I know the therapists at the Oasis Spa (super-premium legit massage chain in Thailand) get tipped very little. They might be giving an 8,000 baht 4 hour package massage, but the average tip is low and is frequently 5-20 baht, with a rare 100-500 baht tip.

This is Thailand, not the USA

<deleted> off with your silly tipping culture

Tipping is ridiculous. Lots of people work minimum wage jobs, but for some reason the west has made us feel guilty for not GIVING servers extra money for simply bringing food to the table. Do these people work any harder than the ones at Big C, Burger King, or the gas station? But for some reason we give extra money to waiters...... Strange custom if you ask me.

...

To add insult to injury, restaurant service is usually 100 times worse in Bangkok than in America (from my personal experience).

Well, in American, restaurants can pay waiters less than minimum wage. Jobs that recieve tips are not required to have the normal minimum wage. In some states you only have to pay a waiter $2.13 an hour, which is the minimum wage for tipped employees. Normal minimum wage is $7.25.

Yes, that is true and it is WRONG. Customers should not foot the bill for cheap employers.

By the way, it is not like this in every state either. In California, servers and waiters get the state mandated minimum wage just like everyone else.

Tipping is overrated here.

Many times I see 10 Baht tips. 20 Baht is acknowledged as a good tip.

Where I have my breakfast every day @ 110 Baht. I always give 120 Baht due to the friendliness and good service. If you think that makes me tight, The reaction of the staff tells me different.

120 Baht is a 9% tip which is a lot.

Tipping is ridiculous. Lots of people work minimum wage jobs, but for some reason the west has made us feel guilty for not GIVING servers extra money for simply bringing food to the table. Do these people work any harder than the ones at Big C, Burger King, or the gas station? But for some reason we give extra money to waiters...... Strange custom if you ask me.

...

To add insult to injury, restaurant service is usually 100 times worse in Bangkok than in America (from my personal experience).

Well, in American, restaurants can pay waiters less than minimum wage. Jobs that recieve tips are not required to have the normal minimum wage. In some states you only have to pay a waiter $2.13 an hour, which is the minimum wage for tipped employees. Normal minimum wage is $7.25.

Yes, that is true and it is WRONG. Customers should not foot the bill for cheap employers.

By the way, it is not like this in every state either. In California, servers and waiters get the state mandated minimum wage just like everyone else.

Where is the difference? If no tip the employer must charge more.

If tip at least the more friendly staff get more money.

I give the waitress a French kiss and tell them I'm from Quebec.

Tipping is ridiculous. Lots of people work minimum wage jobs, but for some reason the west has made us feel guilty for not GIVING servers extra money for simply bringing food to the table. Do these people work any harder than the ones at Big C, Burger King, or the gas station? But for some reason we give extra money to waiters...... Strange custom if you ask me.

...

To add insult to injury, restaurant service is usually 100 times worse in Bangkok than in America (from my personal experience).

Well, in American, restaurants can pay waiters less than minimum wage. Jobs that recieve tips are not required to have the normal minimum wage. In some states you only have to pay a waiter $2.13 an hour, which is the minimum wage for tipped employees. Normal minimum wage is $7.25.

Yes, that is true and it is WRONG. Customers should not foot the bill for cheap employers.

By the way, it is not like this in every state either. In California, servers and waiters get the state mandated minimum wage just like everyone else.

Where is the difference? If no tip the employer must charge more.

If tip at least the more friendly staff get more money.

LOL.....no it doesn't! It just means the employer makes less for himself. As stated, California pays its restaurant staff the state minimum wage and last I checked it does not cost 5 times as much to dine out in California as the rest of the country.....

Are you telling me a chain restaurant charges 4 or 5 times as much in California than other states to cover the mandatory minimum wage payment? I din't think so.......

Troll thread by Frolly Wolly. I can't imagine him having friends......& the rest is probably made up.

It's the Americans that introduced tipping to Thailand. My guess is that OP is American. 8000 baht for a meal ? Unless you went with a group of 10-20 people I find this hard to believe. In the most high end restaurants you pay a 10% service charge so no need to tip anything . Sometimes if good service I tip 10-20 baht for a 300 baht meal.

doesnt that ensure your return etc which is worth much more than any tip.

Not for the staff who rely on their tips to make some decent money..

if the staff want to earn more money they should get a better paid job.

many employers here are crying out for motivated, hard working , reliable staff unfortunately most people here are too lazy to take advantage of such opportunities.

