Tipping?

[thrilled]

A thai told me that if your A thai an appropriate amount is 5% of the restaurant bill.

I tip 10% in Thailand.

If it's A taxi it depends how long im stuck in traffic.

At hotels I tip the cleaning lady around 20 baht.

[Ulysses G.]

Tipping when dinning out and drinking always gets discussed. I'm curious to see what other peoples tipping rules are when it comes to things like:

1.) Haircuts

2. ) Massages

3.) Bangkok taxis

1.) Haircuts = 20 baht

2. ) Massages = 50 baht per hour

3.) Bangkok taxis = It depends on the situation, but I usually add something. If we are stuck in traffic for a long time they lose money and I feel sorry for the driver.

[binjalin]

If I am eating alone in a medium priced restaurant aimed at foreigners, I usually tip around 20-30 baht. If I am eating in an expensive restaurant, something like 10-15% of the bill. If a noodle stall or very cheap Thai restaurant, I do not tip at all - as is the custom - and I do not tip in restaurants with a service charge - although I feel bad if I suspect the owner is pocketing the service charge.

then put it in the waitresses hand not on the plate - normally they can keep that personally

[binjalin]

This topic has been done to death. I can tell you what people tip, what many consider to be customary and even what tipped employees expect. I can tell you who tips, why they tip and who pockets the last satang.

People tip for various reasons and people don't tip for various reasons.

Tipping is a way of showing respect and appreciation for a service rendered. It's a way of saying thank you for carrying my bag or booking me a trip or remembering my drink or my dinner and for giving me a smile when I sit down. It's a way of saying thank you for being professional and taking care of my needs.

Let's look at it this way in my business. It just so happens that some people (no one on Thaivisa) expect the most service. They demand the most service. They want 1-2-3 people standing over them taking care of their every whim. The change arrives from the bill and they take back all the paper notes and leave a few Baht coins. In their mind the waitress is below them and as such it is their right to service and her right to duty. After all she is already being paid to do her duty. The waitress doesn't care.

In comes the foreigner that dabbles on Thaivisa. The waitress smiles. She remembers to bring a pitcher of iced tea and not just a glass or a glass of ice with their beer. She gets the food out, refills the water and cleans up the plates. The bill comes and the Thaivisa surfer tips 20-30 Baht. The waitress smiles again.

Who are you?

I smiled when i read this... very clever

[binjalin]

Tipping when dinning out and drinking always gets discussed. I'm curious to see what other peoples tipping rules are when it comes to things like:

1.) Haircuts

2. ) Massages

3.) Bangkok taxis

The one time I refuse to leave a tip, is when certain drinking establishments, using the "leave the coins" rule of thumb, will purposely change out 20-40 baht into 5 baht coins and return it to you. Normally I despise carrying coins around with me, but when a bar does this, I make a point to pick up each and every coin.

-Mestizo

me too... maybe leaving 10 baht and taking the other three 10 bahts with me. Also when they hover 'expecting' a tip or say 'no tip'? this usually makes me more keeniow than usual

[FolkGuitar]

I discovered long ago that if I left a few small coins on the table when I left a restaurant, I received MUCH better service on subsequent visits. (That it should or should not be like this isn't the issue here.) I like good service. I like to be treated well when I'm out and about, and if that costs me an extra 3-8 baht I don't mind. If I know that I'm going to be a repeat customer somewhere, I try not to concern myself with what amounts to pennies to me but dollars to the workers. They are happy to see me and treat me very well each and every time I enter their shops/restaurants. At the end of the day I'm not sitting at home bitching about what poor service I had from so and so... 5-10 baht a day to insure a smile on my face? It's worth it to me.

If the situation is that I will NOT be a repeat customer, i.e. a taxi, a shop in a different city, a different restaurant, I usually leave the small change if the service is good. If it's not good, I don't not tip.

