Thai boy gives Farang $10 tip....

I work in hospitality and although I'm usually not in a scenario where I would recieve tips from our guests, I was in just such a situation today. A young Thai man (probably 30 or so) proffered a $10 tip for services rendered (I think he may be homesick and he and I spoke in Thai and this seemed to delight him. He does prefer to use the word Kaa instead of khrap. (Gaydar is fully operational here.)
My question is Would you accept a tip from a Thai boy probably 30 years your junior?
I was torn between offending him by not accepting or risking the "face" thing.
Just wondered what you guys think ?
Tipping is generally not the custom in Australia as I'm sure many of you will know.

Smile, accept his tip say i'll use this to buy us a drink. I remember when a boy treated me to dinner and an evening at the bowling alley. I made sure he knew how much it meant to me that he thought enough of me to do this. He had a big smile on his face all evening and I went away with a whole new perspective on things.

Hi,

You are joking me here, you're damn right I would accept it!

The hospitality job where it is accepted and offered, I don't care if he's 21 years old, the man could and probably was from a wealthy background and/or has been brought up in that kind of environment.

In Thailand, where they also have the "class" system, you may have insulted him by refusing, by implying you were on the same social level/scale.

Incidentally Guys, that brings in another point.

In Singapore, I was told not to, because it is not their way of life.

Thailand.No comment. If you don't know, you shouldn't be reading this board.

Comment on OZ, surprised me, I didn't know that it was not normal.

USA, I believe it is very expected.

Japan, I am told, it is considered RUDE.

Anyone can help me with any errors I have made with my assumptions????


By the way, you haven't told us what you did!

[Lunchtime O'Booze]

but I can assure you any money offered to me for any reason-I gratefully pocket with the speed of light.

However this eternal problem of different customs regarding "tipping" in other countries was solved by me many years ago as a frequent luncher-I always let someone else pick up the tab. Far easier.

but I can assure you any money offered to me for any reason-I gratefully pocket with the speed of light.

However this eternal problem of different customs regarding "tipping" in other countries was solved by me many years ago as a frequent luncher-I always let someone else pick up the tab. Far easier.


Lunchtime,

I'd never get away with that one, must be the company I keep!

[Wesley]

me either I almost always pay and when I don't you better believe I appreciate it.

I work in hospitality and although I'm usually not in a scenario where I would recieve tips from our guests, I was in just such a situation today. A young Thai man (probably 30 or so) proffered a $10 tip for services rendered (I think he may be homesick and he and I spoke in Thai and this seemed to delight him. He does prefer to use the word Kaa instead of khrap. (Gaydar is fully operational here.)
My question is Would you accept a tip from a Thai boy probably 30 years your junior?
I was torn between offending him by not accepting or risking the "face" thing.
Just wondered what you guys think ?
Tipping is generally not the custom in Australia as I'm sure many of you will know.


Without any question I would accept the nice gesture – even if you would try to spend it together (and probably more) afterwards.

A couple of years ago a substantially younger Thai guy invited me to stay with him at his room and at his expenses. I moved surely into his comfortable suite and we have had some splendid days together. He was well off and paid for all and everything. Money was just poring though his hands until I took some away and ensured than not more than 5000 TBT per day would have been spend. .. He likes the idea very much. We’ve had a wodnetime and raunchy time. Around Paradise complex this was a topic for some years. That a Thai boys moves into a foreigner’s accommodation was pretty common, but vice versa was unheard of.

Supervisor invited me to travel with him home and meet his family. They asked me to stay with him a couple of years ago and so I did. I’ve never regretted this step. He is a wonderful hard working young Isaan farmer. Well house and farm changed during the recent years but that’s for us and very good.

You can only spend - for good - what’s in your pockets. Therefore take all you can, but don’t be glued to it. Nothing lasts for ever …

accept it - no question.

The invite him for a date!

Hi,

You are joking me here, you're damn right I would accept it!

The hospitality job where it is accepted and offered, I don't care if he's 21 years old, the man could and probably was from a wealthy background and/or has been brought up in that kind of environment.

In Thailand, where they also have the "class" system, you may have insulted him by refusing, by implying you were on the same social level/scale.

