No shame,no morals.

[suthansman]

Outside the big temple in Bangkok the g/f and I went for an iced drink. She recoiled at the asking price. Told the vendor she is Thai and would only pay the Thai price. We got the drinks at the Thai price.

I always try to learn the price of things and often wait behind a nThai customer to see how much they are charged. If I am knowingly charged more or asked for more money I walk away.

The equivalent of 28 overcharges per week would definitely send me off to a different vendor, be it 1 Baht or whatever.

[MJP]

If I was a Thai person with a coffee stand I think I'd likely do the same. The price of something is whatever someone is willing to pay.

Just sayin' is all.

[Opl]

Kangawallafox

you're right. your customer's fidelity has not been rewarded and these people are just happy to make some more profit. When you support a shop tenant you want to feel satisfied when paying.

I hope you still wave hello and smile passing by the coffee shop, on the way to have your daily coffee elsewhere - one way and return!

Edited December 29, 2013 by Opl

[willyumiii]

Good for you!

I am glad you also told them why you will not return as well.

I do the same and also let them know that I will inform all the farang / Thai couples that they are bad people to do business with.

Then I try to use a shop where they can see me do the business I would have done with then if they were good people.

I considered making up stickers to label businesses as "Farang Rip Offs", to warn others,

Then was warned that in Thailand the laws are against the consumer and support the business owners.

Posting warning stickers would be in violation of the law.

No boycotts here!

They only live for the minute.

Rip you off for 5 baht today and lose hundreds, maybe thousands of baht on lost future sales.

You can not fix stupid.

But, you can attempt to make them think.

[StreetCowboy]

Almost every day on the walk home from work, I buy a fried-thing-on-a-stick from a vendor. I've always thought it was odd that she charges me 22 baht for it. Prices are usually to the nearest five baht for everything. I have a sneaking suspicion I'm being charges a 2 baht foreigner tax, but I haven't been bothered enough to have somebody go check it for me. If I ever do check and it turns out she charges Thais the same 22 baht, I'll come back here and eat my hat.

Fried?

[CharlieH]

Good for you!

I am glad you also told them why you will not return as well.

I do the same and also let them know that I will inform all the farang / Thai couples that they are bad people to do business with.

Then I try to use a shop where they can see me do the business I would have done with then if they were good people.

I considered making up stickers to label businesses as "Farang Rip Offs", to warn others,

Then was warned that in Thailand the laws are against the consumer and support the business owners.

Posting warning stickers would be in violation of the law.

No boycotts here!

They only live for the minute.

Rip you off for 5 baht today and lose hundreds, maybe thousands of baht on lost future sales.

You can not fix stupid.

But, you can attempt to make them think.

Now there is an idea, get some stickers made stating "as seen on TV", they think its TV ( television), we will all know it will be Thai Visa ! and can steer clear ---

[Beetlejuice]

Good for you!

I am glad you also told them why you will not return as well.

I do the same and also let them know that I will inform all the farang / Thai couples that they are bad people to do business with.

Then I try to use a shop where they can see me do the business I would have done with then if they were good people.

I considered making up stickers to label businesses as "Farang Rip Offs", to warn others,

Then was warned that in Thailand the laws are against the consumer and support the business owners.

Posting warning stickers would be in violation of the law.

No boycotts here!

They only live for the minute.

Rip you off for 5 baht today and lose hundreds, maybe thousands of baht on lost future sales.

You can not fix stupid.

But, you can attempt to make them think.

I think there should be a new forum category created on Thai visa. We could call it: the persecuted and the oppressed Thailand forum.

[oogster8]

your coffee expense for a year could feed a village for a year. for the socialist out there........lol.

[Nignoy]

You mean to say that your wife didn't know you two were overcharged all this time?

How would she,only been staying in the soi two weeks,was her that found out as I don't speak thai.

But why don't you speak thai, it is only in your own interest to learn the language of the country you are living in, I was at a direct disadvantage, I arrived in an isaan village direct from 7months in borneo,having just trying to learn the basic,malay, Iban and sakai dialects and as I was part of a ghurka unit my head was fuc_ked up with ghurkhali as well,while I considered it helpful to me I started to learn thai, big joke as I was to find out years later the thai spoken in Yasothon province is a mixture of laos ,Khmer and doubledutch,when I first spoke to a thai officer he commented on my excellent pronunciation , but advised me not to use the isaan dialect when talking to city thais,as they think of it as a language of the gutter!!how do you forget the language you are using everyday and try to learn an entirely different version of the language,like with german or swiss, I learned the language first and then the dialects, but even today in Thailand my friends say Ispeak thai like a Laos Pimp !!learn the language mate ,no one will laugh at you

No I will not learn the language but thanks for the advice,I spend most of my time in oz.

so do we these days!!, my Australian children and grandchildren have learned thai, they think it is great fun tobe able to communicate with thais in their own age group

[Beetlejuice]

It`s all very simple.

