Cultural differences can be funny. For instance, in the United States, if one were to spend more than an hour inside of a McDonald’s, it could likely be chalked up to a medical emergency (“fast” food being the entire point of the operation), whereas in Thailand, hanging out in your local Mickey-D’s is perfectly acceptable behavior. Or it was, rather.
The Bangkok Post is reporting that McThai, the operator of Thailand’s McDonalds franchises, has just announced that customers will not be allowed to loiter in their restaurants for upwards of an hour.
This means no more Filet-o-Fish with your tutoring sessions, and that the days of putting away several McRibs while you casually peruse your email have come to an end.
McThai CEO Hester Chew says that the policy change was undertaken after customers complained about a lack of seating during lunch and dinner hours.
With this announcement, McDonalds joins Starbucks, which earlier this year initiated a similar policy, aimed at discouraging independent tutors from using the coffee house as a place of business.
In other words: You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.
