Thai Logic

[Guest kjun12]

Previous posts have mentioned that Thai business owners do not seem to respond to an economic crises with good sound capitalism or even common sense.

 

Last night at Suan Lume Night Bazar I was confronted with this comment: Business bad, cannot discount. I also note that many hotels are, to say the least, not running at capacity but they do not discount rooms. Logic would seem to dictate that it is better to sell at a lesser profit than to not sell at all.

 

Seems that, in the Thai mind, when business is bad the price must remain stable or even go up.

 

How do their thought processes work?

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Thai logic is an oxymoron. Fortunately, not all Thais subscribe to this kind of logic.

[Guest fountainhall]

I also note that many hotels are, to say the least, not running at capacity but they do not discount rooms. Logic would seem to dictate that it is better to sell at a lesser profit than to not sell at all.

The official Thai hoteliers association has always been dead set against major discounting. They have often been quoted as saying it is far better to add value by offering extras like free dinners, limos to/from the airport/spa sessions etc. than it is to discount the price - and hence devalue the brand.

 

In my view, this is bullshit - and some hotels are seeing the light. The Peninsula in Bangkok has a rack rate of Bt. 13,000 (although I cannot believe many actually pay that). For more than a week it has been advertising a special package for Thais and resident expats of Bt. 3,000 valid till end-July. This includes breakfast for two and dinner in their excellent coffee shop or on the river terrace plus, I think, one or two additional extras. When you consider the base price of breakfast and the amazing terrace buffet, that is a great bargain. Yet there is another ad today for a package at the Sheraton Grand on Sukhumvit which is just a lousy deal.

 

When times are tough, check with the agents who are often able to get great unadvertised deals. Also call the hotels direct and ask for their best walk-in rate.

[Guest kotter]

Sorry can you help me....what is THAI logic? Is there such a thing!!

 

 

 

 

The official Thai hoteliers association has always been dead set against major discounting. They have often been quoted as saying it is far better to add value by offering extras like free dinners, limos to/from the airport/spa sessions etc. than it is to discount the price - and hence devalue the brand.

 

In my view, this is bullshit - and some hotels are seeing the light. The Peninsula in Bangkok has a rack rate of Bt. 13,000 (although I cannot believe many actually pay that). For more than a week it has been advertising a special package for Thais and resident expats of Bt. 3,000 valid till end-July. This includes breakfast for two and dinner in their excellent coffee shop or on the river terrace plus, I think, one or two additional extras. When you consider the base price of breakfast and the amazing terrace buffet, that is a great bargain. Yet there is another ad today for a package at the Sheraton Grand on Sukhumvit which is just a lousy deal.

 

When times are tough, check with the agents who are often able to get great unadvertised deals. Also call the hotels direct and ask for their best walk-in rate.

[Guest fountainhall]

Sorry can you help me....what is THAI logic?

Western logic: 1 + 2 = 3

Thai logic: 1 + 2 = 3 but only sometimes. At others the answer can be whatever the Thai wishes it to be.

 

In the eyes of non-Thais, "Thai logic" is a prime example of an oxymoron.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Thai logic is an oxymoron. Fortunately, not all Thais subscribe to this kind of logic.

[Guest fountainhall]

Sincere apologies lvdkeyes. I stupidly fixed on just one post - something I usually try not to do. I certainly did not mean to steal your very valid point.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

LOL, no problem.

[Guest travelerjim]

When the PAD...Yellow shirts shut down the new BKK airport...many visitors were stranded in Thailand...

 

One such regular visitor was staying at the newly opened

Marriott Courtyard in BKK...he ended up staying an extra 10 days before he could get a flight out...

 

When he realized he might be stranded for unknown days...

he went to the front desk of the Courtyard Marriott..

and said he read in the BKK Post that the government was going to give each person stranded 2,000 Thai baht credits nightly...

 

He asked the desk if he could stay the extra nights...

and if they would grant him the 2,000 Thai baht discount each night...as the hotels needed to seek reimbursement from the government.

 

The manager answered:

Oh my...NO..how can we do that ???

we do not have any customers now!

 

Such is the mind of the Thai business...even those associated with major

international hotel chains are found as foolish....

 

I believe it is what I refer to as the "Chinese-Thai" mentality...

