Observations (TIT)

[PeteC]

[......... Where is the market research?

A foreign, alien concept.

[Takiap]

The same thing can be said about laundries and hair salons, although to be fair, some do seem to do well. I think a lot depends on how well connected the owners, and by that I mean, do they have many friends and etc in the immediate vicinity.



In soi six there are several hair salons but only two seem to be constantly busy, The one does men and women, and this has certainly given her the edge since the others only cater for women. The other place which is always busy is owned by a really good looking woman who seems to have countless friends, all of whom naturally support her business.


I think just as foreigners are never fully accepted by Thai society, Thais can also be outsiders when they attempt to set up shop in an area they have never lived in.

Back to the coffee places..........Some Thais still visit these places for other types of drinks which are often offered, and of course the mandatory half a dozen kanom.

[Big Boy]

You're right, it's often a case of monkey see, monkey do. Somebody is selling a lot of coffee/ironing a lot of shirts, and somebody thinks, "I can do that." Trouble is the market becomes saturated, so I guess some try out of town where there is less competition. Problem is, there are fewer customers as well.

[Takiap]

Exactly BB. They see the neighbor succeed so they try to copy them. The thing is, the neighbor might have loads of contacts in the area which support him or her. If the new start up succeeds, then another is sure to follow, and another, and another. personally, it would reall piss me off if i started something, and tomorrow everyone else in the soi is copying me. Nonetheless, the Thais don't seem to mind.

A short while ago a place opened, that was originally going to be a restaurant, just down the road from us, and just meters from a very successful Mom and Pop shop. If it had been you and I, we would more than likely have struck a deal.........you have the shop; I have the restaurant. If your customers want to eat, you recommend my restaurant, which of course uses your shop for all refreshments and etc. In this case however, the two places have gone totally against each other. In fact, they are now enemies.

You really don't need, at least in my opinion, a degree to work out the whole "saturation" thing. Why open a laundry in a very small soi where there are already 10 laundries? We also don't need another car wash or another shop. How about a massage place where the women are below the age of 50? Maybe a Farang style bakery, considering that the area is full of Farange? Maybe not a viable idea for a Farang but a Thai could cash in if they were willing to learn and/or adapt.

[usual suspect]

BB mentioned Coffee-shops..well coffee shops, coffee stalls, coffee cubicles..all seemed to have cropped-up, & yes many of them are empty all day long.
How many coffees or iced green teas do these folk have to sell to cover the rent & have enuf left over to make it worthwhile..?
Or am I missing something here?..are they just a front for 'other dealings'..?

[Big Boy]

Or am I missing something here?..are they just a front for 'other dealings'..?

That thought has crossed my mind as well.

[dtaai-maai]

Not sure that 'other dealings' really need a shop...

[MrPlum]

...it would reall piss me off if i started something, and tomorrow everyone else in the soi is copying me. Nonetheless, the Thais don't seem to mind.

This has happened to my g/f who started a small business. A kiosk next to her saw how well she was doing and picked her brains, while acting very friendly. It wasn't too long before he had it worked out, copied her and boldly started to sell, 25% cheaper than we were doing, right next door to her. My g/f wasn't best pleased and shut him down. I won't go into how. We knew someone would copy us, so ensured we got prime locations.

Coffee and drinks have great margins so you don't need to sell much to make a living. On the other hand, they are also happy selling with margins I would never consider. They don't do market research and seem to think 'the more the merrier'. Another example of saturation are the Rotee stalls. There are now 4 in the night market.

Whatever business you are in, location is critical. The kebab shop in Tesco food court does very well now but previous attempts failed. In front of the Hilton, at Cicada (too much work setting up every night) and even in another spot in Market Village. I have been offered spaces in Venezia (too expensive), the new floating market (not ready and touch and go whether it will succeed) and turned them down. If a Thai had been offered it, I suspect they would have said yes. Prestige comes into play rather than common sense.

How about a massage place where the women are below the age of 50?

Would work for me if they could actually massage. The younger ones are usually poor.

Maybe not a viable idea for a Farang but a Thai could cash in if they were willing to learn and/or adapt.

