Rich A-hole Syndrome

[DooDiligence]

I was at the Chatuchak market in Bangkok & had stopped in a stall to buy some wind chimes.

They were nice little ceramic designs & came wrapped in paper with handwritten Thai messages.

 

Simple & elegant gifts.

 

There was a sign stating the price for one, with a discount for three.

 

I was getting a couple of dozen & the guy tried to give a bigger discount but I politely refused because they were already cheap as hell.

Thai merchants often offer discounts without even being asked, if you're kind & are buying in quantity or if they recognize you from before.

 

While the guy was bagging up my chimes, a woman stopped in & was all irate that she didn't get immediate attention.

Then she proceeded to hammer the guy over the purchase of one chime.

 

I told her she was chiseling the guy for the equivalent of about $0.25 & she acted like I was a liar.

 

I've seen this over & over, especially with hotel receptionists where the rich "farang" isn't getting their way & resorts to being a twat.

 

These are the times we live in & it's probably been the same throughout history with relatively wealthy individuals.

 

I'd be willing to bet these types are non-existent on cobf.

 

It was a weird experience for me haggling in Bangkok.  For something like a T-shirt that was $6-8, it was already cheaper than what I would pay at home, but it's expected that you haggle. So I would ask for a better price and the guy would give me a small discount and I would quickly cave in and we both feel good about it.  A thai friend said I should take him with me because he could get better prices on souvenirs, but that extra dollar or two I wouldn't even notice and although it won't matter to me, in a poor country it's a very big deal, so why do it? One of those vendors did math in his head better than me (and definitely works harder than me), so what separates us other than I was lucky enough to have parents that emigrated to a rich country?

 

I bought a couple of handmade monk bowls there, made by brazing pieces of metal together over a flame, in a country where it's 95 degrees outside.  They were pricey for souvenirs, but it's hard work in a poor country to do that kind of stuff so I don't get a good feeling when I see tourists trying to beat them up on price about it.

 

I found that the Indian guys in Thailand would start with a ridiculously high price & bargain hard all the way to the close.

 

The Thai guys usually cut to the chase very quickly.

 

Have you been recently & is it still as nice as before all the red shirt, yellow shirt stuff?

 

I haven't been in a decade & used to eat a lot of street food.

I never haggled with street vendors as the price seemed super cheap for Thom Yum, etc.

 

Then I met some Thai women & started rolling around town with them & suddenly I could feed

3 for not much more than 1.

 

I continued to pay Farang prices if dining alone, rather than try & hammer a guy slaving

over a hot brazier in what felt like an equally hot climate.

 

I recommend eating close to a police station for the best food.

 

Bangkok is one of the few mega cities that I've ever really liked.

The people are wonderful.

[Spekulatius]

 

I haven't been in a decade & used to eat a lot of street food.

I never haggled with street vendors as the price seemed super cheap for Thom Yum, etc.

 

Then I met some Thai women & started rolling around town with them & suddenly I could feed

3 for not much more than 1.

 

I continued to pay Farang prices if dining alone, rather than try & hammer a guy slaving

over a hot brazier in what felt like an equally hot climate.

 

 

I don’t think Thai people haggle about the price of street food. The reason you could feed 3 locals for the price of one farang alone is that they raised the prices for you.

[DooDiligence]

 

I haven't been in a decade & used to eat a lot of street food.

I never haggled with street vendors as the price seemed super cheap for Thom Yum, etc.

 

Then I met some Thai women & started rolling around town with them & suddenly I could feed

3 for not much more than 1.

 

I continued to pay Farang prices if dining alone, rather than try & hammer a guy slaving

over a hot brazier in what felt like an equally hot climate.

 

 

I don’t think Thai people haggle about the price of street food. The reason you could feed 3 locals for the price of one farang alone is that they raised the prices for you.

 

I never minded paying the Farang tax because the food was usually very good.

 

If you eat at a regular restaurant, the menu price is the same for everyone.

 

Bangkok has a lot of great Indian restaurants as well.

 

One notable place with a huge selection of outdoor food vendors is the Suan Lum night bazaar, near Lumpini stadium.

 

You buy tickets & trade them for food at the various stalls.

 

They always had big musical stage shows going on & if it started raining,

there was a huge cover that would roll over the seating area.

 

I kind of miss the smells & sounds.

[DooDiligence]

Thinking Goethe thoughts.

 

https://fs.blog/2019/10/the-best-of-goethes-aphorisms/