Buying things in Thailand can be a challenge to noobies in the Land of Smiles. Sure, you can point and gesture and type prices on a calculator, but that will only get you the special ‘farang price’ . . . You can always purchase based on the price tag, but many sellers are willing to go lower if otherwise they’d lose the sale. Most of these sellers are professional sellers, so you won’t be able to out-smart them. But I’ve found that if your Thai is good enough, you can smooth-talk a lower price.
I remember once a long time ago back when I was still new to speaking Thai. I had tried my hand at bargaining for a lower price. It was my first attempt at bargaining, and I decided to bargain 20% lower. But I accidentally got my numbers confused and asked for a price 60% lower . . . three seconds later he said yes, which was about the time I needed to realize that I mis-spoke and just got the deal of a life-time. Well, it was just a pair of green shorts, and I only saved like $5, but I was a dirt poor fresh graduate without a job back in those days . . .
Anyway, here is a list of a few phrases that will help you purchase stuff like a pro.
In that last example, I’d like to make a mention that everything you buy has different ‘unit words’ associated with them. If you are a beginner and want to keep it simple, use อัน. 80% of the time it won’t be correct, but you’ll easily be understood no problem.
Since we are on the subject of Thai markets, here is a video of one . . .
