---
title: "Tipping in Thailand: service charge, VAT and how much to leave"
description: "A 10% service charge plus 7% VAT adds 17.7% to a Thai bill. The rules behind both, and what 7 Reddit threads say people leave for porters, massage, taxis."
url: https://bestofthailand.org/tipping
locale: en
---

# Tipping in Thailand: service charge, VAT and how much to leave

Tipping is not required anywhere in Thailand. What decides the right amount is the bill: a 10% service charge plus 7% VAT adds 17.7% to the menu price, and most commenters in the threads we counted leave nothing more on top of it.

Last verified: 14 October 2026. The bill rules come from the Revenue Department, the Department of Internal Trade and Grab; the amounts are counts from 7 Reddit threads (495 comments, August to September 2026), not a rule.

The short version

- Service charge on the bill: no extra tip.
- No service charge: leave the coins, or ฿20 to ฿100 depending on the meal.
- Massage ฿50 to ฿100, taxi or Grab round up, porter ฿20 to ฿100 or carry your own bags.
- "++" on a menu = +17.7% at the till; "net" = the price you see.

## What reaches the bill, and the rules behind it

### VAT is 7% until 30 September 2027

The statutory rate is 10%; a reduced 7% has been extended year by year, most recently by Royal Decree No. 807 (2026), amending Royal Decree No. 646 (B.E. 2560), from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027. Restaurants and hotels registered for VAT add it to the bill.

Source: [KPMG tax news flash, September 2026](https://kpmg.com/us/en/taxnewsflash/news/2026/09/thailand-reduced-7-percent-vat-rate-extended-through-september-2027.html) · [Forvis Mazars Thailand, 24 September 2026](https://www.forvismazars.com/th/en/insights/doing-business-in-thailand/tax/thailand-maintains-7-vat-rate-for-another-year)

### A service charge is optional, and must be shown before you order

No law requires a restaurant to add one. If it does, the rate (normally 10%) has to appear on the menu or on a sign at the counter or entrance, alongside the prices. The Department of Internal Trade says a charge that was not displayed can be refused; complaints go to its 1569 hotline, and the fine under the Price of Goods and Services Act 1999 is up to ฿10,000.

Source: [Bangkok Post: restaurants must clearly state service charge](https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/1109601/restaurants-must-clearly-state-service-charge) · [Verdict Foodservice on DIT Notification No. 68, 19 August 2025](https://www.verdictfoodservice.com/newsletters/thailand-dit-pricing-transparency-restaurants)

### VAT is charged on the service charge too

A Revenue Department ruling (กค 0702/4116, 26 June 2017) treats a restaurant's percentage service charge as part of the food price under section 79 of the Revenue Code, so VAT applies to it. A 10% service charge plus 7% VAT therefore adds 17.7% to the menu price.

Source: [Revenue Department ruling กค 0702/4116](https://rd.go.th/27717.html)

### No law says the service charge goes to staff

We found no Labour Protection Act provision that sets how a service charge is shared. Hotels and restaurants split it by their own agreement, and Thailand's Labour Minister has publicly urged employers to pass it on in full after reports that some pass on less than half.

Source: [Thai Post on the Labour Minister's statement](https://www.thaipost.net/public-relations-news/478772/) · [Bangkok Post opinion: service charge reaches tipping point](https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/285598/service-charge-reaches-tipping-point)

### Grab tips are in the app, for GrabPay rides only

Grab Thailand lets you tip a driver from the ride history for up to 72 hours after the trip, with preset amounts, but only when the ride was paid with GrabPay; a cash ride is tipped in cash. Grab's own wording: tipping "is not necessary" but "always appreciated".

Source: [Grab Thailand: how to tip your Grab driver](https://www.grab.com/th/en/how-to-tip-your-grab-driver/)

Worked example: a ฿1,000 dinner on a "++" menu is ฿1,000 + ฿100 service charge, then 7% VAT on ฿1,100, for ฿1,177 at the till.

