"There's no reason not to be polite....Jamaica in under the British Commonwealth & the Queen's English is taught in schools...Jamaican's know manners.
Just for interest sake...you'll often hear the phrase.... "where's my manners" and correct themselves. A "no, thank you" is completely understood by Jamaicans."

And to add...the Jamaicans wanting to make a sale deal with tourists every day of every year they've been a higgler...to suggest that they don't know what "no, thanks" means after literally hearing it hundreds of thousands of times is completely absurd. Jamaicans may not always respond with "no, thanks" when declining an offer, but to insinuate they don't understand is insulting and this how my Jamaican friends felt. "


If any of you knew me, you would know that I am not a rude or impolite person by any stretch of the imagination, nor am I in the habit of dis-respecting folks. I simply stated, that it has been MY observation from living here & watching how locals behave & speak, that this culture does not expect a "thanks" after the "no", because "thanks" is not used in that way in Ja. culture.

I would also NEVER insult someones intelligence....what I said was that it can be confusing, because adding the "thanks" after the "no" may give a local someone, the idea (however subliminal it may be), that there is still a chance that the tourist may be interested or "convinced" to buy, after hearing the "thanks".

I do not live in Negril but I do live in Jamaica & deal with all levels of Jamaicans on a daily basis. I am not rude to any of them & try to treat everyone with kindness, because I know first hand how difficult it is to make a living here, but I will sometimes just say NO.