Mcdonald's Thailand Imposes One-Hour Time Limit For Customers

[skippy]

At time some of those ladys are getting fat <deleted> sitting there all day

and observing thai culture for future years in old age. (preservation of thai culture is so so important)

[theajarn]

First Starbucks and now McD's... Thailand... I think we need more public libraries.

There used to be a famous one in one hi-so part of the city, but it was a members-only library, and membership was nearly THB1,000 a month. I think it closed down for good after a few months.

Anyone want to get into the business?? I think these Burger Joints are missing a big thing here....

[theajarn]

Guys it''s very simple, if they are not eating/ordering You tell them to leave. You do't have to be polite and ask them to leave. If you are not a patron then you are loitering, plain and simple. Put a sign at all entrances, and a few inside. They will get the idea, and lose face when you tell them to get out. And it's not just students, this goes for teachers as well.

I also think that patrons who are looking for a seat need to speak up. I know I do

Problem solved...

I'll gather you won't be speaking up right then and there at McDonalds? That would just cause a really bad situation...

In the end this is something management will have to deal with. I'm sure a lot of us feel the same -- as much as we want to throw these people out by ourselves, we don't run the joint... we don't have any right... ESPECIALLY if we're white...

[BookMan]

The free wifi is appealing to people.

Any place offering free wi fi could have a simple system for its use and to avoid misuse, if they see it as being misuse.

When you purchase your food/drink the receipt could have a code valid for one hour from time of purchase for use of the wi fi. Can only be used by one person per receipt or 2 drinks = 2 people can use it.

I don't eat Mcdonalds or drink at Starbucks etc so I don't care if the tables are full or not

[skippy]

Would it not be better then to just charge for the wifi per size of table/seats allocated to that table ? If they eat and drink then it's a bonus.

[Tanlic]

If you are at the stage where young students hanging about in McDonalds bothers you so much you want to persoanally throw them out you must lead a very exciting life

[morocco]

Many restaurants have signs saying there is a minimum charge for sitting at table. I can't see why this would not work at McD's

[Barabbas]

Wi-fi is not really an issue. Technically you can limit session time for each MAC-address, as someone mentioned earlier. At Tesco near my place, there is no free Wi-Fi at McD's, but it's still packed with students.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts and replies have been deleted.

The topic is not your opinion of the food, it's about the amount of time allowed to sit there.

Stay on topic please.

[Pimay1]

Some times the Thais put up with way too much "taking advantage" behaviour. I have walked out of McDs before ordering because there were no vacant tables. I've seen job interviews, tutoring and just plain hogging a table by one person spreading their laptop and papers about.

But enforcement is another matter; politely telling some one to pack up *might* cause a loss of face and that's a big no no!

Hopefully McD Singaoore will read this. Same thing thing therer. Kids, mothers, ect sit for hours with a coke and surf the net.

[Tanaka]

Will they issue each table a timer that goes off after 59 minutes?

Yeap, 60 mins after your put your first burger on the table, it will simply fold and everything on it will disappear into a bin. Oh, and your seat will also fold after 60 mins. Although you won't be binned.

[petedk]

In Pattaya I mostly see old white guys. They are reading the free paper and not buying anything. Or nursing a coffee and trying to kill the morning.

They are probably waiting for their girlfriends.

I am sure many of you have waited more than an hour for someone.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect App

[mic59]

Just making it a blanket thing, one hour and you're out does seem a bit harsh. If the place is crowded then people should move on, I don't know many who would not voluntarily do so anyway. And if they buy nothing or very little then again, 1 hour and you're out. But this needs a bit of common sense and whether the person is a customer you want back. I have sometimes sat in a cafe doing crosswords or puzzles for an hour but, apart from the cafe usually only being half full, I have generally spent over $15 there. I could understand the management losing patience with me if I bought a small drink and stretched my time there but I spend a lot and go there once or twice a week.

[Misterwhisper]

The main loiterers seem to be groups of students. I don't know, but when I was studying or preparing school papers many, many years ago, I did so in a quiet environment where I actually could concentrate on my tasks, but certainly not in a noisy fast food joint with lots of distractions. Perhaps that is why I hold today a reasonable lucrative job, why my English (as a foreign language) is proficient enough, and why I still can do simple arithmetics in my head without the need for a pocket calculator.

[quiuvo]

They should have instituted this policy long time ago. Wifi customers at other countries are given a one hour pass word.

[kotsak]

Just put a jammer that kills everything above 750Mhz and problem solved.. How long the kids can stand it without a phone signal..

