"Vendors" Entering Chiang Mai Restaurants and Trying to Sell to Customers Only

[eyecatcher]

Yesterday I had a similar approach in a restaurant.

This time from 2 claiming to be from a university in bkk. Out comes the i.d. Then want me to buy some bit of crap.

Politely I said I am very sorry but no thank you in thai.

The girl moved away and the boy came to give me the spiel.

Again I said no thanks to him.

Not happy with that he then suggested I don't have to buy his bit of crap but instead I can make a donation.

That was it.....I have said to both of you in my best Thai no thank you

Now I will say it in my language....give yer gob a rest, bugger off and let me finish mi pint

They do understand when you speak more clearly.

[wigantojapan]

In the U.S. often you hear people speak of the down and outers as though they woke up in comfortable homes, smeared a little dirt on, dressed themselves in worn out clothes,

and drove into the city in their Mercedes in order to panhandle and sell trinkets because it's a lucrative way to make a living.

Sounds like some of those folks have found Thai Visa.

For four years I lived in the student ghetto of a university town. Five different schools in the same small New England city. My street had most of the Fraternity and Sorority houses, rooming houses for students and multiple dwelling private houses, mostly student-filled. On Saturday mornings, Sunday mornings, and Holiday morns, a raggedy, dirty, little old man would push his shopping cart 'train' from house to house collecting empty beer cans and bottles to turn in to the recycling center. 2 cents apiece in those days. It was tradition in this area to give your emptys ONLY to this old man, no one else. He'd have 4-8 shopping trollys piled high with empty cans and bottles on his way back to the R.C...

... and every year he'd buy himself a brand new car.

Begging can be a lucrative business.

cant see your connection to the above tale and begging at all

[FolkGuitar]

cant see your connection to the above tale and begging at all

A dirty, raggedy person going door to door asking for handouts.'

He was begging door to door for the cans and bottles so he could turn them into cash.

[BB1955]

Welcome to Thailand !!!

[arunsakda]

Some of the beach resort vendors are worse than any wooden frog lady in CNX.

Truly impossible to relax on certain beaches.

Tribal women demurely scratching wooden frogs..classic CM.

[circusman]

We recently went to that Hmong village up Doi Suthep road. Lots and lots of shops selling souvenirs, but also a good amount of walking 'diamond' sellers. They had something wrapped up in folds of paper. I never let them get far enough into the sales pitch to open the paper. Mai Oaw Krap.

[Mapguy]

There are a lot of poor people trying to make a living! To many better-off sorts, it is an annoyance. If so, just ask, politely, that they go away. If they do not, then you could contact the owner of the place.

Get used to it. I suspect that people who complain have never been in such condition as these opportunistic sellers are.

[FolkGuitar]

There was a fellow I used to see on one of the back sois off Khaosarn Rd in Bangkok. He was always dressed in clean-ish, very old clothes, and always wore a tie. He sat next to a broken scale and offered to let you use it for 2 baht. Smiling, polite, never pushy. Just "Hello mister. You weight ... two baht?" as we passed by. His scale was obviously broken but no one seemed to mind. We'd get ourselves weighed every time we'd pass his stand.

Edited December 29, 2013 by FolkGuitar

[scottishjohn]

I'd never buy or give anything to these folks. Eventually 5 or 10B to the blind guy who makes annoying noise to go away.

The point is, that after another song or 2 if you are lucky, they will come back again and again!

Do not reward bad deeds, or we will be submerged by them....

Why not let the 'staff' give the 'beggar' 10Bht (from the till) at the door to go away.? The staff (& owner?) get Spiritual reward, the beggar gets his 10Bht and the custommer to ignore it all! (if that is the customers's wish!)

[Mapguy]

I'd never buy or give anything to these folks. Eventually 5 or 10B to the blind guy who makes annoying noise to go away.

The point is, that after another song or 2 if you are lucky, they will come back again and again!

Do not reward bad deeds, or we will be submerged by them....

Why not let the 'staff' give the 'beggar' 10Bht (from the till) at the door to go away.? The staff (& owner?) get Spiritual reward, the beggar gets his 10Bht and the custommer to ignore it all! (if that is the customers's wish!)

