Hua Hin seafood restaurants, slammed for overcharging, defend their prices

[webfact]

Hua Hin seafood restaurants, slammed for overcharging, defend their prices

 

Picture: Sanook

 

After a party of tourists slammed Hua Hin for ripping them off for a seafood lunch the traders on the beach have defended their prices saying they are in line with local authority guidelines.

 

Facebook user Ploynapas Lukthongmak complained with pictures of a bill about the price of their meal: "Blimey - watch out if you go to Hua Hin - I am angry".

 

They said they had paid 7,380 baht for lunch at a trader near the Centara Hotel.

 

Sanook went to investigate and found Phaona, 51, and her husband Sampheuy, 63, who prepared the meal on Saturday just before midday.

 

Phaona said they were 15 adults and three children in the party.

 

They ordered from the bright colored menu having two plates of each of the following: seafood platter BBQ, seafood platter boiled, som tam with fresh prawns, tom yam kung steamboat, BBQ prawns, and battered prawns. In addition there was three large plates of fried rice with prawns, two large containers of plain rice, seven fresh coconuts, three large Chang beers and soft drinks.

 

Phaona said the tourists didn't make a big deal of the bill at the time and she was surprised to see the angry post. They had asked for a discount and she had kindly lopped off 80 baht making it just 7,300 baht for the meal.

 

Sampheuy said that the prices had gone up at the market and they had had to raise the cost of certain dishes from 500 to 700 baht as a result.

 

His wife apologized for this but there was really nothing they could do.

 

Other traders among the 22 restaurants in the area said they were governed by prices issued by the authorities and there was clear signage about the costs tourists could expect.

 

Source: Sanook

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-12-26

[beachproperty]

Som Na Na . They ordered it, they ate it, they should pay for it without complaining (unless something was off)!

[BEVUP]

So why are they complaining if the costs were posted in the menu & had other choices in the area

Or maybe the pricing wasn't fully disclosed 

[Thian]

I don't see the ripoff if prices were shown on the menu. So why is this news?

 

Food in Thailand is just expensive these days, it's cheaper to eat in Europe if you like high quality food in decent portions.

[Seligne2]

1. Counting the 3 children as one adult, the total comes to about 460 baht per person. More than I spend for lunch but not outrageous.

2. If you want to eat cheaply, eat vegetarian or eat animals that can be seen and counted, like chickens and pigs. Seafood is expensive because we have already killed most of it.

3. I was surprised to see that the "authorities" have some say in food pricing. Nothing good can come of that.

[impulse]

47 minutes ago, BEVUP said:

So why are they complaining if the costs were posted in the menu & had other choices in the area

Or maybe the pricing wasn't fully disclosed 

 

Can't speak for this place, but in some famous seafood places in BKK the listed prices are per 100 grams, but trying to see the /100G part is like looking for the small print on an insurance policy (or maybe just in Thai).    So they may have been expecting to pay 300 baht, but since the fish weighed 500 grams, the bill is 1500 baht.  Sure, you still pay.  But it doesn't leave a good feeling.

 

BTW, I went to one of those famous BKK places twice in one night- one meal, in fact.  My first visit and my last.  The bill was way out of alignment with the satisfaction level.  Something like $75 USD a head for some mediocre fried fish.

 

[ezzra]

Gone are the days where seafood in restaurants was easily affordable,

nowadays, seafood is not cheap, unless you go to some ports where

the fishermen are coming in from the sea with their catch of the day,

otherwise, buyer beware and informed before ordering.....

[Get Real]

Stupid tourists, again! Complaining. Yeah, if it is so expensive in Thailand, then go home to your own country and eat the food you appearently can afford.

[BEVUP]

6 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Gone are the days where seafood in restaurants was easily affordable,

nowadays, seafood is not cheap, unless you go to some ports where

the fishermen are coming in from the sea with their catch of the day,

otherwise, buyer beware and informed before ordering.....

Now that I recall Wife & I with 8 yr lad paid 1500 bht right near the Cha Am fishing boat wharf

[impulse]

8 minutes ago, Get Real said:

Stupid tourists, again! Complaining. Yeah, if it is so expensive in Thailand, then go home to your own country and eat the food you appearently can afford.