Personally I think you have a downright cheek,its not you business what another leaves or does not leave,it is an insult,and you call yourself a friend,id say it will not happen again in that company.who or what gives you the right to do such a thing?the height of downright bad manners,you must be a very lonely person.

Well, in American, restaurants can pay waiters less than minimum wage. Jobs that recieve tips are not required to have the normal minimum wage. In some states you only have to pay a waiter $2.13 an hour, which is the minimum wage for tipped employees. Normal minimum wage is $7.25.

Yes, that is true and it is WRONG. Customers should not foot the bill for cheap employers.

By the way, it is not like this in every state either. In California, servers and waiters get the state mandated minimum wage just like everyone else.

Where is the difference? If no tip the employer must charge more.

If tip at least the more friendly staff get more money.

LOL.....no it doesn't! It just means the employer makes less for himself. As stated, California pays its restaurant staff the state minimum wage and last I checked it does not cost 5 times as much to dine out in California as the rest of the country.....

Are you telling me a chain restaurant charges 4 or 5 times as much in California than other states to cover the mandatory minimum wage payment? I din't think so.......

Well OK a chain restaurant with fixed prices everywhere is a different thing. I must admit I would never go into a chain restaurant.

doesnt that ensure your return etc which is worth much more than any tip.

Not for the staff who rely on their tips to make some decent money..

if the staff want to earn more money they should get a better paid job.

many employers here are crying out for motivated, hard working , reliable staff unfortunately most people here are too lazy to take advantage of such opportunities.

yes they are crying out for better staff, but I don't know if they are willing to pay more for some good staff?

Very curious assertions from you and some others.

They are friends of 20+ years. We have been to dinner scores of times with them, they pay, we pay. Some banter between us about a tip is all part of our friendship.

Discussing a tip amongst friends is not some type of socal faux pas or taboo!

The only thing disturbing about the OP is that the guest demands the host pay more tips and when the host did not as is his custom and right, the guest decides to proceed with his own tip anyway.

Kind of insulting to the host, isn't it?

Beggars belief, that the OP had the audacity to even check what the payer is tipping, i would have asked him for 4000 baht back

They are friends of 20+ years. We have been to dinner scores of times with them, they pay, we pay.

frollywolly ... have you lived in Thailand for 20 years?

WOW ... respect man ...

Have you really been living in Thailand for 20 years?

.

They are friends of 20+ years. We have been to dinner scores of times with them, they pay, we pay.

frollywolly ... have you lived in Thailand for 20 years?

WOW ... respect man ...

Have you really been living in Thailand for 20 years?

.

Oh, you caught me out!! I haven't been in Thailand 20 years! You are so clever!!

Your transparent attempts at trying to 'catch someone out' are child like. Yet you play the detective regularly on this forum

I travelled for 20 years of my working life. Mrs Frolly, myself and the Frollettes have lived together in 6 countries. I have visited more than 40 for work. Our friends are similar in their work and travel.

This is Bangkok man! There are tens of thousands like us.

"You can't do that I said. We had good service, good food, we were here a long time".

"He refused to leave more as a tip so i left 300 baht myself."

You paid nothing, enjoyed an 8,000 Baht meal and left 300 Baht..............what a tight wad.

As long as you don't tip the barber or the dentist - these two are no nos in Thailand.

If there was already 10% charged i wouldn't even have left anything. (probably was, if the bill was 8k - sounds like an upmarket place - they usually add 10%)

So basically, he paid 8k for a meal and you make him look cheap, then come off the generous one by putting down 300.

By the way, not all cultures tip the same. Where is he from? I believe Americans go with 20%. British don't have a set amount - just whatever. I think in Australia it isn't expected to tip at all.

Shame on you spoiling a good evening.

As long as you don't tip the barber or the dentist - these two are no nos in Thailand.

I disagree about tipping the barber. I always tip my barber 20 bhat and I have noticed Thais also tipping them too.

Once I even picked up all the change as it was all in notes and extracted a 1B coin from my pocket. If I'd left nothing they would have thought Cheap Charlie. But the service was so crap that I wanted to make a point with the 1B. The missus left no room for confusion when she picked up the 1B and said in Thai that that I was over tipping for staff with such bad manners.

I suspect she picked it up for other reasons and that is leaving 1 Baht is a major insult.

