100 bt today or 1000 bt tomorrow?

[keda]

One of the local photographers has been plaguing me for all of my 6.5 years in Jomtien. Nice chap, always smiling, on two occasions helped him out against drunk farangs refusing to pay, and he knows I always donate 40-50 bt and a peck on the cheek to his flower-selling mother, without taking any flowers.

In the first month or two he had me at 60 bt a pop, and since then I have always sent him on his way when alone or with tart, but usually manage to get him some business at 100 bt a throw when I'm with friends...as I was yesterday, and took his camera, and took 3 photos of friends that are blissfully ignorant enough to get ripped off paying 100 bt per pic. All well and good, so far, except the 3 were all well out of it so I peeled off 200 baht which he squealingly repelled and demanded 300, nicely and with a smile, and repeated his demand even when it was spelled out that if that's what he really wants then that's he would get, but not another baht would flow to him or his mother from me or anyone I am with. Dumb. Pure dumb!


Over the years, just like anyone else who has been here a while, I have come across many examples of Thai inability to see further than the tip of their nose, but some still leave me shaking my head in wonder as to what if anything is running through their brain.

[Butterfly]

you really can't blame him, it's like blaming a cat for not saying thank you when you give him food everyday

[Dougal]

I am told that there is a test that psychologists use to test a child's mental development:-

Take 9 sweets and arrange them in two parallel lines of four and five sweets, but make the four sweet line longer than the five.

Ask a child to choose one of the lines of sweets to eat. Below a certain level of development children will pick the longer line, even though it has the fewer sweets in it. Pointing out to the child that the longer line has fewer sweets won't make any difference to their choice.

I have also seen that many Thai's decision making abilities do not seem to have developed beyond those of the young children identified above.

[keda]

In the beginning...I used to go to Pakboongloyfa, the open restaurant spilling onto the pavement in 2nd Road just past Boyztown. Easy to find, food was ok, staff friendly, took loads of friends there often 2-4 times a week, always had good service and left tips galore, even the fatlady boss with foghorn voice used to have the staff racing to prepare a welcome whenever she saw us.

Until the day a friend ordered the roast duck which didn't arrive despite repeated requests to get their act together. No plobrem, these things happen and as relative newbies it bothered nobody, but the dish that did eventually arrive, after we'd all finished eating and were waiting for checkbin, wasn't roasted, didn't even look like duck, friend didn't want it, expected not to pay, put his foot down and refused to pay when fatlady came across and threatened to call the police, and we naturally stuck by him even when the police arrived, just as they naturally accepted the Thai version of why we should pay, but as none of us spoke Thai and the girls were a bit meek, when they threatened to take us to the farm to discuss it we first agreed, challenging them to do just that, then started off on controlled rowdiness and mayhem, good humouredly taunting the police who took it in the right vein, taking pics and generally giving the 'establishment' the pr they deserved till the bib pissed off to hassle some easier target.

Needless to say we didn't pay for the duck and the restaurant lost a ton of biz over the next 5 years, not that they seem to care or understand why.

About a year ago, some of the oldies asked about the place we used to go to...ended up there, can confirm fatlady has a memory and welcomed us, and after a few visits everything was as before, good service, good tips, etc.

Until the day a friend ordered the fish which didn't arrive despite repeated requests to get their act together. When we'd all finished and started paying our bins, he paid for his orders, including the duck he had ordered to replace the fish which then arrived. I had to physically withdraw a couple of steps to take in the scene as fatlady verbally laid into him demanding payment for the fish, ignoring literally dozens of onlookers that knew the fish was requested many times, the duck ordered instead, and wondering at her audacity.

Long and short, she threatened and did eventually call the police, but only after I called the tourist police, neither of them turned up within about 10 minutes, but we had the advantage knowing we were not going to pay regardless, that the police really do not care either way, and that meanwhile we could take the opportunity to lose the fatlady as much biz as possible till she realised she was going to extort not one unearned baht and was losing custom and goodwill in the process.

Pakboongloyfa is firmly blacked, and thick is an understatement.

[Spin]

You gotta stand firm when dealing with these muppets.

[Butterfly]

Needless to say we didn't pay for the duck and the restaurant lost a ton of biz over the next 5 years, not that they seem to care or understand why.

plenty of other suckers eating there, don't think you make a difference

[Spin]

^ so are you one of the suckers or the people who require reasonable service?

