I would just like to share my experience of thebbqhut in Patong. My wife & I decided to try this place out for dinner, I wont give you a blow by blow account of our meal, but it was pretty ordinary (as I suspected) but for THB600 or so it didnt break the bank & I simply wont go back. What did irk me no end was when an employee decided to move my bike without asking & proceeded to drop it! After a few minutes of the owner saying no problem no problem, he then decided to tell the other staff he didnt drop it! ( I speak Thai well enough) then he decided to com eover to the table shout angrily at my pregnant wife asking why i am so upset? whats the problem? so I ask if i can smash the mirror off his car in order to make it even? Not happy!

We paid the bill & decided to leave, well actually my wife decided for me as I was becoming very irritated with him & his petulant behaviour - basically sat scowling at me. As we were driving off, this telephone tough guy was gesticulating to me AGAIN & i could here the owner talking about the bad attitude of farang!

I would just like to share this, as I am sick & tired of the terrible attitude & lack of responsibility shown by many of the Thai youth - especially towards their paying customers, irrespective of their nationality.

I think I would be a bit upset with that as well...

This is why I shared! Had I been on my own, I suspect the incident would have finished in a very different manner!

This is why I shared! Had I been on my own, I suspect the incident would have finished in a very different manner!

I don't think we've gone to Patong in at least two years now. No reason for me to go. I moved from there 8 years ago. I used to go once in a while to Campanina Pizza in Kata more recently, but some of their staff acted like they were too "hiso" to actually do their job and wait on us. I got pretty fed up with the attitude and the food preparation at most places I used to eat at fairly regularly, especially in the "high season." Good thing I enjoy cooking!

This is normal Thai face saving tactics anyone who lives here any amount of time will encounter. Sounds exactly like so many other experiences I have had and heard about.

That steep parking in front is not very well suited to parking bikes.

The bike was securly parked until the idiot staff moved & dropped it, what I took exception to is being called a liar and his agressive attiitude towards my wife. As she explained we were paying cutomers, not begging for food or even looking for compensation..... I would have been happy with an apology that did have to be dragged from him like he was doing me a favour.

As an industry, in which I have worked for 18 or so years, the level of staff in Patong/Phuket is amongst the worst I have encountered in the world. The essence of Thai hospitality/culture has almost slipped away from the Thai people.........

The bike was securly parked until the idiot staff moved & dropped it, what I took exception to is being called a liar and his agressive attiitude towards my wife. As she explained we were paying cutomers, not begging for food or even looking for compensation..... I would have been happy with an apology that did have to be dragged from him like he was doing me a favour.

As an industry, in which I have worked for 18 or so years, the level of staff in Patong/Phuket is amongst the worst I have encountered in the world. The essence of Thai hospitality/culture has almost slipped away from the Thai people.........

I agree. The staff at many places act like they are somehow above the job they are getting paid to do, unfortunately for us that actually pay for their "service." I used to leave that kind of staff a one Baht tip. These days you might get into a fight doing so. Not worth it with the gang mentality. Just walk away and never go back.

Thai owner? Thought it was owned by a Japanese-American with a Thai wife. His wife was ok, but the ribs became too dry for me to go back to, after 5 years.

There is no such thing as customer service in Thailand.

Cool, thanks - won't go there.

Thankyou for your "name and shame" - errr, I mean, "restaurant review." :)

We should all do the same, name & shame BUT also the opposite for great places......

Thankyou for your "name and shame" - errr, I mean, "restaurant review." :)

Its such a grey area on thaivisa. I've seen threads locked for less than this.

Thankyou for your "name and shame" - errr, I mean, "restaurant review."

Its such a grey area on thaivisa. I've seen threads locked for less than this.

You are correct. It is a grey area. The 'review' did not dwell on the food aspect, but more about a 'parking' dispute. I'm letting it run for now, other mods may close it.

Thai owner? Thought it was owned by a Japanese-American with a Thai wife. His wife was ok, but the ribs became too dry for me to go back to, after 5 years.

There is no such thing as customer service in Thailand.

There is. I have decent service in Hua Hin, much better than what I would receive in the Kata-Kamala strip. Same for my trips to Issan.

Perhaps it has to do with the labour shortage. It is difficult to find staff willing to work for minimum wage in a region that has one of the highest costs of living. I get the impression too that alot of workers have a chip on their shoulder, perhaps it is resentment.

I am not defending the poor service, but I believe it will become the norm.

