In United States and many Western countries, it is customary to leave a tip for the waiter/waitress at a restaurant or bar. The amount of the tip varies depending on the quality of the service. The exact tip amount is of course at the discretion of the customer. In the USA for average service, the acceptable tip percentage is 15%.

Things are far different in Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Malaysia, where tipping is not the standard practice among the locals and in general, tips are not expected by most of the local restaurants. However in high-end restaurants - or those that cater exclusively to oversea tourists - tipping is more commonplace, and in many instances the gratuity - normally 10-15% - is included in the bill.

I have experienced the built-in gratuity myself at high-end restaurants like the Rang Mahal, the most prestigious Indian restaurant in Bangkok. At the more humble Raan Derm, a Thai restaurant on Sukhumvit Soi 22 which caters both to middle class locals and tourists, they add 7% gratuity to the bill.

To give you an idea about the prevailing attitude towards Tipping in Southeast Asia, I have two relatively comical stories that I will share with you – both experiences took place in Malaysia.

While I was in Taiping, a very lovely city located in Perak State (Northwest Malaysia), I patronized Su Hean , a Vegan Chinese restaurant which had recommended to me by a local. The restaurant was very proper but not flashy by any means and catered primarily to the relatively affluent Chinese community in Taiping.

On my 2nd visit there, I ordered a couple of veggie plates. The total bill came to roughly 14.00RM (or $4.30USD). Very cheap for me! Since the service was fairly good , the waitress was very nice (and the food was delicious), I left a tip of 4.00RM (or about $1.20USD). Upon leaving the restaurant, the young girl came running after me with a very concerned look on her face and said to me “Sir, you forgot some monies on the table”. Smiling, I said to her “Young lady, that is your tip.”

Several days later I traveled to Penang, the most popular tourist destination in Malaysia, and well known for its excellent restaurants. On my last night there, my Taxi driver took to me Luk Yea Yan, a well-regarded Vegan Chinese restaurant. Again this was a proper restaurant, not a greasy spoon affair. Upon hearing my story about my experience in Taiping, he laughed and told me that only Americans tips - most Europeans do not!

So after the meal, since the service was better than average, I left a tip which represented about 22% of the bill. Upon leaving, the taxi driver told me that the restaurant owner said to him “Your customer forgot some monies at the table”. We both had a good laugh!

I admit to being a Chinese food enthusiast; although I’m a vegetarian, most Chinese restaurants can accommodate me by substituting soy bean curd (tofu) for meat/chicken/seafood. One of my favorite dishes – I usually order it with all my meals - is hot and sour soup, a staple in Chinese cuisine. I have had this particular soup at Chinese restaurants not only in my home town of San Francisco but all around the world, in places as far away as Accra, Ghana and Quito, Ecuador. The common denominator is that the soup is relatively spicy and has a certain thickness or consistency.

Believe it or not, the worst hot and sour soup that I have ever had was at Kim Liam Kee, a rather, large establishment located on Petaling Street in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s famous Chinatown. I ate at this establishment on Nov. 27 of this year - it was my first night in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city and after a strenuous day of travel, I really wanted a proper vegetarian meal. My hotel was an easy 5-minute walk to Chinatown and my decision to patronize this particular restaurant was primarily because of their rather large and very prominent signage.

I ordered two dishes at Kim Lian Kee – a vegetarian claypot dish with rice and a small hot and sour soup to the accompaniment of a Royal Stout. While the claypot dish was satisfactory, the soup was very watery and had hardly any taste – it was so bad, I thought I would let the management know about it. Now I’m a person who is not afraid to voice his opinions to the restaurant management if the service or the food is bad.

Expressing my dissatisfaction vociferously with the manager over the bland tasting soup, I opened up ‘a rather large can of worms’. Later on, I asked the manager to reprimand the young waitress for her very flippant comment when I requested the bill. After hearing my complaint, he smiled and replied “I am sorry sir, none of these girls have any training; they are hired off the street.” After hearing that, it was very difficult for me to refrain from laughing out loud!

In retrospect, I really thought the whole incident was quite amusing as I relished playing the role of the incensed tourist-customer. Bottom line - I would never, ever go back to this restaurant and recommend that my fellow travelers do not patronize this establishment as well. For a detailed account of my rather dismal experience at Kim Lian Kee, I have filed a report on TripAdvisor

On my 2nd night (and final night in Kuala Lumpur), I went to Fatt Yan, a small vegetarian Chinese restaurant that received very favorable reviews in Happy Cow. The price was right at 18.50RM ($5.25USD) and my two entrees were very tasty – one of which was a vegetarian hot and sour soup. Take that Kim Lian Kee!