Do you feel offended when a Thai calls you Kee Niao/Cheap Charlie?

[Magic040]

Having spend 16 months in Thailand between 2012 and 2014 i have been called a "Cheap Charlie" maybe 3 or 4 times, all in Bangkok and Patong.

For example i was sitting on the outside of a bar in Soi Cowboy in 2013, I order a Sprite (I stopped drinking alcohol in 2012 because i woke up one day with yellow eyes and a swollen liver, got anti-biotics for 1 month and since that happened i'm scared to drink) and as i always do, I pay for my drink as soon as i get it (to prevent getting scammed), the drink was 80 baht if i remember correctly so i paid with 4 bills of 20 baht, server was looking over my shoulder in my wallet and saw a bunch of 100's and as she walks back inside she calls me "Cheap Charlie".

 

I didn't had the chance to reply to her but in the other situations I always said "No, i am Smart Sammy" or "I am Wise Willy".

Do you think this was a Cheap Charlie action? I don't think so. I mean 80 baht for a small bottle of soda... that's even more expensive than in the West so why should i tip, right? 

A Cheap Charlie imo is for example somebody who buys 2 beers at 7/11 puts it in his pockets, enters a bar/go-go, orders the same brand of beer, finishes the beer, hides it and then opens his 7/11 bottles when nobody is watching and sits there for hours.


How do you feel and how do you express yourself when your getting called a Cheap Charlie?

[just hanging]

the girls working service get shit money and depend on tips.  Right or wrong, thats the way it is.  If you say the owner should pay them more and they do your 80 baht beer will be 90 or 100.  This is the way it is and you cant fight that

 

I am not telling you you have to tip, up to you, but you will get this reaction often.     I always tip but that is just me.   as they say Up to You

[Magic040]

the girls working service get shit money and depend on tips.  Right or wrong, thats the way it is.  If you say the owner should pay them more and they do your 80 baht beer will be 90 or 100.  This is the way it is and you cant fight that

 

I am not telling you you have to tip, up to you, but you will get this reaction often.     I always tip but that is just me.   as they say Up to You

I think a small bottle of sprite should cost less than a large bottle of beer.

[Crushed]

Last time it happened to me was in Bangkok back in February when I refused to buy a requested lady drink at a go-go in Nana. I just took myself and my money to another bar.

[ricktoronto]

For example i was sitting on the outside of a bar in Soi Cowboy in 2013, I order a Sprite (I stopped drinking alcohol in 2012 because i woke up one day with yellow eyes and a swollen liver, got anti-biotics for 1 month and since that happened i'm scared to drink) and as i always do, I pay for my drink as soon as i get it (to prevent getting scammed), the drink was 80 baht if i remember correctly so i paid with 4 bills of 20 baht, server was looking over my shoulder in my wallet and saw a bunch of 100's and as she walks back inside she calls me "Cheap Charlie".

 

I didn't had the chance to reply to her but in the other situations I always said "No, i am Smart Sammy" or "I am Wise Willy".

Do you think this was a Cheap Charlie action? I don't think so. I mean 80 baht for a small bottle of soda...

 

 

How do you feel and how do you express yourself when your getting called a Cheap Charlie?

 

 

Not tipping is cheap. You didn't tip, therefore, you're cheap. It's not quantum physics. And the waitress has jack shit to do with the price of anything. 

 

I don't express myself or feel anything because I tip properly.

[just hanging]

I think a small bottle of sprite should cost less than a large bottle of beer.

 

doesnt matter what you think thats how much it is.   You gotta accept it or not go.  How much is rent in Soi Cowboy?  You dont really care right?   I would guess no but the buy paying the bill will.    You asked about tips and I am just telling you why the girls say cheap charlie, they dont care about the bars rent either, only about theirs

 

You are paying for the experience in soi cowboy otherwise you would buy your sprite from 7-11.   Tourist areas throughout the world are more expensive

[Pattaya_Brian]

It's America's fault.

[Luv2Phuket]

I think a small bottle of sprite should cost less than a large bottle of beer.

 

As a non-drinker, I don't disagree with you, but that's just how it is in almost every bar I have been in.  Hell, I've been in some where the cost of a mixed drink was just BARELY more than the soda itself.

 

No personal experience in the bar industry, but I think Happy Hour specials on beer are loss leaders to bring folks in -- you're gonna draw a lot more people with cheap beer than with cheap sodas.  555

 

I should add that, in my experience in Soi Cowboy bars last year, 80 baht was a good deal on that soda.  I was being charged 170 or 180 baht for Coke Lights (and, while tipping is CLEARLY a matter of personal preference, I tipped on top of that, despite the relatively high price)

[Magic040]

It's America's fault.

You mean the tipping culture? In most of Europe its unusual to tip and in Japan some times even frowned upon.

I remember this one time in Tokyo back when i was 20 (2010) i couldn't pack my suitcase because i was too drunk and i asked asked a guy from the hotel if he could do it for me while i was out clubbing for a couple hours (i had to take the early bus to the airport), when i came back everything was packed, I wanted to give him 2000 yen (17 euro) but he refused to accept it even after asking 3 times, I was so thankful and i gave him 2 thumbs up and a deep bow.

