why do they do this

[zoza]

a few weeks ago while chatting to a friend he recommended a bar on Jomtien beach road selling Carlsberg at 89 baht a pint so I went there and the Carlsberg was spot on, nice staff nice beer so I introduced four or fives friends to the place and my wife had a meal and said the food (thai) was good so she and a few of her friends sometimes tagged along when we visited the place.  Yesterday the place was really busy probably the busiest I have seen it.

and then they done what a lot of bars are doing, I asked for my bin, three beers @89 baht=267 baht and I hand in 300 baht but when she comes back she shows me about ten baht and walks away with it when I say that it is not correct?

 

I have to get her attention and again ask for my change ? the thai girl then has a big chat to the new thai bloke who is sorting the change out, meanwhile my friends have all been given the correct change as they have handed in 1000 baht and 500 baht notes...but I have to make a song and dance to get my correct change I think because I always tip it works against me as they automatically think they can keep any change in the 30 to 40 baht range and next time I have a bin like that I will give a thousand baht note as otherwise they seem to take their tips before they are given, its either that or stop tipping altogether. 

 

Last week it was the food delivery bloke putting 50 baht on the cost of  the meal ( free delivery) and getting a Tity lip when  I told him the correct price....(he said he had lost the receipt)  I have personally had issues over change on several occasions in several places in the last couple of months.  I sometimes wonder if they think you are an easy touch if you tip every time.  

 

[ezzra]

 

The day anyone will figure out the rhyme and reasons of Thai logics and sense, I would like them to share with all of us, Thai ways of doing things is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.... 

[sandgroper2]

Not what I would call a new topic. But still, extremely interesting.

[RachaRob]

Not exactly the same but I really get annoyed when I get my change and there is about 50 baht of it in coins!  I do usually leave a tip but when this happens I just take it all.

[Suradit69]

On 1/27/2017 at 7:12 AM, ezzra said:

 

The day anyone will figure out the rhyme and reasons of Thai logics and sense, I would like them to share with all of us,  Thai ways of doing things is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.... 

 

And the day someone can figure out why so many farang get their knickers in a knot about the most trivial things will indeed be a day to circle on your calendar.

 

Pettiness aside, if you had a similar problem in a bar in UK, USA or Australia, would you immediately ask why all Brits or Americans or Australians employ a logic that befuddles you? 

[geisha]

I generally always leave a tip, but I don't like it when my change isn't given back, that's very cheeky and not very honest. It's happened to me in Jomtien, but luckily not everywhere . 

[MANFROMBOCA]

never happened to me it must be you

[MANFROMBOCA]

31 minutes ago, RachaRob said:

Not exactly the same but I realy get annoyed when I get my change and there is about 50 baht of it in coins!

I do usualy leave a tip but when this happens I just take it all.

REALLY ?????? becasue someone gives you coin so you can tip a small amount you dont gibe anything ,, WOW

[elgenon]

I had a Happy Hour bill at a Pattaya agogo of 60 Baht, I gave 100B to a new guy that acted like a manager. I never got change. It's not the money so much as the dishonesty. I informed several people  and finally got my change. Not good for the bars rep. People talk.

[smotherb]

1 hour ago, geisha said:

I generally always leave a tip, but I don't like it when my change isn't given back, that's very cheeky and not very honest. It's happened to me in Jomtien, but luckily not everywhere . 

I have lived here for ten years now and I always leave a tip--if the service was good, and it usually is; aside from the fact Thais just can't seem to bring the food at the same time. I have rarely had a problem with anyone keeping the change or giving me the wrong change. However, I do not live in a farang tourist area. That may make a difference.

[Get Real]

Just buy the beer in the supermarket and drink them in home. Later tip you wife or girlfriend if she is nice to you. LOL
Such a disaster, what a big problem! How unfair that all your friends got their money back.

[Boycie]

 

2 hours ago, RachaRob said:

Not exactly the same but I realy get annoyed when I get my change and there is about 50 baht of it in coins!

I do usualy leave a tip but when this happens I just take it all.

 

1 hour ago, MANFROMBOCA said:

REALLY ?????? becasue someone gives you coin so you can tip a small amount you dont gibe anything ,, WOW

 

Ahhhhh so thats why they leave all the change in coins, so i can tip small. Stupid farang me was thinking that they would hope i would leave all those 1, 2 and 5 baht coins for them.

 

Thankyou MANFROMBOCA, I remember next time to leave them 1 for a tip   

[12DrinkMore]

3 hours ago, sandgroper2 said:

Not what I would call a new topic. But still, extremely interesting.

