i am ready to stop tipping

[infinity11]

long story

what do YOU think?

[jdinasia]

Why would you being a cheap charlie matter to the rest of us?

[Jip99]

Why would you being a cheap charlie matter to the rest of us?

That doesn't help the discussion one iota.

You should have said...... "tell us the story OP, why don't you want to leave a tip anymore".

It could lead to a more meaningful thread.

[wolf5370]

Why would you being a cheap charlie matter to the rest of us?

That doesn't help the discussion one iota.

You should have said...... "tell us the story OP, why don't you want to leave a tip anymore".

It could lead to a more meaningful thread.

Or "glad you got over your balance problems"

[falkan]

if the food and service is good, why not..

[Forethat]

I stopped tipping 25 years ago.

If the service was poor.

[Neeranam]

I rarely go places that look for tips.

I tip my regular golf caddy 100 baht but some in the past got nothing - long story. I'll tell you if you tell me why you're ready to stop tipping.

I was in The Royal Bangkok Sports club last month and wanted to give the very friendly and helpful waiter a 100 baht tip but my Thai friend stopped me and said to give him 50.

My brother was visiting us recently and gave the car park attendant 500 baht tip for looking after my car which had presents in it. I thought this was ridiculously high but he thought 10 quid was normal.

Many of us foreigners are still thinking in Western ways. I know one guy who gave all the staff in one restaurant 1000 baht each, all 8 of them. There's a fine line between generosity and stupidity.

I've met many who still don't know never to tip the dentist or the barber in Thailand.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Neeranam

[wayned]

I stopped tipping years ago when I stopped wearing a hat!

[thailandbeachisland]

I tip nobody and not even in US !

[smokie36]

Hmmmm my lass is in charge of most of the tipping....but if I am on my own it depends on the service and attitude.

That said a 20 Baht tip here and there is normal for me.

[NeverSure]

I always give the waiter a tip. It is "next time give me better service."

[wayned]

I tip nobody and not even in US !

Obviously you have never taken a taxi in New York City with luggage in the trunk!

[crumpled]

Hmmmm my lass is in charge of most of the tipping....but if I am on my own it depends on the service and attitude.

That said a 20 Baht tip here and there is normal for me.

Long, long ago I was given a bollo*king for tipping too much and told what to tip by a member of staff in a place I frequented. She told me 20 Baht is a decent tip. I thought that was being tight fisted. Yet since then I have always let the current g/f tip and they tip 20 Baht also. In the odd case where the staff have looked after us particularly well she will give them 40 Baht. On a rare occasion 50 Baht !!

Seems we do tip way over the odds and letting the female half do the tipping stops me feeling guilty over the 20 Baht tips

I have to admit that none of the staff pull a face at that level of tipping. They always smile and happily nod their heads on receipt.

Edited November 22, 2013 by crumpled

[Mighty Mouse]

They bring you a warm bottle of beer, they stuff up your meal order, they're slow in getting you want you want, they won't turn the music down, they allow street hawkers onto the premises to pester you, they take ages to tally up your bin and they bring you the wrong change......

.....and then they smile nicely expecting a tip.....

hehehehe..... It's a funny world.

[bunnydrops]

I tend to tip every place I eat or drink coffee. Not much 5 to 20 baht. In Bangkok once I didn't have anything less than a thousand baht after dinner at a place I went to often, so I wasn't going to leave any tip. The waitress ran over and said "what, you are not going to leave a tip?. I of course did not tip her, and I told the owner I would never eat there again.

[kikoman]

Tipping is up to the person, I tip when I get good service and if the service was not good no tip!

In the states I did not tip much, as I felt I would not subsidize a restaurant owner on his responsibility of paying their employees a decent wage or a restaurant that adds a service charge to your bill. Restaurants in Arizona are excluded from the US minimum standard wage requirements.

Here in Thailand the cost of eating out is cheaper and I got back into the habit of Tipping, at restaurants, for massages, carrying baggage, for any service that I consider to good!

Cheers

Edited November 23, 2013 by kikoman

[CharlieH]

In small coffee shops or noodle shops always leave the coins, or whatever is there from change.

In restaurants it depends entirely on the food and service.

Hotel, the guy who carries my bags up gets 20 baht.

Taxi always get a tip, providing

1 they agree to take me

2 they use the meter

3 they dont go on a scenic tour, they go A to B.

[jackr]

Those who over-tip in Thailand, or indeed tip when they shouldn't, don't know how stupid they make themselves look... generosity does not come into it. Read up on the culture, esp' newbies from the US!

[cooked]

I tipped the police yesterday, seemed the thing to do.

[Jip99]

In small coffee shops or noodle shops always leave the coins, or whatever is there from change.

In restaurants it depends entirely on the food and service.

Hotel, the guy who carries my bags up gets 20 baht.

Taxi always get a tip, providing

1 they agree to take me

2 they use the meter

3 they dont go on a scenic tour, they go A to B.

This looks about spot on to me.

I object to excessive corkage charges. Seven years ago King Sea restaurant in Pattaya charged something ridiculous like 20 Baht, I went last year and they charged 300 Baht. I didn't tip and I will not go back (it was crap anyway with a deep, flat-voiced khatoey going around singing 'international' songs).

I had a small restaurant a few years ago and staff shared all tips. They were trained (as best we could) to give good/attentive service. On our best day of the week they would increase their daily wage from 180 Baht to 500 Baht from tips.