8000 Baht? Perhaps he had a dozen friends or perhaps a couple of bottles of top wine could do it.

Tipping is certainly not new in Thailand, it was occurring over 40 years ago when I was here. It's just the 'expectations' have increased significantly.

Yes, that is true and it is WRONG. Customers should not foot the bill for cheap employers.

By the way, it is not like this in every state either. In California, servers and waiters get the state mandated minimum wage just like everyone else.

Where is the difference? If no tip the employer must charge more.

If tip at least the more friendly staff get more money.

LOL.....no it doesn't! It just means the employer makes less for himself. As stated, California pays its restaurant staff the state minimum wage and last I checked it does not cost 5 times as much to dine out in California as the rest of the country.....

Are you telling me a chain restaurant charges 4 or 5 times as much in California than other states to cover the mandatory minimum wage payment? I din't think so.......

Well OK a chain restaurant with fixed prices everywhere is a different thing. I must admit I would never go into a chain restaurant.

LOL..I have to agree with you on that one.....haha

Posts of petty squabbling removed

In the US I would tip 20% after tax, so the 8000 THB bill would receive a tip of 1600 THB. The waiters and waitresses there depend on tips, and if you tip well and are a regular, it's money well spent as you can be guaranteed good service.

I continued this practice when I moved to Thailand, and it led problems such as waitresses asking me to buy them new shoes, cell phones, etc. So I cut back to leaving a smaller tip, then only the coins. Now I don't tip at all and I get great service.

Off topic posts removed

One thing I dislike is when they give back the change expecting a tip. Such as getting 2 x 10baht coins instead of a 20. Or 5 x 20's instead of a 100baht note.

But the absolute worst was when living in Canada and you would get these snobby servers that would say "You want your change?" I just want to stab through their eye with my fork. How, about you give me my change and I will decide after if I want it you dumb <deleted> lol.

LOL.....no it doesn't! It just means the employer makes less for himself. As stated, California pays its restaurant staff the state minimum wage and last I checked it does not cost 5 times as much to dine out in California as the rest of the country.....

Are you telling me a chain restaurant charges 4 or 5 times as much in California than other states to cover the mandatory minimum wage payment? I din't think so.......

Well OK a chain restaurant with fixed prices everywhere is a different thing. I must admit I would never go into a chain restaurant.

LOL..I have to agree with you on that one.....haha

Anything mid-scale and below; they have a very serious problem competing with chains because of the brand recognition and consistency of chains," says Bradford T. Hudson, professor of management and marketing at Boston University's School of Hospitality Administration. "Independents just don't have that."

The numbers bear it out. The top 100 restaurant companies' share of the $278.9 billion restaurant industry, as tracked by Chicago-based food service industry research firm Technomic, rose slightly in 2002 to 51.3 percent in 2002. Meanwhile, independents and small chains' share dropped half a point to 43.5 percent. The second top 100 companies' share also decreased slightly to 5.2 percent of the market.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=89913

Thailand will eventually follow as people get tired of getting food poisoning. Big chains also have big sanitation departments like Fuji and MK. Fuji adds a tip to the bill and MK does not. So for you people who don't like to tip don't go to Fuji. I always tip so it makes no difference to me. MK is running a new special grilled Teriaki Chicken (big portion) and garlic rice for 80 baht if my memory is correct. And Fuji had Kobe beef for a couple of hundred baht the last time I was there.

FritsSikkink

We all know that most of the Australians visiting Thailand are not the world best tip giving people.

You can't put every Australian who visits or lives in Thailand in the same "tight" basket based on one comment. I always tip for good food and service, and I tip taxi drivers who provide a hassle free trip. Your comment is unsubstantiated to say the least.

Tipping is certainly not new in Thailand, it was occurring over 40 years ago when I was here. It's just the 'expectations' have increased significantly.

Are you implying that it was common practise amongst the Thais to tip?

If not the Thais, what Nationalities do you used to observe as 'tippers'.

Asking, not telling.

So basically, he paid 8k for a meal and you make him look cheap, then come off the generous one by putting down 300.

If the big shot who footed the bill doesn't think more than 45 baht tip is warranted, then he IS cheap. The person leaving the extra 300 is just bringing it to everyone's attention.

And enough whining about how Americans brought tipping to Thailand and therefore "ruined" it for everyone else. These kinds of things happen when cultures integrate, and it doesn't ruin anything.