Service charge - yes
Vat - of course
Aircon fee - ???????
Now here's a new one to me
A friend of mine was out with his family and stopped off for a bite to eat. The outside was hot and there were many flies about so they decided to eat in the aircon room.
When the bill arrived and item showed 3 ticks near an item on the bill in Thai. When queried they were informed that aircon was 10 Baht per person. My friend could only split his sides in laughter and duly paid the 30 Baht
Anybody come across this before?
Location? Not sure. Somewhere off the Pa Lou road
RICHARD OF LOXLEY
It’s none of my business what people say and think of me. I am what I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. It makes life so much easier.
That's the Soi Mon-Mae restaurant, it's got an air-con glass room within the open air restaurant. To be fair they would turn the air-con on for two of you and they get 20 Baht and might cost them 100 Baht, but still weird to charge as you say Richard.
The road is the cut through to the Queen's new house/palace (and Black Mountain) and she owns loads of land down there which she subsidises for the local farmers.
Queen stopped in the restaurant once apparently, a pic of her in the restaurant is on the wall. Bangkok Thais flock there at weekends just because the Queen stopped there once.
Nice restaurant, very Thai, ie: no tourist style dishes and dirt cheap .... unless you eat in the air-con room.
Can´t remember the names but there used to be several similar establishments in Bangkok in the -90´s. They would charge more if you wanted to eat in an air.con room. To me, it´s not really surprising as cooling the air adds quite a lot to your monthly bills.
Go to any air-con place in Hua Hin and the prices are more expensive, 10 Baht per person is not really that much, if the prices were otherwise reasonable.
It's a bit of a unique situation there, as most people eat in the main open sided part.
If you choose the enclosed room then they turn a/c on especially for you, it's like a choice you have.
It's not the same as say O'Neals where the whole place is always air-conditioned anyway.
This could be construed as being similar to the Service Charge issue that we discussed earlier this year. From what I've been told, that is no longer added to the bill. However, I'm sure its still being charged in another covert way.
Similarly, putting this aircon charge in peoples faces is bound to get a reaction. If is wasn't, why are we discussing it now? Surely, it would be better to add one baht to the cost of all meals, and hide it along with all other overheads.
Or are they working on the premise that any publicity is good publicity?
Similarly, putting this aircon charge in peoples faces is bound to get a reaction
It's not quite like it appears BB, its a big open air restaurant, where most sit, but has an enclosed room with a/c if you choose to sit in there. It's a bit of a status room for certain weekend Bangkok Thais I think. Think of it as economy and business on a plane, you choose what you want. I know how it sems though.
Seasidesurfer, you go up the Pala-U road about 5km. Past the Mongkol driving range, up past La Valee (massive development that you can't miss), then turn right a bit after that, as the map.
It's really nothing special, no better than say your Khun Oy in Soi 94 and the like. The Thai partners like it ofcourse.
Mind you, in Bangers at the time I´m talking about, they would always have a sign saying that it´s going to cost you 20 Baht (or whatever) more if you eat in the air con room. Never thought it was not fair.
1) Customer asks to use their separate VIP room (penny dropping?), because they choose not to sit in the main restaurant area with everyone else.
2) Restaurant then specially turns on a/c in this rarely used room (surely it's dropped now?)
3) Two of you can sit there for a 'x' hours as you wish, never any hassle, Thai owners are nice people.
4) Restaurant spends 60 Baht in elec, customers pay 10 Baht each = 20 Baht (it was tails btw)
5) Tight ar$ed farang whinges.
I believe you get a 5 Baht discount if you gnaw on a bone out on the curb. I'll double check tomorrow though, woof woof.
SJ
PS: Richard's friend excluded from above as stated in OP.
If I'm told ahead of time of a charge, for anything, I don't complain. It's the suppliers right to charge what the feel is correct,mine to agree, or disagree, with my feet.
Surprises at the end though, are certainly surprises, and unwanted IMHO.
It's a country-wide practice, I have encountered this from more than twenty years ago.
If it is a mainly open-air place, there will be a charge if you want to use the airconditioned room (if they have one).
If it is a completely airconditioned place, the cost is embedded.
Off on a slight tangent, I don't mind, in fact expect to pay a higher fare on an airconditioned BMTA bus than the non-airconditioned one plying the same route...
*BMTA - Bangkok Metropolitan Transport Association
I bet the theives won,t even give me a discount for drinking a warm beer that i go and get myself instead of one from the fridge served in an iced glass by a waiter .Should be at least a baht cheaper .Not a lot I know but it adds up,almost a pound a week saving for alcoholics .I,m off to villa to get a refund on the free plastic toy that came with my cornflakes .
C88, *they also charge more for a cool beer out of the fridge than a warm one on the shelf..
(* most shops with a fridge, also the supermarkets - as I usually buy 'warm' beers by the carton I usually don't check the prices of those in the cooler.)