Yep, I was perched on the edge of my seat until the very end.

 

Guess it took the OP those couple of weeks before he calmed down and his hand was steady enough to type. He must have had a slight relapse when it came to typing "bill" as he punched in "bin".

 

I do wish he had been as accurate with the "about ten baht" change as he was with the 267 baht total, and also that he would be a little less keeniow with  commas as he was with bahts.

[sandgroper2]

2 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

 

And the day someone can figure out why so many farang get their knickers in a knot about the most trivial things will indeed be a day to circle on your calendar.

 

Pettiness aside, if you had a similar problem in a bar in UK, USA or Australia, would you immediately ask why all Brits or Americans or Australians employ a logic that befuddles you? 

Ive been asking that very question for years. IQ has got a lot to do with it.

[Suradit69]

2 hours ago, elgenon said:

It's not the money so much as the dishonesty. I

Whenever a farang says "it's not the money," it's  more a matter of farang assumed loss of face.

[zoza]

2 hours ago, 12DrinkMore said:

Yep, I was perched on the edge of my seat until the very end.

 

Guess it took the OP those couple of weeks before he calmed down and his hand was steady enough to type. He must have had a slight relapse when it came to typing "bill" as he punched in "bin".

 

I do wish he had been as accurate with the "about ten baht" change as he was with the 267 baht total, and also that he would be a little less keeniow with  commas as he was with bahts.

if I had asked for a Bill they would of probably produced a ladyboy or worse, and I could not

be very accurate with the amount of change as she was like a matador with a cape as she

flashed the coins past my eyes in the little booklet they have, it was as if she had been practising this maneuver for years ?

I am not a comma type of person .  

[nisakiman]

8 hours ago, RachaRob said:

Not exactly the same but I realy get annoyed when I get my change and there is about 50 baht of it in coins!

I do usualy leave a tip but when this happens I just take it all.

 

I think that's standard practice everywhere in the world, and I welcome it. Quite often I don't have any change in my pocket, so the provision of some small change so I can leave a tip is useful.

 

Whether you leave a tip or not is up to you, but if you've had good service and want to tip, and the smallest you have is a 100 Baht note, what do you do? The waiting staff know that you are unlikely to leave 100 Baht (assuming you haven't just spent a few thousand in a fancy restaurant), so they try to make it easy for you to tip what you see fit. Seems eminently sensible to me.

[SiSePuede419]

OK, some bloke is drinking in a bar in Pattaya...  

It all got hazy after that ?

[joebrown]

9 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

 

And the day someone can figure out why so many farang get their knickers in a knot about the most trivial things will indeed be a day to circle on your calendar.

 

Pettiness aside, if you had a similar problem in a bar in UK, USA or Australia, would you immediately ask why all Brits or Americans or Australians employ a logic that befuddles you? 

Sorry, I don't 'cross-dress' and as far as I know none of my friends do. I've lived in 3 locations on the Eastern Seaboard and the most blatant case of 'taking the p**s was by a member of staff at a 7/11 shop who withheld  my 25bht change. When I asked her for the change she said it was her 'tip'. I displayed my not happy side and she eventually gave it back, but only after showing me a promotion item which she suggested I should buy for her!! I've been short changed many times in LOS,  the most recent being a couple of weeks ago here in my new home town of Phetchabun. This was at a major retailer where the cash register records how much the customer has tendered and what the change should be. The cashier short-changed me by over 300bht.

Some things happening here in LOS are real 'eye-openers'. Please explain the relevance of similar incidents in Britain, America or Australia . This is Thaivisa forum and the OP is about Thailand, or hadn't you noticed?     

[Bangkok Barry]

I remember having a Happy Hour beer at the first bar you come to on Soi Nana. A sign said it only applied to Thai beers but I was okay with that. Had a Singha draft for 60 baht, when finished handed over a 50 and a 20 and was told it wasn't enough. The beer was 100. Pointed to their sign and was told it only applied to bottled beer, Nowhere in the bar did it say that. I'd been a regular customer up until then and haven't been back since. Singha isn't a Thai beer? Jeeesus. How can you ever understand these people.

[duanebigsby]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I remember having a Happy Hour beer at the first bar you come to on Soi Nana. A sign said it only applied to Thai beers but I was okay with that. Had a Singha draft for 60 baht, when finished handed over a 50 and a 20 and was told it wasn't enough. The beer was 100. Pointed to their sign and was told it only applied to bottled beer, Nowhere in the bar did it say that. I'd been a regular customer up until then and haven't been back since. Singha isn't a Thai beer? Jeeesus. How can you ever understand these people.

