Tip for Single Drink at Bar

[francois]

I came across this topic on ThaiVisa Forum; How much a tip for one drink at a bar?
As usual a lot of troll replies but mostly from guys going to girly bars.

So, just what do you think is a fair/decent tip at a beer bar or go-go bar or a single drink or, even multiple drinks?

For me it is always 20 Baht unless I have multiple drinks and am enjoying the service of a cute or good waiter in which case he may get another 20 Baht in his hand.

I do notice that many farang customers stick with only one tip no matter the cost of a drink/meal. 20 Baht.

For reference sake I did a Google Translate of "tip" from English to Thai and the result was 20 บาท !!!

[catawampuscat]

Some old timers still lamenting the demise of the 10 baht banknotes

[a447]

I'm not a drinker so don't spend a lot of time sitting in beer bars. But on my last trip I met a nice guy who used to work at Eros but now works in All of Me. He would sit and drink with me and I always tipped him 100-200 baht. Too much??

I'll be back in Pattaya early next month and intend to drink with him in his bar. If I've been tipping too much, it will be very hard to now tip him less.

Still, I think I got value for money as I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to him. There's no way I could tip him 20 baht - I think a guy who spends time with you probably deserves more than that.

If I just order a drink and the waiter delivers it to my table, I don't give him any tip.

[francois]

No,100-200 Baht not too much for someone who sits and chats with you. It is also the norm to buy them a drink since it is their job to promote the bar. Many of the farang I know are not "drinkers" of alcohol but do sit at beer bars and have water, coffee, etc. and they usually leave some form of tip. Let's see what others think.

[christianpfc]

I rarely drink at beer bars, but go (used to go?) to gogo bars. When I invite a boy to sit with me, I will buy him a drink and check skin temperature and make some small talk. That might take 15 minutes and he will get 100 Baht.

Years ago, I pondered tipping 50 Baht for that, but decided against it.

If a boy sits long time (1 hour) with me and is entertaining, he might get 200 Baht. But that's the exception, only if I can't decide where to go next, that I stay that long in a bar.

[bucknaway]

If I go to a gogo bar and order the mandatory drink. Let's say it is 220 baht. And I give the waiter 300 baht. He may return with the folder holding 4 10 baht coins and 2 20 baht notes. He may even return with all the change in coins....

Before I would leave the coins but now I take the coins and will put 20 baht back in the binder.

[arsenal]

Just a drink. 20 baht tip in a gogo bar and 10 in a beer bar except at Copa where I tip 20 because of the lovely service I always get there.

[dinagam]

In Pattaya I would keep the 10 baht coins to be used later on baht buses. So convenient.
If boys sit with me with my permission, I offer them a drink, give 100 baht companionship fee, and leave some small change for the bar.

[fountainhall]

There's a bit of confusion re a tip for a barman/waiter who brings over your drink and for one of the boys who sits and spends some time with you.

As for the barman, I reckon drinks have now become so expensive in Bangkok, I rarely leave anything. If I do it's Bt. 20. I totally dislike the idea of giving some of the change in Bt. 10 coins, especially when a couple of them are often tucked into a flap at the bottom of the wallet in the hope they will get a Bt. 20 note and those two coins will not be noticed.

As for a boy sitting with you, I'll never offer less than Bt. 100, increasing to 200 if I'm having a good time.

[loke]

100 if I am entertained. 0 baht if I just have a drink or coffee. Thats right, I'm not American.

[oldfarang]

Tips for just drinking in a bar? I had a few regular bars in my days, most in Sunee.
In these bars I never took off any boys, but always just sat at the bar and have a drink for a few (2 to 4) hours. Usually by the bottle of spirits. Always got along with owner/barkeep/barkeep-helper and chatted with everybody.
Quiet times the boys (including waiters) shared a drink with me and also chatted or we played some pool if the bar had one.

Usually I would tip a general one for all workers 100 baht and most times give the extra nice/friendly guys an extra hand tip.
Sometimes when a lad was hungry, just 40/50 baht for a quick meal. They knew me well and never abused my "generosity".

Got to say in those days I paid 500/600baht for a large bottle with free mixers. Therefore a whole evening would be about 800 to 1200baht, depending if one or two bottles where needed. Of course leftover bottles where saved until next visit.

Unfortunately most are closed or change now, but my urge to go out drinking in the gay scene has quieted down a lot over the years.

