How much do you pay for a bowl of rice in a restaurant? It depends, of course, on the kind of place we're talking about, whether it's a roadside eatery or fancy restaurant in a mall. Since rice is the only dish that Thais always order, it's often the case that we don't look it up in the menu. After ordering everything else, automatically we ask for a bowl of rice.
But sometimes that's a problem. One of the viral threads discussed over a popular website just before the New Year was about a consumer who found — after finishing his meal at a Japanese restaurant — that he was charged 100 baht for bowl of rice.
The consumer who raised the issue online went to a Japanese restaurant in Thong Lor and ordered tempura. The waiter recommended a bowl of rice to go with it — it appears that the client didn't look at the menu to see how much it cost. When the bill came, he was shocked at the 100 baht price. He asked to see the price on the menu, but the rice conveniently wasn't listed.
A regular bowl of rice for 100 baht (a small bowl typical of a Japanese restaurant) sounds a little outrageous, though it might be possible to charge that much in five-star hotels. But the big issue here is the fact that the menu doesn't display the price of rice, and that the consumer wasn't careful enough to ask first.
Pachara Kaewkla, food alert system officer at the Foundation for Consumers, explained that not displaying prices is a big mistake.
"It is illegal according to the Prices of Goods and Services Act 1999," he said. "According to the client who posted this case online, that bowl of rice was offered by the waiter even though it wasn't on the menu, and that was like offering something without the consent of the client. However, we cannot tell whether the waiter purposely offered the rice in bad faith or not."
He added that there are certain goods that are subject to price control, which mainly are agricultural products. But cooked rice sold in restaurants is not included in this. It's a restaurant's right to set the price of the product as long as it is displayed clearly for customers.
The manager of the restaurant in question explained that the rice was expensive because it was imported-from-Japan quality rice. However, Life carried out a quick survey of other Japanese restaurants in the area, and discovered that a bowl of Japanese rice in premium restaurants costs no more than 50 baht.
After the thread went viral, the restaurant clarified online it was in the process of a management reshuffle. Thus, they unintentionally failed to put rice on the menu. They apologised and guaranteed that a new updated menu would be made. However, the price will remain the same.
"If a similar case happens to other consumers, they should be exempt from payment or at least consumers can ask to pay the market price rate," said Patchara.
Another issue in this case is that on the bill there was a Japanese word written in English — "gohan", meaning Japanese rice — which is not understandable to some and could cause confusion. Patchara said that menus and bills should be clear and written in simple language.
Patchara suggested that to protect themselves consumers should know exactly what they are ordering and be aware of the price. Meanwhile, restaurants must make sure that every item on the menu is listed, along with the price.
"A little more time devoted to this little detail is worth a lot more than the notorious reputation you might gain if any mistake happens. But if it does happen, show as much responsibility as you can," said Patchara.
