Makro - Blatant Discrimination!

[allalong]

You talked to the manager, called your wife, called Makro HQ, all because in your case, the staff was actually following the rules! If you are going to enjoy your stay here, chill out.

Wrong wrong wrong .the staff werent following the rules equally.there was discrimination.now you may think its acceptable,thats fine but clearly the staff were"selective"

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[NewlyMintedThai]

You talked to the manager, called your wife, called Makro HQ, all because in your case, the staff was actually following the rules! If you are going to enjoy your stay here, chill out.

Wrong wrong wrong .the staff werent following the rules equally.there was discrimination.now you may think its acceptable,thats fine but clearly the staff were"selective"

Sent from my GT-S7500L using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

It's already been pointed out that the Thai man was probably a wholesale customer.

[khunPer]

Think if you buy 2 boxes it is deemed you are a business so you can buy.

10 liters, then it is wholesale – fx. 2 x 24 beer cans.

[khunano]

The minimum is 5 liters You dont mention the size of bottle you bought, but if you got 12 bottles @ 33cl you are short about 1 liter If the other guy got 12x 0.5 liter bottles he was good to go...

the minimum is 10 litres, at least that's is the case at Tesco, Big-C, Foodland, etc. They have a wholesale license, which is exempt from the curfew times. Hence, take a case of beer (around 7.2 litres) and a few individual bottles or whatever alcoholic beverage, as long as you reach 10 litres you are fine.

[Mudcrab]

Peace.

Don't worry about it. I don't take offense so easily.

On the business account and why they didn't explain. Sometimes, an explanation may sound long and torturous in their heads and they just wish you'd accept 'Kor thod' as a catch all explanation and just wait out the ten minutes left so you can buy your case of beer and leave already.

I wonder though, what would have happened if you'd just given your case of beer to the Thai with the business account to buy on your behalf and reclaimed same once past the till! Would they have allowed that? I'll to try keep this in mind and give it a go at the next opportunity.

Cheers

T

This exactly what happened to me! I was buying 24 cans(total volume under the required amount) and was told no...wrong time. The Thai man behind me gave me 500 baht for his beer and I paid for both!. No ploplem.

[meatboy]

Think if you buy 2 boxes it is deemed you are a business so you can buy.

i have bought at 7am normally cases of 24.but i did get served once as they didnt have enough to make up 2 cases and this is on a day pass.

[chuang]

A Foreigner doesn't get serve outside of the law and he calls it Blatant Discrimination. I call that Blatant Exaggeration, but I won't start a thread about it.

Meanwhile somewhere else in the cyberspace a thread may have been started by a Makro employee describing how a Thai business man was served alcohol using his Makro business card, but a foreigner flew off the handle and created a right old stink because they wouldn't bend the law for him.

Any lesson to learn from this ? i.e. Don't fly off the handle if you can't understand the explanation or are not open minded enough to recognise that sometimes there are valid reason for what you see.

Exactly right. This thread is a good example of why foreigners are simply not held in high regard in Thailand any more. There are just too many low class farangs, lacking in the social graces, losing their cool over petty things, and for no good reason. Some farangs just have a chip-on-their-shoulder, calling everything "discrimination" without the slightest clue what is really happening.

You be surprised at some farangs behaviour...lord and almighty...

[Markaew]

The minimum is 5 liters You dont mention the size of bottle you bought, but if you got 12 bottles @ 33cl you are short about 1 liter If the other guy got 12x 0.5 liter bottles he was good to go...

No... the minimum during off hours (2-5 and midnight to 11am) is 10 liters. If you buy a case of beer (24 cans or bottles at 33cl) . you just need to buy another seven bottles .

When they tried that crap with me five minutes after 2 one day when I was buying six beers, I just oh okay, bring that case of beer over. That shut them up.

Also, a little known secret is that Villa Market will sell between 2 and 5 every day.

That's not really a secret.

[Markaew]

A Foreigner doesn't get serve outside of the law and he calls it Blatant Discrimination. I call that Blatant Exaggeration, but I won't start a thread about it.

Meanwhile somewhere else in the cyberspace a thread may have been started by a Makro employee describing how a Thai business man was served alcohol using his Makro business card, but a foreigner flew off the handle and created a right old stink because they wouldn't bend the law for him.

Any lesson to learn from this ? i.e. Don't fly off the handle if you can't understand the explanation or are not open minded enough to recognise that sometimes there are valid reason for what you see.

Exactly right. This thread is a good example of why foreigners are simply not held in high regard in Thailand any more. There are just too many low class farangs, lacking in the social graces, losing their cool over petty things, and for no good reason. Some farangs just have a chip-on-their-shoulder, calling everything "discrimination" without the slightest clue what is really happening.

You are living in a bubble.