Well, I suppose that is one way of looking at it. Not very charitable, now, is it, Scottishjohn ?! If you go to a place where the proprietors do such things --- usually to stop such people before they approach the door --- then I suppose you can expect such service for relief from hoi poloi.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Mapguy

[wigantojapan]

cant see your connection to the above tale and begging at all

A dirty, raggedy person going door to door asking for handouts.'

He was begging door to door for the cans and bottles so he could turn them into cash.

i thought you said he was collecting bottles and cans to take to the recycle...still cant see how that is begging regardless if he was old ,dirty and raggedly....Surely in america there are recycled bins where people can take them ,,,,is that also begging,,,,,

[FolkGuitar]

cant see your connection to the above tale and begging at all

A dirty, raggedy person going door to door asking for handouts.'

He was begging door to door for the cans and bottles so he could turn them into cash.

i thought you said he was collecting bottles and cans to take to the recycle...still cant see how that is begging regardless if he was old ,dirty and raggedly....Surely in america there are recycled bins where people can take them ,,,,is that also begging,,,,,

Perhaps I wasn't clear in my post. In America, we pay a cash deposit on bottles and cans when we purchase soft drinks, beer, and other liquids in the shops. It's built into the price of the drinks. Today, a two-liter pop bottle deposit is 10¢, while an ordinary beer can deposit is 5¢. If you bring 100 beer cans to a recycle center they pay you 5¢x100= $5.00. You don't get paid by 'weight' in these centers. You get the deposit back, which is far more lucrative than selling scrap aluminum or glass to be ground up. The Recycle Centers separated the various materials into the various brands to be returned to different bottling companies to be washed and refilled if possible. The rest is then sold as scrap to be ground up and re-made.

Going around asking for cans or bottles in the US is just one step away from going door to door asking for spare change. He's not asking for cans and bottles because he's gone 'Green.' He's doing it because the Recycle Centers give him money for it. He's not purchasing cans or bottles when he goes door-to-door, he's begging people to give them to him.

Edited December 30, 2013 by FolkGuitar

[Ricardo]

I actually welcome the guy who sells film-DVDs, when he comes into the Mad Dog while I'm there, as he saves me a trip to the Night-Bizarre or Tachilek !

Edited December 30, 2013 by Ricardo

[Thighlander]

I actually welcome the guy who sells film-DVDs, when he comes into the Mad Dog while I'm there, as he saves me a trip to the Night-Bizarre or Tachilek !

and you might get a chance to speak to someone, who isn't an old grouch.

[AlaskaDave]

There is a lady who regularly makes the rounds of a restaurant in which I often eat. She sell herbals and Viagra (no idea if either is real.) She goes from table to table, and even though I always smile and say no thanks, she always tries.

It takes me almost 1.5 seconds to smile and say 'mai aew, khrap.' She's gone.

I don't give her another thought until either the next time I see her or someone complains about this sort of thing.

In the Great Scheme of Life, this hardly constitutes a 'problem.'

Agreed. There are so many other things to worry and complain about

This is the way some folks make a living and I bet they ain't getting rich on what they earn. Every once in a while we buy a flower from a very young vendor at our favorite Japanese restaurant. 20 baht isn't a lot of money. And other times I just say mai aou, krap and he walks on by.

Edited December 31, 2013 by AlaskaDave

[up-country_sinclair]

These vendors can be slightly annoying but a quick shake or the head usually sends them on their way. Who I find more irksome are the Indian guys selling watches on soi 11 and 13. My wife and I were sitting outside a cafe enjoying a bit of dessert and were approached at least 5 times by these guys during 30 minutes.

[jacko45k]

I have always felt the same regarding lottery ticket vendors.

I do not like to be disturbed/interrupted in a restaurant while eating.

I would like the owners/ staff to basically keep them out.

But perhaps they get a kick-back and it may well be just one of those differences we have to accept.

Let us not mention pushy vendors and scroungers around the resort beer-bars!

[FolkGuitar]

Usually I just pay no attention or smile and say Mai Aew, Krap. But there was one beggar who actually did annoy me...

An old guy in the Banglampoo district in Bangkok. He's walk from table to table of the outdoor restaurants shaking a large cup with coins at the bottom. He would just stand next to your chair, staring at you and shaking his cup, jingling the coins. He wouldn't say anything. He wouldn't make any facial expressions. He just stood there shaking his cup. And he wouldn't move until you put a coin into it, then he'd move to the next table and shake his cup. Saying 'no thank you' or 'please go away' had no effect on him.