I set a price..you can have it at that price...no discount!

 

The customer came on to Pattaya and found a hotel here willing to welcome him and grant him the 2,000 Thai baht discount...for an added 10 days of revenue for the hotel.

 

Go figure!

 

tj

[Gaybutton]

You want examples of Thai logic (or lack thereof)? Just go back and wade through my "I Don't Get It" posts. You just might find an example or two . . .

 

How do their thought processes work?

I believe if I live here for 1000 years, I would still not even be close to being able to answer that one.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

My Thai bf says he doesn't understand some of the logic here either.

[Guest finally]

When swimming in the pool of the GOETHE Institut I came to talk with a Thai, he was in his forties, reasonable English. He obviously belonged to the "Upper Class" bec. I saw him several times walking in Sathorn 1 wearing a jacket and a tie or driving his big Toyota. He was with the Yellows when they closed the airport. I "dared" to mention that this had hurt Thai tourism seriously and friends of mine had canceled their holidays with their families. He was upset and said that the "Yellow shirts" had not kept air planes from taking off because they had only gathered in the airport building NOT on the landing/starting fields. It had been the fault of the airport manager who shut down the airport for no reason and he d be held responsible for this mistake. This manager had probably been a "Red shirt". BTW He was obviously neither drunk nor on drugs when he argued this way. This highly educated Thai meant it seriously .

[Guest lvdkeyes]

How many Thais have you encountered who admitted they were wrong about anything?

[Gaybutton]

the "Yellow shirts" had not kept air planes from taking off because they had only gathered in the airport building NOT on the landing/starting fields.

I don't suppose he mentioned how passengers were supposed to get to and from the airport, even if any planes were coming and going, did he?

[Guest joseph44]

Thai logic: You are being hit by a crazy motorbike driver. You do have damage and would like to claim it from the culprit who hit you.

The police might tell you: "If you weren't driving here, you wouldn't have been involved!"

[Bob]

Nah....the Thai logic I hear is that you won't have an accident today if today is not your day to have one. That always befuddles me.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

You wouldn't have had an accident here if you had stayed in your own country.

[Guest]

Such is the mind of the Thai business...even those associated with major

international hotel chains are found as foolish....

 

Having stayed at the Marriott in Pattaya for over 500 nights in the last 7 years, I was there on my last trip to LOS and content to stay there for months. I checked in and they did not upgrade me to a nicer room they always upgrade Platinum Members to. I complained and said my piece and was told that they can't upgrade someone who is staying so many nights as corporate office in Bangkok said it was wasting money. I asked how many of those room were taken and they said none. I went the next day and rented a great apartment. When I started to check out, the manager said, why are you leaving? I told him why and he said, "no problem, we will upgrade you now." Too late I said. There went my 100 nights with them this year and in 2011.

 

However, I meet the same mentality in Brazil. I tried to book the Sheraton for a 3 month trip and all I asked for was free Internet. I went round and round with the hotel sales department about this. In the USA, it would have been an instant YES. No problem.

 

I am not sure why some places don't see the bigger picture.

[Gaybutton]

You wouldn't have had an accident here if you had stayed in your own country.

And if you were never born, then there never would have been any problems . . .

[Guest fountainhall]

I complained and said my piece . . .

Every culture has its own "I don't get it" elements, but it's odd how these often seem to manifest themselves with hotels. I had a problem with the Hyatt Regency in Tokyo a couple of years ago. I had stayed there before and did not like it much. They had quite a large number of single rooms that are far from Hyatt standard - much more like small rooms in Japanese business hotels. I wanted one of their standard rooms with a king-size bed and was assured both that the hotel had been completely renovated and rebranded since my last stay and that a king-size bedroom had been booked for me. Lo and behold, when I arrived, I was back in one of their cupboard-sized rooms with a bed not much larger than a normal single.

 

At first I decided not to make a fuss. Later I changed my mind. I had looked on the hotel's website which listed all the rooms together with bed-type and area. My room was nowhere on the list. I was in a phantom room! I called and asked for the night duty manager. Over almost 50 minutes, I went through three officials, each of whom I was told was the night manager, but none were. I was then told this was a PR matter and I should discuss it with the PR Manager. The next morning, I called the office, was told the lady was out but she would return my call in a couple of hours. Over 2 days, there was no call. I later had a very pleasant conversation with the resident manager who very politely thanked me for my comments but would not budge one inch on why they had almost 100 phantom rooms not listed on the website.