Thai owner? Thought it was owned by a Japanese-American with a Thai wife. His wife was ok, but the ribs became too dry for me to go back to, after 5 years.

There is no such thing as customer service in Thailand.

There is. I have decent service in Hua Hin, much better than what I would receive in the Kata-Kamala strip. Same for my trips to Issan.

Perhaps it has to do with the labour shortage. It is difficult to find staff willing to work for minimum wage in a region that has one of the highest costs of living. I get the impression too that alot of workers have a chip on their shoulder, perhaps it is resentment.

I am not defending the poor service, but I believe it will become the norm.

Why do you think the service in Hua Hin is superior to the service in Phuket? The staff in both places mainly come from the north.

Thai owner? Thought it was owned by a Japanese-American with a Thai wife. His wife was ok, but the ribs became too dry for me to go back to, after 5 years.

There is no such thing as customer service in Thailand.

There is. I have decent service in Hua Hin, much better than what I would receive in the Kata-Kamala strip. Same for my trips to Issan.

Perhaps it has to do with the labour shortage. It is difficult to find staff willing to work for minimum wage in a region that has one of the highest costs of living. I get the impression too that alot of workers have a chip on their shoulder, perhaps it is resentment.

I am not defending the poor service, but I believe it will become the norm.

It has become the norm! You will see, as I already have, an increase number of foreign trainees in hotels to make up for the p!ss poor attitude of the younger generations. The olders staff, in my experience, that have no political affiliations are great.

Thai owner? Thought it was owned by a Japanese-American with a Thai wife. His wife was ok, but the ribs became too dry for me to go back to, after 5 years.

There is no such thing as customer service in Thailand.

There is. I have decent service in Hua Hin, much better than what I would receive in the Kata-Kamala strip. Same for my trips to Issan.

Perhaps it has to do with the labour shortage. It is difficult to find staff willing to work for minimum wage in a region that has one of the highest costs of living. I get the impression too that alot of workers have a chip on their shoulder, perhaps it is resentment.

I am not defending the poor service, but I believe it will become the norm.

It has become the norm! You will see, as I already have, an increase number of foreign trainees in hotels to make up for the p!ss poor attitude of the younger generations. The olders staff, in my experience, that have no political affiliations are great.

It might be interesting what becomes of these lazy/incompetent staff in 2015 when the ASEAN community starts.

Thai owner? Thought it was owned by a Japanese-American with a Thai wife. His wife was ok, but the ribs became too dry for me to go back to, after 5 years.

There is no such thing as customer service in Thailand.

There is. I have decent service in Hua Hin, much better than what I would receive in the Kata-Kamala strip. Same for my trips to Issan.

Perhaps it has to do with the labour shortage. It is difficult to find staff willing to work for minimum wage in a region that has one of the highest costs of living. I get the impression too that alot of workers have a chip on their shoulder, perhaps it is resentment.

I am not defending the poor service, but I believe it will become the norm.

It has become the norm! You will see, as I already have, an increase number of foreign trainees in hotels to make up for the p!ss poor attitude of the younger generations. The olders staff, in my experience, that have no political affiliations are great.

It might be interesting what becomes of these lazy/incompetent staff in 2015 when the ASEAN community starts.

In the real world, NOTHING i am afraid to say...... Seen it all before in various guises, nothing will change on the ground

@ eezergood

My understanding is an ASEAN citizen will be allowed to work/conduct business anywhere in ASEAN. That means you can hire Vietnamese, Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian staff, who will work hard and show an interest in their new job and career abroad.

You only have to see how hard the Burmese construction workers work. You may find your cleaner, waiter, waitress, cook, reception etc etc are foreign labourers in the future.

I believe the ability to do this will come under the "free movement of labour laws" that will be in the ASEAN agreement.

I'm not sure if the farang with work permits will still have to hire 4 Thai's per work permit or they will be able to hire 4 ASEAN citizens.

@ eezergood

My understanding is an ASEAN citizen will be allowed to work/conduct business anywhere in ASEAN. That means you can hire Vietnamese, Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian staff, who will work hard and show an interest in their new job and career abroad.

You only have to see how hard the Burmese construction workers work. You may find your cleaner, waiter, waitress, cook, reception etc etc are foreign labourers in the future.

I believe the ability to do this will come under the "free movement of labour laws" that will be in the ASEAN agreement.

I'm not sure if the farang with work permits will still have to hire 4 Thai's per work permit or they will be able to hire 4 ASEAN citizens.