However... saying ของขวัญที่ดีสำหรับฉันหรือไม่ ขอบคุณมาก! worked very well. (Or at least the spoken version of it did. I used GoogleTranslate for this written version) He stepped to the next table smartly. I guess he figured that if you knew enough Pasa Thai to say that, you were already inured to beggars.

[Card]

I'd never buy or give anything to these folks. Eventually 5 or 10B to the blind guy who makes annoying noise to go away.

Actually it keeps him coming back for more. I can tolerate hawkers outside a restaurant but inside is taboo. If I pay for a meal I expect to be able to eat it in peace. Thailand or no Thailand.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Card

[meechai]

ever notice the Thai customers pretty much ignore them.

they do not even acknowledge them

Edited December 31, 2013 by meechai

[MobileContent]

I never found those mobile vendors annoying.

They too have to make a living.

Today the TV brigade complains about the mobile vendors.

Yesterday it was about a farang got overcharged for his coffee.

Let's see what's tomorrow on the menu.

[uptheos]

Bouncers on the doors of all restaurants and drinking establishments, to throw the blind and lame firmly into the gutter where they belong would solve this outrageous problem that plagues us. How dare they interfere with our consumption of steaks, meat pies, F&C and no doubt copious amounts of Chang...............Can't they get good government jobs or something? Geez.

[12DrinkMore]

I hate those incessant sellers in the bars.

Nudge on arm. Turn around. Another seller.

"Mai Aow"

Another nudge

"Mai Aow"

Tug on sleeve

"Mai Aow"

Another tug on sleeve

"Mai Aow"

And it goes on and on. And then the next one. And the next.

Two or three in an evening I could handle.

But sometimes it is a constant stream of them.

[Ulysses G.]

I don't mind too much the first time that they ask, but it really pisses me off whan they just stand there staring at you after you say no - thinking that they can guilt you into changing your mind.

[scubascuba3]

You get it in many countries,its worse in Cambodia and Bali. I've been approached at least 50 times by sunglasses sellers, I'm bored at saying no thanks so now I don't acknowledge them at all and that's the best, they leave straight away

[uptheos]

I eat at home, but it doesn't put the missus off.

[NoshowJones]

I'd never buy or give anything to these folks. Eventually 5 or 10B to the blind guy who makes annoying noise to go away.

I understand that in some cases these blind people are not blind at all, There's the one legged guy in Sukhumvit who crawls along the sidewalk begging, then when he is finished, he walks away on his crutches. I don't wish to sound unsympathetic, but is it possible for a one legged person to not be able to use crutches? I am not saying it is or it is not, only asking out of interest. I do believe that a lot of these beggars are not scammers, I just don't like the idea of people being dropped off by someone in a van and picked up again and getting the lions share of the days takings.

[Torrens54]

GRIZZLEGUTS!

Not only in Thailand, try Australia, USA, Canada, the UK just for starters. You won't find this happening in Top Class restaurants but in your average little eatery, who cares? you are NOT Forced to buy from these people who are trying to scratch out a living, in most cases a simple smile and a shake of your head will see them off. If they persist, then you just ignore them. Nothing too hard about that!

Why do some people have to be so MISERABLE?

[uptheos]

I'd never buy or give anything to these folks. Eventually 5 or 10B to the blind guy who makes annoying noise to go away.

I understand that in some cases these blind people are not blind at all, There's the one legged guy in Sukhumvit who crawls along the sidewalk begging, then when he is finished, he walks away on his crutches. I don't wish to sound unsympathetic, but is it possible for a one legged person to not be able to use crutches? I am not saying it is or it is not, only asking out of interest. I do believe that a lot of these beggars are not scammers, I just don't like the idea of people being dropped off by someone in a van and picked up again and getting the lions share of the days takings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbnkY1tBvMU

[NoshowJones]

I never found those mobile vendors annoying.

They too have to make a living.

Today the TV brigade complains about the mobile vendors.

Yesterday it was about a farang got overcharged for his coffee.

Let's see what's tomorrow on the menu.

That's what is enjoyable about Thaivisa, all these different posts positive or negative, besides the poster (Farang) was not overcharged for his coffee, he was undercharged. I bet your cup is always half empty.