Bargaining when shopping is a way of life in many parts of Asia, and Thailand
is no exception to this. Though it is gradually becoming less common, it is
still something that any visitor will have to get to grips with if you want
to get reasonable prices for most things you buy.
In some places prices are fixed (e.g. department stores, supermarkets, generally
anywhere there is a price tag) while in a lot of other situations bargaining
is expected and necessary to get a good price. Even in department stores and
other fixed price situations discounts can be negotiated if you are buying
high ticket items (e.g expensive jewelry) or a lot of one thing (you might
be able to get 10 CD's for the price of 8 or 9, for instance).
You're in the strongest position if you know what the going rate for an item
is, but figure on knocking somewhere between 10% - 40% off the starting price.
Except in the most touristed areas (Patpong night market, for example) it
is pretty rare that the first price quoted is several hundred percent more
than the going rate. The more expensive items can generally be bargained down
more. You will help your chances at getting a good price by being patient,
friendly, smiling a lot and not raising your voice. Treat it as a kind of
game to get the most out of it - getting angry or aggressive will never help
to bring the price down. Note that if you offer a price which the vendor accepts,
you are then expected and obliged to buy the item. Not doing so is regarded
as breaking a promise and will certainly not endear you to the vendor, to
put it mildly.
Speaking Thai can also help, as if you look and act like a free spending
tourist it may be impossible to get a significant discount (many vendors will
give cheaper rah kah poot tai dai 'Thai speaker prices'). Though the
asking price for a foreigner is likely to be higher than it would be for a
Thai (sometimes considerably so), it's not really two-tier pricing - if you're
good at bargaining it's definitely possible to only pay local prices. A good
idea to try and gauge the going rate is to compare prices to various other
vendors, and see what kind of price the item you want goes for in fixed price
stores if possible.