I've been in restaurants in N.Y.C. where you had to show your tip on the table BEFORE any waitstaff would serve you... I've been in restaurants in Japan where the waiter refused a good tip saying that it was his job to offer good service. Thailand is a different place. A massage girl works hard, and if her massage is a good one I'm happy to give 20-30 baht extra or more! I will NOT tip for poor service just because I'm supposed to.

[onthedarkside]

<snip> At hotels I tip the cleaning lady around 20 baht.

My wife (Thai) always leaves 20 baht/day when we check out. She insists on this tip as she used to work in a hotel and knows the appreciation from the cleaning staff. The funny thing is she complains when I leave 20 baht in an eatery.

[canman]

This topic has been done to death. I can tell you what people tip, what many consider to be customary and even what tipped employees expect. I can tell you who tips, why they tip and who pockets the last satang.

People tip for various reasons and people don't tip for various reasons.

Tipping is a way of showing respect and appreciation for a service rendered. It's a way of saying thank you for carrying my bag or booking me a trip or remembering my drink or my dinner and for giving me a smile when I sit down. It's a way of saying thank you for being professional and taking care of my needs.

Let's look at it this way in my business. It just so happens that some people (no one on Thaivisa) expect the most service. They demand the most service. They want 1-2-3 people standing over them taking care of their every whim. The change arrives from the bill and they take back all the paper notes and leave a few Baht coins. In their mind the waitress is below them and as such it is their right to service and her right to duty. After all she is already being paid to do her duty. The waitress doesn't care.

In comes the foreigner that dabbles on Thaivisa. The waitress smiles. She remembers to bring a pitcher of iced tea and not just a glass or a glass of ice with their beer. She gets the food out, refills the water and cleans up the plates. The bill comes and the Thaivisa surfer tips 20-30 Baht. The waitress smiles again.

Who are you?

I smiled when i read this... very clever

If I had a waitress like that in Thailand it would be more than a 20-30 baht tip.

[naboo]

There is a place in town that charges 10% service. On a 300B bill that is a 30B tip. The waitress didn't smile when I took my change, despite the 30B.

[TommoPhysicist]

Don't tip at all ........ except for the cute beer girl who fills your glass with beer and ice.

......Oh and tip the snooker hall girls who arrange your balls and hand you the rests.

How much to tip ....... 20bht ........ or 100bht if you want a go at taking them home with you.

As for The Dukes

Best Pizza in CM, but the 7% added to the bill really annoys me, so my only tip, put the full price of each item on the menu.

Edited July 12, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Instead of funding other people's abuse with my money, I just show common courtesy and respect to staff.

I also don't feel foreign enough to have any sense of 'us', or shame through a racial similarity with some tourist, abusive or not.

[junglechef]

I give a nice tip (10-20%) on a bill at a restaurant with table service (not a food stall). And from there it goes down if I have to get up more than once to ask for something, they didn't get the order right, bad attitude or other things I consider poor service. And it can go up if they do a really good job, which is knowing the menu to answer questions, stay in the dining room and come the first time I motion to them, things I would expect any server to do in America. But if they are playing on their laptop or phone while I need something, incl. when I'm ordering, they get no tip, maybe my pet peeve and I do understand the addiction to these devices (yes I post often on TV!) but perhaps I'm teaching them a valuable life lesson, well I can dream can't I!

[WinnieTheKhwai]

As for The Dukes

Best Pizza in CM, but the 7% added to the bill really annoys me, so my only tip, put the full price of each item on the menu.

The 7% is VAT, not service charge. It is still a bit silly to not have it in the price, I'll give you that.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

less than a dollar ... on a meal that would cost you many times more back "home" (where ... most belong ...) ;... where back home the tip would be the cost of the meal here... ; and yet ye escape here to avoid taxes, inflation, and live it up on the cheap ... and 10% is too much to ask??

How am I avoiding taxes or inflation? I'd like to know.

As for non restaurant things, I don't tip for haircuts; never heard of it or even considered it.. Is that a North American thing?

In hotels I sometimes but not always leave 20-40 baht, but only once when checking out, and not related to the length of my stay. I only do this in Thailand though, not in the US or other places.

