Bargaining

Last updated 2007-11-22

Bargaining is a part of life in Thailand when you go shopping. However, don't assume you will be bargaining for everything. It should be quite east to know when you should not haggle. For example, bargaining for a cinema ticket is just silly. You are not expected to bargain at restaurants, or if there is a price tag already.

Bargaining should never ever be something you lose your temper over, nor should you be intimidated by it. It's a fun and friendly way to make sure both the buyer and the seller settle on a price they are both happy with. That said, there are some places you are very unlikely to get a fair price and they are invariably the places you'll find tourists in large numbers, where mark-ups are many hundreds of percent.

If you have a Thai speaker with you, all the better but you should at least know how to count in Thai (although tourist areas will have merchants that can count in English). Once you have both settled on a price, it will not go down well if you subsequently refuse to buy.

Don't ever lose your temper. Don't be off-hand with the vendor when paying them. Don't spend 10 minutes haggling over 10 Baht. Never ever bargain over the price of a 10 Baht bottle of water, this is extremely bad manners.

Do walk away if you're clearly not going to get a fair price. Do remember to have fun.

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