Guest Posted April 1, 2003 Report Share Posted April 1, 2003 Try paying for your beers with a handful of 10 baht coins and see what kind of reaction you get. Bet it would be a big issue then. Tipping as a reflex is like paying for an expired lottery ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacko Posted April 1, 2003 Report Share Posted April 1, 2003 Here we have the Americans putting everythjing in dollar terms again! I paid a dinner bill in the USA recently where 15% was added for service, this was obligatory. Then of course there is plenty of space for me to supplement that 15% on the credit card slip! Now in the civilized world we pay our service staff a little better and the cost of that is in the bill we pay. So we feel tipping, is for the exemplary effort, rather than the norm. And why should it be a percentage of the bill, is expensive food heavier to carry?? No, in Thailand a 20 baht note or 2 is fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummigut Posted April 1, 2003 Report Share Posted April 1, 2003 Okay, I'll side with WYD on this one. You may not like the tone, but it's probably the reality that is the ugliest thing. Let's take a look at the reality of things. A 7-11 store clerk get's about 6000 baht a month. Working 6 out of 7 days a week for a 10 hour shift or so that's about 20-25baht an hour. Tipping 20 baht is an hours full wage. I've been out with Thais who do tip rather lavishly, but none of my "middle" class Thai friends do. I'm often told to take that 20-bill back, or after the fact, going home, that I tipped to much. And I don't tip very much at all. So, these girls never get their full months pay because of deductions, well they can choose to work elsewhere. There is a reason they choose to work for farangs because they do get paid on the whole more than if they worked a standard Thai restaurant. Look at dancers. They generally get fined 1 baht for every minute late. How many girls do you know that show up on time all the time? I don't know one. Professional jobs can and do start around 10K. Sad fact, though I think in generally it may be a bit higher. The part about incompetence though may have been a bit over the top, but given the problems I just had ordering food in Poipet (Cambodia) and Aranyaprathet, it's not that far from the truth. <<burp>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Encore Posted April 1, 2003 Report Share Posted April 1, 2003 >but you end up with a pocket full of coins which drives me crazy.< On the contrary, I leave a 20 Bt bill as standard, and take the coins, useful for short Skytrain rides, and taxi tips. But I agree that leaving a tip is a good habit, and will also often encourage good service next time. My GF always would check the amount of tip, and reduce it to what she felt was appropriate. I have indeed been explained that tips left on the tray go to the general tip pot to be shared, but put in hand can be kept by the person. In a bor, the one giving me the tray is often not the same as the one who served me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whosyourdaddy Posted April 1, 2003 Report Share Posted April 1, 2003 "You have an attitude problem on this for sure. In the west some uneducatde people make millions Sports stars, models etc. and this in a place where education is freely available." I guess that is what happens when you life is involved in the education business. education is the only key for success. Yes I realize in the land of dreams an uneducated person can be successful. Here in Asia, it would be a steep uphill battle!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadaBing Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 Says ikkrang: >and taxi tips. Oh-Oh ... here comes another can of worms... BadatipstoomuchBing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 I guess that is what happens when you life is involved in the education business. education is the only key for success. Yes I realize in the land of dreams an uneducated person can be successful. Here in Asia, it would be a steep uphill battle!!! Now im confused. This point is agreeing with mine somewhat. Thailand is a place where getting an education is not that easy. Should we not therefore be a lot more uderstanding of uneducated people doing better than they might? As for education being the only key for success, I disagree. Luck and hard work are also major factors. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
check_bin_krap Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 "As for education being the only key for success, I disagree. Luck and hard work are also major factors." .................................................................. The emphasis which is put upon education in Thailand is tremendous. Without it, its not much chance of making it. You are worthless in that society without education, and all judge people from it. Its actually worse in Thailand than many other poor countries I have been to. This is a thing which we westerns have a hard time understanding. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhordPhan Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 I'm gonna side with JJ on this one. Unfortunately, in the USA, everybody is taxed on their income. Wait staff are taxed on "assumed" tips, whether or not they actually earn them. So, if you don't tip, the waitress gets screwed twice, once by the lack of tip, the second by Uncle Sam taxing income that was never earned. So, tipping is perceived here as mandatory, in that it's part and parcel of the wait person's salary. It's bullsh*t, but that's the way it is. Tipping is, unfortunately, an ingrained part of American culture and no amount of bitching is going to stop it. Now I have to express amazement about the people who think they're Diamond Jim Brady when they leave the equivalent of a 50-cent tip. Unless you're in the same salary neighborhood as your drink server, you can certainly afford more. While I don't get carried away, I'm always generous with wait staff (unless grossly incompetent), I always leave a bit for the room maids (helps keep stuff from walking away, I think), and I always overtip taxi drivers. Anybody who can maintain their composure while sitting in BKK traffic all day is a better man than I am, Gunga Din. And yes, anyone who leaves 20 baht for a 3,000 baht tab is many things, but generous is not one of them. And no, I never leave a tip for take-out. That's going too far. PhordPhan Generous to a fault! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp1 Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 I think that Americans and possibly Japanese can unwittingly cause problems with tipping as they tend to tip abroad as they would at home. But an expected 20% tip now? Phew, way too much! Thaipan, Japanese tip very generously abroad, but contrary to America there is absolutely no tipping in Japan. Tipping is considered an insult in this country. :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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