There's a segment in another thread about whether JustMe's pricing policy at his bar (cheaper prices for Pattaya locals) is acceptable or not. I thought I'd set down a few thoughts about customer service in Bangkok based on my own experience. The guys and gals at my local Starbucks "recognise" me the moment I walk in. They know my name, my preference for coffee, even my favorite cookie. They don't give me a special price. I'm a repeat customer because I'm recognised. Likewise when I walk into Telephone Bar I head straight for my favorite spot; the waiter greets me as a regular customer, asks after friends (or boys) he's seen me with previously, and pretty much can predict what I'll have to drink. At @Richards they know I don't want a bowl of popcorn put in front of me. The manager of The Barbican recognises my friends (and me) and greets us by name whenever we turn up.
Moving on to the bars. Classic (in Soi Prostitute) and Solid (off Silom 6 - actually Naratiwas 1) are two of my favorites. This week I went to Classic with a visiting friend; the captain provided two containers for our bar chits. "I know farang like to pay for himself," he said when challenged, "So this make it easy" - a keen observation of the social habits of his customers. He also knows my name and the type of boys I like. He doesn't pester me to make a choice (often I'm just there for a drink or with a visitor), and knows there's no point in bull-shitting me about "he do everything" if I ask whether a boy is really gay or not. I should say that I do get "special price" drinks because I'm a regular (he'd rather sell me two drinks at a slightly reduced price than one at full price), but that's not why I'm a frequent visitor. In Solid the captain also knows my name and that I like to be left alone to make a selection (or not).
For the price-conscious - those "sleazy low-life dumb fuck creeps, bitching about their last prostitute failing to please them or something..." (in Beachlover's memorable phrase) living in reduced circumstances in Pattaya, price may be everything, but I've always found price to be negotiable, even in bars. A few years ago I recall going to Dream Boy in Soi Prostitute between Xmas and New Year and being asked for some sort of entrance fee, which equated to the price of a drink plus 50% (the fee included a drink voucher). As I walked away saying "Expensive" (in Thai, one of the words of my 200 basic Thai vocabulary), the entrance price was immediately dropped to the standard drink price.
That's what customer service is about, for me - recognition. As Dale Carnegie wrote, "Nothing is so sweet to a person than the sound of their own name". Price is secondary but, particularly in Thailand, very much "up to you".
A note for those who think of themselves as politically correct and preach sermons on the topic: all conversations reported are either in English or my basic Thai vocabulary which gets me through most of these incidental social exchanges.
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Originally Posted by thonglor55
