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visitorq
Joined: 11 Jan 2008
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 Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 2:55 am Post subject: |
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| Kurtz wrote: |
| Epicurus wrote: |
| itaewonguy wrote: |
| Epicurus wrote: |
| beercanman wrote: |
| itaewonguy wrote: |
| and then they still haggle over 20cents!!!! |
Haha, this reminds me of Vietnam actually. After a while, even as little as a month, I guess one gets used to local prices and how much things should cost. Then people who have plenty of cash, relatively speaking, compared to most locals at least, can turn into real cheapskates. You want me to pay 15,000 VND for that pack of smokes when I can get it down the road for 12,000 VND? No way! (15,000 VND = about a dollar). Saw this sort of thing many times there, probably did it myself once or twice, forgetting that a few thousand VND is basically worth nothing. It's an easy trap to fall into actually. |
not a "trap".
it's called common sense, unless you really need something and need it right away.
12K vs 15K is a 25% price increase.
quite significant.
I buy some stuff at my local convenience store instead of carrying it back from E-mart because I don't want to carry a bunch of crap.
but in such cases, the difference in price is 10% at the very most. |
oh but you still expect a huge smile, and have the shop clerk run around after you because you are a western person visiting their country.. but still wont pay 20cents more..
that 20cents is a lot to them... of course if its significant like 10 dollars, or 50 dollars more than locals pay then yes screw that.. but 50 cents..
1 dollar, or 20 cents.. come on now.. help out the locals.. |
no. sorry.
I'm not looking for a smile, nor am I looking for someone to run around for me or after me.
I'm simply looking for a consumer good at the fair local price.
NOT the tourist price, thank you.
this is one reason I never ever take tourist taxis at the airport, for e.g.
guaranteed ripoff.
I know what you're saying and usually I'd wave my hand at 20 cents, yes, but if you stay anywhere for a longer period of time this stuff starts adding up so on longer stays I am far more likely to pinch pennies.
re - "helping out the locals" - I am FAR more likely to generously tip an honest taxi driver, or merchant, etc than someone looking to screw tourists. That's how I "help out the locals". I help out the honest ones. |
I agree. It's this "it's only a dollar" mentality that creates so many problems for tourists as the locals get greedy and think every tourist is rich and will just throw around the money.
Barter and barter hard, but don't go over the top. Pay the local price. If a Thai goes to a Western country, they can't expect to pay a lower price because they are Thai, so a Westerner shouldn't pay a higher price because they come from a rich country.
If you want to help, give to a charity or sponser a child, don't tip or pay extra to some scheming local.
The question itself has been answered and answered well in an earlier post. Sometimes the smile is real, but I'd say in most cases it's not, especially in tourist areas. I'd love to be able to speak Thai, I'm quite sure some nasty things are said about us. |
Yes, exactly. The analogy I always make is that if you open up a restaurant and charge $10 for a pasta, and Bill Gates suddenly walks in, you're not going to suddenly raise the price to $10,000. You'd have a lot of nerve to expect him to pay even 1 penny more, because dual pricing is nothing short of discrimination. I'm not talking about bargaining (which Thai people do), I'm talking about deliberate price gouging on people who are unfamiliar with the local prices.
Whenever certain expats try to defend the despicable greed that so many Thais show to us (saying 'it's no big deal', just a trifle, or that it's 'their country'), it makes my blood boil... If someone tries to charge me double or triple on a 50 baht item or service, I understand that it's not all that much money, but it's extremely insulting to me. It means the person selling it thinks I'm a fool, and this is exactly what Thai people do think about us (believe me, I know it well). They actually laugh at the gullible farangs and hold us in contempt regardless.
The trick is to be ruthless with them, and have zero regard for their feelings (as they have none for yours; unless you are in their circle of friends). Yelling works if you're Thai who's higher up the food chain than others (they throw tantrums all the time), but unfortunately not if you're a farang. The most important thing is to know your prices - ex. if someone tries to overcharge me on food, I just toss them the exact, correct amount and walk away, non-negotiable. This almost always works (if they get mad, I could care less).
In extreme cases, they lose face, and then they get really aggressive and even violent. It's very tempting to just give the guy a shot to the nose and put him in his place, but unfortunately these guys don't know when to quit (they're liable to fight to the death and call their friends to gang up on you), and basically you just always have way more to lose than them. Anyway, civilized people understand that petty pride is never worth getting stabbed over, so much better to just swallow until you get to come back later with the cops to back you up. |
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jklasdf
Joined: 23 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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| I love Thailand. The people are the friendliest and funniest people that I have met while travelling around Southeast Asia, out of the 7 countries that I visited in Asia, the Thai people are by far the nicest. |
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travelbears
Joined: 13 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 5:02 pm Post subject: Re: ... |
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this is why i will never go back to thailand ever again! not worth a visit
| Morning_Star wrote: |
| Whatever. The gap between the rich and poor in Thailand is very great and most people in Thailand are poor and are very superficial due to that. The Thai people I've met are very fake and shallow. The only thing on their mind is $$$$$$$$$$$. That's probably why old, perverted white guys like Thailand. The girls would do anything for money there. |
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xingyiman
Joined: 12 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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I lived in Bangkok for a year. Bangkok was one of the safest places I think I have ever lived. Many people might chuckle about that but i was never threatened and I felt totally at ease walking at night in downtown Bangkok alone. My friends have told me that I can come off as pretty intimidating so that might have something to do with it. Between Thailand and Korea I was choose Thailand in a heartbeat for the ease of living, low living costs, and variety of things to do year round. I'm in korea for the money only.
Yes lots of thai gals like money. But I know many men who married a Thai woman and have been happily married for years and now have a few children. I don't think there is any greater frequency of Thai women who scam western guys as opposed to western women who marry and then divorce the guy taking at least half of his worth with her. |
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Murakano
Joined: 10 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 7:58 pm Post subject: Re: ... |
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| Morning_Star wrote: |
| Whatever. The gap between the rich and poor in Thailand is very great and most people in Thailand are poor and are very superficial due to that. The Thai people I've met are very fake and shallow. The only thing on their mind is $$$$$$$$$$$. That's probably why old, perverted white guys like Thailand. The girls would do anything for money there. |
great generalising  ........sorry that you met only those kinds of people but there are plenty of people there who are not like that. Try going out of the money hungry tourist resorts areas for example.... |
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xingyiman
Joined: 12 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 8:07 pm Post subject: Re: ... |
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| Murakano wrote: |
| Morning_Star wrote: |
| Whatever. The gap between the rich and poor in Thailand is very great and most people in Thailand are poor and are very superficial due to that. The Thai people I've met are very fake and shallow. The only thing on their mind is $$$$$$$$$$$. That's probably why old, perverted white guys like Thailand. The girls would do anything for money there. |
great generalising ........sorry that you met only those kinds of people but there are plenty of people there who are not like that. Try going out of the money hungry tourist resorts areas for example.... |
Yeah I hear ya. Morningstar - well the gap between the rich and poor in any country is pretty wide. The problem is old and perverted guys, as well as any other male simply finds it easier and more beneficial to hook up with a Thai GF as opposed to you westerners. think they're ignoring you here in korea, wait till you get to Thailand |
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Poemer
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Location: Mullae
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| Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Wasn't Miss Seoul unmasked as a sock a couple years back? I guess he thought most the people who remembered were gone by now and it was safe to dust off a favorite old plaything. |
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Goon-Yang
Joined: 28 May 2009
Location: Duh
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| Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 7:48 am Post subject: |
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Thailand is land of vertical smile  |
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