New Bamboo Bar - Chiang Mai: Friendly little place with a dirty secret
I am going to pat myself on the back for a minute here. I am one of the few non-Thai's in the world that can read their language. Sometimes I feel as though it was a waste of time because it is a one-country language but whatever! I already know it and may as well use it.
I uncovered a naughty little secret about one of the few local pubs in my region on Chiang Mai. It is called New Bamboo Bar and it is just a tiny little place located on a quiet street opposite a 7-11. It feeds the socialization needs of the very limited foreigner community here in Sansai (a subdistrict of Chiang Mai.) They serve a beers and a few food options but there is a catch.
They have two menus: One that is in Thai and the other is in English. For the most part these menus have the exact same dishes on them although the Thai menu is a bit longer and includes things that a vast majority of foreigners would very rarely order - or even know what it was. This is where our problem begins.
The exact same dishes are 20% more expensive on the English menu. French Fries (which are written as "French Fries" in Thai on the Thai language menu) are 60B if you are Thai, and 80B if you are not. This is commonly referred to as the "dual pricing scheme" and is unfortunately quite common in Thailand.
There are certain instances where where this hike can be justified such as national park entrance fees and it is plausible because the local community pays taxes to support these things and tourists do not (at least that is the excuse they use - we all know real reason is to make money.)
However, I find this practice completely unacceptable in a place like a restaurant. When I (nicely) asked the bartender / manageress about this predicament she responded that this policy would not apply to me because I can read Thai. You mean because I figured your scam out you mean?
I have very little tolerance for this sort of outright theft. I wonder how many of the local community come in to this place and the staff smile and act nice towards them only to intentionally rip them off. I don't care that the inflated price will not be applied to me - that's not the point.
I will not return to this place until this policy is changed, which it will not be I am sure.
Nice post. I have lived in Thailand over 3 years and have seed the same pricing. My view is more in line with "market pricing". As a westerner I can bear the cost, on the other hand many Thai's could not. I also eat a many thai places that have no pricing on the menu.
For perspective I earn 188 times more than my housekeeper.
Congratulations on reading thai, in 3 years I barely know 6 words!
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if you want to learn to read forget the classes. They teach as if you were attempting to learn in a school and preparing you for college. I can't read all Thai but I can read most of it and I learned this almost exclusively from the Benjawen Poonsian Becker books, which are wonderfully made. You just gave me a blog post idea. Thanks!
Wow, that's some fucked up shit. That restaurant is basically just taking off their pants and dropping their nuts onto English customers faces. I'd definitely avoid that place in the future if I were you. Or, only go in there when you're drunk and belligerent to ruin their night. One or the other, I guess.
What?! Well I find this very disturbing that they think this practice is justified. If they can justify that I wonder what else is justifiably. Hmmmmm... that chicken ain’t that old, cook it up. They won’t know any difference. Lol. My gosh. There are scammers everywhere.
Yea dude that sucks... I can sort of understand it in places like national parks as you mentioned, for foreign tax reasons etc, but not in a restaurant.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t tourism one of the biggest financial incomes for Thailand? It’s such a great country that so many foreigners want to visit
it's 20% of the GDP.. so yeah, it's big. The numbers are dwindling despite the official government reports (* cough * Lies!)... people are starting to change their plans to go to Cambodia and mostly Vietnam instead.
Oh wow! Thailand was the most popular for while, I would have thought. Vietnam would be great to explore and I really want to see Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Have you visited either of those? I've only been to China and Thailand in Asia!
I am so grateful that you posted about this @gooddream. I have been meaning to visit Thailand since I'm staying in China and now that I know this I'll be using my translation app more frequently and pretending to be posses the ability to read in Thai..
Oh do you have a good translation app that works with Thai?
Last time I looked there wasn't one.
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You are completely right, I can understand you because I'm italian but I live in Panama, where sometimes if you don't speak spanish and you have just moved in the country, people often try to raise up prices... And not 20B... Hundreds dolars...
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Wow, that is crazy. I can see how that probably happens a lot more places than we realize though. Especially if we are not able to read the native language. I think you are totally right in assuming it is only because you figured their scheme out. I am just guessing you don't look like a typical Thai person so it wouldn't be surprising if they charged you the higher price just for that!
There are most likely lots of dirty secrets in most countries. It is unfortunately just greed and there is no need for it. Everyone's money should be as important and not trying to rip off ignorant tourists. I wonder how many others have picked this up.