Cheapest Charlie

[Loles]

I only don't understand if some-one doesn't want to consume (or only fake consumer: a tonic, a water, etc..) WHY does go to the bar ??? Go to 7/11 and enjoy the 10 B prices, or go to Makro, and save more, if you buy a pack, you get 8.5 B and everybody is happy.

This people think the bar and venue owners keep their place for these cheap charlies good mood.

And sorry to say, but they are mostly are English.

When I was university student I was in a student-changing program in England. Once I forgot to turn off the gas heater morning before leaving, and this worked all day around in 20% capacity. When I arrived home just jump to a drug store, and there was a big forum about my FATAL negligence, and they looked at me like I would killed some-one's baby-girl. First I thought the house is burned down about me and when I recognized what was happened I had to laugh, but of course didn't do.

Edited April 11, 2014 by Loles

[mrtoad]

In many (most?) countries the provision of free drinking water is considered to be part of the general service, like cutlery or salt and pepper or a napkin or toilets. As the French invariably eat bread with a meal the provision of the bread is also generally considered to be just part of the restaurant service there. One exception would be cafeteria style restaurants as found in shopping centres, where small bread rolls can be purchased with the other food items, all of which are sold individually.

Even in the most expensive places in the UK the provision of free water is now obligatory:

All of which makes the restaurants in Thailand that charge for water look like the real cheap charlies to me.

Restaurants do not have to provide free bottled water to clients in the UK, it's always been that you can ask for tap water - although most people don't, unless there are jugs of water on the table.

Here the water is bottled, so of course they are going to charge - although some places do mark it up somewhat. I guess you can drink "Bangkok Tap Water", although I'd not be too keen on doing that.

One of our local Island scratchers, often asks for "staff water", which is pretty tight, but he is an expert in that.

[Konini]

My mam has been calling a neighbour (called Maurice) 'Cheap Charlie' since I was young.

[baneko]

Really its 'kee nee ow' not cheap charlie. In my thai village I hear it directed at many Thai villagers. Men mainly.

In the UK people are a grip, tight wad etc. Its not only bars girls.

When I go to a bar I expect to spend a wedge. In the UK or Thailand.

To many people are 'penny wise, pound foolish'.

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[mrtoad]

RG, the other bit is that you are in Chanthaburi - and it is vastly different. Between Chanthaburi and Koh Chang the scene in a way is very different, but I like quiet places that you don't get harassed by idiots and two week millionaires. BTW, the steak at CRAZE in Chanthaburi is superb, my new favourite eating place in the town.

Edited April 11, 2014 by mrtoad

[Gillyflower]

Just recently I took some Shan friends to that Burmese Cuisine across from Loco Elvis. They thought the food was OK - for farangs. It was the first time that they had ever been in a farang restaurent. We ordered too much food and I told them they could take it home if they wished. They were shocked - farang take food home from restaurent.!!!! They don't know the expression 'cheap charlie', but I guess that is what they were thinking. I only take pizza and I certainly wouldn't do it in France.

[taotoo]

A bit over the top if it's a beer bar but if there is entertainment or decent surroundings, somebody's got to pay.

It's apparent there are many punters here that are oblivious to the costs of keeping a business open.

When you buy a drink, you are also paying for the glass, ice, refrigeration, cleanup, rent, water, air-conditioning, furniture, breakage,

Fair enough.

insurance, advertising, maintenance, depreciation, staff, uniforms, training, thefts, bookkeeping, tax, social security, and.....get this! Profit.

LOL

[chickenslegs]

If you are not paying for the water and bread who is?

In many (most?) countries the provision of free drinking water is considered to be part of the general service, like cutlery or salt and pepper or a napkin or toilets. As the French invariably eat bread with a meal the provision of the bread is also generally considered to be just part of the restaurant service there. One exception would be cafeteria style restaurants as found in shopping centres, where small bread rolls can be purchased with the other food items, all of which are sold individually.

Even in the most expensive places in the UK the provision of free water is now obligatory:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1266177/Diners-fury-refused-glass-water-posh-restaurant.html

All of which makes the restaurants in Thailand that charge for water look like the real cheap charlies to me.

The point I was making is this:

The restaurant/hotel owner has to pay for the water and the bread. The water bottler and baker do not give it away. Even the tap water has to be paid for.

This cost is passed on to the customer, either as a visible item on the bill or hidden in the cost of the meal.

So, there is no free water or bread (or salt & pepper, napkins, toilets...).

