Originally Posted by tfong007
After living a year in Bangkok I have discovered that tipping is not customary. It may make you fell good, but it ruins it for other people. Please do not treat Thailand like the US. Tip all you want in the US but save your money when you are in Thailand.
after living in Thailand for just over 10 yrs (and finally obtaining my permanent residence visa) (and regularly visiting Thailand for 5 years before that), I have discovered that
small tips for services IS very customary... those workers often rely more heavily on the tips (rather than salary) because monthly salaries levels are
very small on average (and prices, especially in Metro Bangkok, are unforgiving....)
HOWEVER, the
amount of tips
should be appropriate in the local circumstances....for example, a small tip to foot/reflexology or Thai massage massusses and massuers, porters, delivery people etc.
often visiting first-time tourists or occasional visitors to Thailand give tips
which might be appropriate or normal in their home countries (but which are embassassingly, even stupidly, generous in the local context)... these types of tips, in my opinion, have negative effects because some very very small percentage of "bad-apple" service workers then start to treat some tourists/visitors as fools...