Meter taxis I dont really tip, but do round up to the nearest 10.

[Semper]

As for The Dukes

Best Pizza in CM, but the 7% added to the bill really annoys me, so my only tip, put the full price of each item on the menu.

The 7% is VAT, not service charge. It is still a bit silly to not have it in the price, I'll give you that.

Would it be refunded at the airport, if leaving the country?

[CMNightRider]

I think if you eat at a nice restaurant you should tip 10%. If you eat at a food stall then don't tip. Don't be cheap. The people that work in these restaurants are paid peanuts. Dinning out in Chiang Mai is very inexpensive and 10% is not going to break the bank.

[AnkertilBrewer]

OK, thanks guys. Tons of info. Yeah, a Thai friend also said "20 baht" is a standard for a sit down, nice sort of restaurant. An appropriate amount from change for regular sorts of places. Nothing for food stalls (it's all coming back to me. I used to leave 5 baht at food stalls just to be nice). I think I got it. Oh yeah, thanks for the stuff on haircuts and massages and taxis. Very good info and insights from all of you. Much appreciated.

[uptheos]

The people that work in these restaurants are paid peanuts. Dinning out in Chiang Mai is very inexpensive and 10% is not going to break the bank.

Absolutely agree that in many places staff rely on tips to get a decent wage, so it's useful to tip them.

However, maybe the restaurant owners should re-structure their salaries, so if they don't get many tips they still have a liveable wage. Too many restaurants pay 'peanuts' for good, honest, hard working staff and then rely on the customer to make up the salary. This isn't right, good staff should be paid a decent living wage and the tip should be their bonus.

[Saan]

I have always believed that you don't tip the boss. If a bar or food place is run by the owners i.e. no staff, then no tip.

I regularly tip at my local watering hole but am one of the few that do. The staff don't seem to worry about the others not tipping but when I don't (the staff forgets they are on duty and are having a little party instead of serving) they are miffed and show it. I think I conditioned them the wrong way.

[binjalin]

I think if you eat at a nice restaurant you should tip 10%. If you eat at a food stall then don't tip. Don't be cheap. The people that work in these restaurants are paid peanuts. Dinning out in Chiang Mai is very inexpensive and 10% is not going to break the bank.

you don't think the people who are serving at a food stall are not paid peanuts? sorry I'm trying to get your logic about 'not being cheap' by tipping at a 'nice restaurant' but not tipping those poor people at the food stall (who are paid a lot less)

[binjalin]

As for The Dukes

Best Pizza in CM, but the 7% added to the bill really annoys me, so my only tip, put the full price of each item on the menu.

The 7% is VAT, not service charge. It is still a bit silly to not have it in the price, I'll give you that.

I must say I HATE service charges more than anything and if I see one not a baht tip. Not the staffs fault but...

[Ulysses G.]

I think if you eat at a nice restaurant you should tip 10%. If you eat at a food stall then don't tip. Don't be cheap. The people that work in these restaurants are paid peanuts. Dinning out in Chiang Mai is very inexpensive and 10% is not going to break the bank.

you don't think the people who are serving at a food stall are not paid peanuts?

People who work in food stalls are largely serving Thais and mostly do not have to put up with speaking another language or dealing with orders that they have difficultiy understanding. Also, the level of service is much lower than some place like the Duke's or Chez Marco where I would tip.

Edited July 12, 2012 by Ulysses G.

[binjalin]

I think if you eat at a nice restaurant you should tip 10%. If you eat at a food stall then don't tip. Don't be cheap. The people that work in these restaurants are paid peanuts. Dinning out in Chiang Mai is very inexpensive and 10% is not going to break the bank.

you don't think the people who are serving at a food stall are not paid peanuts?