I have found that most people that make these statements don't work with the Thais and or just have infrequent exposure. If you end up on the wrong side of the Thais bad mood, it can wear on you over time. That's why they need to sell alcohol to foreigners all day so they can calm down from a day's friction. Of course, that won't happen because when Thais can piss you off that makes their day. (not all but many) My wife says it happens to her as well because they disapprove of her being with a foreigner.

Maybe the OP had several bad experiences and this one tipped him off. My advise is don't go back to that store. I do that everytime a store pulled my chain for no reason.

Edited April 29, 2013 by Markaew

[Markaew]

A Foreigner doesn't get serve outside of the law and he calls it Blatant Discrimination. I call that Blatant Exaggeration, but I won't start a thread about it.

Meanwhile somewhere else in the cyberspace a thread may have been started by a Makro employee describing how a Thai business man was served alcohol using his Makro business card, but a foreigner flew off the handle and created a right old stink because they wouldn't bend the law for him.

Any lesson to learn from this ? i.e. Don't fly off the handle if you can't understand the explanation or are not open minded enough to recognise that sometimes there are valid reason for what you see.

Exactly right. This thread is a good example of why foreigners are simply not held in high regard in Thailand any more. There are just too many low class farangs, lacking in the social graces, losing their cool over petty things, and for no good reason. Some farangs just have a chip-on-their-shoulder, calling everything "discrimination" without the slightest clue what is really happening.

You be surprised at some farangs behaviour...lord and almighty...

I am curious. Where are you from?

[Funny Knees]

A Foreigner doesn't get serve outside of the law and he calls it Blatant Discrimination. I call that Blatant Exaggeration, but I won't start a thread about it.

Meanwhile somewhere else in the cyberspace a thread may have been started by a Makro employee describing how a Thai business man was served alcohol using his Makro business card, but a foreigner flew off the handle and created a right old stink because they wouldn't bend the law for him.

Any lesson to learn from this ? i.e. Don't fly off the handle if you can't understand the explanation or are not open minded enough to recognise that sometimes there are valid reason for what you see.

Exactly right. This thread is a good example of why foreigners are simply not held in high regard in Thailand any more. There are just too many low class farangs, lacking in the social graces, losing their cool over petty things, and for no good reason. Some farangs just have a chip-on-their-shoulder, calling everything "discrimination" without the slightest clue what is really happening.

It's alright to point out to the guy where he went wrong, perhaps he will learn by the experience. After all, one of the threads pointed towards the main reason why people post here ie to get others experiences and yes, to let them know if they are in the wrong, but just to calm down. People here have made the assumption that he flew off the handle as he asked a few people; did he ask them all politely as he really wanted to know and because he just got sorrys, it doesn't automatically follow he was angry. As far as I can see he didn't get an explanation, just Sorrys. The staff were asked to explain it in Thai to him and his wife, so I'm guessing he was confident enough to understand the Thai response. Calling the wife may have seemed a bit much but perhaps he thought that she could explain and/or speak to the staff.

​It seems that the staff could have said something to him or the wife eg the Thai was a business account holder or buy more beer and then no problem and the Farang has learned something new.

When it comes to understanding the culture, surely it's not wrong to just ask questions so that you understand. Farangs no doubt ask non-spouse or close friends why things are done in certain ways - surely this is a way to learn social graces.

This website is invaluable for hearing and learning about other peoples experiences, especially when the culture can be difficult to learn or understand. I think that everyone using this site has learned something from others and avoided potential problems. There are many giving this guy grief, some with helpful explanations and others doing the same with well intentioned requests to calm down; which seems more constructive than some of the toxic comments. Surely non of us are perfect.

[laislica]

The rule is 2 cases x 12 x 630 cl if you want to buy outside hours.

Often what makes the difference over differential pricing is the farang's attitude.

Just yesterday, a barber tried to charge me B.100 for a haircut despite the fact that the price of B.60 was shown up on his mirror. I pointed this out, and asked why he charged more to farangs.

"Because you have a lot of hair!"

I pointed to my scanty locks, everybody around roared with laughter, and I paid B. 60. End of story.

Very good but if I were you, I wouldn't be rushing back there for another hair cut any time soon

[trainman34014]

Just yesterday, a barber tried to charge me B.100 for a haircut despite the fact that the price of B.60 was shown up on his mirror.

60 baht is overpriced. 50 baht at my wife's local barber.

If the barber charged me one hundred baht, he only absorbed his tip anyway. If I'm in a good mood, he may well have lost an additional 50 to 100 baht, but he wouldn't have known that.

You like it cheaper, go to a local hairdresser in Cambodia. Even in Sihanoukville they charge for a Barang a Dollar, so less than 30 Baht!

Or go to my hairdresser out here in the Boonies...20 Baht....and no double pricing for Farang.

