The Flaw of "Mai Pen Rai"
Submitted by Alisara Chirapongse on July 29, 2008 - 11:28am.
I got hungry at 10 in the morning, and with the work piling up on my desk, I decided to go down to TOPS for a quick takehome khao gaeng.
I'm a regular. I know how the pricing works. For one gub, it's 30 baht. 2 gubs is 35. And with an egg, it's an extra 10.
I ordered a phad phed and a fried egg. That would have totalled at 40 baht.
The lady prepared the food. Instead of putting everything, the gub, the rice and the egg in one styrofoam box, she put them SEPARATELY in different plastic containers.
And then she charged me 60 baht.
So I asked her why it was so expensive. And what's up with the plastic containers?
She said because I ordered a takeaway I'd get this, and I ordered 1 gub instead of 2. I didn't get it. So 1 gub is more expensive than 2 if I get a takeaway? The answer is yes.
"Fine. I'll play your game." I gave her 60 baht and then went to find the manager.
I told the manager what happened, who explained to me that the reason why the girl charged me 20 baht extra because of all those fancy containers she gave me. She asked why I didn't ask for the styrofoam, I said I did and the girl said this is how it is.
She took me back to the girl, made her prepare me a new set in a styrofoam box, and I got 20 baht back.
The whole "mai pen rai" mentality is cheating Thais all over. If I hadn't acted "non-Thai" and threw a tantrum like I did and just went "mai pen rai", I would have been cheated. The girl knew she was overcharging me, but knowing how Thai customs work, she surely expected me to overlook the fact that she was cheating me money.
It's all sabai sabai huh?
.jpg "Escape Routes: Nov14, 2008")
