Caddy tipping

[farcanal]

Just had an interesting interaction with a golf caddy.

She popped up in my facebook "someone you might know"

Opened it up and discovered she's a caddy at Parichat so I opened a conversation with her in Messenger.

Me:...hi there , are you a caddy at Parichat?

Her:...yes

Me:...nice, I've never played there, I'm going to Pattaya in a few weeks for golf, can I book you

Her:...haha

Me:...can I have your caddy number?

Her:...where you from? (what difference does that make?)

Me:...Australia

Her:....can I ask something?

Me:...sure

Her:...how much you tip?

Me:...usually 400 baht

Her:...Hmmmmmm....do you think that's a standard price?

Me:...we have just raised it from 300 to 400

Her:...What if I reject you?

Me:...No problem....there's many golf courses around Pattaya 

Her:...want to know the customs?

Me:...yes

Her:....300 - 400 standard, 500 - 1000 from booking caddy.

Then she made a few comments about if I pay more, people will remember me. Also she says she thinks I have enough money to pay good tip.

Left it at that. Lots I could have said but decided to exit the conversation and cross Parichat off the list. We'll just have to continue with the other 20 golf courses to choose from.

[Atlas]

Mate, 

I am not a golfer, I have a hit every now and then... But I get irked that a tip is EXPECTED, and not only that, a set price..... Regardless of whether you think it was worth it....

I tip everyone when I believe it deserved.... That would be 99.9% of the time... But being FORCED to tip... No..... It really does wind me up TBH

PS. I am no CC

Edited July 20, 2023 by Atlas

[Gonetothedogs]

1 hour ago, farcanal said:

Just had an interesting interaction with a golf caddy.

She popped up in my facebook "someone you might know"

Opened it up and discovered she's a caddy at Parichat so I opened a conversation with her in Messenger.

Me:...hi there , are you a caddy at Parichat?

Her:...yes

Me:...nice, I've never played there, I'm going to Pattaya in a few weeks for golf, can I book you

Her:...haha

Me:...can I have your caddy number?

Her:...where you from? (what difference does that make?)

Me:...Australia

Her:....can I ask something?

Me:...sure

Her:...how much you tip?

Me:...usually 400 baht

Her:...Hmmmmmm....do you think that's a standard price?

Me:...we have just raised it from 300 to 400

Her:...What if I reject you?

Me:...No problem....there's many golf courses around Pattaya 

Her:...want to know the customs?

Me:...yes

Her:....300 - 400 standard, 500 - 1000 from booking caddy.

Then she made a few comments about if I pay more, people will remember me. Also she says she thinks I have enough money to pay good tip.

Left it at that. Lots I could have said but decided to exit the conversation and cross Parichat off the list. We'll just have to continue with the other 20 golf courses to choose from.

Mate, everyone tips the caddies 500+
 

 

leave her alone and go play golf 

[Kandinski]

Not a golfer but are caddies employed by the club on a salary or are they working freelance? Not a bad job if they can top up a salary with tips for 1 round ( can they do 2 round a day?)

[penboy]

44 minutes ago, Gonetothedogs said:

Mate, everyone tips the caddies 500+
 

 

I can confidently state, that is not true 😎

[Harry Brown]

Not that I play a lot of golf over there, but that sounds a lot. to me.

 

[keepitfun]

1 hour ago, Gonetothedogs said:

Mate, everyone tips the caddies 500+
 

 

leave her alone and go play golf 

Do you get a blowie with that?

[LASportsNut]

I may of may not get blasted for this, however this is just my take.

I was dating two separate caddies. 

One in Pathum Thani and one in Pattaya. 

The both indicated the bare minimum is 500 baht.

They get a large amount of guys who give 1000 and on a really good day they will get more up to 2000.

They indicated the big tippers are usually gamblers and/or drinkers and if they win their bets, they share the wealth.

In fairness to the girls, why would they book with someone who they do not know and who would not tip them. 

The girls indicated they build up a client list and they are usually booked in advance.  

If for some reason they are not booked, then they will be scheduled a random golfer who they do not know and hope for the best.

 

[Gonetothedogs]

3 hours ago, Kandinski said:

Not a golfer but are caddies employed by the club on a salary or are they working freelance? Not a bad job if they can top up a salary with tips for 1 round ( can they do 2 round a day?)

They get a % of the caddy fee (which is usually, 400 baht) plus tips so they will be lucky to clear 1000 a day IF they do a round that day. 

 

it’s not a good job at all. Lots of work for not much money 

[Gonetothedogs]

2 hours ago, penboy said:

I can confidently state, that is not true 😎

Sorry, I meant that’s the bare minimum for decent folk. You always get a few miserable old wretches who take pride in being cheap. 
 

