Free Facilities

[End]

Yesterday I was having a coffee in True coffee shop. A thai man walks in, helps himself to an empty seat and starts talking on the dog and bone. Today I was in McDonald's having some French fries. Two thai people came in, sat down and had a business meeting. On both occasions, these so called customers didn't buy any food or beverages. They just came in and used the comfy seating. Furthermore, none of the staff moved them on because they weren't actually paying customers. Is this normal?

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Yes, most such places in my area are chockablock full of tutors and their students taking up most of the seats for many hours at a time. Most of the time the management doesn't mind, or if they do the staff kreng jai too mutt.

Things are different here.

[Beetlejuice]

Some time ago early on one morning I was in the MacDonald’s located next to the Imm Hotel near the Tapae Gate.

On one of the long bench seats next to a wall, there were 2 male farangs spread out on the benches lying asleep. One looked like he had pissed and crapped himself, both men were rancid and filthy, had no shoes and appeared to be well out of it, dead to the world. Perhaps had heavily indulged in drink or drugs the evening before. I was wondering if the two had been there all night? No one was taking even the slightest interested in them, including the staff.

I guess taking into consideration the sort of slave labour wages the staff are paid, that the incentives are not there for them to get into any confrontations on the company’s behalf and I really don`t blame them.

Have also witnessed customers entering cafes and restaurants just to use the toilet or wifi facilities and then walk out and leave without making even one single purchase. Who would want to own a business in Thailand? Not me.

Edited November 7, 2012 by Beetlejuice

[MrRed]

Whats wrong with a freebie,everyone uses the toilets at the fast food places and if you can use a coffee shop or same for a free meeting room great!

Why worry what others do if it doesn't affect you?

Mind you i would draw the line at eating a big mac in eyesight of two sleepy drunks who have pissed and shit themselves.To me that is worrying.

[Beetlejuice]

Whats wrong with a freebie,everyone uses the toilets at the fast food places and if you can use a coffee shop or same for a free meeting room great!

Why worry what others do if it doesn't affect you?

Mind you i would draw the line at eating a big mac in eyesight of two sleepy drunks who have pissed and shit themselves.To me that is worrying.

it does not worry or concern me. I am just saying that when I see these sorts of things happening, it makes me glad I`m not in business and that someone else has the problem.

[jacktrip]

Yes, most such places in my area are chockablock full of tutors and their students taking up most of the seats for many hours at a time. Most of the time the management doesn't mind, or if they do the staff kreng jai too mutt.

Things are different here.

not buying anything is different then lingering.

try sitting at a food court table owned by a neighboring vendor, or a seat owned by a neighboring bus company on the waiting platform. very taboo. you are quickly shooed away, or even prevented before you sit down.

after reviewing some of your comments on this board i have reason to believe you dont in fact reside in thailand.

what country are you from?

Edited November 7, 2012 by jacktrip

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Yes, most such places in my area are chockablock full of tutors and their students taking up most of the seats for many hours at a time. Most of the time the management doesn't mind, or if they do the staff kreng jai too mutt.

Things are different here.

not buying anything is different then lingering.

try sitting at a food court table owned by a neighboring vendor, or a seat owned by a neighboring bus company on the waiting platform. very taboo. you are quickly shooed away, or even prevented before you sit down.

after reviewing some of your comments on this board i have reason to believe you dont in fact reside in thailand.

what country are you from?

I have no idea what you're on about, maybe different parallel dimensions or something.

I have always been most warmly welcomed to use street vendors' tables to eat food I've purchased elsewhere, nearly every time we go out in a group we settle down at the place with good tables and then walk up and down the market picking and choosing what we want and then bringing it all back to eat together, and never had anyone even give us a cross glance.

Maybe it's the way I go about it, make it clear I'm asking a favor, occasionally leave a 20 baht tip if we hardly buy anything at all from the vendor whose tables we're using. I don't know, I've never had the kind of problems you're talking about in 14 years of living here full-time - do you speak Thai?

Or maybe I've just lived in friendlier areas, not sure why your experience is so different.

I'm a Yank although I don't see what difference that makes.

