4 tourists pay THB8,840 for seafood meal

[masuk]

Many places charge per kilo, if they had generous portions then it could be right. I've bought giant prawns that were 200-300 baht each.

...and I'll bet they were prawns and not whale fodder - shrimp!

[Argus Tuft]

Could be me, but those numbers don't add up to 8,800, even when the tip is included.

My dear fellow it is called rounding out the bill. It saves making change in small coins.

My dear fellow it is called reading the whole thread first before making a flippant comment on a first page post which was subsequently clarified a few page later...

[zeichen]

Anyone who doesn't think they got ripped off is just being silly. Those that blame the victim for trusting a recommendation from the taxi or not asking what things cost upfront are just plain ignorant.

If they were ordering lobster and King Crab maybe 8k+ would be average. Many of these places set the scale heavy. I once order some large prawns and three of them weighed 1kilo, I looked at the scale when he took them off the scale and it read 300gms. So they were ripping people off all night. I made him weigh them again with the scale set at 0 and paid a fair price. All the people before me that ordered overpaid.

1,500 for a fish unless it was salmon that is crazy expensive. Typically any salt water fish will be about 250-400 baht each at most seaside rest.

150 baht each for plain rice. That is ridiculous. I even think 50 baht is too much but standard at many seaside rest.

As others have mentioned paying for towels and 17% for tat and service +800 for a second tip.

Really, the restaurant owes them an apology and a free meal.

If this was in Hua Hin, Prayut would have shut them down.

4 people gorging out on seafood shouldn't really be more than 1k baht.

"Very bad practice of the restaurant and indeed smells of thainess."

Smells like short sighted greed. But I like your racist comment better because now we know what kind of person you are.

[edhart]

try eating south france ,that be cheap ,why do thais have to work for nothing ?

[Martyjustice]

The problem is dual pricing. The restaurant owner figures if the government (parks department) and hospitals can do it then they can do it.

To fix the problem start at the top and let it filter down.

[TheKnave]

At those prices, there should have at least been some ping pong balls, balloons and darts involved...

[Konini]

So many people here blaming the tourists. And so much hate for other people and posters. They aren't expats, they probably didn't know that they were going to be charged so much and were outraged by it, as is their right to be.

It's not a high class restaurant, it's obvious by the taxi driver tout taking them there and subsequently having seen the reviews on Tripadvisor that it's an establishment that exists to rip off tourists. And someone is calling them out on it.

If it had been me, I would have been ticked off enough to put it onto social media - the coverage it's getting from Thai people obviously means that they think the tourists have been ripped off and made the country look bad. We were all new to Thailand at one time or another, and back then we were oblivious to the scams and not sure about prices.

It really isn't the tourist's fault .

[zeichen]

"

try eating south france ,that be cheap ,why do thais have to work for nothing ?"

I am sorry but when did we get into a teleporter. We are in Thailand not South of France. Get your head out of the sand.

[Manbing]

Experiencing Thainess, its all part of the campaign to show the world how generous and welcoming Thais are to tourists.

See how they make the 800bht tip mandatory, how much more Thainess can that be

When are you going to find a hobby, rather than sit in front of your computer all day bashing Thailand ?

You are nothing but a nasty troll who would have nothing to say without that stupid term "Thainess".

Maybe you should address your "trollness", it has really got to you.

Commenting isn't trolling, insulting posters is trolling.

I like Thailand but I don't dictate government policy on tourism I just comment.

You don't have to like what I say but you are less than aware if you don't recognise the rip offs that plague foreigners and in turn the tourist industry here.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Manbing

[zeichen]

I was telling my wife about this story and asked how much does she think the bill was. Her reply was 100,000 baht? I was a little shocked at how much she overvalued it but then showed me an article recently where some people were forced to pay that much for a meal.

[smotherb]

Could be me, but those numbers don't add up to 8,800, even when the tip is included.

No, it's not you BP, I came up with B7007 then add 10% should be around B7700.

Without even doing the math, you can plainly see the only digit in the units column other than zero is seven; which means whatever the total, it has to end in seven.

[crazykopite]

Here on Samui you can pay an additional 10% service charge as well as 7% vat which is an additional 17% on the bill however the service charge makes up for not tipping.

[BngkkB]

About 10 years ago I went into a seafood buffet with two Thai ladies and our bill was 10,000 plus with no alcohol. They brought me a bill that just said "Total B10,300". I asked for an itemized bill and they brought back "3 dinner, B10,300" I laughed so hard I almost fell over. I told them I didn't think so and since they didn't even know what we had it must be free and started to walk out. Settled on B2,000. Never returned but a lot must fall for it as they are still open.

[jackanapes]

it certainly is a rip off a big rip off and the cheek to charge 800 baht tip and I think this restaurant should be closed down or told to clean up its act and stop ripping off customers .

[slurpbert]

Well. I talked to a friend from Thailand about this the other day. she said it is very expensive for seafood there. And if they where several of people. They would have to pay this kind of money for eating seafood. Normal. But they could check the menu as one has said here. Would have been smart.