 

[penboy]

1 minute ago, Gonetothedogs said:

Sorry, I meant that’s the bare minimum for decent folk. You always get a few miserable old wretches who take pride in being cheap. 
 

 

Thanks for the clarification

[penboy]

3 hours ago, Kandinski said:

Not a golfer but are caddies employed by the club on a salary or are they working freelance? Not a bad job if they can top up a salary with tips for 1 round ( can they do 2 round a day?)

They are paid a daily rate (350baht minimum wage?) by the club whether they do 1, 2 or no rounds.

If the golfer pays for a buggy then it's not too tiring for 4 hours or so. Dragging a trolley round 18 holes in the heat will take more effort.

A day of one round of golf will give them 650baht upwards depending on the tipper. 

[GARYZX6R]

500 bht tip, probably by the 2 week millionaires. 😂

[penboy]

9 minutes ago, GARYZX6R said:

500 bht tip, probably by the 2 week millionaires. 😂

The caddy that the OP was chatting with, states that the ''standard is 300 - 400 baht''. 

 

[LOTTELLEE WINNA]

The whole issue of using a caddy is one which causes a great deal of angst when discussed. My take is this; when I was a holiday maker, I thought caddies were great they were (for the most part) a genuine novelty and a real help on the course. When I become an expat I was less enthused. TBH it was largely driven by costs… if you’re playing 2,3 or 4 times a week and living here then it gets expensive. 

To get back strictly on topic, IME a 500 tip at a Pattaya golf course from an ex pat is not to the norm. Yes, it does happen, particularly when an ex pat books a regular caddy. But the average expat playing via one of the bars might be paying 400 for a caddy tip.

One of the reasons why I moved to Issan is that I like to play a lot of golf (4 times weekly usually). Compared to Pattaya it’s cheap up here - we can play 18 for 310THB (green fee and caddy fee). Standard tip is 300 but I tip 400. On my Mon and Thurs golfing days at the army course in Udon we have a great bunch of caddies - on top of her tip mine gets an extra 100 if I get a birdie (not often) and they have a chance to win 100 at our caddy put comp.

Edited July 20, 2023 by LOTTELLEE WINNA

[Leo_Bia]

5 hours ago, Harry Brown said:

Not that I play a lot of golf over there, but that sounds a lot. to me.

 

Golf in Pattaya has not been value for money in 20+ years.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Leo_Bia

[KanoMike]

Was there last January and tipped between 400 and 700 baht. Most were terrible, but if they had some personality and were fun to be with, their tip would go up. 

 

As to value for the money, nobody beats golf pricing here at home.

[Tuna Town]

10 hours ago, farcanal said:

Just had an interesting interaction with a golf caddy.

She popped up in my facebook "someone you might know"

Opened it up and discovered she's a caddy at Parichat so I opened a conversation with her in Messenger.

Me:...hi there , are you a caddy at Parichat?

Her:...yes

Me:...nice, I've never played there, I'm going to Pattaya in a few weeks for golf, can I book you

Her:...haha

Me:...can I have your caddy number?

Her:...where you from? (what difference does that make?)

Me:...Australia

Her:....can I ask something?

Me:...sure

Her:...how much you tip?

Me:...usually 400 baht

Her:...Hmmmmmm....do you think that's a standard price?

Me:...we have just raised it from 300 to 400

Her:...What if I reject you?

Me:...No problem....there's many golf courses around Pattaya 

Her:...want to know the customs?

Me:...yes

Her:....300 - 400 standard, 500 - 1000 from booking caddy.

Then she made a few comments about if I pay more, people will remember me. Also she says she thinks I have enough money to pay good tip.

Left it at that. Lots I could have said but decided to exit the conversation and cross Parichat off the list. We'll just have to continue with the other 20 golf courses to choose from.

First and foremost if you have never played Parichat before then I am not going to try and discourage you and I will leave you to your own devices on whether you want to play there but I will never step foot on that shithole of a golf course again.

I have played all the courses now in the Pattaya precinct and if the tally comes in at 25 then Parichat is getting ranked 25th out of 25

If there are 26 courses then it is 26th

It is not even close to the two next worst for me and they are Silky Oak and St Andrews 2000. Both of those courses are to me gimmicky but have potential if some of the BS was removed from them. Parichat on the other hand can be nuked for all I care

 

Secondly as for your points raised on green fees to me that caddy was to my thinking pretty honest 

She stated 300-400 standard which is pretty bang on the mark. Remember there will be plenty of expats who are not 2week millionaires who will be paying the 300 minimum level. 

