In the Philippines, usually tip around $10 for DM for two-tank dive and $10 for boat crew. But only for local DMs. Very few shops with foreign DMs and in that case you just buy them a beer
Same in Thailand.
Also, like elan said, tipping is usually done quietly - just slipped into their hands. So you never know if other people are tipping or not.
I live and work in Thailand, and despite what Jam Jam said above, it's not nice to tip only the local dive staff and buy a beer for the foreign ones. There's no real difference in wages for foreign versus local dive staff, and the foreign ones have more expenses when visa, work permit, and income tax costs are factored in (minimum tax is calculated by nationality, believe it or not). What happens here is that there's typically a tip box for the boat crew, and they divide up whatever is put in there equally. This means that workers you might not see or be able to tip directly, like the galley assistant, get a share. This tip box is only for the boat crew--captain, engineer, deck hands, galley hands--and not for the dive staff. Typically, you would have the same dive staff member working with you throughout your trip, and should you wish to offer a tip, you would hand it to him/her directly and individually.
In Australia I have never seen anyone tip the boat crew. It just doesn't happen. I always make a point of saying thank you to the crew, and if they have been especially helpful I will let them know it is appreciated.
I have never really understood the culture of tipping. Why should boat crew rely on customers generosity to earn enough to survive? It's their bosses responsibility to pay them a decent wage.
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In practical terms what we see here in regard to tipping is that it depends on the customer's nationality. Some nationalities tip, and others don't. Australians, for example, are famous non-tippers, and the most common justification is the one ferris gives above. Other nationalities do tip, so there's almost always something in the tip jar to divide up. As a result, nobody in Thailand
expects a tip from any given diver, and the system of tipping by putting whatever you like in the tip box as you walk past and handing a tip discretely to your dive leader makes it easy for whoever wants not to tip to avoid showing themselves as tight-fisted. On the other hand, everyone
appreciates getting tips, and if there are no tips at all in the tip box, they wonder what they did wrong to deserve such a put-down.
I will say, in addition, that I've heard lots and lots of Aussies complain that Thailand is getting 'too expensive' for them, practically in the same breath that they say they won't tip because they think people should be paid a living wage. So with minimum wages going up in Thailand to guarantee something closer to a living wage that isn't simply at poverty level, prices are also going up, and guess what? We hear that Thailand is getting 'too expensive'. You can't have it both ways--a cheap diving destination means that people are paid very little, and yes, even foreigners are paid virtual slave wages. So when I go to Australia, I keep in mind that the expensive prices I pay there support decent earnings for those who are providing services and give no tips, but when I travel for leisure to other places, I keep in mind the local labour practices and budget to allow for tipping.