[arsenal]

20 tip baht for a drink is fine.

[cdnmatt]

Personally, I've always tipped fairly generously, regardless it's a drink at a bar, haircut, taxi, pizza delivery, whatever. If you're working a job like that, you're most likely barely surviving on mere sustenance.

I don't even notice an extra 50 or 100 baht, whereas they probably definitely do. Hell, I even tip the songtaew drivers. It's 9 baht here, but I always just give them a 20 and tell them keep the change.

[francois]

I do notice that some of the customers at beer bars are very good with tips for the waiters. One farang always tips 20 Baht/drink and into the hand of the server. He is well liked.

[bkkguy]

Some old timers still lamenting the demise of the 10 baht banknotes

10 Baht - meh! I still have the first 1 Baht note I received in Thailand!


He may even return with all the change in coins.....

the last bar that sent me all the change in 5 baht coins for a 160 Baht drink ended up with a 25 satang coin left as a "subtle" tip - I had already planned a quick exit strategy and didn't expect to ever return to the bar anyway!

bkkguy

[francois]

Maybe he was just looking for a 5 Baht tip.

[Yraen]

Like Loke, neither am I a USian.

I fail to understand why anyone is expected to leave a tip for a barman/waiter/etc who is doing his job and is being paid the prevailing wage for doing so. A different story if a service person excels. That person deserves a 'thank you'.

Years ago, in Honolulu, I got into an argy-bargy with a restaurant waiter. We had had minimum service all night - he was much more interested in staring at his co-workers tits - and when he brought the bill (we had to chase him to get it) it included a 15% service fee. However ... there were two errors in the bill (1) a dish was listed that we hadn't ordered or enjoyed, and (2) there were simple mathematical errors in the addition. Then there was the matter of the tip.

So, we called him over and explained the three 'problems'. He wanted to argue the toss on each of them. May answers were - (a) I do not pay for dishes I have not ordered or eaten so remove the offending item - (b) get a calculator and check your addition - and (c) you are paid to provide customer service and you have failed miserably and it is MY custom to tip for service only when it is warranted. If you have a problem with any of that please bring your manager out here. The result - the unordered item disappeared, the female waitress and a calculator corrected his addition and he got a nickel for his rudeness and service failure.

Yes, I understand that the US does not have a functional minimum wage so service staff have to work for tips if they are to make a living wage. Yes, I do understand that there are some superb service personnel who earn every penny they collect. But there are many who provide a level of service that should equal zero tip.

So I suggest to each of you that tips are and should be earned as a reward for good service. If you get good service, tip accordingly. If the service is/was 'ho-hum' or bad then tip accordingly. Of course, you should then factor in the 'eye-candy' element. <grin>

Finally, the tip you leave should sensibly reflect the level of enjoyment you have had from the interaction between you and the service person. NB: If you eat, drink or play with Thai people regularly, you will soon notice that, in a restaurant for example, all the change is collected. A tip, if warranted, is usually 20 or 50 Baht given directly to the waiter/waitress, no-one trusts the 'management' to actually give the tip to the staff. Tips for services of a more personal nature <wink> should deserve a greater degree of largess.

Enjoy.

[Yraen]

Like Loke, neither am I a USian.

I fail to understand why anyone is expected to leave a tip for a barman/waiter/etc who is doing his job and is being paid the prevailing wage for doing so. A different story if a service person excels. That person deserves a 'thank you'.

Years ago, in Honolulu, I got into an argy-bargy with a restaurant waiter. We had had minimum service all night - he was much more interested in staring at his co-workers tits - and when he brought the bill (we had to chase him to get it) it included a 15% service fee. However ... there were two errors in the bill (1) a dish was listed that we hadn't ordered or enjoyed, and (2) there were simple mathematical errors in the addition. Then there was the matter of the tip.

So, we called him over and explained the three 'problems'. He wanted to argue the toss on each of them. May answers were - (a) I do not pay for dishes I have not ordered or eaten so remove the offending item - (b) get a calculator and check your addition - and (c) you are paid to provide customer service and you have failed miserably and it is MY custom to tip for service only when it is warranted. If you have a problem with any of that please bring your manager out here. The result - the unordered item disappeared, the female waitress and a calculator corrected his addition and he got a nickel for his rudeness and service failure.

Yes, I understand that the US does not have a functional minimum wage so service staff have to work for tips if they are to make a living wage. Yes, I do understand that there are some superb service personnel who earn every penny they collect. But there are many who provide a level of service that should equal zero tip.