[Travel2003]

Have a look in the book/magazine stores in the shopping malls.

You will see something you never see any other places in the world.

Sure we all browse through books and magazine. But stand and read them for 15-20 minutes?!

I'm surprised nobody has come up with a way to look at the centerfolds without removing the plastic wrap on the girly magazines.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Have a look in the book/magazine stores in the shopping malls.

You will see something you never see any other places in the world.

Sure we all browse through books and magazine. But stand and read them for 15-20 minutes?!

I'm surprised nobody has come up with a way to look at the centerfolds without removing the plastic wrap on the girly magazines.

All the bookstores back home used to let people hang out and read for hourse without buying anything when I was younger.

My friends and I were very upset when the cheapskate chains started taking over and then they invented the shrink-wrap, totally stupid IMO.

Then once Amazon started taking over, lots of even the big stores started going back to the old ways, putting comfortable sofas around, free wifi.

Makes for a nice atmosphere, and IMO ultimately good for customer loyalty.

High-traffic, high-rent areas of course it's different, but if I were rich I'd like nothing better than to open that kind of bookshop even if it didn't make a s'tang.

[Soutpeel]

Have a look in the book/magazine stores in the shopping malls.

You will see something you never see any other places in the world.

Sure we all browse through books and magazine. But stand and read them for 15-20 minutes?!

You obviously never went into Borders in Singapore when it was still open, used wind away many hours in there reading books..

[loong]

Yes, most such places in my area are chockablock full of tutors and their students taking up most of the seats for many hours at a time. Most of the time the management doesn't mind, or if they do the staff kreng jai too mutt.

Things are different here.

not buying anything is different then lingering.

try sitting at a food court table owned by a neighboring vendor, or a seat owned by a neighboring bus company on the waiting platform. very taboo. you are quickly shooed away, or even prevented before you sit down.

after reviewing some of your comments on this board i have reason to believe you dont in fact reside in thailand.

what country are you from?

Seating is communal in every food court that I have been to. Often a group of 4 people will each buy food from a different vendor. Are you saying that they will not be allowed to sit together?

As for bus travellers, I've never seen anyone shooed away. Anyway, that would require somebody to check the ticket of everybody who sits down and they do not do that.

You must live in a different Thailand to me.

[robblok]

Whats wrong with a freebie,everyone uses the toilets at the fast food places and if you can use a coffee shop or same for a free meeting room great!

Why worry what others do if it doesn't affect you?

Mind you i would draw the line at eating a big mac in eyesight of two sleepy drunks who have pissed and shit themselves.To me that is worrying.

It does not affect me but it would affect me if i owned a business. I would be seriously annoyed and kick them out. The owner rents a place to make money, freeloaders take up space that could be used by paying customers.

Nothing wrong with using a toilet, if you ask it or pay for it. I guess, i have a bit more respect for others businesses.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

It does not affect me but it would affect me if i owned a business. I would be seriously annoyed and kick them out. The owner rents a place to make money, freeloaders take up space that could be used by paying customers.

Nothing wrong with using a toilet, if you ask it or pay for it. I guess, i have a bit more respect for others businesses.

And if you are the owner of the business, or a customer that can't find an available seat you've got every right to get annoyed and to do something about it.

The objection is to other people remarking on it disparagingly as if it's an intrinsically "bad" aspect of the local culture.

[robblok]

It does not affect me but it would affect me if i owned a business. I would be seriously annoyed and kick them out. The owner rents a place to make money, freeloaders take up space that could be used by paying customers.

Nothing wrong with using a toilet, if you ask it or pay for it. I guess, i have a bit more respect for others businesses.

And if you are the owner of the business, or a customer that can't find an available seat you've got every right to get annoyed and to do something about it.

The objection is to other people remarking on it disparagingly as if it's an intrinsically "bad" aspect of the local culture.

I doubt its a local culture thing, more a get out of the heat thing and will happen in many "hot" countries. All those people putting down Thais for the most mundane things make me crazy.

But yes as a customer or a business owner i would be upset (unless there were many tables to spare but then i did something wrong in my planning by setting up shop, or it was in low business hours)