Originally Posted by cnx4shan
I find it fascinating that so many people here judge Thai people by western standards and make no attempt to understand Thai's very weird psyche and thinking. The OP clearly didn't understand what really went down and nor have the others offering their explanations.
The boy's reaction is not becasue he's a money grabbing git (Which he probably is ;) ) but absolutely typical behaviour when you make a Thai loose face. Can imagine the scene: boy sweetly asks for more money in the normal "butter wouldn't melt" way, with accompanying touchy feely body language, OP replys with an assertive "No" of the "Non" type that a Frenchman would be proud of, and accompanying shocked rhetoric, facial expressions about how well the boys been treated, how dare he, whatever etc (we've all done it....). Boy has now lost face, knows attack is the best form of defence by making it all the OP's fault so boy explodes like a thermonuclear warhead and storms out. Now who's lost face?
If you speak Thai you'd understand it better. The word "no" is not really used in Thai, Thai's generally say "not yes", or cannot. A straight "No" would be seen as extremely rude! The OP acknowledges the boys are all good "actors", if you're going to play the game, you have to be one too (i.e be ready with some white lies). Don't say no, ask why they want it or what they are going to do to deserve it, say maybe tomorrow, use an excse about not having enough cash, etc, whatever, just decline in a roundabout way so no one looses face.
Politness, respect and never loosing your temper are very important in Thailand. Just because the boys are hard up for money and you are the only customer in a bar doesn't reduce in any way their right to be treated like a human being and have their culture respected. Jai yen yen