[Pattaya_Brian]

You mean the tipping culture? ...

 

I was joking, but that used to be a popular refrain on Pattaya chat boards whenever there was a tipping thread.

 

Some guy from some European country would chime in with something like, "It's those fucking Americans. They have more money than sense and they are ruining Pattaya with all this tipping they do. Now it's expected, and we all have to tip."

 

Then we were off to the races! It would continue with one reply after another from tight asses blaming all Americans for our tipping culture and spreading it around Pattaya. 

 

I guess we were successful. Now everybody tips and we never get the "It's those fucking Americans" comments anymore. LOL

[Amon_Amarth]

Yes it's a cheap charlie thing to do because cheap charlies don't care about much else besides their own wallet. Regardless if they are smuggling drinks from 7/11 or not tipping. These waitresses/waiters don't make much money and as JH stated they survive on your tips. I've worked in the service industry for years and it's generally the people that refuse to tip that are considered cheap.This isn't a country like Japan or somewhere else that it is not expected to tip, it's Thailand...where even the guys in the bathrooms have tip jars. No one is asking you to tip a lot of money, but damn give them something...10 baht at least. How much money would you lose? 28 cents USD? 0.27 euros? 0.23 pounds? Jesus.

[Magic040]

Yes it's a cheap charlie thing to do because cheap charlies don't care about much else besides their own wallet. Regardless if they are smuggling drinks from 7/11 or not tipping. These waitresses/waiters don't make much money and as JH stated they survive on your tips. I've worked in the service industry for years and it's generally the people that refuse to tip that are considered cheap.This isn't a country like Japan or somewhere else that it is not expected to tip, it's Thailand...where even the guys in the bathrooms have tip jars. No one is asking you to tip a lot of money, but damn give them something...10 baht at least. How much money would you lose? 28 cents USD? 0.27 euros? 0.23 pounds? Jesus.

Its not only about the money, its the principle.

Tipping makes Thai people think even more we're walking ATM's.

[david555]

The other option is to be called "stupid buffalo "....  so that is same as stupid farang ,so the Cheap Charlie name is preferable by me...

[Pattaya_Brian]

Its not only about the money, its the principle.

Tipping makes Thai people think even more we're walking ATM's.

 

We believe you. We really do. LOL

[sadisfied]

I usually tip a decent amount, so more than anything, I'd be surprised if I got called a Cheap Charlie.

 

But 80 baht for a Sprite is a pretty good deal

[Amon_Amarth]

Its not only about the money, its the principle.

Tipping makes Thai people think even more we're walking ATM's.

The principle of what? That a soda cost 80 baht? What does that have to do with the waitress? Does she set the prices now? Tipping doesn't make Thai's think we are walking ATMS...they already think we are walking ATMS. You tipping or not doesn't change that. The only thing not tipping is doing for you is making you look cheap. If you don't mind being called cheap then carry on. But if you have a problem with it then maybe you should stop going to places where a soda cost 80 baht then you wont have to worry about it.

[Magic040]

I only tip for excellent service like in a restaurant where the waitress is friendly, the food is great and not overpriced, I just don't like it when people already expect to get a tip.

[Magic040]

 

But 80 baht for a Sprite is a pretty good deal

 

If it was inside a hardcore go-go bar sure but on the outside seating of a beer bar not so much.

[Pattaya_Brian]

I only tip for excellent service like in a restaurant where the waitress is friendly, the food is great and not overpriced, I just don't like it when people already expect to get a tip.

 

Go to 7/11. Sprites are 12 baht and they don't expect a tip. LOL

[osofedup]

Don't feel under pressure to tip, its your money therefore your choice. I always tip as a matter of course as I understand the waiters/waitresses rely on this to boost their salary but each to his own.

Most of the bar girls I know consider cheap charlies to be the guys who NEVER buy the girl a drink regardless how long she sits with him

[Magic040]

Tipping doesn't make Thai's think we are walking ATMS...they already think we are walking ATMS. You tipping or not doesn't change that.

 

If almost everyone did this it would make a big change.

I really like Japan and its people but they're really driving the prices up in every nightlife area they go.

[Magic040]

Don't feel under pressure to tip, its your money therefore your choice. I always tip as a matter of course as I understand the waiters/waitresses rely on this to boost their salary but each to his own.

Most of the bar girls I know consider cheap charlies to be the guys who NEVER buy the girl a drink regardless how long she sits with him

If i feel attracted to the girl/ladyboy and she has a good attitude (smiling, talking and not start asking dink, dink from the first second i step inside) i buy her a drink, i have no problems with that.

[Daryle]

I tip for good service not because someone expects a tip for doing a job.

 

Sent from my SM-T530 using Tapatalk

[Magic040]

Go to 7/11. Sprites are 12 baht and they don't expect a tip. LOL

 

Only if they have girls/ladyboys in sexy outfits walking around.

[Ah dinnae ken]

I wear the badge CC with pride. I dress down to encourage the view. Any BG who looks down on me because she perceives me as a CC is not a loss IMO. I do buy LD & do tip but only after feeling happy with the situation & am quite happy to walk out if I feel I'm being treated badly or being ignored because my wallet is not handsome