Don't worry, Thailand will impose some sort of obstacle that will not allow for a fair playing field, just as they do for anything when they are suppose to open up to free competition. Recently there have been new excise taxes imposed, but there are no longer import taxes from ASEAN countries............Same same, new name.

@ eezergood

My understanding is an ASEAN citizen will be allowed to work/conduct business anywhere in ASEAN. That means you can hire Vietnamese, Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian staff, who will work hard and show an interest in their new job and career abroad.

You only have to see how hard the Burmese construction workers work. You may find your cleaner, waiter, waitress, cook, reception etc etc are foreign labourers in the future.

I believe the ability to do this will come under the "free movement of labour laws" that will be in the ASEAN agreement.

I'm not sure if the farang with work permits will still have to hire 4 Thai's per work permit or they will be able to hire 4 ASEAN citizens.

I have Googled it and looked around the internet about the ASEAN treaty. I can't find anything that says that the Thai labor laws will change. Yet I've read the same comment as yours several times on TV Forums. Can you provide a link to these changes in Thai labor laws under the ASEAN free trade agreement?

I stand by my statement that NOTHING will change with 1 caveat - More Burmese etc... will become exploited! If anybody wants real life stories of how welcome you are made to feel in the Thai workplace feel free to PM me!

I stand by my statement that NOTHING will change with 1 caveat - More Burmese etc... will become exploited! If anybody wants real life stories of how welcome you are made to feel in the Thai workplace feel free to PM me!

I thought that the Burmese were all going back home now that their home economy was starting to roll. Sure it's early days but perhaps they are fed up being 3rd class citizens. Us Farangs being the 2nd class.

Its certainly time for them, they have had the sh!tty end of the stick for long enough!

@ eezergood

My understanding is an ASEAN citizen will be allowed to work/conduct business anywhere in ASEAN. That means you can hire Vietnamese, Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian staff, who will work hard and show an interest in their new job and career abroad.

You only have to see how hard the Burmese construction workers work. You may find your cleaner, waiter, waitress, cook, reception etc etc are foreign labourers in the future.

I believe the ability to do this will come under the "free movement of labour laws" that will be in the ASEAN agreement.

I'm not sure if the farang with work permits will still have to hire 4 Thai's per work permit or they will be able to hire 4 ASEAN citizens.

I have Googled it and looked around the internet about the ASEAN treaty. I can't find anything that says that the Thai labor laws will change. Yet I've read the same comment as yours several times on TV Forums. Can you provide a link to these changes in Thai labor laws under the ASEAN free trade agreement?

If you google "free movement of labour ASEAN" - there are several articles from a publication that we can not mention on TV.

These should keep you busy for a while.

I stand by my statement that NOTHING will change with 1 caveat - More Burmese etc... will become exploited! If anybody wants real life stories of how welcome you are made to feel in the Thai workplace feel free to PM me!

I thought that the Burmese were all going back home now that their home economy was starting to roll. Sure it's early days but perhaps they are fed up being 3rd class citizens. Us Farangs being the 2nd class.

I thought farang were 3rd class and Thai's from Issan were 2nd class. The Burmese being 4th class.

@ eezergood

My understanding is an ASEAN citizen will be allowed to work/conduct business anywhere in ASEAN. That means you can hire Vietnamese, Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian staff, who will work hard and show an interest in their new job and career abroad.

You only have to see how hard the Burmese construction workers work. You may find your cleaner, waiter, waitress, cook, reception etc etc are foreign labourers in the future.

I believe the ability to do this will come under the "free movement of labour laws" that will be in the ASEAN agreement.

I'm not sure if the farang with work permits will still have to hire 4 Thai's per work permit or they will be able to hire 4 ASEAN citizens.

I have Googled it and looked around the internet about the ASEAN treaty. I can't find anything that says that the Thai labor laws will change. Yet I've read the same comment as yours several times on TV Forums. Can you provide a link to these changes in Thai labor laws under the ASEAN free trade agreement?

If you google "free movement of labour ASEAN" - there are several articles from a publication that we can not mention on TV.

These should keep you busy for a while.

Thank you for the info. It took me about a minute to find this: "In 2015 an initial test will be run by freeing up selected professions and allowing them to move between countries to work." I don't think minimum wage restaurant staff would exactly fit into a selected profession... So, as I thought, little will change...

@ eezergood

My understanding is an ASEAN citizen will be allowed to work/conduct business anywhere in ASEAN. That means you can hire Vietnamese, Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian staff, who will work hard and show an interest in their new job and career abroad.