So I suggest to each of you that tips are and should be earned as a reward for good service. If you get good service, tip accordingly. If the service is/was 'ho-hum' or bad then tip accordingly. Of course, you should then factor in the 'eye-candy' element. <grin>

Finally, the tip you leave should sensibly reflect the level of enjoyment you have had from the interaction between you and the service person. NB: If you eat, drink or play with Thai people regularly, you will soon notice that, in a restaurant for example, all the change is collected. A tip, if warranted, is usually 20 or 50 Baht given directly to the waiter/waitress - no-one trusts the 'management' to actually give the tip to the staff. Tips for services of a more personal nature <wink> should deserve a greater degree of largess.

Enjoy.

[Faranglaw]

Have you ever had a bad day at work? I have. Did you still get paid? I did.

[ggobob]

If I leave a tip for the waiter, I hand it to him directly, not in the folder. Somewhere along the way, someone told me that tips left in the folder go to the house, so I always empty the folder, hand it back, and then give a tip to the waiter. I may be operating under a Thai urban legend theory.

[cdnmatt]

Nope, you're perfectly correct ggobob. Keep doing it. :)

[latintopxxx]

yraen...u r fighting a loosing battle, most of the board members here, at least the ones that post, are bleeding heart lefty liberals who believe in paying for services not rendered.

[Smiles]

" ... most of the board members here, at least the ones that post, are bleeding heart lefty liberals ... "
Better than being a cliche, or in your case, a hoax.
Your handle being loaded down with X's would be more real if you'd just change them into B's.

[latintopxxx]

...sweetness just because you've decided to hide away under a rock in hua hin doesnt mean that the rest of us have to stop living. Assumong that u do live in Thailand quite possibly your horizons have narrowed considerably as u have to face your neighbours on a daily basis so cant afford to live a little. I have no such issues, am only in town for a week or two..always book into different hotels. U only live once so make the most of it.

[Yraen]

Farang-claw,

In that "bad day at work" did you piss off your co-workers or more importantly your customers? If you did, why should you get paid? Take an unpaid leave day, go home and keep your misery to yourself.

I had a manager like you - we called him Crusty (to his face). When he "had his rags on" we would tell him to lock himself in his office and only come out again when he was prepared to be civil. He just needed a little "house training". :) Other than that, he was a great "boss" and we always enjoyed a drink with him after work.

Yes, everyone has a bad day from time-to-time. If that is in a service industry then "above and beyond the call of duty" is the standard. Else one's income will be adversely affected.

[latintopxxx]

yraen..i live u..i think;)
At last someone who speaks sense.
No service no money.
Easy.
So easy even I get it.

[latintopxxx]

sorry stoopid fat finger typing.
Should read " yraen..I love u..i think";)

[francois]

If I leave a tip for the waiter, I hand it to him directly, not in the folder. Somewhere along the way, someone told me that tips left in the folder go to the house, so I always empty the folder, hand it back, and then give a tip to the waiter. I may be operating under a Thai urban legend theory.

I suppose it all depends on the establishment, however the tip left in the folder are distributed among the staff such as the bartender, cooks, etc who may not receive tip directly from the customer. So some money left in the folder is wise; for good service then an additional tip into hand of the server is a nice gesture.

[latintopxxx]

oh honestly...all this tipping nonsense. Where does it stop. Seems like the only one not getting a tip is me.

[francois]

Where does it stop. Seems like the only one not getting a tip is me.

That is quite understandable.

[christianpfc]

Personally, I've always tipped fairly generously, regardless it's a drink at a bar, haircut, taxi, pizza delivery, whatever. If you're working a job like that, you're most likely barely surviving on mere sustenance.

I don't even notice an extra 50 or 100 baht, whereas they probably definitely do. Hell, I even tip the songtaew drivers. It's 9 baht here, but I always just give them a 20 and tell them keep the change.
I am the opposite. I am against tipping and would prefer a system like in Japan: no tips, excellent service (info from internet and friends, I haven't been). I tip little or nothing, but inconsistent. (I mean people I don't touch sexually, when I touch or off a boy I pay the going rate.)


Like Loke, neither am I a USian.
I fail to understand why anyone is expected to leave a tip for a barman/waiter/etc who is doing his job and is being paid the prevailing wage for doing so.

