It's another hot day here in Khon Kaen... A quick look at a weather site, and I see it shows a moderate 93 degrees F., but with a "comfort level" of 105. A walk down to the Family Mart just confirmed it; the walk was not comfortable.
Family Mart is one of the competitors of Seven-11. Or is that 7-Eleven? Seven-11 has proved to be so successful in Thailand that it's about like Starbuck's Coffee in the U.S. Only more so. I'd guess there are a hundred or so here in Khon Kaen. It's hard to go a few blocks without seeing one, two or even three of them. It's a haven from the heat, where you can get what you need and not at premium prices. So with it's success, it has proliferated. With that proliferation have come the competitors. Tesco-Lotus, a superstore with business roots in France has sprouted up many Tesco-Lotus Minis, often just next door or across the street from 7-Elevens. Another is Family Mart, which has been a bit more subtle in its choice of locations, moving into neighborhoods which are more under-served.
What these stores offer are the basics-- things people need and buy frequently. Drinks, snacks, some quick hot foods (micro-wave-ables), body care and baby care products, magazines, a few books, umbrellas, MP3 headphones, cigarettes, beer, whiskey, condoms-- all the stuff that people normally buy on a day to day basis. The formula also includes a predictable floor plan-- oh, and a Coke and ice machine, hot water urn and coffee and hot drink mixes, instand soups and noodles, and so forth. Not too much, but enough to have a very successful shop.
But under-service for convenience stores is not really of an issue here. Sprouting up a little mom and dad business is as easy as putting a fridge in your front room and putting some sodas, energy drinks and beers in it, having a shelf of "kanom" (snack foods) and anything else that might round out the inventory. This kind of store is virtually everywhere, making it pretty impossible to die of thirst or starve here as long as one has ten baht in the pocket.
It must be the air conditioning that makes the upscale convenient stores so successful. Which, finally finding I have a point in mind here, confirms the fact that it is really hot! In case you didn't believe that before.
It's interesting how we need to confirm things. I remember in philosophy class, how "experience shows it to be so, and reason proves it." As if the walk to the store weren't enough to confirm that it is hot. Gotta go to the internet to prove it.
I've noticed how other experiences have been compared to more virtual experiences as point of reference. I once walked past a flock of wild turkeys, perched on a building, that first one by one and then in mass flew over my head. I thought-- "Wow, that was just like in Star Wars or something. Exciting!" Funny that I refer to a movie to compare with a live, vivid and really first hand experience.
I remember in my my younger years, having a more lively and proactive participationwith experience. I'd been living in the country, and it was common entertainment for me, with no television even, to go walking at night. I tried to use the flashlight only when necessary, and preferred to stumble along the moonlit (or not) trails in the dark, relying on memory or instincts to discern the trail from the bush as much as possible. My most self-celebrated walk was a New Year's Eve walk home on a moonless night, taking the "high trail" which was the least traveled and most difficult to distinguish in the dark. I was on my hand and knees a fair part of the way that night, feeling for the smoothness of the trail where it meandered through the slightly rougher bordering landscape. In those days I felt truly alive.
Now, it's a walk to Family Mart or 7-Eleven / Seven-11 to get a cup of gaffe yen that gives me that aliveness. Ha! I find that writing is good food for thought, and so I'll have to think about this some. It's the question we ask ourselves often in NVC (nonviolent communications) groups: What's alive in me now?
Well, as they say..... keep tuned.
Family Mart is one of the competitors of Seven-11. Or is that 7-Eleven? Seven-11 has proved to be so successful in Thailand that it's about like Starbuck's Coffee in the U.S. Only more so. I'd guess there are a hundred or so here in Khon Kaen. It's hard to go a few blocks without seeing one, two or even three of them. It's a haven from the heat, where you can get what you need and not at premium prices. So with it's success, it has proliferated. With that proliferation have come the competitors. Tesco-Lotus, a superstore with business roots in France has sprouted up many Tesco-Lotus Minis, often just next door or across the street from 7-Elevens. Another is Family Mart, which has been a bit more subtle in its choice of locations, moving into neighborhoods which are more under-served.
What these stores offer are the basics-- things people need and buy frequently. Drinks, snacks, some quick hot foods (micro-wave-ables), body care and baby care products, magazines, a few books, umbrellas, MP3 headphones, cigarettes, beer, whiskey, condoms-- all the stuff that people normally buy on a day to day basis. The formula also includes a predictable floor plan-- oh, and a Coke and ice machine, hot water urn and coffee and hot drink mixes, instand soups and noodles, and so forth. Not too much, but enough to have a very successful shop.
But under-service for convenience stores is not really of an issue here. Sprouting up a little mom and dad business is as easy as putting a fridge in your front room and putting some sodas, energy drinks and beers in it, having a shelf of "kanom" (snack foods) and anything else that might round out the inventory. This kind of store is virtually everywhere, making it pretty impossible to die of thirst or starve here as long as one has ten baht in the pocket.
It must be the air conditioning that makes the upscale convenient stores so successful. Which, finally finding I have a point in mind here, confirms the fact that it is really hot! In case you didn't believe that before.
It's interesting how we need to confirm things. I remember in philosophy class, how "experience shows it to be so, and reason proves it." As if the walk to the store weren't enough to confirm that it is hot. Gotta go to the internet to prove it.
I've noticed how other experiences have been compared to more virtual experiences as point of reference. I once walked past a flock of wild turkeys, perched on a building, that first one by one and then in mass flew over my head. I thought-- "Wow, that was just like in Star Wars or something. Exciting!" Funny that I refer to a movie to compare with a live, vivid and really first hand experience.
I remember in my my younger years, having a more lively and proactive participationwith experience. I'd been living in the country, and it was common entertainment for me, with no television even, to go walking at night. I tried to use the flashlight only when necessary, and preferred to stumble along the moonlit (or not) trails in the dark, relying on memory or instincts to discern the trail from the bush as much as possible. My most self-celebrated walk was a New Year's Eve walk home on a moonless night, taking the "high trail" which was the least traveled and most difficult to distinguish in the dark. I was on my hand and knees a fair part of the way that night, feeling for the smoothness of the trail where it meandered through the slightly rougher bordering landscape. In those days I felt truly alive.
Now, it's a walk to Family Mart or 7-Eleven / Seven-11 to get a cup of gaffe yen that gives me that aliveness. Ha! I find that writing is good food for thought, and so I'll have to think about this some. It's the question we ask ourselves often in NVC (nonviolent communications) groups: What's alive in me now?
Well, as they say..... keep tuned.
Go to bed, Phil.
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