[transam]

EVERYBODY in LOS heads for free aircon. A holiday for all. Noooooo question. Look at the strollers in Tesco.

[toenail]

I can not imagine a Thai worker asking a loitering person to leave. One time at Mc Donalds I was so "teed off" with no where to sit and seeing that the people around me were not eating, I joined myself (and tray of food) with some strangers, (teenagers). They did get up and left. There is an advantage of being old and ugly. ha ha.

Edited December 19, 2012 by metisdead
: Font size reduced.

[crazyswede]

A whole hour??

We´re not talking about Drive In resturants now are we?

Edited December 19, 2012 by metisdead
: Quit using bold font when posting!

[kingstonkid]

This is an international problem. In Canada there has been time limits for a long time. While they are not strictly enforced it gives them the ability to ask a group of students that are all doing homework and chatting or the tutor making money at their expense the heave ho.

I have gone to numerous coffee locations and shops in the city and in Rangsit where it is almost impossible to get a seat or think because of the teens or kids that are all over the place.

For those complaining about this rule>

When was the last time you were in a busy restaurant and could not sit down. Would you be happy to leave with take out when you wanted to eat in.

[Gerald14]

Who the heck wants to hang out in a lousy terrible place like McD . One hour he he I would not spend five minutes in this crappy lousy food joint

[NanLaew]

Enough with our hosts abusing the facilities at McD's. I dropped by Starbucks at the service station on the road to Pattaya. I had just picked up my order and was headed for one of the 3 vacant small tables when this English family, mum, dad and 5 kids came in the front door.... with their McDonalds trays from next door! Dad shouted (that's where I got the Essex accent) to the kids to grab those tables while his fattest and oldest son sauntered up to the counter and asked if they had bloody ketchup!

Enforce what now?

[geriatrickid]

Worse case situation is the McD on Beach Rd, Patong(near soi wattana), the street vendors take over the outside tables and customers have to run a gauntlet of aggressive nasty vendors and their Chinese made products. I find it interesting that the BK and Starbucks in the same area do not have the problem.

[technologybytes]

The way I see it in Thailand, no Thai will ever tell another Thai of higher social standing what to do... unless in uniform.

As it's not possible to be of much lower social status than a Mcdonalds empoyee, it's doomed to fail.

[BrooklynNY]

McDonald's in Thailand have already put up signs but I don't think it will deter most ignorant and selfish Thai people. Many of them are persistent and too ignorant to accept rules.

Edited December 19, 2012 by BrooklynNY

[Credo]

Perhaps they could make the place mats for the tray with the notice on it.

[thaibeachlovers]

I wish them the best of luck with enforcing that...

They could start with eliminating the coffee and cake counter, and replacing the soft seats with hard uncomfortable ones, like they have in the west.

[MrSlatersParrot]

Some times the Thais put up with way too much "taking advantage" behaviour. I have walked out of McDs before ordering because there were no vacant tables. I've seen job interviews, tutoring and just plain hogging a table by one person spreading their laptop and papers about.

But enforcement is another matter; politely telling some one to pack up *might* cause a loss of face and that's a big no no!

It just isn't going to happen. I have never seen a Thai confront any such issue.

If these leads to a cultural change they can start on the < Snip! > who pay their 10,000 Baht bill in Makro will folded up 20's and 100's !

I would make them change their small notes at an exchange counter before they started shopping.

You're not referring to the thai Chinese by any chance?

Man, and when they get out all their vouchers and they're saving diddly squat.

When we see them at the

checkout we avoid.

I should have a word with Ronald McDonald

Seriously I used to live next door to him!

At least the actor who played him.

[Credo]

The seats in the US McDonald's are designed to not be too comfortable. I believe that they are designed for about 20 minutes of sitting.

The ones in Thailand are not particularly comfortable either. Even the more comfortable looking seats often have a 1/2 back which makes them uncomfortable to sit in for an extended period of time.

I've gone into McDonald's with the newspaper in the morning when it's not busy and wanted to sit their, have coffee and read the paper. I don't think I can sit their much over a 1/2 hour.

[transam]

The seats in the US McDonald's are designed to not be too comfortable. I believe that they are designed for about 20 minutes of sitting.

The ones in Thailand are not particularly comfortable either. Even the more comfortable looking seats often have a 1/2 back which makes them uncomfortable to sit in for an extended period of time.

I've gone into McDonald's with the newspaper in the morning when it's not busy and wanted to sit their, have coffee and read the paper. I don't think I can sit their much over a 1/2 hour.

Thais LOVE a wooden seat, with nothing on it, so McD's is heaven, even if not for you. The natives can sleep on the floor, nooooo problem.