It’s a feature of Asian commerce that the establishment of a successful business in one place will result in other businesses selling exactly the same product setting up next door. Open a shoe shop somewhere where there are no shoe shops, appear to be making a profit, or at least stay open for more than a couple of months, and the whole road will rapidly fill with shoe shops. Great for the consumer, stupid for the businesses.
This approach extends to roadside stalls where you can drive for kilometres and be offered a continuous choice of stalls selling the identical type of fruit. A similar phenomenon is developing outside Pattaya. Travelling south on Sukhumvit Road there has been a man selling paddling pools and swimming pool toys.
Having apparently sold a few and survived a couple of weeks, another stall has now opened up nearby offering an even wider selection of junk desirable items:
In can only be a matter of time before this escalates and the road south of Pattaya becomes an obstacle course of bouncy dragons and paddling ponds.
Comments 🔗
2008-09-02| Billy saysYou find the inner truth as usual, oh wise one …. in fact, I have been pointing out the same thing to Her Indoors about Jakarta for years … but now you have spotted it and she thinks it is so wise that you have spotted it … v. irritating …
Anyway, if you want flowers then you go to any of the 200 shops in Barito, if you want a man with a van then Pela is your place, lighting? - Blok A, Jeans? - there are a thousand shops all in one bloody street in Bandung …
2008-09-03| Spike saysHer Indoors recognises real wisdom.