This year we’ve seen many trends in Thailand, and one of the biggest seems to be the spread of social-buying websites like Ensogo Thailand, Deal Thailand, DealDiDi, etc. These websites are a bargain hunter’s dream come true. Major discounts are given on hotel accommodation, restaurants, spa services and cosmetics in addition to oddball stuff like tickets to a man-made salt cave (who knew those even existed?).

But one thing that comes to my mind is, do people really know how they should be using these vouchers? There’s a hidden code of conduct that comes with them, and I’m not sure if everyone is on the same page as far as common sense is concerned. I mean, there are people who think it’s okay to not move inside the BTS sky train while people are trying to move in, girls who wear those alien ‘big-eye’ contact lenses, and people who wear Crocs.

Here, then, are some of my personal bargain-voucher codes of conduct:

1. Never on a First Date. I really hope this is common sense to everyone. If you’re inviting someone out on a first date, please don’t think your date will be impressed that you’re a good bargain hunter by using vouchers to pay for the meal. However, feel free to pull out the voucher if the date is going well and you never want to see that person again.
2. Make a Reservation. If a good service/product is being offered at an extremely low price, chances are many people will buy the same voucher. Chances are also that they will go at the weekend when they have time, just like you. What this means is that if you don’t call ahead and make a reservation, you are not guaranteed service, and the staff may not be prepared to handle a large amount of walk-in customers. This amounts to not having enough staff to support and means you will not receive the best service, if any. What happens next? Well, you’ll pull out your smart phone and tweet or update status with something along the lines of ‘OMG, I’m at **** and the service here is horrible!’ Hmm, maybe if they knew they’d be serving you, you would get the service you expected.
3. TIP TIP TIP. Most of the vouchers say ‘service charge included’, meaning you don’t have to tip on top of what you paid. Well think about it — if you are getting 50% off something, with Ensogo Thailand also taking a cut, the vendor is left with maybe 20% of the voucher amount. Think about it, how much of that 20% is left for service charge? And probably the reason why they are offering a big deal on Ensogo is because business is slow, and they need people to come in. So remember to tip your server, I mean come on … you’re already getting more than half price off the original price. Don’t be cheap!

So there are my three basic rules of using these vouchers. Anyone care to add their own?

N.B.: Remember to read the fine print. Sometimes these websites can be tricky!