[TheKnave]

I told you to look at #1 item on the bill and work your way through and repeated it at least twice but wasn't going to do your math for you. I'm not arguing with you as I already spotted your error.

I did mention the service and VAT charge but you didn't listen.

So, you are saying that I'm your maths teacher now? Notwithstanding your general argumentative attitude on this forum. Get a grip.

Spotted my error did you?

Don't think so.

My error was on the final item not the first.

You got it wrong, my friend. Get over it.

And you say you can afford it now but not a good way to do business. You're twisting and turning like, erm, a fish.

What do you mean, not a good way to do business? You can afford it you say? What's the bad business that you don't like in the OP. LOL.

A joke: "Two silly <deleted> walk into a bar..."

Provide your own punch line...[sigh]

[Argus Tuft]

Could be me, but those numbers don't add up to 8,800, even when the tip is included.

No, it's not you BP, I came up with B7007 then add 10% should be around B7700.

Without even doing the math, you can plainly see the only digit in the units column other than zero is seven; which means whatever the total, it has to end in seven.

Another one who didn't read the whole thread before jumping in....

[lostoday]

Well. I talked to a friend from Thailand about this the other day. she said it is very expensive for seafood there. And if they where several of people. They would have to pay this kind of money for eating seafood. Normal. But they could check the menu as one has said here. Would have been smart.

Another one that didn't read the thread. Read the reviews and ask someone who lives in Thailand about prices at a particular restaurant in a particular location.

[dao16]

I had a great seafood meal on an island one time...2 people, the wife and me, and it was about 3,600 baht. Was delicious and totally worth it. Five courses. It was a seaside restaurant, fresh seafood, steak, Thai and foreign style foods, lots of alcohol (including some upmarket stuff on all ends of the meal). I would have paid much more for that meal in the US or Europe.

If they ate something like that, this bill doesn't sound crazy to me for 4 people.

It really depends on what they actually ate. Judging on what the check says, I would think it would be like a thousand or so in a regular restaurant, but once you go on the high end of things, you are paying for the experience.

[Time Traveller]

Could be me, but those numbers don't add up to 8,800, even when the tip is included.

No, it's not you BP, I came up with B7007 then add 10% should be around B7700.

If you're going to cheat people with outrageous prices for the food, lie over the VAT% rate, and then add a bogus mandatory 10% tip, then I doubt they would care much about adding up correctly in the first place.

[tajtom]

They are just animals and it is extortion. I wish I was there. I would have paid the 800 baht tip and told the owner to take his medication. The taxi should have his licence revoked. And they obviously have a police officer involved as well.. Just a good slap the dirty Thai needs.

MAA...

[VINCENT2012]

i would say normal prices for a seafood restaurant......dont expect to eat very good and cheap in thailand......cheap food is most of the time sinonyme to s.hi.t..food.....only the tip is something they can not put on the bill cause has nothing to do with what they ate.

i dont see what so strange.........i paid many times that kind of bills eating well.

[Ducking and]

That's not too bad. I recall my Thai girl friend 10 years ago had seafood when I took her out for a meal in Bangkok, in Rama 9 I think it was, and her choice came to 3,000 baht back then. Presumably Thai price. I was soon to find out whether it was expensive fish or a GF wanting to thin out my wallet.

[forrwhat]

Lol I just spent 43000thb for 3 people at Robuchon and it was well worth it. If you don't look at the prices or ask the price before you order you can't blame anyone but yourself.

[NCC1701A]

NEVER ever ask a taxi or tuk tuk driver to make a suggestion as to where to go.

[Jeremy50]

I don't know why people frequent these overpriced places. The food is not usually very good, the service always poor, the beer never cold enough. The beer is on a trolly out of reach so someone can top up your glass every time you take a sip. Get me the <deleted> out of here. Of course the taxi driver would have demanded his cut too.

[ggt]

This is an example of Thainess that the TOT hopes will not get much attention...

These trumped up bar tabs, restaurant charges, and tourist attraction rip-offs...leaves a bitter aftertaste in tourists and ex-pats mouths...

This is corruption...pure and simple...needs to come to a immediate stop...

Fining the owner would likely reduce the occurrences...

[Jeremy50]

Lol I just spent 43000thb for 3 people at Robuchon and it was well worth it. If you don't look at the prices or ask the price before you order you can't blame anyone but yourself.

Oh well, there's no fool like a rich fool. I suppose the clue is in the name of the restaurant.

[MJKT2014]

Lol I just spent 43000thb for 3 people at Robuchon and it was well worth it. If you don't look at the prices or ask the price before you order you can't blame anyone but yourself.

And how much did you get fleeced by the establishment for the taxi that directed you there? That's all this little thread is about, nothing about how much food costs in restaurants or how much money you think is a laugh to spend. Its about how tacky the restaurant customer service is by padding out its bills.

[cardinalblue]

I think alt of you are missing the point.Very easy to validate with receipt and restaurant 's name....

The question becomes do Thais/locals pay the same? Unless some very high end restaurant which I doubt, No one pays $60 for a seafood meal (not even in USA which I had last night)...

Until proven, clearly a case of taking advantage of ignorance - two tier pricing (another example of dishonesty)