If the latter, how do you deal with the situation when it arises?

[Butterfly]

If the latter, how do you deal with the situation when it arises?

It depends, but once, in a very expensive restaurant in Bangkok when I complained about the dish being not right, then they replaced it with a different one, but they still charged me the bad one (a mere 900 THB)

big fucking deal, but making a scandal and calling the police for a 100 THB fish in a street restaurant is hardly worth the time. Pay for the fucking fish and don't come back.

[Little Chuchok]

^Do fish have wallets?

[dirtydog]

I used to go to Pakboongloyfa quite often, I cant remember why I don't go there anymore as it was many years ago when they stitched me up for a dish that never arrived, I would have paid it but I haven't been back for the last 14 or 15 years, They have one on Soi Theprasit now but I haven't tried that one yet.

[stroller]

but usually manage to get him some business at 100 bt a throw when I'm with friends...as I was yesterday, and took his camera, and took 3 photos of friends that are blissfully ignorant enough to get ripped off paying 100 bt per pic.

Nice chap you are, keda. - to the wrong sort of people...

[Thetyim]

There was a farang in Pattaya who ran a guesthouse and used to opften frequent the Billion Bar in PattayaLand2. He took many of his guests there for a drink and a ST and was a regular customer. When it was the farang's birthday he bought a bottle of Black Label, went the the Billion Bar alone and asked the owner, as his friend, to join him for a birthday drink.
When it was time to leave he was given a 200 baht bill for corkage.

He lost a lot of custom because of that 200 baht bill.

[Wally Dorian Raffles]

I used to buy beer from the building in my shop every night - untill i found out that i was paying 5baths per bottle more than thai customers. I walk down the street and buy it now.

The money is not the issue. it's the principal.

[NickA]

^What, you got caught drinking it at school?

[Wally Dorian Raffles]

^I don't go to school nick.

I used to buy beer from the building in my shop every night -

whoops! i meant to say shop in my building
....it was only 11.30am which is much too early for me

[danbo]

Perhaps the mistake here is that of the farang believing that they formed (bought) a relationship or friendship when in fact absolutely none existed and the Thais thought nothing of the farang whether they were there or not.

[danbo]

I will certainly boycott any establishment that charges me over the odds for being far too handsome (I assume that's the reason). The amount is unimportant - as Wally said, it's the headmaster that's important.

[Wally Dorian Raffles]

^ i agree danbo. it could be a cultural difference - back home, if you are 'friends' with someone who runs a pub or bar, you expect a few 'freebies' now and then, where as over here it is impolite to expect anything free from your friends business - infact it's the opposite. Supporting your friends business and spending money is the norm...

But still, i think that some restaurant operators in tourist areas have a different set of values, and have the opinion that there is nothing wrong with cheating the farang..

[The Ghost Of The Moog]

Follow my example.

When I am dissatisfied with sub-par service in a Thai cafe. I withhold a tip and defecate in the cash register.

That'll learn em.

[danbo]

But still, i think that some restaurant operators in tourist areas have a different set of values, and have the opinion that there is nothing wrong with cheating the farang.

True, and I don't disagree that they are shooting themselves in the foot by their attitude - My guess is that the 'tourist' is just viewed as 'a wallet' and will ever remain as such despite the smiles and apparent friendliness. I do think that this attitude is mainly found in 'tourist' areas, although it can exist anywhere....in the world.

[NickA]

The money is not the issue. it's the principal.

^I don't go to school nick.

Even stranger that he got involved then.

it's the headmaster that's important.

Then again, I think he might have have been talking about the Headmistress

[danbo]

Give Wally a break Nick, he's homophonic.

[danbo]

I once bought a pencil sharpener from a small shop in Bangkok - only 10baht or something. The owner was apologetic as the only one he had had been used, although I wasn't concerned....Anyway, the guy chased after me a good 500 metres after I'd left to exchange for a new sharpener that he had managed to locate....I'm not sure what this has to do with anything, but I thought I'd share it here as it didn't seem worth starting a whole new 'Pencil Sharpener Stories' thread.

[NickA]

^I think your point was that bad customer service tends to be prevalent in tourist areas where passing trade and the quick buck is more valuable then return customers, whereas in other areas the opposite is true and vice versa

[dirtydog]

I think this thread should be split so it looks like danbo has started a thread about pencil sharpeners