Cheapest Charlie

[Jingthing]

sometimes i go to restaurants and have:

1. my own COKE ZERO (they don't sell that)

2. my own BROWN RICE (they don't sell that)

3. my own RED WINE (they don't sell that)

and nobody cares. i pay my bill and tip 10% (with a minimum of 30THB)....

i don't like the chemical crap known as thai beer and never eat white rice. i'm one of the quality tourists thailand is looking for, 5555555

I guess it depends on what kind of restaurant. Definitely that wouldn't usually be a problem at casual shophouse places and you're smart to eat brown rice!

At higher level restaurants, if it was me, I would probably talk to a manager before eating there to get welcomed or not.

Edited April 9, 2014 by Jingthing

[duanebigsby]

I realize this thread is about the extremes of "cheap charlieism" but I often see bashing anyone who comes to Thailand with less than the amount TV posters seem appropriate

The "you need 100k baht per month or go home crowd" is very prevalent. The ridicule of English teachers who will work for 30k baht is endless

I'm thrifty because I chose to live here on a tight budget. I don't do the ludicrous things outlined in this thread, but I also see the holier than thou mentality of the people with money.

I'm happy with my moderate income but I often have to be "thrifty" to make it work. If you people want to feel superior because you have more money, go ahead.

I'm happy with what I've got and putting other people down isn't necessary for me.

[Spoonman]

sometimes i go to restaurants and have:

1. my own COKE ZERO (they don't sell that)

2. my own BROWN RICE (they don't sell that)

3. my own RED WINE (they don't sell that)

and nobody cares. i pay my bill and tip 10% (with a minimum of 30THB)....

i don't like the chemical crap known as thai beer and never eat white rice. i'm one of the quality tourists thailand is looking for, 5555555

You ask them to cook your brown rice ?

[InTransit]

I often take my own water in to bars and other high end venues. Why. I purchase 20 litre bottles for 12 baht. Why the <removed> do I want to pay 20 or 30 baht for 500ml here in Phuket.

You must be the real life and soul of the party when you hit the bars with your own drinking water

[Gweiloman]

I often take my own water in to bars and other high end venues. Why. I purchase 20 litre bottles for 12 baht. Why the <removed> do I want to pay 20 or 30 baht for 500ml here in Phuket.

You should bring in your own alcohol as well. Much cheaper. Why would you want to pay the inflated prices bar charge when you can just drag in a carrier bag <deleted>ll of 7-11 bought drink? Also you'll look really classy carrying around bottles in order to save 20 baht or so. And you won't look like you've misunderstood how bars and restaurants make money at all either.

At most big Thai restaurants they always take their own and just buy mixers and ice.

The bottles that come out are JW Blue and Black, Chivas seems the most popular.

They are proudly displayed on the table and they would never even think of buying alcohol unless someone really fancied a beer.

My guess is that bottle is re-used time and time again filled with Sang Som.

I always bring my own JW Black (bought duty free of course) when I go out to eat. Main reason is mainly because the places I frequent (road side stalls) don't generally sell JW.

As I don't drink Thai whiskey, I see no reason to refill my empty bottle of JW from another bottle of JW.

[hanno]

I realize this thread is about the extremes of "cheap charlieism" but I often see bashing anyone who comes to Thailand with less than the amount TV posters seem appropriate

The "you need 100k baht per month or go home crowd" is very prevalent. The ridicule of English teachers who will work for 30k baht is endless

I'm thrifty because I chose to live here on a tight budget. I don't do the ludicrous things outlined in this thread, but I also see the holier than thou mentality of the people with money.

I'm happy with my moderate income but I often have to be "thrifty" to make it work. If you people want to feel superior because you have more money, go ahead.

I'm happy with what I've got and putting other people down isn't necessary for me.

No, I have no issue at all with being thrifty. But being thrifty and bringing your own food and drink to a business are entirely different things. I run a business, a business where end of the month I need to pay bills, tax and salaries. I love everybody out there but no, you cannot take your own stuff to sit in a nice air-conditioned place I am paying for,

[steven100]

Every meal that I have had at restaurant at a 5 star hotel in Bangkok has been just that - 5 Star. One of the best cheap Charlie acts I have seen is a guy in a 5 Star hotel in Singapore walking down the corridor and collecting food (some partly eaten) from room service trolleys left outside the room by guests.

But the best cheap Charlie I knew was an Airline Captain in Australia who would take the toilet rolls from the toilets with him after the last flight at night at his home port!

so you wanted to let everyone here know you had a meal at the Marriot .....

