How to tip in hotels in Southeast Asian countries?

Southeast Asia was once a colony of Western countries. A lot of Western culture was introduced here, and tipping for services has become a very common thing, but this phenomenon does not exist in China. Here's a detailed strategy guide.

1. When is the best time to travel to Southeast Asia?

Generally speaking, the off-season in Southeast Asian countries is their rainy season. During the off-peak tourism season in Southeast Asian countries, there are plenty of houses, but once the peak tourist season arrives, it is often hard to find a hotel room.

When traveling to Southeast Asia during the peak season, you can consider family-style hotels. Most of the family hotels are cheap and clean, and you can get bargain prices. They can also provide tour guide and travel agency registration services to travelers. Therefore, if time permits, it is a better choice to travel to Southeast Asian countries during the off-season.

Southeast Asian countries have different tourist seasons. The rainy seasons in several tourist hotspots are as follows:

1. The rainy season in Bali, Indonesia is from October to March.

2. The rainy season in Malaysia is from November to February of the following year.

3. The rainy season in Singapore is from November to January of the following year.

The rainy season in Bangkok is from May to October every year.

5. The rainy season in Phuket is from May to October every year.

6. The rainy season in Vietnam is from May to November every year.

Of course, the tourism highlights brought by the festival must also be considered comprehensively.

For example, in Thailand, the peak tourist season is from November to February of the following year, and November has Thailand’s “loikrathong”. Many shining water lanterns float in rivers, ports and lakes. People use water lanterns to express their gratitude to the river gods and pray for blessings.

Now it is called Valentine's Day in Thailand, and it expresses the romantic feelings of young men and women in Thailand. It’s great to go to Thailand and experience the idyllic loikrathong.

Lauigtong, Thailand

The peak tourist season in the Philippines is almost around Easter and Christmas. It claims to have the longest Christmas in the world, celebrated in various ways since September, including the Epiphany, the Feast of the Nazarene and the Sonnino Procession.

The festive atmosphere will reach its climax on Christmas Eve.

2. Pay attention to hotel accommodation:

1. First of all, try not to choose a room at the end of the corridor.

Reason: In emergencies such as fires, it is difficult to hear calls for help. Gangsters are robbing or committing crimes here. It is most convenient to leave the escape door.

Generally speaking, except during peak seasons, hotel lobbies usually do not arrange such rooms for tourists. This is a common taboo in Southeast Asian hotels.

In case of peak season, the hotel arranges such a room. Passengers ask to change as soon as a room becomes available. As long as there are conditions, they will change. Usually they don't ask much about the reason.

2. What will locals do when they enter a hotel room?

Because most Southeast Asian countries have a strong religious atmosphere, many locals with social experience follow the hotel trilogy:

After knocking on the door or ringing the bell to enter, flush the toilet to slightly disturb the "dirty" "Things" (not that they haven't been rinsed thoroughly), and finally patted the pillow.

This process is regarded as a golden rule by many local old overseas Chinese. Anyway, this is what the older generation taught us, and everyone does it. Some young people don’t even know why they do it.

I asked carefully about the reason, and the logic behind it is: say hello, call the police a little, and if there are original "guests", treat it as a courtesy and give everyone time to avoid each other.

Some old overseas Chinese will nod and bow and shout: "Come and stay for a few nights! Excuse me!"

There will also be an upgraded version for special groups.

They will open the drawers. Some hotel drawers contain Bibles (some contain Buddhist scriptures). They will check whether the Bible (or Buddhist book) in the drawer has been opened to a specific page in advance. Then, they would lift up the mattress to see if there was a red envelope pressed underneath.

If you encounter any of these problems, you can go directly to the front desk and ask to change rooms. Many times, the front desk knows it is local without having to elaborate on the reason.

When in town, do as the Romans do. Interested friends can also try these programs to add a bit of mystery to the journey.

Second, we always like to ask how much does it cost to travel to Southeast Asia? But don’t forget, tips actually have to be counted.

Tipping, in layman’s terms, is a form of payment for customers to thank service staff.

In foreign countries, the proportion of tips you

receive varies by country and region.

When you are new here, you should learn about the situation from experienced people in advance, and study reasonable tipping methods with your colleagues.

Don’t treat it as a trivial matter and “save as much as you can”, but take it seriously with the attitude of “as the Romans do as the Romans do” to avoid any unpleasantness during the journey.

As of the end of the year, the latest exchange rates (fluctuating at any time) and tips in Southeast Asian countries are as follows:

Cambodia

Exchange rate: 1 RMB 610.4600 Cambodian riel.

Tip is usually in US dollars, 1 RMB is 0.1523 US dollars.

Restaurants: Giving the waiter a dollar is usually enough.

Hotel: USD 1-2 per bag.