Incidentally Guys, that brings in another point.

In Singapore, I was told not to, because it is not their way of life.

Thailand.No comment. If you don't know, you shouldn't be reading this board.

Comment on OZ, surprised me, I didn't know that it was not normal.

USA, I believe it is very expected.

Japan, I am told, it is considered RUDE.

Anyone can help me with any errors I have made with my assumptions????


By the way, you haven't told us what you did!

Yes in both Singapore and Japan as in Hong kong tipping is most definitely well received, but not by everyone. Badly paid workers will be the most receptive, petrol attendants, table staff and cleaners for example, will all, barring a few exceptions be delighted with a tip for services rendered.
This is news to me about Australia as well, I seem to remember being trawled by house keeping at my hotel for a tip. And no waiter has ever turned it down in any restaurant that I have ever eaten in Australia?

In America it is very much expected, I delight in not giving especially after crap service, and boy after living in Asia and staying at some of the nicest hotels here, is it bad service.

Would you accept a tip from a Thai boy probably 30 years your junior?Are you mad? It's my dream to become a kept man by a stable of gerontophile Thai boys. The question is better expressed as "Why would you not accept a tip from a Thai boy 30+ years your junior?"

[elephantspike]

In America it is very much expected, I delight in not giving especially after crap service, and boy after living in Asia and staying at some of the nicest hotels here, is it bad service.

Are you sure you want to treat people that badly who have access to your food (and your credit card) when you aren't looking?

American waiters in full-service restaurants are expected to be skilled professionals who can easily handle a large number of requests simultaneously and keep up to thirty people happy at a time. People are constantly coming and going. They need to be experts at multi-tasking. It also helps to have an extensive knowledge of world cuisine and oenology and special dietary needs. It also helps to have a good knowledge of basic psychology. A strong Sales background is a big plus, too.

The pay is $3 an hour, yet lots of very efficient, skilled, and educated people choose to do it.

Why? Because the money is good. Americans generally tip around 20%.

This is in your best interest that it works this way here, because, believe me, you do not want the lower echelons of this society (i.e. anyone who will work for minimum wage or less) to come anywhere near your food or credit cards.

[Aunty]

Americans generally tip around 20%.

I thought it was 15% Elephantspike? (That's what I used to tip in Mass) or does it vary by State?

If anyone offered me $10 for my service, I'd gladly take it as a sign of their appreciation. To not do so would, in my view, be strictly low-class.

[elephantspike]

In Massachusetts and New York, almost everyone tips 20% for good service in fine dining restaurants (I certainly do). There are some places in remote areas of the Deep South where 15% is still more customary in this situation and environment. Also if it is super-casual high volume (Like in a diner, wher the server just takes your order and drops off the food) then 15% is pretty typical even in The Northeast.

Also, I agree that it would be an insult to refuse a tip from a guest, even if you are a salaried $75,000 a year manager, especially if the tip is offered by a Thai guest.

Some hospitality companies in America do have policies that prohibit managers and other salaried personel from accepting tips, though.

[Aunty]

In Massachusetts and New York, almost everyone tips 20% for good service in fine dining restaurants (I certainly do). There are some places in remote areas of the deep south where 15% is still more customary in this situation and environment. Also if it is super-casual high volume (Like in a diner, wher the server just takes your order and drops off the food) then 15% is pretty typical even in The Northeast.

Also, I agree that it would be an insult to refuse a tip from a guest, even if you are a salaried 75,000 a year manager, especially if the tip is offered by a Thai guest.

Some hospitality companies in America do have policies that prohibit managers and other salaried personel from accepting tips, though.

Well I must have being a cheapskate then! lol But I never did/do get used to tipping it's totally foreign to me, even in Thailand. Yeah we have similar policies here as well. In some jobs taking any kind of a gratuity is simply not allowed, and trouble would follow if you did, but as tipping is not the norm in New Zealand (people are paid a full wage for their work here and therefore prices are higher) it's not expected by most workers either. But if you offer one it will be graciously accepted and received.

[elephantspike]

Well, 15% isn't really considered a bad tip, it's just kind of a fair tip.