 

It is a little misleading when the menu price is per 100 grams, and that little tidbit of information doesn't show up anywhere legible on the menu.

 

[beachproperty]

Probably had "tons" to drink also....

[4evermaat]

If the price was on the menu, were there any real victims here?

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[impulse]

3 minutes ago, 4evermaat said:

If the price was on the menu, were there any real victims here?

 

I don't think they're characterizing themselves as victims. 

 

But they're perfectly justified in stating that they were not happy with the value they received for the amount they paid.  Even if the menu prices were clearly posted.  Their mistake was walking into the place at all.  Once you've sat a party of 15 down, you're pretty much hooped, regardless of what the menu says. 

 

Hopefully, others will learn from the information they shared, and won't make the same mistake.

 

[Enoon]

1 hour ago, Get Real said:

Stupid tourists, again! Complaining. Yeah, if it is so expensive in Thailand, then go home to your own country and eat the food you appearently can afford.

 

I may be wrong, but given the name of the complainant, Ploynapas Lukthongmak, this particular tourist is already in their own country.

 

Yep, there she is on Facebook Thailand:

https://th-th.facebook.com/ploynapas.lukthongmak

 

Foreigners go home eh?

 

 

 

[Get Real]

56 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

It is a little misleading when the menu price is per 100 grams, and that little tidbit of information doesn't show up anywhere legible on the menu.

 

Oh dear! That only missleading thing is comments from the tourists. If you are interested in the price, and can´t see it, then you ask politely for it.
Was that too simple, or can we agree on that?

[Get Real]

3 minutes ago, Enoon said:

 

I may be wrong, but given the name of the complainant, Ploynapas Lukthongmak, this particular tourist is already in their own country.

 

Yep, there she is on Facebook Thailand:

https://th-th.facebook.com/ploynapas.lukthongmak

 

 

 

So what! It stand tourist in the news. Still same stupid, right?

[impulse]

20 minutes ago, Get Real said:

Oh dear! That only missleading thing is comments from the tourists. If you are interested in the price, and can´t see it, then you ask politely for it.
Was that too simple, or can we agree on that?

 

They went into a seafood place and the meal cost a lot more than they thought it was worth.  It's feedback.  A review.  Not a report of a crime.  And certainly not misleading on the part of the tourists.  Any more than a product review saying that a gadget I bought on Amazon wasn't worth the money I paid for it.

 

I know I won't be going into that place- based on the information they posted.  That's the beauty of the written language.  I don't have to make the same mistakes if someone was thoughtful enough to write about their mistakes.

 

Though I can see why we rarely get good information like that here on TVF.  

 

 

 

[pbonline]

Oh dear! That only missleading thing is comments from the tourists. If you are interested in the price, and can´t see it, then you ask politely for it.
Was that too simple, or can we agree on that?

Yea after lived here a couple years something I learned is ask for price or get riped. Normaly not a lot of money but they still rip you off if they can.

[NCC1701A]

I live in Hua Hin. All the HiSo Thais from Bangkok have vacation homes here.

In my neighborhood there are million dollar condos and Mercedes and BMW everywhere you look. And $40,000 pickup trucks and SUVs are common.

 

It is much more expensive for everything, not just seafood. Even local markets aimed at Thais, coconuts are twice as much!

 

My Thai girlfriend who lives just south of HH in Pranburi is always pointing out the high cost food and just about everything.

 

I was the first Farang she has dated and was shocked to see the price of street food to suddenly be double when she was with me. 

 

 

[Get Real]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

They went into a seafood place and the meal cost a lot more than they thought it was worth.  It's feedback.  A review.  Not a report of a crime.  And certainly not misleading on the part of the tourists.  Any more than a product review saying that a gadget I bought on Amazon wasn't worth the money I paid for it.

 

I know I won't be going into that place- based on the information they posted.  That's the beauty of the written language.  I don't have to make the same mistakes if someone was thoughtful enough to write about their mistakes.

 

Though I can see why we rarely get good information like that here on TVF.  

 

 

 

Yep, and the stupid thing is that they go in to a place, look at the meny/order food. Not see prices in the menu and not asking for prices. After that be suprised over the prices and make a bad statement about a place. That´s the stupid thing, and you call it good information. Yeah, at least I hope you know how that makes you look.