First you learn some basic Thai. Then if you have reasons to suspect you are being over charged, confront the coffee stall owners head on and tell them in a polite but firm way that they have been over charging you (don`t go over the top or lose your temper with your complaint) and see if they are willing to acknowledge their error and treat you fairly from now on. If so, fine, if not, just turn your back never to return.

Something similar happened to me at a noodle shop earlier this year. I discovered that I had been over changed 5 baht too much on a meal and 5 baht extra on the soft drinks for my previous two visits. No big deal, I just informed the lady owner who without any argument refunded the money I had been over charged and ever since the attitude has changed towards me and the owners and staff are now most polite and courteous, almost embarrassingly so, even referring to me by my first name.

For those who are residing in Thailand for the long term should learn to deal with these problems, if not than your lives are going to be very stressful and uncomfortable here.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Beetlejuice

[Briggsy]

Call them "ai heea khee gohng" in front of their regular customers. That'll teach them good and proper. They will be forced to relocate their cart which could be a major pain for them if they have found a good spot.

[roamer]

As you're quite adamant that you are not going to learn even basic Thai I feel that you lose the right to protest about being ripped off somewhat. You say you teach here, teach English I wonder ?

[benalibina]

As you're quite adamant that you are not going to learn even basic Thai I feel that you lose the right to protest about being ripped off somewhat. You say you teach here, teach English I wonder ?

So it is "somewhat" ok to be ripped off if he does not want to learn to speak thai ?

[chiang mai]

Poor sod, the OP takes the time to recant an interesting story and TV's finest promptly rip him a new a'hole for drinking too much coffee and not being able to speak Thai, one has to wonder if it's actually worth launching such stories in the first place!

[Time Traveller]

So you want to pay more for a coffee just because the coffee you used to buy for less was actually more than someone else paid for it?

Well as long as you feel happy about that.

[Ajaan]

The OP "spends most of his time in Oz" but "buys 14 coffees a week" (his half of the 28) in a soi in Thailand. Um...okay.

[MJP]

^^ BB

I wasn't really thinking about the OP, it was Kikomans post.

[roamer]

As you're quite adamant that you are not going to learn even basic Thai I feel that you lose the right to protest about being ripped off somewhat. You say you teach here, teach English I wonder ?

So it is "somewhat" ok to be ripped off if he does not want to learn to speak thai ?

You are more likely to be ripped off anywhere if you can't speak the language. If you happen to be working here and you still can't be bothered to learn basic Thai then you have only yourself to blame.

[daoyai]

Sounds to me that this is of a case of tourist price and maybe not farang price, the op is a tourist that spends most of his time in Oz, if a Thai speaking expat rolled up and ordered in Thai, probably be local price. If only for the reason the owner would fear a local ordering the same and charged less, the Expat might notice, the tourist, probably not or not care.

[FiftyTwo]

Call them "ai heea khee gohng" in front of their regular customers. That'll teach them good and proper. They will be forced to relocate their cart which could be a major pain for them if they have found a good spot.

What if it was a woman?

[mesquite]

You mean to say that your wife didn't know you two were overcharged all this time?

How would she,only been staying in the soi two weeks,was her that found out as I don't speak thai.

But why don't you speak thai, it is only in your own interest to learn the language of the country you are living in, I was at a direct disadvantage, I arrived in an isaan village direct from 7months in borneo,having just trying to learn the basic,malay, Iban and sakai dialects and as I was part of a ghurka unit my head was fuc_ked up with ghurkhali as well,while I considered it helpful to me I started to learn thai, big joke as I was to find out years later the thai spoken in Yasothon province is a mixture of laos ,Khmer and doubledutch,when I first spoke to a thai officer he commented on my excellent pronunciation , but advised me not to use the isaan dialect when talking to city thais,as they think of it as a language of the gutter!!how do you forget the language you are using everyday and try to learn an entirely different version of the language,like with german or swiss, I learned the language first and then the dialects, but even today in Thailand my friends say Ispeak thai like a Laos Pimp !!learn the language mate ,no one will laugh at you

No I will not learn the language but thanks for the advice,I spend most of my time in oz.

As you may have figured out, he's just bragging that he can speak Thai. There's one in every thread.

