Tips about Thai Money

4hourMike — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:02:17 +0000

Most travelers will experience some level of difficulty when dealing with foreign currency. It’s no different in Thailand. Everyone has hard time at first when making the switch between currencies. Thai currency looks strange. It’s written in a different language. Sometimes you hear it referred to as “funny money.”

The fact is that when you’re in Pattaya, out on the town, buying lady drinks, and generally having a good old time with the Pattaya girls, it’s easy to lose track of what you spend. Worse yet, it’s easy to mistake one denomination for another, especially in the dim surroundings of a Pattaya go go bar.

In a dark room the 100’s appear similar in color to the 500’s. It’s even worse mistaking a 1000 baht note for a 20 baht note which is real easy. Some unscrupulous bars always try to game you on the 1000’s. So what can you do to avoid overspending and being short changed? Here’s a short course on Thai money.

First off you should know that there are 5 denominations and each denomination is slightly different in size. The denominations are 1000, 500, 100, 50, and 20 baht notes. One side is printed entirely in Thai, but the other side has English numbers printed in the corners.

Before you head out in the evening for some serious bar crawling, take the time to arrange your Thai bills so that the side with the English numbers in the corner is facing up. Arrange your bills by order of denomination.

Don’t carry 1000 baht notes. That way you don’t have to even think about the difference between 1000’s and 20’s.

If you do have a 1000 baht note and you want to pay your check bin, do what a lot of experienced Pattaya punters do. When it comes time to pay, always hold the 1000 baht note up in the air so that both the hostess and you can see the note and you both acknowledge that it’s a 1000 baht note before she takes it away.

When you’re tipping the girls that do the banana act or the ice cube trick or any one of the many delightful things that the girls can do, take a moment to look at the number on the bill. Those shows are very distracting and your eyes and mind is definitely not on your money. I’ve seen many a drunken sailor mistake a 100 for a 500 only to realize it too late after the bill has been tucked up into the nether regions by an experienced Pattaya show girl.

Always remember that the King’s picture is on each bill, so don’t do something stupid like trample on a bill on purpose. When you’re in Thailand, always respect the King and his image.

Tipping the Pattaya Girls

4hourMike — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:16:54 +0000

In Pattaya bars you are definitely expected to leave a tip. You leave the tip when you pay your bill. The Pattaya girls get to split up the tips at the end of the night. Some guys like to give their tip directly to the girl that served them. Others just add it onto the tally and pay it to the hostess.

In most other parts of “normal” Thailand, tipping is not required. You only see it done by Westerners in resort areas. The Thais, themselves, don’t tip.

Here’s the deal, guys. A tip doesn’t need to be more than about 20 to 50 baht. Don’t go overboard with your tipping because you ruin the economy for everybody else. You have to keep in mind that a “normal” girl from Pattaya working outside of the bar, in a clothing store at the mall for instance, only makes about 1000 baht in an entire week. So don’t go throwing around big tips in the 500 baht range or higher. It’s insanity.

If a Pattaya bar girl can get a 500 baht tip, why would she want to leave the bar? Large tips make it harder to bar fine a girl out of the bar. So, when you’re in a Pattaya bar, leave your western tipping customs at home.

The same goes for tipping in a Pattaya gogo bar. The exception is in the gogo bars that allow hands-on activities. If you’ve had a girl sitting naked on your lap and you’ve been groping, kissing, and playing around with her all evening, then a 100 baht tip can be appropriate.

Instead of leaving a huge tip, why not ring the bell!

The Custom of “Ringing the Bell”

Now here’s a great Pattaya bar custom that the Pattaya girls really appreciate. Every bar in town has a bell. Look around you as you enter. It’s hanging there somewhere. The bell has a very special purpose. Who ever rings the gets to buy everyone in the bar a drink, including the other customers, the bar girls, the mamasan, and the bartender. Ringing the bell basically says, “Drinks are on me!” Watch out though, because there are girls that suddenly appear, as if by magic, when the bell has been rung.

In the Pattya gogo bars, ringing the bell usually signifies buying a drink for just the girls. Sometimes only the girls on stage at the time. Some gogo bars, like Windmill, have a flat fee for ringing the bell, 1000 baht, and that buys the girls a bottle of tequila.

Once you ring the bell, you’ll be instantly surrounded by almost every girl in the place. What a great way to see all of the girls up close all at once. A word of caution, though, some of the girls will ask you for a coke to chase down the tequila. These cokes will come at the price of a normal lady drink and can really run up your bill fast.

So the next time you get the urge to throw down a huge tip, control yourself, look around and find the bell.

Pattaya Girls » tipping

Tips about Thai Money

Tipping the Pattaya Girls