[MZurf]

Yes, Mr. Fatdrunkandstupid, you have a young, high-so GF lawyer, and you bring your own water to restaurants. Right, yes.....

Tell me, does she paw you before or after handing you the bottle of water she has smuggled into the hi-so establishment in her hand bag?

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited April 11, 2014 by MZurf

[BritManToo]

If you are not paying for the water and bread who is?

In many (most?) countries the provision of free drinking water is considered to be part of the general service, like cutlery or salt and pepper or a napkin or toilets. As the French invariably eat bread with a meal the provision of the bread is also generally considered to be just part of the restaurant service there. One exception would be cafeteria style restaurants as found in shopping centres, where small bread rolls can be purchased with the other food items, all of which are sold individually.

Even in the most expensive places in the UK the provision of free water is now obligatory:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1266177/Diners-fury-refused-glass-water-posh-restaurant.html

All of which makes the restaurants in Thailand that charge for water look like the real cheap charlies to me.

The point I was making is this:

The restaurant/hotel owner has to pay for the water and the bread. The water bottler and baker do not give it away. Even the tap water has to be paid for.

This cost is passed on to the customer, either as a visible item on the bill or hidden in the cost of the meal.

So, there is no free water or bread (or salt & pepper, napkins, toilets...).

Most of the Thai 30-35bht restaurants seem to provide free water.

How do they manage it then?

In the UK it is a requirement that every establishment selling food must provide free water.

I believe it to be the same in the USA (but not 100% sure).

Edited April 11, 2014 by BritManToo

[Jingthing]

Volume!

[brit1984]

If you are not paying for the water and bread who is?

In many (most?) countries the provision of free drinking water is considered to be part of the general service, like cutlery or salt and pepper or a napkin or toilets. As the French invariably eat bread with a meal the provision of the bread is also generally considered to be just part of the restaurant service there. One exception would be cafeteria style restaurants as found in shopping centres, where small bread rolls can be purchased with the other food items, all of which are sold individually.

Even in the most expensive places in the UK the provision of free water is now obligatory:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1266177/Diners-fury-refused-glass-water-posh-restaurant.html

All of which makes the restaurants in Thailand that charge for water look like the real cheap charlies to me.

The point I was making is this:

The restaurant/hotel owner has to pay for the water and the bread. The water bottler and baker do not give it away. Even the tap water has to be paid for.

This cost is passed on to the customer, either as a visible item on the bill or hidden in the cost of the meal.

So, there is no free water or bread (or salt & pepper, napkins, toilets...).

Most of the Thai 30-35bht restaurants seem to provide free water.

How do they manage it then?

In the UK it is a requirement that every establishment selling food must provide free water.

I believe it to be the same in the USA (but not 100% sure).

the cheapo Thai restaurants normally give free RO water which costs them less than 1 baht per liter

there are very good (non-economic) reasons why higher quality establishments do not provide this

[BritManToo]

Most of the Thai 30-35bht restaurants seem to provide free water.

How do they manage it then?

In the UK it is a requirement that every establishment selling food must provide free water.

I believe it to be the same in the USA (but not 100% sure).

the cheapo Thai restaurants normally give free RO water which costs them less than 1 baht per liter

there are very good (non-economic) reasons why higher quality establishments do not provide this

1/2bht a litre where I am, I drink it all the time.

Not dead yet!

[fatdrunkandstupid]

Yes, Mr. Fatdrunkandstupid, you have a young, high-so GF lawyer, and you bring your own water to restaurants. Right, yes.....

Tell me, does she paw you before or after handing you the bottle of water she has smuggled into the hi-so establishment in her hand bag?

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

She often does.

And she likes fishing as well in her time off. The other day we went to a moo gattat on the way to fishing down at Nai Harn. When we rode off after dinner...my girl asked me to pull over to the side of the road. There she unloaded from her handbag a whole bunch of prawns wrapped in a napkin into the front basket of the bike....no sense in paying for bait when you can get it from an all you can eat restaurant.

She also pays for my electricity, water and broadband.

And she grows herbs in the garden at the front of my house to avoid buying them at the markets.

There are lots of beautiful Thai girls who are good with money out there...but most of the farang numpties will never meet them because they won't make the effort to learn Thai or to get themselves out of the beer bars...

[chickenslegs]

If you are not paying for the water and bread who is?

In many (most?) countries the provision of free drinking water is considered to be part of the general service, like cutlery or salt and pepper or a napkin or toilets. As the French invariably eat bread with a meal the provision of the bread is also generally considered to be just part of the restaurant service there. One exception would be cafeteria style restaurants as found in shopping centres, where small bread rolls can be purchased with the other food items, all of which are sold individually.