[chickenslegs]

I meant to say (in my earlier post) the 2:00 PM cutoff, not 11:00 AM. Sorry. Haven't tested the cutoff time too closely, but the 7-11's in CM seem serious about enforcing it, so just get there before they drop the curtain. Same goes for the lovely Rimping chain. I didn't know about the 10 liter exception, but that's hard for me to carry on my bicycle.

I don't understand why that would be a problem.

[retell]

I meant to say (in my earlier post) the 2:00 PM cutoff, not 11:00 AM. Sorry. Haven't tested the cutoff time too closely, but the 7-11's in CM seem serious about enforcing it, so just get there before they drop the curtain. Same goes for the lovely Rimping chain. I didn't know about the 10 liter exception, but that's hard for me to carry on my bicycle.

I don't understand why that would be a problem.

more than once i took 6 trays of beer in a backpack and got on the mountainbike ,, not in thailand

[Keith67]

It's not a law just a govt request not to sell, nobody has ever been prosecuted for ignoring the request. Small shops, warehouses and even some 7/11 just ignore this nonsense. Also you can buy booze at villa markets all through the day as well as at foodland.

What about the Kings birthday or Baddha days is that a different law?

[mickjn]

What did you do to upset them

[rct99q]

I get the feeling that if you got this upset over this one item we are in for a lot more posts from you in the future. But getting back to your post it is one of the reason I quit drinking.

[richard_smith237]

A Foreigner doesn't get serve outside of the law and he calls it Blatant Discrimination. I call that Blatant Exaggeration, but I won't start a thread about it.

Meanwhile somewhere else in the cyberspace a thread may have been started by a Makro employee describing how a Thai business man was served alcohol using his Makro business card, but a foreigner flew off the handle and created a right old stink because they wouldn't bend the law for him.

Any lesson to learn from this ? i.e. Don't fly off the handle if you can't understand the explanation or are not open minded enough to recognise that sometimes there are valid reason for what you see.

Exactly right. This thread is a good example of why foreigners are simply not held in high regard in Thailand any more. There are just too many low class farangs, lacking in the social graces, losing their cool over petty things, and for no good reason. Some farangs just have a chip-on-their-shoulder, calling everything "discrimination" without the slightest clue what is really happening.

It's alright to point out to the guy where he went wrong, perhaps he will learn by the experience. After all, one of the threads pointed towards the main reason why people post here ie to get others experiences and yes, to let them know if they are in the wrong, but just to calm down. People here have made the assumption that he flew off the handle as he asked a few people; did he ask them all politely as he really wanted to know and because he just got sorrys, it doesn't automatically follow he was angry. As far as I can see he didn't get an explanation, just Sorrys. The staff were asked to explain it in Thai to him and his wife, so I'm guessing he was confident enough to understand the Thai response. Calling the wife may have seemed a bit much but perhaps he thought that she could explain and/or speak to the staff.

​It seems that the staff could have said something to him or the wife eg the Thai was a business account holder or buy more beer and then no problem and the Farang has learned something new.

When it comes to understanding the culture, surely it's not wrong to just ask questions so that you understand. Farangs no doubt ask non-spouse or close friends why things are done in certain ways - surely this is a way to learn social graces.

This website is invaluable for hearing and learning about other peoples experiences, especially when the culture can be difficult to learn or understand. I think that everyone using this site has learned something from others and avoided potential problems. There are many giving this guy grief, some with helpful explanations and others doing the same with well intentioned requests to calm down; which seems more constructive than some of the toxic comments. Surely non of us are perfect.

Fair enough... Flying off the Handle is an unfair statement... How about we change that to 'making a mountain out of a mole hill'..

After all he asked the Checkout Girl, Floor Manager, Customer Services, Shop Manager, and then asked them to speak to his wife... and why ? because they wouldn't bend the rules for him after he made the assumption that they did bend the rules for someone else....

He wasn't a 'happy bear'... I doubt he was all smiles a giggles when asking his questions, but lets err on the side of kindness and suggest that the Op was smiley, polite and jovial when asking the same question to 4 separate members of staff and then asking them to speak to his wife... ... I would be surprised if anyone he spoke to in the shop didn't think the Op was a bit of a Whack-Job !...

Most people on this thread are suggesting the Op Chills out... As you (Funny Knees) have mentioned, this thread is useful for many. I hope its useful for the Op. Otherwise he'll leave behind a wake of Thai's who either dislike or are too scared to deal with the rest of Whacky Foreigners...

Edited April 30, 2013 by richard_smith237

[ALFREDO]

Op. leave behind, Thai's who are scared to deal with Foreigners...

Not so bad, a bit respect, can not hurt.

Edited May 4, 2013 by ALFREDO