Bargaining Thai-Style (as opposed to Malaysian-Style)
Published by simon on October 19, 2006Stall Owner: Sawadee kap… want to buy silver/silk/T-shirt/priceless-artefact-unearthed-from-ancient-sunken-city-of-Ayutthaya?
Me: Hmmm. Just browsing. (Points to something, NOT the priceless artefact, of course) How much for this one?
Stall Owner: This one I give very cheap. 400 baht only. (Gives the all famous ‘land of thousand smiles’ smile)
Me: (Raises eyebrows).
(Side note: I dunno. This raising eyebrows thing is seemed to be taken for representing “Geez, kind of steep price for first offer, isn’t it?” or “What kind of overpaying water fish tourist do you take me for?” Should the price be even higher, you can feign horror as if they asked for your firstborn in exchange for the trinket you want to buy. End of sidenote.)
Me: Wah so expensive, ah?
Stall Owner: No problem, I give discount (ah, the magic word that is supposed to lure every tourist to parting with their hard-earned money…) How much you can give?
(Side note: Hmmm, this is something I noticed. They usually don’t get themselves drawn into a price haggle with you. They always seem to ask YOU to quote the price. If this was in Malaysia, you’d probably hear them use phrases like ‘best price already’ or ‘very good quality, you don’t believe you touch and see’. End of sidenote.)
(Stall Owner whips out small calculator for you to key in the offer price. Just so the two of you don’t misunderstand each other on the very important OFFER PRICE due to slightly varying versions of English on both parties.)
Me: (Reluctantly keys in 25o baht onto calculator). This?
Side note: At this point, there is no change in the generous smile, no flinching even. Very, very cool. If this was Malaysian, there’d the usual wayang of ‘Wah, kenot la, I’m not making any money oredi‘ crap. And usually with the accompanying “I’ve got 14 kids to feed” look on their face. End of sidenote.
Stall Owner: I give you best price (Another of the ‘magic phrases’…) Can? Since today you are my first customer (my watch tells me it’s almost midnight….) this is very special price…
And then the process repeats itself if I’m really interested to buy. Most of the time, i won’t ask the price or haggle if I’m not interested in buying. All the time, they’re very courteous and polite. None of that ‘you want to buy, buyla, dowan dowan la‘ attitude from some Malaysian stall owners…
Technorati Tags: Malaysia, shopping, Thai, Thailand
The same thing happens in Bali. General they are more friendly than Malaysians…
Hong Kong is even worse than Malaysia. Bargaining there is a bitch.
Hehe. This bugger tried to sell me a fake Manyoo jersey. Exactly as you said it.
First he said 2000 baht. I looked at him, laughed, and keyed into his calculator 200.
He said okay. A little too easily for my liking. Maybe I should have keyed in 100.
Add A Comment