[stickylies]

sometimes i go to restaurants and have:

1. my own COKE ZERO (they don't sell that)

2. my own BROWN RICE (they don't sell that)

3. my own RED WINE (they don't sell that)

and nobody cares. i pay my bill and tip 10% (with a minimum of 30THB)....

i don't like the chemical crap known as thai beer and never eat white rice. i'm one of the quality tourists thailand is looking for, 5555555

You ask them to cook your brown rice ?

no i cook brown rice (in fact it's RED rice + BLACK rice + BROWN rice, my own blend) myself and take it with me in tupperware. i have never had any issues with that, small places nor bigger/fancier places, maimee panhaa. i check the menu, pick what i want, then they ask the obligatory "do u want rice" and i answer, "mee laeo, kaowkhong, tam aeng". sofar they all love it (as i'm single man) and some even wanne taste (chim) my blend ;-)

[duanebigsby]

I realize this thread is about the extremes of "cheap charlieism" but I often see bashing anyone who comes to Thailand with less than the amount TV posters seem appropriate

The "you need 100k baht per month or go home crowd" is very prevalent. The ridicule of English teachers who will work for 30k baht is endless

I'm thrifty because I chose to live here on a tight budget. I don't do the ludicrous things outlined in this thread, but I also see the holier than thou mentality of the people with money.

I'm happy with my moderate income but I often have to be "thrifty" to make it work. If you people want to feel superior because you have more money, go ahead.

I'm happy with what I've got and putting other people down isn't necessary for me.

No, I have no issue at all with being thrifty. But being thrifty and bringing your own food and drink to a business are entirely different things. I run a business, a business where end of the month I need to pay bills, tax and salaries. I love everybody out there but no, you cannot take your own stuff to sit in a nice air-conditioned place I am paying for,

Totally agree with you. I would never do that.

[hanno]

Every meal that I have had at restaurant at a 5 star hotel in Bangkok has been just that - 5 Star. One of the best cheap Charlie acts I have seen is a guy in a 5 Star hotel in Singapore walking down the corridor and collecting food (some partly eaten) from room service trolleys left outside the room by guests.

But the best cheap Charlie I knew was an Airline Captain in Australia who would take the toilet rolls from the toilets with him after the last flight at night at his home port!

so you wanted to let everyone here know you had a meal at the Marriot .....

I don't think so. He is saying that not every TV poster is tight-fisted %$#^, there are actually people that work hard enough to afford a decent meal once in a while.

[Neeranam]

I used to wait at victory monument for the little green buses even though there were the red ones stopping. The red bus was 3.50 Baht and the green one was 1 baht cheaper at 2,50 Baht.

[Gillyflower]

Neeranam

Please - I was drinking when I read that. Thought I would choke. I just can't can't believe it. Hysterical.

[Neeranam]

sometimes i go to restaurants and have:

1. my own COKE ZERO (they don't sell that)

2. my own BROWN RICE (they don't sell that)

3. my own RED WINE (they don't sell that)

and nobody cares. i pay my bill and tip 10% (with a minimum of 30THB)....

i don't like the chemical crap known as thai beer and never eat white rice. i'm one of the quality tourists thailand is looking for, 5555555

You ask them to cook your brown rice ?

no i cook brown rice (in fact it's RED rice + BLACK rice + BROWN rice, my own blend) myself and take it with me in tupperware. i have never had any issues with that, small places nor bigger/fancier places, maimee panhaa. i check the menu, pick what i want, then they ask the obligatory "do u want rice" and i answer, "mee laeo, kaowkhong, tam aeng". sofar they all love it (as i'm single man) and some even wanne taste (chim) my blend ;-)

Pretty obvious you didn't pay for any Thai lessons.

[somchaismith]

I used to wait at victory monument for the little green buses even though there were the red ones stopping. The red bus was 3.50 Baht and the green one was 1 baht cheaper at 2,50 Baht.

Ah yes, the dreaded kamikaze buses with the spider in sap or billiard ball gear stick knobs:).

[Neeranam]

Neeranam

Please - I was drinking when I read that. Thought I would choke. I just can't can't believe it. Hysterical.

That's nothing. When we were kids my father got double glazing on all the windows so that us kids couldn't hear the ice-cream van coming.

[Neeranam]

Most cheap charlies will say its not the money its the principal, after they have complained about the price of something.

What about John Getty who never paid the ransom for his grandson and even after his ear was cut off he only paid a fraction of the demand. And he had a pay phone in his mansion!

