Bartering in Thailand

Went to the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar and got a wood elephant sculpture for Kana. You learn pretty quickly that prices here are higher for foreigners at the markets. You can get it down a lot by speaking Thai, or even just by asking “how much?” in Thai, partly because they appreciate the effort, and partly because they know you must know your way about a little more. But the bottom line is, if you’re visiting you’ll often be paying a lot more for things than the locals.

I think a reaction from some people is to try to “win” at bartering. They feel like they’re being taken advantage of or being played as fools, so they try to hardball negotiations a bit. This just doesn’t work, particularly if you give off the vibe that you think the seller is trying to scam you. It’s insulting, and everyone goes away just feeling terrible. Most people here will take offense to the insinuation they were trying to cheat you, and stubbornly keep to the first price out of pride.
The goal of bartering isn’t to win, it’s to come to an agreement that you’re both happy, or at least satisfied, with. Here’s what I suggest-

-In a market, don’t come to them, let them come to you. Just by starting the bargaining you’re showing you already want it, which puts you at a disadvantage. Just stand around idly looking at the goods as if it’ s more scenery. Make it look like you’re about to move on. (Obviously, this won’t work if there are other people the seller can stay busy with who do seem interested. In that case, come back later, or wait until you get to another stall selling the same thing).

-When they ask you if they can help you, ask how much what you want is in thai, as if its just one of many things there, and you’re just curious about a price since they asked. When they reply, whatever that price may be, just sort of look at it doubtfully. Don’t look insulted by the cost or complain it’s too much, and don’t do anything to suggest you’re entering negotiations with them. Just give off the vibe that it’s not really your kind of thing.

-at this point, they’ll either come back with a testament to the items’ quality, at which point you can repeat step two, or ask you how much *you* want to pay for it. Look like you’re thinking about how much its worth to you for a minute, and offer a fifth what they asked for. Plan to pay about two fifths, but make it look like its give and take when you meet around that range.

-Finally, keep in mind you don’t necessarily need to get the cheapest possible price, just a price that’s cheap for you. Sure, maybe a Thai girl could walk in and get something that you paid $3 for for $2. Well guess what? She probably earns about $150 a month, and the seller knows that. At that point it’s just nitpicking for the sake of it. Relative to your income, you’re getting a better deal, So let it go.

Thailand again

Back in Chiang Mai. From Fukuoka flights here cost $700-1000, as opposed to $500 for Bangkok. Seemed like a lot for an extra 1000km/1:15 of flight time. I suspected that once I was in Thailand, things would get cheaper as usual. Kevin agreed and told me to just buy a ticket at the airport.

So I got through immigration and customs (completely walked by it actually, without any check whatsoever- They seemed to have other things on their minds) and went up to the domestic departures area. Bought a ticket from Air Asia for the next flight out...for 45 dollars, $60 with tax! Unbelieveable. It was like buying a bus ticket. But cheaper.

So if you go to Thailand, and that beautiful remote little beach is so much more expensive to get to than the nearest smog filled city, don't even worry about it, just deal with it once you're here, in the pricing twilight zone.

Two Train Station Stories

On the way back from an Onsen with my girlfriend, then I pack and head to Thailand. Yesterday while I was waiting to meet her at the train station, I saw a man, maybe mid 30s, dressed as a school girl, with one of those short brown plaid skirts. Mannish face, though with a wig, and very mannish legs, though shaven. It wasn't completely obvious it was a guy, but clear enough with a second look.

That kind of thing isn't so common in Fukuoka, so I looked at people passing him expecting expressions of shock. But there weren't any. So uncommon is it that no-one did a double take. They just took it at face value that it was a not very attractive woman.

Kana came a moment later, and I mentioned it in passing. It turned out that at about the same time, she had seen something interesting on the other side of that station. When she was waiting at the crosswalk she saw an old man waiting on the other side of the road with a pigeon perched on his shoulder, like a parrot. This was getting a reaction from passersby. He stood with such confidence, such poise...as if it was perfectly natural for one to have a such a magnificent pet at ones' side.

Then the walk light turned green, and the man began to move, the pigeon flew off, and the man recoiled and flailed in terror, unsure of what was happening. He had been completely oblivious that it was there. That was a better story, as people watching stories go.

So I bought an iphone in Japan

People in Japan were as impressed by the touch technology as anyone else, but overall, the iphone hasn't done very well in Japan. In North America, where the only other things to compare it to are Nokia and Blackberries, it's considered "The Jesus Phone". But here, its just an interesting contender with some fatal flaws. For a long time it didn't have emojis, the animated emoticons that play such a vital role in Japanese text messaging. Second, the camera is lower quality than the ones on phones many carriers give away. And third, it doesn't have a digital 1-seg TV tuner, meaning people with an iphone are missing out on the hottest new cell application here.

And fourth- it just costs too much. Even in America the iphone bills are steep. But then, so are most cell phone bills in general. But in Japan, unlimited data rate plans hovering around $40-50 a month have been common for about 5 years. I went to the carrier's store to look into getting one, and they wanted me to pay $300 for the phone and what would likely work out to be about $90 a month total, even if I never actually used the phone and just used it for web browsing. Why bother? In short the iphone is good...but just not so much better than the run-of-the-mill cell phones here that you would willingly pay double to get one. I know some high-income foreigners that have it, but for the most part, the iphone is just kind of curiosity here, like maybe an antique car, or a craftmatic adjustable bed- everyone is interested to see you have one, but that doesn't mean they would ever seriously consider buying one themselves.

So Apple, or at least their carrier in Japan, Softbank, did something you rarely see- they compromised. The iphone is now available at a reduced rate- free. And the basic unlimited data plan has been reduced from extortionary rates down to about 4400 yen, $40 a month. Now that's more like it! I pay about $45 a month, or 5000 yen for unlimited web browsing on AU (the PC site viewer). The Softbank sales rep worked his way through the Byzantine cell phone plans and figured out a way where I only pay 980 yen for the phone end of the service (and get free calls anywhere in the country to other softbank customers, should I ever use the phone). All told, it'll run me 5711 yen a month for service. That's less than 6 bucks a month than what I pay for web access now, and I get a free iphone for giving them my business.

Side note- Obviously the iphone has less memory than by current ipod classic, I don't have to worry about storage space either, because with the simplify media app, I can stream all the
music on my own computer, and since I have unlimited data I don't even have to worry about racking up charges. Cool eh?