TOUCHDOWN!!!!

[..]

...I gave an extra 500. Like I said, it is 16 bucks!!!!

No, it is almost two days pay for the average Thai! Do you have such low self-esteem that you NEED to overtip so you think people will like you? It is just silly.

 

Most people are proud to do a good day's work for a fair pay (which the Thai's salary is, in context), and would be insulted that someone gives away so much money. Ya, I know, that's no longer an American thought, but it IS the way the rest of the world thinks -- I've seen a Aussie bartender throw back money to an overtipping Yank with that same sentiment!

 

If you can't get over this pathological need to give away money, why not give it to Father Joe, where it can do some good?

 

Cheers,

SD

[simie]

Dahmer, I hav'nt quite worked out if you are intentionally trying to wind people(you'd probably say cheap charlies?! ) like myself up? or don't know any better? The currency in Thailand is the baht. The US$ is neither here nor there, nor is 16 bucks! You say whats 500 baht? Well its actually about two and a half days wages for a Thai labourer working on a building site. And you give to a guide as a tip? It just amazess me how many punters go on web boards supposedly to find out information on Thailand and then totally ignore most of it and stick to their classic line of its only....$!!!

Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip, but try and remember you are in Thailand now! :smirk:

Simie.

[liquidflux]

Sounds like the dude gets an ego boost from throwing his baht around. Classic 2 week millionaire syndrome.

[Damen]

Dahmer, maybe this will help put it in perspective....

 

Next time you're back home, go into your local Denny's, International House of Pancakes, Golden Nugget, insert greasy spoon of your choice here, and leave the waitress a $75.00 tip for a cup of coffee.

 

After all, its just money.

[tartempion]

What is 500 baht?

 

Dahmer, I think you have no clue

 

btw, did you know taxis have meters in Bangkok?

Do you also happen to know why taxis have meters?

 

It's indecent to throw your hard earned dosh away like this.

 

Spoil it for us who live here, thank you :thumbdown:

[dahmer]

Sorry not being a 2 week millionaire. But a "tip" is a extra payment above and beyond the actual charge. The amount of a tip is based on what the person feels. If the service was good, i tip more. If the service was bad, i will not tip at all. I am no rich person by any means. But I budgeted myself a certain amount for my two weeks here and that is what I feel comfortable spending. if you all think i am overtipping , that is your right. But I tip high when i have a good time. The fact that it actually riles you guys up is a mystery to me. It is ME that is spending MY own money. You guys act like you are paying for my trip and i am over spending YOUR money??? I thank you for the advice on the cab. OK, so I went to the cab stand, the girl in the chair said 400 and I agreed. OH MY DEAR LORD!!!! i might have overpaid 50-100 bhat over what you tight wads pay. Do you guys do the same in NYC?? Hunt cab after cab looking for the absolute rock bottom rate??? No, i do not think so. I was approached by 3 other cabbies that all offered much higher and i took your advice of going to the cab stand and paying 400. But that still is too much for you guys. Holy cow!!? Do you guys argue the cost of beer here? i am sure you type of guys will argue a bargirl's price down to your low budget standards??? What do i do? if a girl tells me a price and it is too high, I move on. NEVER will I be haggling. I am here for a vacation, not to see how far I can possibly stretch my money. If I lived here, it would be different. But I do not. i enjoy coming here. So if I spend a little more, so what. trust me, not one man or woman here has gave me a dirty look and tried to give my money back. I am not going to call you guys Cheap Charlies. It sounds like you already know that. Think about it. It is vacation for Christ's sake. Spend a little. most of these people here can make a living because of tourist. Not if they all tip like locals. How many vacation spots on the world do you spnd less then at home???? Coming from someone who has been alot of places, i can tell you very few. Paris cost me 3000USD just for food for a week. My girlfriend paid for the room and flight. Vacations areexpensive, that is why they are vacations. You budget money to afford them. But if I had to nickle and dime everything, what a sad time that would be.

[liquidflux]

So why exactly did you come on here asking for advice then?