 

On my return to Bangkok, I wrote to the Hotel's top Manager. In an exchange of 3 letters, he became rather difficult with me, saying the hotel was perfectly correct in advertising rooms as they wished and not as customers might wish. Besides, he said, many Japanese like smaller rooms! To which I made the obvious point that I am not Japanese. So I then sent the correspondence to Hyatt in Chicago. I soon received a phone call from a senior marketing lady, thanking me profusely for my comments and telling me that no-one in head office was actually aware of these phantom rooms! The lady said she would be in Tokyo a couple of weeks later where she would review the entire situation and get back to me. This she did. It turned out the phantom rooms were not part of the agreement between the owner and Hyatt, and should never have been marketed under the Hyatt brand. This would now change. Additionally, she added enough points to my account for a 3-night stay plus a suite-upgrade on my next Hyatt visit.

 

So it sometimes pays to keep complaining when you have a legitimate complaint (but not always, as in the case of Air Asia!) - or are put off by a cultural quirk which seems to lack any kind of logic whatever.

[Gaybutton]

Every culture has its own "I don't get it" elements, but it's odd how these often seem to manifest themselves with hotels.

I don't double-book, but I've learned to at least have a list of alternate accommodations and telephone numbers with me when I'm going to stay in a hotel I'm not familiar with or have had problems with before. I always ask to see the room before I part with any money.

 

Unless there is absolutely no other choice, I never advance pay, send a deposit, or anything else that might prevent me from going elsewhere if it turns out I don't like the hotel or the room. Most of the time, when they want a deposit to guarantee the room, I prefer taking my chances, especially if there are plenty of other hotels available.

 

Based on your story, this hotel handed you a load of bullshit that they were totally unwilling to put right and they're not exactly the only hotel that does those kinds of things.

 

In Thailand, a problem can be major holidays such as Christmas or New Year's. Many hotels put on "gala" buffets and they're going to charge you for it whether you want their buffet or not. I can understand why they make it obligatory. They don't want to spend a lot of money putting on a buffet and only a few people show up for it. I don't object to that policy.

 

What I do object to is, as far as I have ever experienced, they never let you know about it in advance. You find out about it only when you're checking in.

[Guest travelerjim]

Having stayed at the Marriott in Pattaya for over 500 nights in the last 7 years, I was there on my last trip to LOS and content to stay there for months. I checked in and they did not upgrade me to a nicer room they always upgrade Platinum Members to. I complained and said my piece and was told that they can't upgrade someone who is staying so many nights as corporate office in Bangkok said it was wasting money. I asked how many of those room were taken and they said none. I went the next day and rented a great apartment. When I started to check out, the manager said, why are you leaving? I told him why and he said, "no problem, we will upgrade you now." Too late I said. There went my 100 nights with them this year and in 2011.

 

 

GT...another for the "I don't get it" book of Thailand...

Being that the Courtyard Marriott in BKK was new..

I thought the manager was ill advised regarding the 2,000 baht nightly allowance I referred to above...

 

But your Pattaya Marriott case "Takes the Cake" hands down...

such utter stupidity!..for Marriott to lose a 100 night a year customer

of ..no less than Marriott here in Pattaya...

over a damn upgrade ...when rooms were empty and upgrades most available...

such bad karma they have well earned...

 

TIT!

 

tj

[Guest joseph44]

A friend of mine went to ToT to upgrade his internet connection.

He is a ToT customer for more than 15 years now.

After upgrading the connection he asked if he could get the free wireless router.

"Mai dai, Misterrrrr! Only for new customer!"

[Gaybutton]

he asked if he could get the free wireless router.

"Mai dai, Misterrrrr! Only for new customer!"

Sounds good to me . . . All he has to do is cancel the service, after which he opens the same service again. Now he's a new customer.

[ceejay]

"Mai dai, Misterrrrr! Only for new customer!"

That's not just Thai logic. I got the same from BT in the United Kingdom when I upgraded my broadband package with them.