Thai Logic - Poor business so raise the price

[Gregjam]

Elsewhere in the forum it has been noted that prices for services here will rise when business is poor which seems to be a common Thai business strategy along with what seems to be a general lack of small business planning. You cannot help but notice the amount of properties that remain empty for a long time (over a year) where the owner is asking a rental price which most potential long term renters find unacceptable (obviously). One such property on the estate where I live is an example, smaller than my present place which is more suitable for us, an enquiry was made with a view to a long term rental but the price was more expensive than our present rental. So our landlord continues to get a years income while the other place remains empty with no income at all. Worth mentioning that the other place is also for sale at a price higher than other equivalents on the same estate.
There seems to be this inability to accept that prices can go down as well as up within the Thai logic and Hua Hin potters on, particularly in the property market, being overpriced. It has also been noted that second hand cars suffer this lack of price change to reflect them being ageing stock. I have yet to see any of the second hand dealers with anything more than a for sale sign on their cars and suspect the price reflects the salesmans interpretation of the wealth of the potential buyer.
So is there any Thai logic, business or otherwise? One of the unpredictable, incomprehensible and sometimes frustrating aspects of this wonderful country.
Any thoughts?

[brianks]

I purchased the property next door to our house. It had been on the market for years at 3.4 million baht for 4.4 rai. Recently when a larger sign went up I thought about offering 2.5 million baht on the property but my wife kept telling me that they wanted more and they would not take our offer. It took days and a lot of persuasion to get her to call the owners and submit the offer. A week later wife finally made the (all cash) offer which they initially turned down. Four days later we got a call asking if our offer was still good and that they would take it. I figure it was probably the first and only offer they had received for the property and reality finally sunk in. Wife told them that it would take two weeks for me to get the money here so we both could go to the land office in two weeks. Seven days later I had the cash and they were told we were ready to go to the Land Office when they said they could come early the next week. Two hours later wife got a call back that they could be at the land office the next day.

Reality really sets in when you dangle cash in front of their noses.

[handdrummer]

Gregjam, No, there is no such thing as logic in Thailand. Confucian based education teaches memorization & obedience. Aristotle does not exist here. Thinking is at a premium and few have paid the price.

My most recent example of Thai thinking was provided by the landlady-supplied gardener. My wife asked her to trim the branches on a couple of trees. She decided to trim another that wasn't on the list. She cut it down to about 2 meters. When my wife asked why? She replied, "It will grow back."

[Robinhood]

I can't help feeling this thread is unfair to Thai people. For example if a Thai Owner chooses not to drop the price of a property, maybe this is because they don't need the cash quickly and can take their time.
Also, in my experience Thai businesses will drop the price when demand drops in the same way as any western business will. Ask any hotelier in HH. My favourite hotel, when I first came to HH, never went below 1,200 bht in 2014, but my friend recently booked it for 750 bht.

My point is... beware of generalisations or even slightly racist stereotypes.

[Gregjam]

Any comments are going to be generalisations based on personal experience but after many years married to a Thai, living in Hua Hin and working abroad you get familiar with adapting to the local way of thought and how to phrase requests so that you get what you want rather than what the (Thai) provider thinks you want.
One of my pet hates is dual pricing and recently a provider gave my wife a price for an item which increased by a huge amount once said provider was aware that my wife is married to a 'farang'. Needless to say we went elsewhere and this is not uncommon in Thailand. There are many examples on the forum of what we call 'Thai Logic" and it is being commented on in a way that others not familiar with it will know what to expect if they are relatively newcomers.
It is unlikely to change but does help ease the frustration of dealing with it on a daily basis sharing our experiences.

[HHTel]

Apart from grocery shopping, my wife insists on shopping, where the price can be negotiated, on her own. As she says, "Everything expensive if you come with me".

[caller]

I can't help feeling this thread is unfair to Thai people. For example if a Thai Owner chooses not to drop the price of a property, maybe this is because they don't need the cash quickly and can take their time.
Also, in my experience Thai businesses will drop the price when demand drops in the same way as any western business will. Ask any hotelier in HH. My favourite hotel, when I first came to HH, never went below 1,200 bht in 2014, but my friend recently booked it for 750 bht.

My point is... beware of generalisations or even slightly racist stereotypes.

I certainly agree with your first point about Land and or property. My other half has a house for sale in Korat and has just left the usual note and phone number on the gate. She doesn't seem in any rush whatsoever and it's my experience again, via Korat, that many who we tried to get to reduce the price of the land, weren't interested. Even now, 4 years on, most of the plots we looked at were empty. Probably not helped by the fact that Korat is still talked of as he next capital if Bkk sinks, so prices are high.

As for hotel rates, my experience suggests it's more of a recent practise as hoteliers realise the game has changed. I got a great deal at a hotel in Krabi in early December and very surprisingly, for 3 nights over Christmas at the Pullman in Khon Kaen, which was the cheapest I had ever paid to stay there, but a few days later the price had risen to 'nope' territory, so we stayed at the Kose, virtually next door and got that for 900b a night.

[Robinhood]

Certainly agree with you Gregjam on the dual pricing. Its hardly surprising this is commonplace when its official policy for some things like National Park entry.

Just reading through the thread, I wondered how much the internet is disrupting Thai business. For Hotels, all the usual sites like Agoda and Booking have surely made the prices more transparent and put pressure on hoteliers.

I still can't believe many taxis and Tuk Tuk's hang around waiting for trade, occasionally shouting at passing farangs of waving a "Taxi" sign. I have felt the urge on occasion, to ask if they have heard of Grab.

[handdrummer]

My wife told me, before the advent of department stores in Thailand, there was no fixed price on anything and everything had to bargained for.