 

If I caught a cab in NYC and the flag was $20, I wouldn't give the guy an $80 tip, which is essentially what you're doing.

 

If you think you're being generous and feel good because you're giving your money away, just know that most of the Thais are laughing behind your back and calling you a sucker for your actions.

 

PS: Tipping isn't customary in Thailand

[colorwolf]

...

Paris cost me 3000USD just for food for a week

...

You mean $156 for pommes frites and moules and $2844 in tips?

Also, did you notice the Reveille-Tourmans rims on some of the newer Lamborghinis when you were in Paris? Spectacular!

[dahmer]

No, I tipped 20-30% in Paris. just like I do in the states. Sorry I never heard of these crazy rims you keep mentioning. And why you keep mentioning them is beyond me. i stated what I seen with my own eyes. So that is funny to you???

 

I came on here since you old heads seem to know the local rates. From what you guys said, I know when someone is trying to rip me off. But a few dollars extra based on good service is no big deal to me. I chose to pay the extra tip. But now I look back and realize this board is mostly cheap charlies. I mean a pay 400 bht for a cab from the airport to Sumkumvit and all hell breaks loose?? Give me a friggin break. What did you bargain hunters pay???? 200? 300?? Oh my GOD!!! I spent 3-6 bucks more for the cab then you guys do. I am a super sucker!!! maybe most of you go to Bkk for the cheapest possible rates on everything. i do not. I do not live here. I come here on vacation. My hotel cost me 90 bucks a night. That is well worth it to me. last year before my first trip, I asked about a place to stay. Most of you told me the Nana!!!!! That place is a dump. I am glad I did my own research on that. I do not feel i am a sucker. But i am not a cheap charlie. I love how you cheapskates make yourself feel better for being so dammed cheap, by saying the Thai locals will laugh at you behind your back if you over pay/over tip them??? Yeah, keep thinking that. I have never seen a society that doesn't like and appreciate money. i am sure when the poor girl brings me up 400 bhat of room service at 4am in the morning, she is laughing at me when I hand her 50 bhat even though there is already a 10% service charge. infact I hear her as she is walking down the hall laughing her ass off!!! My maid sees me daily in the hall and rushes over to me to ask me if i need extra towels or extra anything. not because of the tip I gave her, but because I am the joke of the floor. or maybe the poor girl that works at the soapy massage place. She tells me she makes 20k a month if she works 7 days a week for a month straight. and after rent, her children, her mother and father and clothes and food she has nothing left. When i gave her 500 baht she was estatic. But, now she is laughing so hard, my ears are still ringing. if that lets you cheap charlies sleep better at night thinking they like little or no tip, then keep at it. I was going to share my experience here with you guys, but no reason to. You guys have seen it and done it all. And at rock bottom prices. So matter what I do, you guys have done it for less. I do not see why this is call a discussion borad at all. I mean everyone on here is a Thai expert that spends little or nothing on everything.

[MooNoi]

Sunshine, you're completely and utterly missing the point people are trying to make on this thread and you are coming across as completely and utterly culturally ignorant too.

 

Isn't having lots of naked / near-naked women all over you every night wanting to take you home been good for your low self-esteem? Do you need to throw money at everyone to make yourself feel good?

 

As with so many tourists, you are judging how things work based on your behaviour at home; based on cultural norms in your home country and how you behave in your own local environment and have not bothered to find out how the local culture is structured and how local customs work.

 

Instead of trying to culturally do the right thing, you're obviously deciding to "splash the cash" as if it gives you some sort of superiority complex over the locals.

 

It's basically the same as saying to a local:

"Hey - I'm a westerner who's so much more wealthy than you, but you'll think I'm a knight-in-shining-armour if I give you a heap of cash (a heap for you, not for me of course) and then you'll think I'm a really good guy..."

 

Sorry mate, but that's just plain ignorant.

 

You pay/tip based on the local economy, local wages and local customs; - eg. when a porter carries my bag to my room in Thailand I give him 20 baht - equal to about 75 Australian/US cents. If someone did this in Australia, the USA or Europe, I'd give him a couple of bucks. Horses for courses.