Other usual service charges are included and no additional tip is required.

Taxi: Generally tip about US$1 more.

Tip: Locals who receive tips will thank you in a very warm way. Don't be intimidated by that scene.

Thailand

Exchange rate: 1 yuan 4.9826 baht.

Restaurants: If you just had a Happy Meal, a tip of $1 per person is enough.

Hotels: Usually hotels charge a 10% service fee, so tips are actually not required, or you are worried that the room cleaning is not meticulous enough, which is up to 100 baht per day. But when the doorman helps you with your luggage diligently, you can get a $1 reward.

Taxi: Thai taxi drivers will start from the floor. Please ask for the specific price before getting on the bus.

Masseur: There is no reason not to have a massage in Thailand. A tip of up to $3 is enough to get your masseuse to go the extra mile.

Tip: If you feel that the service is not competent enough, you don’t need to leave a tip.

Myanmar (Southeast Asian country)

Exchange rate: 1 yuan 204.0816 kyats.

Airport: 400-500 kyat per piece of luggage.

Hotel: If the bellman charges 500 kyats to deliver your luggage to your room, the bellman who cleans the room can give you 500-1,000 kyats a day, usually placing it directly on the bed.

Driver: Usually 500 kyats.

Restaurant: no more than 10% of the meal fee.

Malaysia

Exchange rate: 1 yuan 0.6188 Malaysian ringgit.

Restaurant: 10% service charge included. Usually, locals will collect it and give it to the store clerk.

Hotel: One dollar per bag. A dollar a day for the housekeeping staff is fine.

Taxi: No tip required.

Singapore

Exchange rate: 1 yuan 0.2084 Singapore dollars.

Restaurant: A 10% service charge is included in the meal and is usually unnecessary.

Hotel: One dollar per bag. Tipping is not usually required for room service, but if you receive good service, a tip of up to $5 is very generous (please put it in an envelope). If the front desk helps you make a reservation at a hard-to-find restaurant, a $10 tip is fine. Who knew how hard it was to book those restaurants?

Taxi: Just change.

Indonesia

Exchange rate: 1 RMB 2201.7000 Indonesian rupiah.

Restaurant: Most restaurants in Indonesia automatically charge a 10% service fee, so there is no need to pay it deliberately. Locals often leave coins for waiters.

Hotel: The hotel will charge a 10% service fee, but usually the hotel staff will not receive this. The fee is 1-2 US dollars per piece of luggage, and the daily room cleaning fee is 2-5 US dollars. .

Taxi: Tip up to 10%.

Spa: For hard-working spa masters, a tip of about 15% is still very reasonable.

Vietnam

Exchange rate: 1 RMB = 3,606.2977 Vietnamese Dong.

Restaurant: Take a look at the bill first. If there is no service charge indicated, a tip of about 10% is sufficient.

Hotel: Hotel doormen do not need to tip. Our guest room cleaning costs about $2 a day and can be left in a conspicuous place on the last day of departure.

Taxi: No tip required.

Spa: If you enjoy a fantastic spa treatment, you can leave a tip of $5-10.

In addition, the $2 note is a symbol of good luck in Vietnam. You can use it to tip the service staff and they will be happy with it.

In addition to tipping in person, how should I tip?

Sometimes you put the tip on the bedside table, chair, pillow, or quilt in the bedroom, only to find that the tip waiter did not move.

No, you think there are too few waiters. Worried about coming back at night and being impolite in a foreign country.

In fact, if the room is not returned, many waiters will treat it as a temporary item of the guest, so they will not turn it over.

A better way is to find a piece of white paper and write thank you neatly.

Hotel employees in any country understand the meaning of these two words and coins appearing at the same time. It would be more polite to put the money in an envelope.

Of course, for many guests vacationing on Southeast Asian islands, the hotel housekeeper is a considerate and meticulous worker. Tip him from the time he delivers the luggage to the room, including the driver who picks him up and the service staff who cleans the room.

If you like this kind of tacit understanding, they will naturally charge tips when you enjoy the warm service.

Of course, there is no universal tipping manual, and tipping rules are different in every destination.

Money doesn’t hurt (no tip is too much), but for travelers, you need to do some homework ahead of time.

Leaving some kind reminders abroad can help you open many doors and avoid unnecessary conflicts.

So, tipping is not a "burden". Please include tips in your travel budget. Tipping will earn you respect and enjoy better service.

Cultural scenery of Southeast Asia:

Philippines

Laos

Thailand

Vietnam

Cambodia

Myanmar (Southeast Asian country)

East Timor

Things to note

On the evening of April 4, 2008, the Philippine government announced The tourist resort Boracay Island will be closed for 6 months starting from April 26, 2008 to restore the local marine ecology and tourism environment. If you want to go to Boracay, you can avoid the rest period.