Her claim on 500-1000 for bookings also makes sense.

If a guy goes often enough to a course (why you would go to Parichat regularly is another issue) you book a caddy. Given time together you bond with a caddy, the conversation flows I can see guys tipping more.

If the caddy is also attractive I can see guys tipping more to try and impress her in the hope it leads her to be holding their shaft back at the hotel.

I don't really see though why you have snubbed Parichat off your list based on the interaction with the caddy.

She has been pretty honest with her views on payment rates and has also tried encouraging you to tip her well in the hope you will be more generous. Her behaviour isn't really that much of an issue from my viewpoint.

 

Yeah she is trying it on  to get more baht for herself but no different than any TG negotiating a price for P4P who comes in with an initial high offer to see if you are dumb enough to pay it 

 

 

 

[Tuna Town]

8 hours ago, Kandinski said:

Not a golfer but are caddies employed by the club on a salary or are they working freelance? Not a bad job if they can top up a salary with tips for 1 round ( can they do 2 round a day?)

Depends on the course. A busy course like a Phoenix or Green Valley or Siam courses  the caddies will some days get multiple rounds.

A lot of days it is one round only 

Some days it is is zero from  Weather Poor turn out etc 

I tend to ask them if they are doing another round after I complete with them or if they are not 

Never fear though these TGs ain't though unproductive if not employed to caddie.

They are out doing other jobs to earn a crust whether that is selling lottery tickets, manning a food cart, labouring at the golf course.

That's one thing I have learned about Thai people. They are more than capable of finding ways to earn a baht or two 

[ronthebrummie]

In my experience, caddies can vary, some are fantastic in the knowledge of the course and the spoken English, some are useless on the course and can only speak Thai.

I’ve got the Line of my favourite girls book them when I’m due to play, some of the girls at Green Valley are very popular??

So in essence a crap caddy 300-400 a good one with the banter 500+ also remember in the low season they hit hard times so help them out especially when some arse is to tight to rent a buggy and makes them push a trolley for 18 in that heat.

Last point I did witness a Scandinavian guy give a caddy a lipstick and some face make up powder wtf.

[portrea]

3 hours ago, LOTTELLEE WINNA said:

One of the reasons why I moved to Issan is that I like to play a lot of golf (4 times weekly usually). Compared to Pattaya it’s cheap up here - we can play 18 for 310THB (green fee and caddy fee). Standard tip is 300 but I tip 400. On my Mon and Thurs golfing days at the army course in Udon we have a great bunch of caddies - on top of her tip mine gets an extra 100 if I get a birdie (not often) and they have a chance to win 100 at our caddy put comp.

Please tell us how the 100 baht putting competition works 

[Clem Fandango]

So I’m a 2 weeks millionaire 3 times a year and golf maybe 4/5 a trip… normally at Pattaya country club with 3 expat pals… I always tip 400b and 100b for a birdie. We also play 20b each nearest the pin at each par 3and the winning caddy gets the money. If I don’t have a birdie I’ll tip 500b

I suppose it’s up to the individual but I think how I tip is more than fair… I think the 500-1000b is just a bit of chancing her arm. 
 

 

[LOTTELLEE WINNA]

1 hour ago, portrea said:

Please tell us how the 100 baht putting competition works 

At the end (or beginning) of the round, a spot on the green is chosen and each caddy is given a ball and putter by their golfer. The caddies get one putt to see if they can hole from that spot…if they do, they receive 100THB from their golfer.👍

[robert6996]

15 hours ago, farcanal said:

Her:...where you from? (what difference does that make?)

Me:...Australia

Her:....can I ask something?

Me:...sure

Her:...how much you tip?

Different countries view tipping vastly different.

IMHO, guys from the US would normally tip better than some from other countries due to our tipping culture. I'm not sure how guys from Australia feel about tipping.

I agree with what @Tuna Townposted above regarding the caddy, and what she posted on messenger to you.

Edited July 20, 2023 by robert6996
added more

[tt2008]

I only play a couple of times on my typical 2 week trips and I do play at more 'upmarket' and expensive courses.

500baht caddy tip at the end has been the norm for years and TBH just about all the caddy's I have had have been great and well worth it. I also give out 20baht notes during the round for good shots/putts etc

Perhaps I'm overpaying, but when I've talked to other golfers on those courses 500baht (or more for some well healed folks) has been the minimum.

I fully accept that if I lived in Pattaya rather than having holidays then I couldn't afford to play the expensive courses all the time and maybe the caddy tips might be a bit lower.

However 500baht works for me and I'm happy to pay.