Tipping in los

[Pandora Tomorrow]

i am a tipping fool
always have been when i didn't have a too much money, still am
if i get good service or a regular at a place, i give foolish tips

i ate at our regular thai restaurant in Vancouver and my wife's best friend served me
my bill 30.00, i tipped her 15.00
my wife hates it, but i am just a fool

plus when i was a waiter, i was really happy to get good tips and i got very big tips on occasions

but.....i will give zero tip if i get bad service and i have done that plenty of times

 

[Jimmy]

they always want to play that 'how much you give me' game in phuket especially,i hate it.if they get a little too smart or aggressive i usually walk away.

up in the north its not as bad.

markets in CR most places have a price marked on everything.

eg; knock off Oakley sunglasses CR marked @ 100 baht,same in patong managed to haggle down to 200 just to see what theyd take for them.

 

[syahir sephiroth]

yes definitely
wasn't a knock at all
and to be honest, only reason we ever go for steak in Thailand is because my Thai wife and her Thai mom are asking to 5555
not the dumb Americans choice!!

i just don't think you can get the aging right in such humidity of thailand and also the preparation

 

[mandi nic]

i have, you'll find pub grub in some places may even rival the swankier places for specialties. now if you toss in linens and an international wine list or sauce that isn't powder or a-1, then it's apples vs oranges.

 

[D. (Da Dude) Danderfoose]

but until we do have a steak thread . . . I bought some 'fresh-killed beef' at our market the week before last, living with a fish/prawn/chicken family thought I'd treat myself.
The beef was terrible, I think the only way to get it reasonably edible would be in one of those slow-cooker things in a stew (3-4 months might do it).
I still dream of a meal I had in Phnom Penh early Dec, huge slab of Argentinean beef, accompanied by Chilean wine. Nice change from something meat-ish, rice and a beer.

 

[Ajack (got it back :3)]

yes Vancouver is very expensive
for some reason we have these places( too many to be honest) but it is good to know you can get a good quality steak for a decent price at least

as i said, there is tons of good small farang restaurants with great prices
believe it or not, there is many outstanding, smaller cheap Italian restaurants throughout Thailand

but as your 1st trip, i know it can look intimidating but do yourself a favor and eat at the street restaurants for thai food
if you looking for great, cheap eats, you will love them

 

[ANON123456]

here in the states most waitresses make less than the min wage, some places less than 1/2.

saw in another thread that he got yelled at for not leaving enough in la...la and nyc in most places expect 20% if not more. generally it's 10% across the board, at least outside the tourist traps. also hear you can add san fran and south beach to the 20-30%.

bars can be a bit diff, they'll make the price of the drinks so that the change almost always go to the waitress/bartender, which can be a bit over the top if you aren't paying attention during a long night.

the gift thing is really up my alley, worked great with super balls when in mexico. i think that shows more effort and thought, you knew your maid was going to be good, so you brought a game of jacks/marbles for her kids, but still baht talks and b.s. walks still i imagine lol.

bad service = little or no tip, fair service = 10-15%, and more for good service.

location location location...the car hop at the drake hotel in florida expected more for a tip for opening 1 door than the pregnant waitress that actually recooked our meal for us herself just outside austin, refused to let us pay full price for the meal or overtip...so i had the gf slip in her purse with a ty note.

generally tipping maids here is a bit over the top unless they really go out of their way...if the bell hop is actually hauling luggage then its 5-10 a bag in the ritzy places...depends on if you brought your clothes horse with you really.

is the give or take 10% in thai country wide or does it vary, what if in the outback and not 30m from the holiday inn?

 

[Jac]

My GF, who is well-traveled both in SE Asia and Europe, has educated me to NOT leave a tip if there's a service charge on the docket and only leave coins, say 10 - 20 baht if there's NO service charge. I'd rather spend the 'savings' on her anyway
Re bartering - I bought a set of 3 fancy light strings at Chiang Mai's Thapae Gate sunday market for 1200 baht; subsequently I saw the same items for sale at JungCeylon basement level and asked the price - "3,000 baht" was the quote... I said, "oh, I buy in CM for 1200 baht!". "Ok, I do for 1200" was the instant response!

 

[maskedone]

but you are up in the boonies, right?
that would be a very tall order to find good steak

 

[v.s]

I was referring to steak specifically.

I should inform you that under Australian regulations, if they offer a wine list, it's no longer pub grub. What me and Jigger are referring to are counter meals, the good old Chicken Parma with chips and a Pint for under $17 (pretty hard to find in Perth, even harder in LOS). Steak is something I avoid in pub grub, it's never very good (unlike the parma).

 

[Rocks]

i never experienced anyone in the US giving attitude for a bigger tip
was just at the Chicago Hilton which is real old school with the bell hops, doorman, fetching you a taxi
at times i didn't have singles or even a 5 and would just give a thank you and maybe tell them i'd get them later, other times i'd gave the smaller bills to give a tip. each time i was treated exactly the same

 

[Kns0509]

Everything in JC basement is waaaay overpriced! My missus saw a wallet she liked there, one of those sting ray types. The gal wanted ฿2,800. I tried to bargain a bit, but she wouldn't go lower than ฿1,800 so I said forget it.

Next day I was in Ocean on Bangla and saw the same wallet at a shop there. The girl wanted ฿2,300 originally, but I was able to bargain the girl down to ฿900. And at least she was friendly and willing to bargain fairly.

Not sure what the deal is in JC, Nepalese mafia or what?? But their prices there are very consistent (consistently high!) from shop to shop, and they allow for very little haggling room. Hell they wanted ฿120 for one stinking foam rubber beer coozie!

 

[Sparky G]

i figure at fast guess that's about where i'll be 70% of the time, more of a % for less time in los, less for more.

eh, i'm down to 1 meal a day anyway, and can eat like a bird for most of them if i want. no worries lol.

 

[undercoverbabe911]

Can never go wrong with a parma with chips. Tuesday night at the local $10 with a free beer

 

[Ashlie]

Yeah but you haven't seen the Thai birds eat yet - you'll drop that comparison Bill.

 

[Spaz]

^^^

books please!! lol

actually, on occasion i develop the hollow leg too...i think it's my screwy metabolism.

 

[edrazeba]

Maybe the rent is higher at JC. Thats way they charge more.

 

[Pompal 09.]

i seriously think she was mortified with the cook, i wouldn't be surprised if it was his last day. agreed that outside the food industry, especially door men, not always required, but if on a long stay and i kept them busy then i really try to slip them something.

 

[Little Glenn]

it was my impression darn good beef was easy to get in oz...the uk, canada, argentina and alot of other places. i know you can get primo steak in canada first hand.

hope i'm not ruffling any feathers.. by counter meals, would those be anything like the roadside diner from the 1950's here in the states? parma, is that like ham?spam? didn't realize the subtles, sorry

 

[Dr. Tabas]

Being from Canada I'm use to getting ripped off ($7-10) for a drink at a club so when I'm paying half that in LOS I don't mind giving a tip when the service has been good