I would have just payed the money, realized  the subtleties of English got the better of them. I would then  help them change  the sign

They knew Singha is Thai, but they screwed up the bottle/draft thing. Relax..

[piersbeckett]

A few days ago I ordered twenty plastic A4 folders and three ballpoint pens in a shop selling school/studying equipment and rice; the items came to Baht 115 but I was charged 120.

 

I thought, it's only five Baht, doesn't matter; when I got home, I noticed there were twenty five folders and thought what a pillock I'd have looked had I questioned the price!

 

Just speaking for my Thai GF and myself, we've definitely been undercharged here in Thailand more times than we've been overcharged and that includes in bars.

[Rc2702]

Service good. Leave a tip.

Service bad. Leave to never return.

Take out meals we never tip but we use regularly.

Car wash - I am advised not to tip

Haircut - I tip well.

Taxi - good or bad I never tip unless it's less than 10 baht change owed or the guys a star. Very rare.

Hotel tip box - never

My local shop in complex  for my 1 bottle of Leo each night -5 baht. He's a young boy needs a tip I think. 

 

All my 10 baht coins stacked up in  2 pringles containers. All lower denominations in 3 pringles containers. Aprox 3 months.

 

I am told that's about 4500 baht so I don't feel too bad about tipping for tippings sake anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hawker9000]

18 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

 

And the day someone can figure out why so many farang get their knickers in a knot about the most trivial things will indeed be a day to circle on your calendar.

 

Pettiness aside, if you had a similar problem in a bar in UK, USA or Australia, would you immediately ask why all Brits or Americans or Australians employ a logic that befuddles you? 

Oh go on.  'Never had this happen ONCE in my entire life in the USA, OR the UK or Australia for that matter.  Not once.  Ever.   ('Course, in the US, the change often doesn't even come to the 20% tip servers now insist they're entitled to...)

 

Halfwits who just let this kind of thing pass are the reason it happens in Thailand.   That, and the progressively more desperate sense among the locals that the good ol' farang money tree ain't quite what it used to be.

 

Edited January 27, 2017 by hawker9000

[prestburypark]

Why when I go into a western establishment do they make an issue of leaving a few dollars/pounds, whatever in the saucer as an inducement to leave said coins as a tip, when a note would have covered the change situation very well, its an enigma wrapped in a tortilla covered in salsa to me..

[mogandave]

To be fair, as often as not, the change comes back larger bills such that you would have to ask or dig for change. That would never happen in the US.

 

It's a cheap bar that gives change back in coin hoping that some of the chiselers drinking there leave a little tip money, should be expected.

 

That said, I always demand I get my correct change back and decide on my own what I should or should not leave as a time. They should leave the bill and change on the table.

[llso]

 Many years ago at a 7-11 I bought something with a 1000 Baht note. When the girl handed me the change I looked ait and it was a 100 Baht short. With a dead pan look she reached on the side and handed me the 100 Baht.No explanation or reaction at all. I guess she was just expecting me to not look and stick the change in my pocket. Wonder how many times she got away with it. This was in Hua Hin in the middle of Tourist area. I'm sure this wasn't tried on a fellow Thai.

[MANFROMBOCA]

On 1/31/2017 at 3:49 AM, llso said:

 Many years ago at a 7-11 I bought something with a 1000 Baht note. When the girl handed me the change I looked ait and it was a 100 Baht short. With a dead pan look she reached on the side and handed me the 100 Baht.No explanation or reaction at all. I guess she was just expecting me to not look and stick the change in my pocket. Wonder how many times she got away with it. This was in Hua Hin in the middle of Tourist area. I'm sure this wasn't tried on a fellow Thai.

that happens everywhere in the world not just a thai thing

[llso]

16 hours ago, MANFROMBOCA said:

that happens everywhere in the world not just a thai thing

 Defender of the Thais. Such a noble cause, get back to me in a few years. I too once was able to see everything through "Rose Colored Glasses" . Then one day the spell was broken.

[MANFROMBOCA]

3 minutes ago, llso said:

 Defender of the Thais. Such a noble cause, get back to me in a few years. I too once was able to see everything through "Rose Colored Glasses" . Then one day the spell was broken.

im not defending the thais you angry farang,,,, ive been here since 1978,,,  gave my rose colored glasses away at 13 years old,  if you were able to read and comprehend behind your blinders you would understand that i sad its not just a thai thing it happens everywhere