## What people report leaving

Counts of top-level comments in the threads listed below. Where commenters disagree, the table says so; the evidence column shows how many people stand behind each figure.

| Situation | Usual answer | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Restaurant with a service charge on the bill | Nothing extra | About 16 top-level comments across five threads; the most agreed point in the sample. |
| Restaurant without a service charge | Leave the coins, or ฿20 to ฿100 | About 6 comments; one names ฿20-40 for breakfast or lunch and ฿50-100 for dinner. Only 3 tip a percentage. |
| Hotel porter | Split between ฿20, ฿50 and ฿100, or nothing | In 1vcru9s about 15 say ฿20, 14 say ฿50 and 10 say ฿100 or more, and about 20 call a ฿10 coin too low; in 1whbxie the most upvoted answers carry their own bags. |
| Housekeeping | ฿100 a day, or ฿20 to ฿50 | About 4 comments for ฿100 a day, about 2 for less. |
| Massage | ฿50 to ฿100, handed to the therapist | About 5 mentions in total: thin, and the same ฿50-100 our Thai massage guide gives. |
| Taxi or Grab | Round up, or ฿10 to ฿20 | 3 mentions; a few more tip food delivery riders in heavy rain. |

- r/ThailandTourism: [I may have insulted a hotel staff](https://www.reddit.com/r/ThailandTourism/comments/1vcru9s/) (1 August 2026, 176 comments)
- r/ThailandTourism: [Help how to manage over-paying / tipping parent](https://www.reddit.com/r/ThailandTourism/comments/1w809q4/) (5 September 2026, 90 comments)
- r/ThailandTourism: [Tip bellboy](https://www.reddit.com/r/ThailandTourism/comments/1whbxie/) (15 September 2026, 73 comments)
- r/Thailand: [How are cash tips handled at hotel restaurants with a 10% service charge](https://www.reddit.com/r/Thailand/comments/1vkobon/) (10 August 2026, 54 comments)
- r/ThailandTourism: [Service charge normal?](https://www.reddit.com/r/ThailandTourism/comments/1vv79cv/) (22 August 2026, 37 comments)
- r/ThailandTourism: [Tipping in Thailand. Yay or Nay?](https://www.reddit.com/r/ThailandTourism/comments/1ve7ind/) (3 August 2026, 34 comments)
- r/ThailandTourism: [South East Asia Tipping Culture](https://www.reddit.com/r/ThailandTourism/comments/1wm25d9/) (21 September 2026, 31 comments)

Massage prices and etiquette are on the [Thai massage guide](https://bestofthailand.org/thai-massage); paying in baht, ATM fees and getting small notes are in the [money guide](https://bestofthailand.org/currency); and a service charge invented at the till of a dim bar is one of the [scams reported this year](https://bestofthailand.org/scams).

## Frequently asked questions

**Do I tip if the bill already has a service charge?**

Most people don't. In the 7 threads we counted, about 16 top-level comments say no extra tip when a 10% service charge is on the bill, the most agreed point in the sample. The catch is that no law sends the service charge to staff, so some commenters hand a small note to the server directly. In an r/Thailand thread on hotel restaurants, about 5 comments say cash handed over is kept by that person while cash left on the table is shared.

**Why is my restaurant bill 17.7% higher than the menu?**

On a Thai menu, "++" means the service charge and VAT are added at the till. VAT (7%) is charged on the service charge as well as on the food, so 10% plus 7% adds 17.7%: a ฿1,000 meal comes to ฿1,177. A menu marked "net" already includes both.

**Can I refuse a service charge in Thailand?**

Yes, if it was not displayed. The Department of Internal Trade requires the charge and its rate on the menu or on a sign at the counter or entrance; a charge that appears only on the bill can be refused, and complaints go to the 1569 hotline. A charge that was displayed is part of the price you agreed to.

**How do I tip a Grab driver?**

From the ride history in the app, for up to 72 hours after the trip, but only if you paid with GrabPay; for a cash ride, round up or hand over ฿10-20. Grab Thailand's help page does not say whether the driver keeps the whole tip.

## What we could not confirm

- An official tourism-authority line on tipping: the Tourism Authority of Thailand's FAQ page would not load for us (Cloudflare check), and searches of tourismthailand.org, tatnews.org and thailand.go.th returned no tipping text.
- Whether a Grab driver keeps the whole in-app tip: Grab Thailand's help page does not say.
- The Royal Gazette date of Royal Decree No. 807: our sources give 20 August and 23 August 2026.
- Tour guides and private drivers: none of the July-October 2026 tipping threads asked about them, so we give no figure.

Best of Thailand

https://bestofthailand.org/tipping

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