Similans - Mermaid II

[Jonathan]

the lecture normally comes when they hear my English accent "Oh your accent is so cuuuute! Now about tipping in this country......"

I have friends who are dive guides (all of the qualified instructors) and know they don't get paid much - and the hours they work when they are not with the customers.....

I've only ever had one dive guide say "if you give me a tip I'll just give it to the crew" and he was Egyptian! OK I think he also owned the boat and comes from a very wealthy family - still nice to hear him say that. BTW that was the legendary Ali Barber! What a great guy.

Jonathan

 

[Rosie]

Thanks all - that's really helpful. I'll bear in mind the point about beer as well!

cheers
Rosie

 

[cmdasia]

Billfish,

I tip the locals (boat crew) because they are always so helpful and my guess would be they only get paid around 3/4000 Baht a month (cook and captain get more). It is also expected in local customs that the "better off" will "help" the "poorer" and I like to think that Thailand puts a bit of "kreng jai" (compassionate heart) in all who visit.

Re westerners - I never tip because a) in nearly every western country (I have never dove in the states!) tipping is not the norm - so I like to carry on age old traditions b) I figure everyone working on the boat is there for purely financial reasons with the exception of the westerners, who have a "life style" element to their choice (90% of them in Thailand are having a temporary sojourn) so their wages should be ample for their lifestyle in my opinion.

When I eventually throw in the towel and head off for a couple of seasons on a LB, I will do for the experience and be happy with my lot and nice sunsets (I hope!).

Chris

 

[billfish]

Thanks for sharing your reasons, cmdasia. Sounds like you've thought it out pretty thoroughly.

billfish

 

[Batfish]

True, some of the DMs and Instructors are doing it for the fun, but there are many like myself who really appreciate a tip. I have been here for 3 years, have a wife and baby, pay my taxes and all the other expenses you need to pay when you're a farang here. How much salary do you think DM's get here? Believe me, if you have a family to support, rent to pay, bills and taxes, a tip is really appreciated.

When I was tour leader on a Similan liveaboard, I always promoted tips for the crew first - they work much harder than the lazy DM's , but always put a seperate box for DM tips. On other boats, there is 1 box divided equally among all staff, both Thai and farang. On others, the tips are for Thai crew only, but if people wish to tip their guide, up to them.

Actually, if everyone on the boat gave similar tips to Billfish (50US$ is 2000 Baht), that would work out very nicely.

Also, when you are doing work like Divemastering on a liveaboard, tips are like a feedback on whether you're doing a good job. If someone gives you a tip after the trip, you must have been leading the dives well, being friendly and helpful. No tip, and you wonder "what was I doing wrong? Why don't they like me?". In a service oriented job, if someone has done more than just their job, I would tip them. If a DM just dives with you and then goes to sleep between dives, he gets nothing.

Sorry, just my $0.02 worth.