[thailiketoo]

Poor sod, the OP takes the time to recant an interesting story and TV's finest promptly rip him a new a'hole for drinking too much coffee and not being able to speak Thai, one has to wonder if it's actually worth launching such stories in the first place!

I don't think it is. If one reads the OP's posts and topics they are mostly Thai negative. 1. No shame, no morals, 2. no hygiene, 3. over the top behavior, 4. need a break from Thailand.

He is looking for the Thai negative poster of the year award I think.

He doesn't want to speak Thai. That means he wants to exist in a country like a man who is deaf and dumb.

Have you ever asked a deaf and dumb person if they wanted to communicate? If they wanted to speak and hear? Ever found one who enjoyed being deaf and dumb?

I used to work with a little old man from Europe who migrated to Denver. He was a Holocaust survivor. Once a year Denver would host the Stockman's show. We'd get a lot of Texans. Texans are big and loud and wear big belt buckles, they're not hard to spot and they speak with a Texas drawl.

Every scam I learned during my young life I learned from that old man when the Texans came to town. He was unmerciful. He conned them with every trick in the book.

Now would it surprise any of you experts on Thailand that not all Farangs get charged the Farang price? I'm just saying.......

[andyww]

This is nothing to do with morals, it's to do with running a business and maximising revenue.

A business which does not display fixed prices (and many which do) will sell for varying prices depending on what they think the customer will pay. It happens everywhere.

It appears they were correct, the OP was happy with the price charged. This pricing approach has a drawback as this post attests, when someone finds out other people have been charged less. So their business decision on pricing fell over. This is not a moral issue, it's a business decision which didn't work out.

Is it a moral issue when two people sitting next to each other on a flight find out they have paid different prices for the ticket? Of course not.

[ttthailand]

I have been here for many years and do speak a little Thai. I always ask how much before buying or doing anything if the price is not shown. If a price is quoted to me that appears high I question it and sometimes make a face and tell them in Thai " Really ! .... Expensive ! . Sometimes they look at me and adjust price but most of the time it is what it is. Speaking a little Thai does help prevent these things from happening as they immediately know you are not a tourist. I am sure I have been ripped off a few times but all and all I think I normally pay local prices.

[thailiketoo]

This is nothing to do with morals, it's to do with running a business and maximising revenue.

A business which does not display fixed prices (and many which do) will sell for varying prices depending on what they think the customer will pay. It happens everywhere.

It appears they were correct, the OP was happy with the price charged. This pricing approach has a drawback as this post attests, when someone finds out other people have been charged less. So their business decision on pricing fell over. This is not a moral issue, it's a business decision which didn't work out.

Is it a moral issue when two people sitting next to each other on a flight find out they have paid different prices for the ticket? Of course not.

If one is from Australia and one from Thailand it may be.

[petermik]

how much were they overcharging you?

Not the amount that matters-its principle-they did right and I would do the same

[thaibeachlovers]

<they should know they lost about twenty eight coffees a week.>

They don't think about that. I don't know why,but it's certainly not a purely Thai characteristic.

Back home in low season two of us were looking for a deal on a hostel where there were no other customers. The owner refused to lower his price, so he lost the only 2 customers he probably had that day. We just went back to a cheaper hostel we'd seen before.

[Issangeorge]

I'm interested to know where this happened? I believe there is very little double pricing in Isaan at local shops. Buying land, having a house built, that's different you're charged what the seller thinks you will pay, farang or rich Thai, the seller thinks your wealthier so charges you more. However I don't see this at the local shop level and will quite often be given a discount, even after I've agreed to a price, without asking.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ X using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[thaibeachlovers]

I have been here for many years and do speak a little Thai. I always ask how much before buying or doing anything if the price is not shown. If a price is quoted to me that appears high I question it and sometimes make a face and tell them in Thai " Really ! .... Expensive ! . Sometimes they look at me and adjust price but most of the time it is what it is. Speaking a little Thai does help prevent these things from happening as they immediately know you are not a tourist. I am sure I have been ripped off a few times but all and all I think I normally pay local prices.

When I get asked an obviously excessive price, I like to laugh loudly and walk away.

Like the songtheaw driver in Chiang Mai that wanted 60 baht for a 20 baht ride. The next one asked 40 and came down to 30. Still more than it should be, but within the acceptable range.

[blabth]

I do understand double pricing policies for historic monuments and public parks etc. as I feel every Thai should be able to visit these places regardless if they have the money or not. But if I see double price policies applied in Golf Courses, Restaurants, entertainment venues that p...ed me on. If I noticed that I stop to patronize this place.