food arrived and I started to gobble it down.

When I was nearly done with my plate, the waiter came over to our table and deeply apologized that they have served me the wrong dish. I kind of just said huh?

He shortly after returned with the right dish packed in a to-go Styrofoam box with plastic utensils and tissue. That was my free dinner that day.

I guess Singapore is different from Thailand in many ways.

[norrona]

What a sad and pathetic story.

Visit a country where you cannot speak any of the language, then get upset and angry that a young uneducated waiter gets your order mixed up. Refuse to wait. Refuse to pay. Then lie to a large group of potential customers in order to cost them more business.

Some Westerners and their attitudes here are absolutely disgusting.

It is a pity that the staff didn't hear your blatant lies that were served to lose them business and money and have you charged with slander.

Are you happy to pay for bad service or the wrong product?

If so PM me I got a load of things to sell you...in a bad way that is

[GreenSnapper]

Do you think a Thai would pay if the waiter screwed up ?

Yes, they would, and they do all the time. Aversion to confrontation. I know, it baffles me too.

GF never pays when they f'up things. Actually she gets more upset than I do in such cases.

[sandgroper2]

You made the staffs day,less work for them to do. As if they give a sxxx.

[KRS1]

On a different and possibly off-topic note, I've noticed that most of the negativity on this forum comes from people whose IQ lies in that tedious range that starts at about 100 and ends at about 115. These are people who finished high school and, perhaps, attended a low-ranking university. These people are not strictly speaking stupid, but neither are they particularly bright.

Put another way, they believe they are intelligent but are not intelligent enough to see that actually they are not particularly intelligent at all.

Here are some examples:

1. An unintelligent person.

So I goes down to this restaurant at the end of my Soi. It ain't a bad place, and the Thai guy who works there is a decent bloke. I admit he's a Man U supporter, but that's okay coz I always take the piss out of him by saying that Fergie's a wan-ker.

Anyway, I orders a bit of fried rice and chicken. And a few minutes later he comes back with pork. So I tells him that I don't want pork and that I asked for chicken. He kind of looked a bit surprised at first, but then he understood. And after that, he comes back again with my chicken fried rice.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we both had a good laugh about it and there weren't no bad feelings.

2. An intelligent person

I ordered chicken fried rice the other day from a local restaurant. But the waitress got my order wrong and came back with pork fried rice. I politely pointed out that I'd asked for chicken and not pork, so she took the plate back and then returned a few minutes later with what I'd originally asked for.

3. A fool

Imagine my profound discontent when, upon ordering what is locally known as khao phad gahi, I was served approximately 5 minutes later with something that most definitely was not chicken. In fact, it was pork.

I duly summoned the waiter. "Boy", I exclaimed, "how exactly does one equate pork with chicken".

Did he answer me? Did he attempt any sort of intelligent discourse? On the contrary. He simply offered me that blank and somewhat moronic stare which frankly speaking sums up just about the entire population of this god forsaken country.

Unwilling to accept further mediocrity, I stood up and proceeded to make my exit. Profanities were hurled at me; accusations regarding my parentage followed forthwith.

I detest these peasants. They are simply inferior.

This has got to be THE post of the year....I applaud and bestow upon you a Beer Chang Export.