Cheap alcohol is a reason for me to visit Japan. Compared to Sweden is it so incredibly cheap, and available 24/7 instead of just when the government monopoly stores are open.
If you’re insufferable while drunk you get what you deserve though.
These days, the menus are usually just written in both languages, side by side.
4 Likes
As a naturalized citizen of Japan, I will not enjoy having to carry my Japanese passport around within Japan.
But I will take great pleasure in pulling out my passport when it comes time to settle the bill. Oh yeah, that’ll be sweet.
9 Likes
I have heard that in many Thai stores the price is written twice: numbers and spelled-out in Thai. The spelled-out number is lower. If you can read it, you can pay that price.
I’m illiterate in Thai, so I can’t confirm. If it’s true, I have absolutely no objection: last time I was there, a month’s salary for an office worker in Bangkok was much less than a day’s pay back home for most of the visitors.
2 Likes
Doesn’t make sense if you’ve lived here for 23 years and have permanent residence status but will now be charged more based on your face.
4 Likes
There has never been a better time to naturalize. It’s not as hard as it used to be.
2 Likes
The other reasons are that Japan is incredibly safe, clean, beautiful, and becomes more fascinating every time you return.
You forgot racist as Hell, though apparently that has (had?) been getting slowly better.
3 Likes
The ironic thing is that the central government is still desperately trying to get people to come and live and work in Japan.
But municipal governments in tourist areas have other priorities.
6 Likes
I’ve found this dichotomy interesting as well. The current prognosis on the birth rates is still pretty bad, and the government is very begrudgingly trying to get people to go to Japan. To be fair this kind of attitude is a turn off to me, but i do hope that the country is able to revitalize their economy.
3 Likes
Over the past decade (except for the pandemic years), there has been a pretty significant increase in immigration to Japan from (especially) Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, so these government policies are having an impact.
The problem is that the government can’t seem to make up their mind about whether these are short-term migrant workers or long-term immigrants, so they are making it a lot easier to get a one-year visa, but not much easier to get a three-year or five-year visa, much less permanent residency. (They have introduced a fast-track to permanent residency, but a big part of the criteria is how much you are earning as well as job security.)
It’s really a shame, because we are getting a lot of talented people who are putting in the effort to learn Japanese and integrate into society, and a lot of companies rely on this workforce, but their future status is uncertain unless they find a job with a big company that will go to bat for them in dealing with the immigration authorities.
It may not be very noticeable to visitors from the west, but immigrants from other parts of Asia are already making a major impact on the Japanese economy and society, and I hope that we’ll get a government that will make it easier for them to stay here in the future.
13 Likes
It is an overstatement to say “many” stores. It is not common, but you will occasionally see Thai numerals, rather than spelled out numbers, in tourist locations that are a lower number than the Arabic numerals. For example, I once took photos of an ice cream business near the Grand Palace in Bangkok that listed something like “90” for the tourist price and ๕๐ (50) for the Thai price. You may occasionally see this in Japan with the Japanese characters for numbers listing a lower price, as well. I photographed a bar, in Osaka, if memory serves, that had this type of pricing arrangement, but this also is uncommon.
Bangkok office worker salaries are modest, but probably not less than a day’s pay back home unless you’re from an exceptionally affluent part of the world. Retail workers might make 12,000-15,000 THB/month (US$329-US$412/month), office worker salaries typically start at least a bit higher than that; 20,000 THB (US$550 or so). If you’re in a group where everyone is pulling down US$9000/month, this statement might be accurate for your crowd, but most tourists in Bangkok are unlikely to be that affluent.
1 Like
Thanks for the clarification: it’s been a while since I was in Thailand. At the time, 3000 B / month was a normal junior office salary, retail and hotel work was less than that. But I was working with old (ca. 2010) info. I blame posting while tired and forgetting how long ago “ago” was. 
So a corrected version might be “a month’s salary for an office worker in Bangkok was much less than four day’s pay back home for most of the visitors”? In which case, I still have no problem with the two-tier payment, rare though it may be.
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
