|
|
| • EXCH RATES |
|
Baht/$ 34.23/25 (Bid/Ask)
|
GOLD |
13,350
|
|
Even protesters need to eat and be entertained, and that's been a boon for some vendors more used to day-to-day financial struggles,
Pornnalat Prachyakorn
Lod chong vendor Siri Kanoksinmakin says he has seen his daily earnings triple and even quadruple thanks to protesters' appetites. |
Siri Kanoksinmakin halts at the stoplight and wipes his brow. "It's hot today, isn't it?" he mumbles to himself.
It's only another 200 metres to his goal, five minutes for the young students and office workers walking nearby. But for the hefty 44-year-old vendor, saddled with a heavy, rusty pushcart filled with Thai cold dessert lod chong (boiled flour strips eaten with sweetened coconut milk), it will be a good 30 minutes before he reaches his favourite spot.
The trek is worth it. For four months, the Bangkok resident has seen his daily earnings rocket, thanks to the thousands of potential customers among the People's Alliance for Democracy protesters.
"Sometimes I can earn as much as 18,000 baht a day while before I got about 4,000 to 5,000 baht, or 8,000 baht at most," said Mr Siri, who sells a glass full of lod chong at 10 baht.
The golden opportunity does not fall to Mr Siri alone. For some enterprising businessmen, the thousands of protesters represent a brand-new market ripe for sales.
Hungry protesters have given Lerchai Panthurasan's kai yang business a lift. |
Whether it be T-shirts, umbrellas, food vendors or soft-drink sellers, the streets near the Makkhawan Rangsan bridge have turned into a veritable community mall, with sellers waiting to provide the basics of food, shelter and entertainment for all.
Behind the mountain of toys-turned-protest tools displayed at one shop inside the PAD station area sits Prayad Samran with his mind concentrated on getting his merchandise ready for hundreds of customers to come.
"Hurry up, we need to finish this before more people come," he tells his uncle, who is helping him tie ropes to each whistle, one of the most popular products sold there.
The 21-year-old from Surin comes to Bangkok several times a year to sell gift products. In normal times, he would sell them at Red Cross Society festivals.
But with the demonstrations and the Olympic Games in Beijing going on, Mr Prayad and his uncle found new products that would be welcomed by demonstrators and sports supporters alike: clappers.
The colourful plastic clappers from China are conveniently packaged in sets of four for 100 baht. Mr Prayad easily earns 2,000 baht a day from selling the tools, while dozens of other vendors sell food and a variety of PAD souvenirs including T-shirts, umbrellas, flags and wristbands in national-flag colours.
"No need to travel a lot these past two months and what we get is a fixed income," he said.
Next to Ratchadamnoen boxing stadium, not far from where the crowd is rooted, the famous Likhit Kai Yang restaurant is crowded with customers.
Since last year, brothers Lerchai and Lerphong Panthurasan have painfully witnessed a falling number of customers coming into their restaurant.
Despite being renowned for its grilled chicken both domestically and internationally, the 51-year-old business had been struggling to weather the economic slowdown.
"Our sales revived a bit with the PAD and police customers visiting, mostly in the evening," said Mr Lerphong. "Some of them had heard of our reputation but never tried us before. This has been a good opportunity for them and our business."
But the PAD protests haven't necessarily been good business for all. For existing shops in the area, traffic jams and congestion over the past few months have scared existing customers away, forcing some stores to close early on certain days for lack of customers or simply due to safety concerns.
Malisa Yarncharas, a small business owner in her late thirties, stands outside Malisa's Flower Shop, looking expressionless at the mob across the street.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Business is pretty bad. I think sales have fallen by half since the beginning of the year," Mrs Malisa said.
But she is quick to add that she doesn't blame the protesters for her woes.
"PAD isn't to blame. It's the economy and the government more than anything else," Mrs Malisa said.
"I've never joined the PAD protests. But I think that much of what they say about the government is true. I and my neighbours here can still make enough to survive. What is going on today is about the future of our country."
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
Next
