Fat Cat

[lilmolfie]

But sometimes situations can make it somewhat difficult to avoid. Although I try to totally embrace the culture (being half-Thai) I still find myself getting frustrated. I'm not going to change everything about my persona just because I've moved countries, this is who I am. Sure I work on my 'faults' to adapt to my surroundings and I have the utmost respect for Thailand but things aren't as black and white as to say you can't do this/act that way because it isn't the 'Thai way' - I've seen (quite often) Thais manipulate the situation to suit them so is this the 'Thai way' also? A contradiction IMO. While I agree that we [foreigners] should maintain our cool as to prevent or simply avoid awkward situations such as the above I can still understand why some of us have a hard time staying cool, calm and collective when being faced with others [Thais] that are not reciprocating....

Yes we are guests in this country but do not forget that we are consumers as well. IMO (having worked within the Catering & Hospitality business for many years) there is no excuse for bad customer service regardless of the country you in.

'When in Rome...' can sometimes be taken a little too literally





Just adding some input from my [Thai] mum as I really wanted her thoughts on this. She said that sometimes when non native speakers try to speak Thai and mix it in with English then Thai people can become very confused but even if this was the case she fails to see how you can mistake ICED COFFEE with CHANG. She then went on to say that if the bar girl/waitress cannot understand English then why hasn't the owner trained her better? And finally, she said the simplest solution is to not go there anymore and tell his friends to do likewise The only thing we didn't really agree on was how he should of reacted in the moment. She says he shouldn't of raised his voice (and he probably shouldn't of) but I can totally see why he did and had it been me on a bad day then maybe I would've done same. If she was being overly rude and/or aggressive to a customer and the owner made no effort of an apology on her behalf then a raised voice is the least his [owner] worries.

[Amarita]

For me this is happening a lot. I use my Thai English combined with poor Thai
and ends up with things I never knew that I ordered. Most times I only sends it
back with a big smile. Other times I just take what I get. Mai pen rai.

[Spitfire]

lilmolfie,
Your English (written at least) seems to be improving with every post. Where did you learn English?

Somewhat impressive for a half Thai. Chain, yanking perhaps?

[lilmolfie]

lilmolfie,
Your English (written at least) seems to be improving with every post. Where did you learn English?

Somewhat impressive for a half Thai. Chain, yanking perhaps?

In England.... where I was born. I'm sorry I don't understand what you are getting at....

[STEVE G]

I'm sorry I don't understand what you are getting at....

Me neither.

Anyway, back to topic, having spent almost my entire adult life in countries where I'm not fluent in the local language, I've learnt to be tolerant of mistakes when ordering in anything other than that.
After all, if you went to my home town of Nottingham and ordered a round of drinks in Thai, you might not get very far!
At the end of the day, the vast majority of establishments will correct genuine mistakes and if they stop being reasonable, I would use my energy to go somewhere else before I could be bothered to raise my voice; why would you want to give your money to people who are annoying you?

[fiesta fred]

Thanks for the folks who took the time to read into what I wrote and not just give the perverbiale answer. Yes I probable should not have raised my voice, but when the waitress raised her voice to me first I responded. If the Farlang Owner would have come over and tried to solve the proble instead of trying to give his way of Thailand I would not have posted. If she had brought a hot coffe instead of Iced it would be reasonable but a Chaing? I have thought about the waitress and maybe she has had bad experiance with farlangs ordering a Chaing and when they get it they say they ordered a Singha. When people deal with people who get pissed it is tough. That was not the situation. Its amazing that while I had my store I went to the day market and many other thai markets with my english and minimal thai. It is amazing how it was easy to get what I needed and communicate without any problem. The only problem was when some vendors tried to charge more because im farlang, they didnt like me leaving going 3 stalls down everyday and buying from there compitition. I love Thailand and I realize that there are the same people back where I come from and I dont like them either. Please dont say "dont say anything to correct the situation because I am a visitor, As TIGR said we are consumers. If you buy a white car and they delivier a blue car are you going to accept it because this is Thailand and you are a visitor. I think not.

[richard]

Well said FF

I know it's difficult to sometimes refraining from raising one's voice. Maybe I have now been here too long to do so. Inevitably when with my wife all ordering and bargaining is left to her.

Remind me of what store you had?

[lilmolfie]

Richard,

If I'm not mistaken I think Fred was once co-owner of a place called Baja Taco's. Is this correct Fred?

As TIGR said we are consumers.

- Surely I must take some credit for this comment?

[T.I.G.R.]

I agree lilmolfie......'twernt me.

Happy to see the end of this thread anyway......Personally, I long for the days when you could buy a shirt in any Bangkok department store and one of the attendants would have the sleeves shortened and your shirt ironed by the time you could say boo. Now that was some customer service!

To close, I've spent more time alone here than ever in my life.....and that means sitting among family members and others who are chattering away in Thai while I'm trying to pick up the odd word; not just being alone by myself, but alone in a very different sense. Reading this forum (and others) puts you in touch with people who share your own language and experiences. Perhaps we might think of that when someone recounts an unpleasant experience.......it's often just in the telling that one achieves relief, and who better to tell than your peers.

Happy New Year

[fiesta fred]

Richard,

If I'm not mistaken I think Fred was once co-owner of a place called Baja Taco's. Is this correct Fred?

As TIGR said we are consumers.

- Surely I must take some credit for this comment?

Yes Thats Me.

[barrys]

T.I.G.R. wrote: "Reading this forum (and others) puts you in touch with people who share your own language and experiences. Perhaps we might think of that when someone recounts an unpleasant experience.......it's often just in the telling that one achieves relief, and who better to tell than your peers."


That's a really thoughtful and meaningful comment!!

[lilmolfie]

I agree also