If it is much less than that, then a professional server here will wonder: Did I do something wrong? or; Have these people ever been out of their house before?

Waiters get $3.00 dollars an hour? Are you sure about that?

[Aunty]

Well, 15% isn't really considered a bad tip, it's just kind of a fair tip.

If it is much less than that, then a professional server here will wonder: Did I do something wrong? or; Have these people ever been out of their house before?

Well thanks for that. The next time I go to the States (when they stop fingerprinting visitors like common criminals) I'll up my tipping to 20%. I have a funny feeling when I was in LA last I was tipping 20%, but I can't really remember. I know my boss used to tip 20%, but then that old Queen lush had plenty, $16,000 a month - in the hand, so I didn't really take too much notice of what Madam Bob tipped. But she's retired to Palm Springs now, and spends her days molesting the pool boy!

[alipatt-old]

- Also if you are offered a tip - you know that the job you have done was truly appreciated - A good system for me.

[elephantspike]

Waiters get $3.00 dollars an hour? Are you sure about that?

Yes. I am absolutely certain. That is my occupation.

It really is all culturally relative, though. That is the point of this thread, I think.

Once in Udon Thani, I made the mistake of tipping 20% at a restaurant, and then had to deal with a long line of employees and even guests who excpected a tip from this cazy farang who was giving away 100 baht notes.

You really just need to read the guidebook before you go anywhere.

Well, 15% isn't really considered a bad tip, it's just kind of a fair tip.

If it is much less than that, then a professional server here will wonder: Did I do something wrong? or; Have these people ever been out of their house before?

Well thanks for that. The next time I go to the States (when they stop fingerprinting visitors like common criminals) I'll up my tipping to 20%. I have a funny feeling when I was in LA last I was tipping 20%, but I can't really remember. I know my boss used to tip 20%, but then that old Queen lush had plenty, $16,000 a month - in the hand, so I didn't really take too much notice of what Madam Bob tipped. But she's retired to Palm Springs now, and spends her days molesting the pool boy!

Aunty,

$16,000 in the hand, Is that NZ dollars, what is that in UK. Just asking,curious.

Why are people expected to do this in the US, why don't they just get a fair rate of pay and percentage of service charge???

Is there service charge in the US on top of the tips???

I went to Canada twice and there were funny taxes I recall, something like GST and some others.

Although, I loved the food, shopping especially, the Country, people, style etc etc. and cheap for Europeans!

I'm just talking myself into going back!

[Wesley]

I still have found no real reason to go there. Thanks but no thanks. I do love them as people though. I hear real liberals go there all the time just to get the fuzzes.

Wesley

[elephantspike]

Why are people expected to do this in the US, why don't they just get a fair rate of pay and percentage of service charge???

Is there service charge in the US on top of the tips???

I went to Canada twice and there were funny taxes I recall, something like GST and some others.

Taxes do not go to your server. They go to the government, and in the case of the USA, the government does nothing for working people. If we do not buy insurance for $300 - $500 a month, if we get sick, we just have to suffer until we die. In many cases, even if we do pay the extortionate insurance premiums, we still won't be treated for life-threatening illnesses.

None of that has anything to do with tipping for service in restaurants, though. In this country, if you don't do it, it is pretty much considered theft of services.

If you have a "gratuity" added to your bill, however, that is supposed to go right to the server, 100% of it. If it does not, then it is the owner of the establishment who is the thief.

I still have found no real reason to go there. Thanks but no thanks. I do love them as people though. I hear real liberals go there all the time just to get the fuzzes.

Wesley

Dear Wes,

In my view, it is one of the most well kept, pristine places on Earth.

I intend to get to New Zealand as well hopefully.

I've never been to the US.

Dear Spike,

I understand the taxes, that is the same as VAT etc, it is government money. My point was, it was confusing between areas of Canada and called by different names in different regions, such as Quebec and Toronto.

The point I made, as yet unanswered, why don't they put on a service charge or gratuity tax as you mentioned, to the bill in the US??

They do in many places. This would remove the need and ambiguity for errors,mistakes, theft of services.

Not everyone,especially first time visitors, is going to understand the downtrodden workers in the US or the systems.