You only have to see how hard the Burmese construction workers work. You may find your cleaner, waiter, waitress, cook, reception etc etc are foreign labourers in the future.

I believe the ability to do this will come under the "free movement of labour laws" that will be in the ASEAN agreement.

I'm not sure if the farang with work permits will still have to hire 4 Thai's per work permit or they will be able to hire 4 ASEAN citizens.

I have Googled it and looked around the internet about the ASEAN treaty. I can't find anything that says that the Thai labor laws will change. Yet I've read the same comment as yours several times on TV Forums. Can you provide a link to these changes in Thai labor laws under the ASEAN free trade agreement?

If you google "free movement of labour ASEAN" - there are several articles from a publication that we can not mention on TV.

These should keep you busy for a while.

Thank you for the info. It took me about a minute to find this: "In 2015 an initial test will be run by freeing up selected professions and allowing them to move between countries to work." I don't think minimum wage restaurant staff would exactly fit into a selected profession... So, as I thought, little will change...

I understand what you are saying. Maybe very little will change. I'm not saying I fully understand the laws of ASEAN. I don't know what is on the list of "selected professions." In any case, your quote does say, "initial test."

I have Googled it and looked around the internet about the ASEAN treaty. I can't find anything that says that the Thai labor laws will change. Yet I've read the same comment as yours several times on TV Forums. Can you provide a link to these changes in Thai labor laws under the ASEAN free trade agreement?

If you google "free movement of labour ASEAN" - there are several articles from a publication that we can not mention on TV.

These should keep you busy for a while.

Thank you for the info. It took me about a minute to find this: "In 2015 an initial test will be run by freeing up selected professions and allowing them to move between countries to work." I don't think minimum wage restaurant staff would exactly fit into a selected profession... So, as I thought, little will change...

I understand what you are saying. Maybe very little will change. I'm not saying I fully understand the laws of ASEAN. I don't know what is on the list of "selected professions." In any case, your quote does say, "initial test."

Yes it does. If the test doesn't go the Thai's way, it will be deemed as something that isn't good for Thailand. From my understanding ASEAN, is mainly a trade agreement. I also found this: Under the ASEAN Economic Community framework, ASEAN members have agreed to pilot a free labour market plan by allowing specialists and professionals in seven fields - medicine, dentistry, nursing, engineering, architecture, natural resources and geographical exploration, and accounting - to work anywhere they like across the region in 2015.

I know we are off topic at this point, but as I said in this and other threads, that the protected jobs in Thailand will not change. Although I don't see waiter or waitress in the list... Here is a list of restricted occupations:

Section 5: Starting a business in Thailand

Page 13

5.6 The Foreign Business Act and restricted occupations

There are two sets of regulations that place work restrictions on foreigners in

Thailand – A

Royal Decree which list occupations closed to foreigners, and a Law which closes certain activities to foreigners.

Restricted occupations

A Royal Decree in 1973 listed 39 occupations that were then closed to aliens. This list has

been amended on several occasions by subsequent Royal Decrees, the latest one in 1979. Prohibited occupations are:

• Labour

• Work in agriculture, animal breeding,

forestry, fishery or general farm

supervision

• Masonry, carpentry, or other

construction work

• Wood carving

• Driving motor vehicles or nonmotorised

carriers, except for piloting

international aircraft

• Shop attendant

• Auctioning

• Supervising, auditing or giving

services in accounting, except

occasional international auditing

• Gem cutting and polishing

• Hair cutting, hair dressing and

beautician work

• Hand weaving

• Mat weaving or making of wares from

reed, rattan, kenaf, straw or bamboo

pulp

• Manufacture of manual fibrous paper

• Manufacture of lacquerware

• Thai musical instrument production

• Manufacture of nielloware

• Goldsmith, silversmith and other

precious metal work

• Manufacture of bronzeware

• Thai doll making

• Manufacture of mattresses and padded

blankets

• Alms bowl making

• Manual silk product making

• Buddha image making

• Manufacture of knives

• Paper and cloth umbrella fabrication

• Shoemaking

• Hat making

• Brokerage or agency work, except in

international business

• Dressmaking

• Pottery or ceramics

• Manual cigarette rolling

• Legal or litigation service

• Clerical or secretarial work

• Manual silk reeling and weaving

• Thai character type-setting

• Hawking business

• Tourist guide or tour organising

agency

• Architectural work

• Civil engineering work

Wow, massive u turn since the OP.