[David48]

Hmmmm my lass is in charge of most of the tipping....but if I am on my own it depends on the service and attitude.

That said a 20 Baht tip here and there is normal for me.

You and I think a alike on this.

I leave the tipping, if required up to the Lassie.

She's savvy ...

By myself, 20 Baht is usually the go.

Always leave 20 Baht on the pillow for the maid service in the Hotel.

But I usually stay in cheaper places then Smokie ...

With a massage ... maybe more ... depends on my satisfaction level and how

professional the masseur was ... no Puns intended.

.

[ToddWeston]

The massage shops that are 150 baht the "house" keeps 90 baht so I tend to give at least 50 baht or more if the massage is good (I only do foot massages)

As for the rest 20 baht or leftover coins, I'll admit I don't like it when staff hover after they give me back my change in a restaurant.

[Spaniel]

I rarely go places that look for tips.

I tip my regular golf caddy 100 baht but some in the past got nothing - long story. I'll tell you if you tell me why you're ready to stop tipping.

I was in The Royal Bangkok Sports club last month and wanted to give the very friendly and helpful waiter a 100 baht tip but my Thai friend stopped me and said to give him 50.

My brother was visiting us recently and gave the car park attendant 500 baht tip for looking after my car which had presents in it. I thought this was ridiculously high but he thought 10 quid was normal.

Many of us foreigners are still thinking in Western ways. I know one guy who gave all the staff in one restaurant 1000 baht each, all 8 of them. There's a fine line between generosity and stupidity.

I've met many who still don't know never to tip the dentist or the barber in Thailand.

I think it's common sense not to tip the dentist but why not tip the barber? I get my hair cut at a small but nice shop in Minburi where a regular haircut is B80 and I always give the barber a B20 tip. Many Thais use this shop too and I have notice that some but not all of the Thai customers also give a tip.

[pomchop]

I tip nobody and not even in US !

yeah good luck with that....be sure not to go to same restaurant twice unless you enjoy having spit and a few other things in your meal.....

[I knew this would happen]

I give tips, but only if someone did more than just his job, that´s what he gets paid for anyway. If someone is a little more friendly and helpful than the average i will reward that, makes him happy and me too!

Because next time when we meet again i hope for the same service. And if after a while they get used to beeing tipped, i will leave that out a few times and usually they get it.....

If there´s a service charge included i won´t tip of course, only when something really outstanding happend.

When i still had a boss and did more than a good job i expected some form of "thank you" too. And in some places giving a tip really helps a lot, there are some parking lots that always have a free place for me since i tip these guys. Ok, thats almost briberby.....

[attrayant]

kikoman, on 23 Nov 2013 - 08:01, said:

In the states I did not tip much, as I felt I would not subsidize a restaurant owner on his responsibility [...]

Way to go, you're really sticking it to the man! Oh wait - you're sticking it to the impoverished laborer working for $2 an hour, and who likely has to report 8% of his wages to the IRS as tips (even though he didn't get any from you). I'm not sure why you think the restaurant owner is being taught a lesson from your defiance.

If you want to rant about how paying less than minimum wage to "tipping professions" is bullsh!t, I'll be right there with you. But right now, tipping is the cultural norm. In the USA, when you go out to eat, you need to be able to cope with the fact that your responsibility will be approximately [bill+15%]. If you're not prepared to do that, then maybe you shouldn't be eating out in the first place.

But what I really don't get is why it matters that part of the server's income comes directly from you instead of from you, through the restaurant owner to the server. Compare the present tipping system to a non-tipping one, and you'll see that the tipping system is more efficient and gives power to the customer, where it should be.

Adding the restaurant owner into the payment chain just adds a middle-man. What is worse, the middle-man might not behave honestly. What if he jacks up menu prices 20% but only pays the waitstaff 15% more?

In the current system where my tip goes directly to the laborer, I can be reasonably assured that there is no middle-man taking a cut.

[adding this bit to keep my post 'about Thailand']:

Now having said all that, I view tipping in Thailand and other non-tipping cultures as a way of saying "thank you for extraordinary service". If the service is typical, I don't tip. But when the waiter is extra-attentive, super nice or... ahem... aesthetically pleasing, I have no qualms about leaving 20 or 30 baht - maybe more. That amount of money is next to nothing for me, but it can really help some destitute worker who goes out of his way to make my dining experience a nice one.

Edited November 23, 2013 by attrayant

[transam]

Until you tell me/us your loooooooooooong story, how can I/we post our thoughts on the matter, as you have asked ..

[krisb]

Until you tell me/us your loooooooooooong story, how can I/we post our thoughts on the matter, as you have asked ..

Maybe he is ashamed of something that he did last night!

[yermanee]

Those who over-tip in Thailand, or indeed tip when they shouldn't, don't know how stupid they make themselves look... generosity does not come into it. Read up on the culture, esp' newbies from the US!

For me it's not about generosity or making a fool of myself as you so eloquantly mention.

Giving a nice tip for a job well done makes ME feel good.

Yermanee

[transam]

I went to a bike shop to buy a couple of bolts. I don't speak the lingo but I get bye . They didn't have what I wanted, the owner pointed to a scooter, a mechanic got on it and pointed to the back seat , I got on and he took me to a shop that had my bolts . I put 100bht in his overalls pocket. He/they saved me probably a lot of running around, plus they will remember me in the future if l am stuck for something.