Even in the most expensive places in the UK the provision of free water is now obligatory:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1266177/Diners-fury-refused-glass-water-posh-restaurant.html

All of which makes the restaurants in Thailand that charge for water look like the real cheap charlies to me.

The point I was making is this:

The restaurant/hotel owner has to pay for the water and the bread. The water bottler and baker do not give it away. Even the tap water has to be paid for.

This cost is passed on to the customer, either as a visible item on the bill or hidden in the cost of the meal.

So, there is no free water or bread (or salt & pepper, napkins, toilets...).

Most of the Thai 30-35bht restaurants seem to provide free water.

How do they manage it then?

In the UK it is a requirement that every establishment selling food must provide free water.

I believe it to be the same in the USA (but not 100% sure).

Perhaps I didn't explain properly.

The water is not free. Somebody is paying for it. Do you think the restaurant owner is paying or do you think the customer is paying?

Even in a 30-35 Baht restaurant the owner is charging you for the water, lighting, gas, paper napkins (even if it's a loo roll), the plastic chair you sit on etc. Every expense is factored in to the price of the meal.

[KittenKong]

restaurants in most countries will give free tap water, not free bottled mineral water

if you really want and demanded tap water in a thai restaurant i guess they would provide it

if you drink it you might die but at least you saved 50 baht for your heirs

Actually restaurants in most countries provide free drinking water, which may or may not have come out of a tap depending on the state of the local water supply.

Noodle vendors in Pattaya and other Thai restaurants generally provide free drinking water from the large delivered bottles, or sometimes from the filtering machines. Both are acceptable to me as I use the filter machines myself at home.

Ask for a glass of water in the Montien or the Royal Cliff and it comes free and iced from a delivered bottle supply. Not so many years ago every restaurant of every price range in Thailand used to do this, including the cheap-ass farang ones that now charge a fortune for bottled water and still complain about the high wages they have to pay their staff.

[KittenKong]

Restaurants do not have to provide free bottled water to clients in the UK, it's always been that you can ask for tap water - although most people don't, unless there are jugs of water on the table.

Here the water is bottled, so of course they are going to charge - although some places do mark it up somewhat. I guess you can drink "Bangkok Tap Water", although I'd not be too keen on doing that.

Nearly all Thai restaurants in Pattaya provide free drinking water from large delivered bottles (or sometimes the filter machines). The cost of this water is minimal and even the cheapest noodle shop can afford it.

Go back a few years and everywhere here provided the same water from the large bottles for free.

[metisdead]

A post containing inflammatory insults as well as inappropriate language has been removed as well as the replies.

[KittenKong]

Perhaps I didn't explain properly.

The water is not free. Somebody is paying for it. Do you think the restaurant owner is paying or do you think the customer is paying?

Even in a 30-35 Baht restaurant the owner is charging you for the water, lighting, gas, paper napkins (even if it's a loo roll), the plastic chair you sit on etc. Every expense is factored in to the price of the meal.

Indeed so. And at under 2B per litre for drinking water delivered in those large bottles this is an acceptable expense that can easily be absorbed in the cost of the menu items without charging extra for it.

Even expensive places like the Montien and Royal Cliff provide the same chilled drinking water without an extra charge, and all the noodle vendors manage it to.

My objection here is to the places (generally farang-run) that oblige you to order a bottle of water that costs them perhaps 5 or 6B which they sell to you for anything up to 10 times the cost or more. I dont find this acceptable and never will, anywhere in the world. It has nothing to do with being cheap but it has everything to do with not wanting to be ripped-off. ++ pricing is exactly the same rip-off.

[Satcommlee]

Sorry, I can't belive this thread has gone on so long... with people actively supporting plonking your arse in front of some hard working business man's Fan or Air Con and litterally sitting there and not contributing to his expenses!! Really are people that bad?

People can be as frugal as they want, it don't bother me.. but if you came knocking at my door asking to come inside, watch the TV and enjoy my aircon then second prize you would have!

Edited April 11, 2014 by Satcommlee

[pokerkid]

Yes, Mr. Fatdrunkandstupid, you have a young, high-so GF lawyer, and you bring your own water to restaurants. Right, yes.....

Tell me, does she paw you before or after handing you the bottle of water she has smuggled into the hi-so establishment in her hand bag?

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

She often does.

