Across Thailand, ubiquitous Starbucks and McDonald's outlets have become
much more than a place for a quick coffee or a hamburger. Outlets are
increasingly packed with students and freelancers camping out at the branches
for hours, using the small tables as workstations.
But not for much longer.
McThai—the sole McDonald’s franchisee in the country—earlier this week issued a notice
limiting customers to a one-hour seating limit during lunch, dinner and weekend
hours.
It is not yet clear how stringent
McDonald’s will be in enforcing these new rules, but the company—which has 178
restaurants across Thailand, serving seven million customers per month—is also
discouraging customers from charging laptops and mobile phones for more than 30
minutes at electric outlets available in the fast-food restaurant.
The new rules come as many
frustrated customers complain about not having seats to eat their meals, which
are often crowded with customers using the tables to work or study for hours,
long after their fries and burgers are all gone.
People are “hogging seats for
group teaching or working” without ordering second or third meals, said
McDonald’s Corporate Affairs Director Saichon Submakudom, who said the new move
is “protect[ing] equal rights for all customers”.
According to Ms. Submakudom, the
company also ran a survey through social media asking for feedback on the new
time limits, with most of the 1,370 respondents supporting the rules.
The company also reserves the
right to remove any belongings used to reserve seats and is eligible to request
customers to buy more food and drink if they are seated in a large group with
hardly any food purchases.
McThai’s new seating rules come
after that of Starbucks Coffee in Thailand, which in July this year issued a
similar notice, requesting that students and private tutors not use the cafe
for large group lessons during peak hours.
“In extreme peak-time cases, we
may ask for customers’ kind cooperation not to stay unreasonably long after
finishing their beverages and snacks, and not to ‘reserve seats’ while away
from the café, out of respect for other customers who would also like the seats
to enjoy their purchases,” Marketing and Communications Director Sumonpin
Jotikabukkana said.
But for many students, joints
like Starbucks and McDonald’s have become go-to spaces for long hours of work,
offering a more relaxed environment than a library or school study spaces. A
recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research, a publication of the
University of Chicago, found that a moderate volume of background noise—about
70 decibels—allows people to think more creatively, possibly explaining the
draw of studying in cafes.
One Thai student, 15-year-old
Luksika Kitsirisin, said she always goes to coffee shops or fast food
restaurants to read books and for tutoring sessions when examinations are near,
allowing her to sit with friends and order food conveniently.
She admitted that she and her
friends some time have spent several hours there.
“I agree with the time limit, but
one hour is too short period,” said Ms. Luksika.
Thappawat Thongnunnuen, 21 years
old, is also among the large number of students who opt for cafes or fast food
restaurants over studying at a library or at home during exam period.
“Library is too quiet and makes
me sleepy, but television distracts me when I’m at home,” he said.
Oranan Paweewun
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