People who work in food stalls are largely serving Thais and mostly do not have to put up with speaking another language or dealing with orders that they have difficultiy understanding. Also, the level of service is much lower than some place like the Duke's or Chez Marco where I would tip.

well I give to the waitress, in her/his hand, if the service is good (and there is no service charge) but I also make a point of tipping people who may not normally receive a tip and that can include food stalls etc. service maybe lower and sometimes not but I think a blanket 'give 10% it won't kill you' is not sound advice

[DowntownAl]

Thailand

In Thailand a small tip is often left in restaurants. Taking back small change if you pay with a large bill is somewhat rude. For example if a meal is 950 baht, and one pays with a 1000 baht note, the remaining 50 baht can be left. A strict percentage is not needed.

Source: http://en.wikipedia..../Tip_(gratuity)

Not to mention, I had heard that "Tipping" was a small city somewhere in southern China.

Edited July 12, 2012 by DowntownAl

[hellodolly]

What if the service is so so

I think if you eat at a nice restaurant you should tip 10%. If you eat at a food stall then don't tip. Don't be cheap. The people that work in these restaurants are paid peanuts. Dinning out in Chiang Mai is very inexpensive and 10% is not going to break the bank.

you don't think the people who are serving at a food stall are not paid peanuts?

People who work in food stalls are largely serving Thais and mostly do not have to put up with speaking another language or dealing with orders that they have difficultiy understanding. Also, the level of service is much lower than some place like the Duke's or Chez Marco where I would tip.

well I give to the waitress, in her/his hand, if the service is good (and there is no service charge) but I also make a point of tipping people who may not normally receive a tip and that can include food stalls etc. service maybe lower and sometimes not but I think a blanket 'give 10% it won't kill you' is not sound advice

What if the service is so so but the food fantastic. Do you go back into the kitchen and tip the kitchen staff?

[uptheos]

you don't think the people who are serving at a food stall are not paid peanuts? sorry I'm trying to get your logic about 'not being cheap' by tipping at a 'nice restaurant' but not tipping those poor people at the food stall (who are paid a lot less)

A lot of food stalls are family enterprises and if the foods good they earn a lot. Often some of these stalls will be serving guitiew etc from morning till very late evening, always with customers seated.

[tolstoy]

I think the only thing to rember about tipping is that you are not obligated to do so. You are not cheap if you don't tip, and generous if you do. You just are. Whatever you do is your business. I think that having a set % is kind of ridiculous myself. If my bill was 5000 baht I am not going to give 500 baht to a waiter. Nor If my meal is 20 baht am I going to give 2 baht (that is kind of insultive).

I have actually hathe tip refused and money returned to me.

One of the things that I have always liked about Asia is the lack of obligation to things that we hold as a symbol of our integrity.

I also don't get the idea of VAT added to food, but I accept it.

[hellodolly]

I think the only thing to rember about tipping is that you are not obligated to do so. You are not cheap if you don't tip, and generous if you do. You just are. Whatever you do is your business. I think that having a set % is kind of ridiculous myself. If my bill was 5000 baht I am not going to give 500 baht to a waiter. Nor If my meal is 20 baht am I going to give 2 baht (that is kind of insultive).

I have actually hathe tip refused and money returned to me.

One of the things that I have always liked about Asia is the lack of obligation to things that we hold as a symbol of our integrity.

I also don't get the idea of VAT added to food, but I accept it.

If they add the VAT onto my bill and I save all the recipts would I get it back when I leave Thailand?

[Naam]

If I am eating alone in a medium priced restaurant aimed at foreigners, I usually tip around 20-30 baht

Why?

why not?

[Naam]

I think the only thing to rember about tipping is that you are not obligated to do so. You are not cheap if you don't tip, and generous if you do. You just are. Whatever you do is your business. I think that having a set % is kind of ridiculous myself. If my bill was 5000 baht I am not going to give 500 baht to a waiter. Nor If my meal is 20 baht am I going to give 2 baht (that is kind of insultive).

I have actually hathe tip refused and money returned to me.

One of the things that I have always liked about Asia is the lack of obligation to things that we hold as a symbol of our integrity.

I also don't get the idea of VAT added to food, but I accept it.

If they add the VAT onto my bill and I save all the recipts would I get it back when I leave Thailand?

only if you take the goods out, meaning you did not shit after eating and before leaving.