Sep 6, 2006 Wednesday

Trip Start May 01, 2002
1
6
64
Trip End May 01, 2009


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Flag of Thailand  ,
Wednesday, September 6, 2006

tonight is the big night market in cha-am. in thai it is "talaad nad". the literal translation is "temporary market". it just happens to be held at night. actually it starts to set up around 3pm. the best time to go is 4 or 5 pm when all the vendors are there but the customers are still at work. also the food is fresh. there are hundred of food vendors at these things. they are like sidewalk kitchens dishing out such delicacies as sausage salad, fried fish, fried chicken, barbecued pork and chicken, curries, and all sorts of other exotic delicacies. i try to avoid the fried insect stand as the smell is overpowering and does not do my appetite any good. normally i don't eat dinner on wed night as i am too full from munching my way through the talaad nad. i forgot to mention that the best orange juice in the world - squeezed fresh and ice cold - is served at this market. i am such a regular customer that the husband and wife team that makes the juice always gives me a big smile and serves up some juice as soon as i walk up. i don't have to order. it's 10 baht per bottle. one hell of a deal. do they actually make money doing this? how is that possible? i used to be a finance professor once but i just can't figure out the profit margin in this enterprise. I picked up some clothes while i was there - trousers, shorts, golf shirt, and a baseball cap. my total expenditure tonight, including food, was about 500 baht. the current exchange rate is 37.5 baht/usd.

the bangkok post this morning had two stories on the supposed economic clash and culture clash between small native retaliers and large corporate chain stores. the 7-11 and family mart convenience stores and large superstores like tesco lotus and big-c are apparently squeezing the traditional mom and pop business. the thesis of the bangkok post editorial is that given the economies of scale commanded by the corporate stores, the small retailers cannot possibly compete on price and they need some kind of government subsidy or intervention to survive.

my personal experience is that this thesis is totally false. prices are actually lower at the mom and pop stores because they operate on a smaller profit margin. for example, beer chang cans are 20 baht at the small retailers and 25 baht at the chain stores and a bag of peanuts is 10 baht at the small retail shops and 25 baht at the chain stores. the most popular brand of rum called som-saeng is 100 baht at the small shops and 110 baht and the chain stores. yes, the chain stores are making it tough for the small retailer to survive but they are not doing it with lower prices. they are doing it with customer service, high in-stock percentage, and dependable quality of the merchandise.

shopping at small retail stores is often frustrating. opening and closing times are not strictly adhered to. there does not appear to be much awareness of the importance of customer service or of cleanliness. there is not enough attention paid to expiration dates of packaged food products. not all of the shelves are accessible. there is also that irritating mai-mee factor ("sorry but we are out of that item at present"). I am happy to go to 7-11 stores and pay more because they are clean and dependable. there ought to be some kind of a vocational training program to teach small retailers the basics of retailing. that is all it would take to make them competitive. subsidies are exactly what they do not need.

very nice round of golf today. it feels great to hit the ball just right and to look up and watch that little white thing soaring through the air. something inside me also soars. the joy, the joy. this is the weird thing about golf. on any given day it could be the joy or it could be the horror. i've had those days too. the horror, the horror.
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