[trainman34014]

Having sampled Hua Hin a few times i can say that there are certain restaurants adjacent to the beach that are rip-off joints and the food isn't that good either.    However; there are some very good ones to be found and at very reasonable cost, just need to find your way around a bit like anywhere else.  Plenty of decent seafood to be found in the night market area as well at respectable prices.

[korkenzieher]

I'm a Hua Hin 'local' as well, and long since stopped visiting the seafood piers, beach restaurants at Takiab, or the night market because of exactly the kind of price gouging being discussed above. The price of food at every level - not just seafood - has risen and double pricing is rampant (though maybe not a case in the OP :-). It isn't only the restaurants either; Pranburi, mentioned above, has fresh markets which are significantly cheaper than those around Hua Hin and even branded supermarkets are often much more expensive than local suppliers. Examples? Well, what about potato - I recently paid 65 baht for 1 kilo of potato at the 114 fresh market. The next day I bought chicken breast meat for 63 baht 1 kilo. I don't care which part of the world you come from - when chicken breast is cheaper than potato, then something some place is wrong.

 

It is little wonder the Baan Khun Por food plaza, at the bottom of Soi 88 is doing so well. I would imagine that it is impacting the profitability of restaurants all over south Hua Hin.

[impulse]

26 minutes ago, Get Real said:

Yep, and the stupid thing is that they go in to a place, look at the meny/order food. Not see prices in the menu and not asking for prices. After that be suprised over the prices and make a bad statement about a place. That´s the stupid thing, and you call it good information. Yeah, at least I hope you know how that makes you look.

 

Disneyland prices are extremely public.  But you won't have a clue what the whole day will cost until you've spent the day, bought the food and paid for the drinks and the souvenirs.  Nobody's accusing Disney Corp of anything nefarious.  But a lot of people find out that they didn't get enough bang for the buck and they post to that effect.

 

Calling them stupid for posting accurate information and adding their impressions is exactly why we don't often get good information here on TVF.  It's not worth the aggravation to try to help other avoid the pitfalls.  No matter how useful the info, there's always some idiot that will call the information (and the messenger) stupid.  Today, you're one of them.  Congratulations.

 

[irwinfc]

was there last week and had seafood dinner for 4 straight nights at local restaurants. not the most economical way to dine, that's for sure. prices of seafood dishes are a little overpriced, but more on the acceptable side if you're a tourist. the other dishes though like fishcake, pad thai, shrimp cake, vegetable dishes, etc are eye-popping! in defense of the business owners, their menus do show the price for each item clearly. it's up to customers to make up their minds what to order or just stand up and leave. to hua hin travelers on a budget, run straight to food courts in supermarkets or shopping malls for "more standard" food prices.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

5 hours ago, BEVUP said:

So why are they complaining if the costs were posted in the menu & had other choices in the area

Or maybe the pricing wasn't fully disclosed 

Prices are shown. Even if not B 450 per person is inline with what they ate.

[Emster23]

4 hours ago, Get Real said:

Stupid tourists, again! Complaining. Yeah, if it is so expensive in Thailand, then go home to your own country and eat the food you appearently can afford.

I think Get Real was attempting some humor here. Correct me if I am wrong...

[balo]

Try Pattaya instead and save money. Plenty of seafood restaurants here.

[Get Real]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

Disneyland prices are extremely public.  But you won't have a clue what the whole day will cost until you've spent the day, bought the food and paid for the drinks and the souvenirs.  Nobody's accusing Disney Corp of anything nefarious.  But a lot of people find out that they didn't get enough bang for the buck and they post to that effect.

 

Calling them stupid for posting accurate information and adding their impressions is exactly why we don't often get good information here on TVF.  It's not worth the aggravation to try to help other avoid the pitfalls.  No matter how useful the info, there's always some idiot that will call the information (and the messenger) stupid.  Today, you're one of them.  Congratulations.

 

You just can´t be serious. Thanks for the laugh! 

[dinsdale]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

three large plates of fried rice with prawns

Saw the receipt. Fried rice with prawns: Bt300 a plate.

[Xonax]

Just got of the plane? Seafood have never been cheap in Hua Hin. The price charged is what every person have always paid.