[elephantspike]

Dear Spike,

I understand the taxes, that is the same as VAT etc, it is government money. My point was, it was confusing between areas of Canada and called by different names in different regions, such as Quebec and Toronto.

The point I made, as yet unanswered, why don't they put on a service charge or gratuity tax as you mentioned, to the bill in the US??

They do in many places. This would remove the need and ambiguity for errors,mistakes, theft of services.

Not everyone,especially first time visitors, is going to understand the downtrodden workers in the US or the systems.

Sometimes they do put it on. You need to look at your bill and ask if you have questions.

Hint: If it is relatively fine dining, and in or near a big city or if it is on either coast, there is probably no gratuity included (unless it is a tourist trap).

In Canada you will come across 2 different taxes added to virtually everything you buy.

The first is GST - Goods and Service Tax which is a Federal tax. Currently at 6%
The second is PST - Provincial Sales Tax which is provincially administered and varies from province to province, some as high as 8 or 9% to Alberta which does not have PST. Interestingly enough the PST is calculated on the price + GST so you actually end up paying tax on tax.

For Europeans it is very similar to VAT except that it is not included in the list price of any item and always added after the fact. The reasoning being that you are constantly reminded how much of your money goes to pay for government services. Compared to the USA, Canadians pay considerably more tax but on average less than most Europeans.

The Fraser Institute publishes an annual Tax Freedom Day which calculates when the average Canadian starts working for themselves and not the government. This year it was June 28 which means until that date every singles penny earned went to one level of government or another in some form of taxation.

[elephantspike]

Now the Government in Australia,if they are re elected in October that is,wants to bring the USA system in of everyone earning the same hourly rate everyday,that is you work for a hourly pittance 7 days a week,no 7 weeks annual leave,no 2 weeks stress leave,no double time on Sundays etc.


Wow! That's considered "liberal" in Oz?

In the USA now, if you take the position that Bush and all of his staff should be hanged, that is considered moderate.

I think. Of course I didn't take a scientific poll on this. I am just going by what I and my friends and co-workers and family think.

[Aunty]

Aunty,

$16,000 in the hand, Is that NZ dollars, what is that in UK. Just asking,curious.

No it was in US dollars (he was a senior Harvard Prof.) and it was when the US$ was worth something too! (2000-2001). Funny thing was though he preferred doing interior design, and he was good at it too! He had a very nice home and he had done the interiors entirely himself, including putting the kitchen and bathrooms in. A very talented man, (gifted in many respects) and like so many of us, a complete fuck up as well.

PS, I think you will like the US, Kevin. It's nothing like the movies, or what Ceddie makes it out to be. They even speak a from of English, so how bad can it be?? :cheers:

[Aunty]

You only have to look at S%P restaurant in Pattaya,they added a 15% service fee to my bill,i have never heard of this before.

Now the Government in Australia,if they are re elected in October that is,wants to bring the USA system in of everyone earning the same hourly rate everyday,that is you work for a hourly pittance 7 days a week,no 7 weeks annual leave,no 2 weeks stress leave,no double time on Sundays etc.

You will be working only for tips,but i bet some of you bastards will be voting Liberal again,wanting the punishment of Johnny Howard and his mate Bush back in,not me i will be voting Labor .

I don't think you'll have any problems there, William. As far as I can see, John Howard's dog's tucker this election, sounds like he's even going to lose his own seat! Anyway how much do you normally tip in restrauants in Thailand Bill?

Well being the working class battler that i am,i can only afford to go to Burger King or Macca s (mcdonalds) and best of all you dont need to leave a tip.

Well im hoping our Aussie PM Johnny Howard will be kicked out next election but we have submissives bitches such as LONELYWOMBAT on here who will vote him back in again.
The only thing i agree on with the Liberals is there policy to stop gay marriage coming in,and a halt to immigration,but their anti union policy lets them down.


Billy,

Don't you fancy being Mrs.wx40afp then???

... "all about Thailand" thread?

[cottmann]

Hi,

Japan, I am told, it is considered RUDE.

Anyone can help me with any errors I have made with my assumptions????

Not quite true. In most places, they will assume that you left the money behind by mistake and chase you to return it.