Yes, I understand that the US does not have a functional minimum wage so service staff have to work for tips if they are to make a living wage. Yes, I do understand that there are some superb service personnel who earn every penny they collect. But there are many who provide a level of service that should equal zero tip.
Exactly!

Tipping in the US is a way to compensate for unjust employment conditions in the US, but wouldn't it be better to change the employment conditions? Otherwise they will spread.

[francois]

Exactly!

Tipping in the US is a way to compensate for unjust employment conditions in the US, but wouldn't it be better to change the employment conditions? Otherwise they will spread.

Well, as Dorthy said in the Wizard of Oz, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

We are not in Kansas, Australia, England, Japan or Germany but in Thailand. Does anyone believe that compensation for services rendered to workers in Thailand is anything but "just". Nonetheless, if one cannot afford to tip they should not tip but a bit of charity always is appreciated.

[Yraen]

Christian,
An idealist would say "you are right on the money" (bad pun intended). A realist would say the tipping system is so deeply embedded in the USian psyche that it will never be changed.
Unfortunately, it is already spreading, even in countries where an adequate living wage prevails for service personnel. To many, tips are money for nothing; all they have to do is the job for which they are paid and the extra just rolls in.

Francois,
No particular wage structure is "just". In every country business is business - payment received by employees is not "charity", it is compensation. So I stick by my original assertion - " So I suggest to each of you that tips are and should be earned as a reward for good service. If you get good service, tip accordingly. If the service is/was 'ho-hum' or bad then tip accordingly. Of course, you should then factor in the 'eye-candy' element. <grin> "

[francois]

Payment by employer is wages/compensation. Tips paid by customer is charity/kindness in appreciation for service rendered. One must consider that, even a small tip, can go a long way to a worker here in Thailand. For me, rare not to get good service from the workers but it can happen.

[cdnmatt]

If you're going to be a repeat customer somewhere, in my mind, it's stupid not to tip. Think of it as paying for better service on your future visits.

For example, I have a couple taxi drivers in my phone. When I call them, I can expect them to rush right over. If I didn't tip decently, they would probably either take their time, or not even bother answering the phone.

Then the songtaew drivers drive past, and see me walking down the side street, even if I'm 50 feet away they will stop and wait. Would they do that if I only paid 9 baht instead of 20? I don't know. Heck, I've even gotten free songtaew rides before. They see me lugging a 17kg bag of dog food on my shoulder, sweating like crazy, they stop, drop me off right close to my house and refuse any payment. We're only talking maybe 500m, but stili...

When I go to get a haircut, would my hairdresser greet me with a big smile, and fuss over my sides and back of my head as much as he does, if I didn't tip well? I don't know.

When I go to a wine bar in town, I get treated with top notch service. Would I still get treated that well if I was leaving 2 baht tips? I don't know.

How about when leaving Central with a bunch of groceries, would the tuk-tuk drivers rush over to me to help me carry them if I didn't tip decently? I don't know.

All I know is I generally get absolutely excellent service, especially when they know me and I'm a repeat customer. Would I still get that level of service if I didn't tip decently? I have no idea, but I do know I'm not about to turn into a cheap charlie to find out.

[a447]

All I know is I generally get absolutely excellent service, especially when they know me and I'm a repeat customer. Would I still get that level of service if I didn't tip decently? I have no idea, but I do know I'm not about to turn into a cheap charlie to find out.

My thoughts, exactly. Tipping isn't just a one-way street - the recipient gets an immediate benefit, whereas the tipper gets his down the track.

I love being greeted with a friendly smile and getting well looked after, so tipping is a no-brainer for me in Asia.

[loke]

Only Americans would feel comfortable abut tipping everywhere they go . Fortunately this is Thailand ., no tip are expected . Sometimes I can give money to a boy but not because he served me a drink,.

[goji]

I like the Japanese system.
Outstanding service comes as standard & is included in the price.
Tipping is definitely not expected & would typically be regarded as an insult.

From what I understand, it's traditionally been the same in most of east Asia & many Thai on Thai business transactions involve no tips. However, if Americans turn up & tip, people in the bars will solicit tips.

In the bars, I would rather save the tips for my preferred boy.

[francois]

., no tip are expected . Sometimes I can give money to a boy but not because he served me a drink,.

I am not so sure about that!

[scottish-guy]

If the boy has cold skin and is wearing the right underwear he'll get a tip from Christian

:p