[BKK Blues Brother]

I can get three cup's of tea out of one tea bag!!

[Neeranam]

My grandad used to make a heap of porridge and pour the excess in a drawer to eat the next day as biscuits.

[Gillyflower]

Transam

I don't think that is being a cheap charlie at all.

Hanno

I agree.

As for the cups of water with one tea bag. I agree. They give you one piddling little cup and I can easily get two strong teas with one bag. I don't ever take tea.

[Tchooptip]

I often take my own water in to bars and other high end venues. Why. I purchase 20 litre bottles for 12 baht. Why the <removed> do I want to pay 20 or 30 baht for 500ml here in Phuket.

You are absolutely right, a Baht is a Baht, and I kindly suggest (if you do not do it already of course) when you go to a restaurant with friends you take your home-made sandwichs. I said with friends because you will easily understand alone it would be more difficult, plus then your own water would be a no-chance.

[Tchooptip]

I can get three cup's of tea out of one tea bag!!

When I put two in one single cup, one breakfast tea + one Earl grey ... I never knew how to manage my money!

[blazes]

I can get three cup's of tea out of one tea bag!!

Disgusting.

[blazes]

This whole thread is like that Monty Python sketch where they are all (in Yorkshire accents) vying with each other to be the poorest working class clods ever.

There is NOTHING attractive or funny about cheapness.

[Songhua]

I used to wait at victory monument for the little green buses even though there were the red ones stopping. The red bus was 3.50 Baht and the green one was 1 baht cheaper at 2,50 Baht.

Ah yes, the dreaded kamikaze buses with the spider in sap or billiard ball gear stick knobs:).

Was on a bus the other day and I kid you not, the gear stick had such a long extension welded onto it that the knob sat 12" higher than the driver's head - the travel between second and third was about fhree foot.

Anyway, cheap charlieness - my wife always insists we walk to the next station to catch the BTS and then get off it one station early (I don't mind the walk, but she's not doing it with fitness in mind).

[danbradster]

I boycott all restaurants that have a small print surcharge (like Fuji). If they just upped their price and cancelled the surcharge, I might go there.

Also, restaurants with bad methods or returning your change, hovering over you while handing you a plate full of change, practically forcing you to tip. I try to boycott those too, unless they're good enough value.

I consider those to be morals more than cheapness. But I also buy the discount cards and return to those restaurants most times (successful marketing ploy!).

[uptheos]

I personally knew a dollar multi-millionaire who would bring his own tea bags to restaurants, ask for hot water, and refuse any charges for the hot water, if made. At places which did serve tea.

Maybe he's tasted the tea most places serve?

I forget his rationale but it was b-llocks. I do remember his tea bags weren't anything special either.

In case you're wondering, the guy is a W.A.S.P.

What's White Anglo Saxon Protestant have to do with anything?

[fatdrunkandstupid]

What kind of 5 star hotel attracts people that want to cook their own food ?

That sort of stuff tends to happen with certain nationalities that don't mind forging out for a room but then want everything else free. A generalization, I know, but after 30 years of working in hotels I do allow myself that generalization.

Ahh haaa haa haa ahhh haaa. 30 years working in hotels. I ran my own business for 15 years and retired to Thailand in my forties... I am constantly amazed by numpties like you that assume that if someone is frugal, that they are broke.

I like to refer to your kind as "all hat and no cattle".

[somchaismith]

At Christmas time we don't pay for decorations or fancy tinsel to hang on the tree.. Grandpa's confined to a wheelchair, so we give him a peppermint, wheel him round the tree and make him sneeze - Kev Bloody Wilson.

[mauGR1]

What kind of 5 star hotel attracts people that want to cook their own food ?

That sort of stuff tends to happen with certain nationalities that don't mind forging out for a room but then want everything else free. A generalization, I know, but after 30 years of working in hotels I do allow myself that generalization.

Ahh haaa haa haa ahhh haaa. 30 years working in hotels. I ran my own business for 15 years and retired to Thailand in my forties... I am constantly amazed by numpties like you that assume that if someone is frugal, that they are broke.

I like to refer to your kind as "all hat and no cattle".

To be frugal is one thing.. If you bring your own water to the restaurant, there is another word, i think it's " deleted "

[scoutman360]

When I was a teenager in the U.S., I used to work in a gas station. Funny conversation with my boss:

Me: I noticed that the poor people, the Hell's Angels bikers, etc. are so generous. They give us tips, they buy gas for their friends. But the rich people that come in here complain all the time. They never tip us or share their money with anyone.

Boss: That's why they have money.