Baguette is a successful cake shop. Very busy. A few doors down there is the 'Life Cafe' (I think that's what it is called). You might have thought it would also do well but I've never seen a customer there.

[johnnyk]

Critical thinking and analysis is not a Thai strength.

[Vital Spark]

Don't get me on a coffee shop rant, BB. Ok, too late, I'm going to do it anyway...

Last term I was teaching 4th year English minor students. Some of them are very good at English, most of them are pretty good, and a lot of them major in another foreign language (Korean, Japanese, Chinese, German or French). So, a little chat at the end of term. "What do you want to do when you graduate?". At least 50% of them wanted to open a coffee shop! Me: "Do you drink coffee? Do you like coffee? Do you know anything about coffee?" Them: "Giggle.... I like going to a coffee shop with my friends. It's a fun place to be, and I like to eat cakes." I've given up trying to advise them that going to a coffee shop, and actually running one 24/7 is not quite the same. Most of them don't drink coffee and find the smell offensive - I witness this in the lift when I'm taking a mug of coffee to class.

If you're wondering what the other half wanted to do, number two in 'What I want to do when I graduate' was to be an author. Hey, if J.K. Rowling can do it, so can I. And she did it in a coffee shop! It kind of reminded me of my ridiculous aspirations when I was about 8 years old, but you're allowed to have unrealistic ideas when you're just a kid.

VS

P.S. I think 'undercover', as somebody mentioned, means money laundering (as opposed to clothes).

[oakdale160]

All this pales in comparison to the Indian Tailors-- there is one row of 4 next door to each other on PK, whenever I pass I look inside, even in high season I have never seen a customer and by the way does ANYBODY ever go and order a suit at 9pm, so why are they still harassing the passers by-- I must say that there is one improvement here--In pattaya they are skillful in grasping and shaking your hand without your consent. I HATE that.

[oakdale160]

In Beijing, the US franchise TGIF Thank God Its Friday, opened a unit on 3rd ring road, it was a BIG success.
Right next door a Chinese entre-preneur opened a restaurant with the same color scheme --Thank God Its Saturday

[richard]

[Well you learn something every day in Thailand

Ever not sealed the lid on a jar of sugar or flour jar properly and found it infested with ants or mealy bugs/flies? I have and ended up throwing the contents out and cursing myself for not sealing the lid properly.

My g/f found a jar of sugar infested with ants and when I went to throw the contents away stopped me and poured the contents on to a plastic plate and put it out in the sun. The ants disappeared within 10 minutes apparently due to the sun and brightness

[Big Boy]

Something I've noticed many times in Thailand, but it never ceases to amaze me. I would say 99% of Thai road users ignore emergency vehicles despite their blues and twos. Personally, I always do give way, but this is because I was taught that way in the UK. However, apart from the Thais, that 99% must include a lot of Farang.

Two questions:

- Why are they so blatantly ignored?

- Why do they bother showing/sounding warnings if they know they will be ignored?

An example on the Pranburi to Hua Hin road today, there were several vehicles trying to get to an incident just South of Soi 156. I let them through, but nobody else was going to. As it was, when I passed the scene (of the crime?), there seemed to be several people being questioned, so they obviously got there in time

What happens when the emergency services are trying to get somewhere to help somebody, but they can't because some ignorant git was blocking them in?.

[Bristolian]

Two questions:
- Why are they so blatantly ignored?

Simply answer is cynicism. I have seen many “Emergency Vehicles” using their Blues & Twos fighting to get through a traffic jam and when they have achieved this goal they simply switch them off and go about their normal business. i.e. they blatantly misuse their sirens and flashing lights to get through the holdup quicker but with no emergency call, they “Cry Wolf”

- Why do they bother showing/sounding warnings if they know they will be ignored?

Because they can, without question from the police and it makes them feel important.
Like you I always let them pass, irrespective of my distrust that they are on an errand of mercy. I fear that, as is often a feature of living here, the powers that be, ignore the flagrant misuse of sirens and flashing lights. When you can hire a police escort for your bus with flashing lights and sirens what does this indicate to the masses....certainly not an emergency?