And she likes fishing as well in her time off. The other day we went to a moo gattat on the way to fishing down at Nai Harn. When we rode off after dinner...my girl asked me to pull over to the side of the road. There she unloaded from her handbag a whole bunch of prawns wrapped in a napkin into the front basket of the bike....no sense in paying for bait when you can get it from an all you can eat restaurant.

She also pays for my electricity, water and broadband.

And she grows herbs in the garden at the front of my house to avoid buying them at the markets.

There are lots of beautiful Thai girls who are good with money out there...but most of the farang numpties will never meet them because they won't make the effort to learn Thai or to get themselves out of the beer bars...

I am sure that the restaurant your gf took the prawns from does not allow customers to do that.

Ergo, your lawyer girlie is nothing but a thief .

[ZigZagMan]

Yes, Mr. Fatdrunkandstupid, you have a young, high-so GF lawyer, and you bring your own water to restaurants. Right, yes.....

Tell me, does she paw you before or after handing you the bottle of water she has smuggled into the hi-so establishment in her hand bag?

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

She often does.

And she likes fishing as well in her time off. The other day we went to a moo gattat on the way to fishing down at Nai Harn. When we rode off after dinner...my girl asked me to pull over to the side of the road. There she unloaded from her handbag a whole bunch of prawns wrapped in a napkin into the front basket of the bike....no sense in paying for bait when you can get it from an all you can eat restaurant.

She also pays for my electricity, water and broadband.

And she grows herbs in the garden at the front of my house to avoid buying them at the markets.

There are lots of beautiful Thai girls who are good with money out there...but most of the farang numpties will never meet them because they won't make the effort to learn Thai or to get themselves out of the beer bars...

I am sure that the restaurant your gf took the prawns from does not allow customers to do that.

Ergo, your lawyer girlie is nothing but a thief .

A Thai lawyer smuggling in drinking water, stuffing shrimp down her shorts at the buffet and a farang numptie using her as an example of a classy Thai lady.

What planet am I on?

[fatdrunkandstupid]

What planet am I on?

Uranus?

[ZigZagMan]

What planet am I on?

Uranus?

Planet of the apes is more like it.

Beam me up Scotty.

[kurnell]

I'm a cheap charlie too. I bought a 2nd hand Omega and a Tag Heuer for $3,000 rather than buying them both new for $5,000.

[mrtoad]

I'm a cheap charlie too. I bought a 2nd hand Omega and a Tag Heuer for $3,000 rather than buying them both new for $5,000.

You got yourself a bargain, but think Scratchers wouldn't be looking at buying those types of watches.

[kurnell]

I'm a cheap charlie too. I bought a 2nd hand Omega and a Tag Heuer for $3,000 rather than buying them both new for $5,000.

You got yourself a bargain, but think Scratchers wouldn't be looking at buying those types of watches.

Well, you have a point. After buying the 2 watches I decided that I didn't like either of them that much so I sold them both (at a profit) and bought a new Omega with a little extra cash. Now I can't wear it as I don't trust myself not to lose it while I am out. Nice to have it in the safe though.

[Ulysses G.]

The water is not free. Somebody is paying for it.

They are paying something like 12 baht for 5 gallons. That is why pretty much every Thai noodle stall gives it away for free.

[baneko]

The water is not free. Somebody is paying for it.

They are paying something like 12 baht for 5 gallons. That is why pretty much every Thai noodle stall gives it away for free.

Its free in all food shops where I live. Im a big spender I usually have a coke!

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[fatdrunkandstupid]

I'm a cheap charlie too. I bought a 2nd hand Omega and a Tag Heuer for $3,000 rather than buying them both new for $5,000.

You got yourself a bargain, but think Scratchers wouldn't be looking at buying those types of watches.

Well, you have a point. After buying the 2 watches I decided that I didn't like either of them that much so I sold them both (at a profit) and bought a new Omega with a little extra cash. Now I can't wear it as I don't trust myself not to lose it while I am out. Nice to have it in the safe though.

When I was a young lad I saved all of my sheckles and then purchased a Rolex. A buddy and I went on a road trip and at the start both took off our watches and threw them in the glovebox of his car swearing that we would not be bound by a timetable on the trip. A few days in we pick up a beautfiul young teenage girl who was hitchiking. She stayed with us a couple of days and I shagged her. We dropped her off at a friends house and then a few days later we had to refer to a map in the glovebox. Then we discovered that she had stolen both our watches. I haven't owned a watch since. Neither has my friend. In this age of mobile phones, what exactly is a watch useful for?