A Special Deal…
Wednesday, January 31st, 2007
Photo: The beach…this is for all of you enjoying the winter back in NYC!
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My sister, Cyndi, and our friend Mary decided to come join me in Bangkok and Southern Thailand for some shopping and sunbathing. Thanks to my sister’s friends with connections this also marked the beginning of my 5 star travel through Thailand. Cyndi knew someone who could get a ’special deal’ at the Peninsula Hotel in Bangkok (and we could split it 3 ways!). Once again I’m reminded - connections are everything! The special deal afforded us the opportunity to stay in the nicest hotel in Bangkok, one of the nicest hotels in all of Asia and hands down the best hotel that I’ve ever stayed at…it was an experience. It was fun to see the finely oiled machine they call Customer Service hum. It was such a change from my last 2 weeks of budget travel just praying for hot water and no big bugs - I felt like I was in a dream. I met Cyndi and Mary at the hotel and we settled into our suite. It was large and had an amazing view of the river, a HUGE bathroom and dressing room and more electrical gadgets and amenities than I’ve ever experienced. My highlight was the big tub in the bathroom…with a TV! I had visions of taking a bubble bath and watching the Patriots vs. Colts playoff game at the same time…who needs beer and peanuts when you have a bubble bath!
However - there was no time to sit around playing with all of the gadgets. Little did I know - but in addition to being the sex capital of Asia, Bangkok’s sweet spot was also shopping. We were headed to the famous Chatuchak weekend market in search of bargains. Cyndi also arranged to hire a driver for the day that would assist us with our every shopping need. I wasn’t really sure what my shopping needs were - but I liked the sounds of ‘having a diver’…definitely a special deal! Our driver, Nick, dropped us off in front of the Chatuchak market - but before he let us shop till we dropped, he had a few instructions for us. He gave us each a bottle of ice cold water (as you know it’s not good to be a dehydrated shopper!) and he gave a cell phone with his cell number programmed into it. He told us to call him when we had bags that we wanted him to take back to the car - he would meet us at the entrance. Yes…this was not shopping for rookies - this was Major League shopping. We set off…money belts and water in hand. It really was huge and the variety of items was boggling. We bargained for clothes, housewares, and antiques and Nick would come pick them up for us an bring us more water. He’s even have a marker with him so we could put our names on each bag in order to tell them apart in the trunk. We barely stopped for food and finally I had to break down and stop for a bathroom break. Let me tell you - there was nothing 5 Star about the public toilets at Chatuchak - all I can say is bring Purel!
In my travels to date I have gotten much better at bargaining at markets (thanks to some tutoring from my sister). As an American the idea of bargaining for goods is quite uncomfortable, it doesn’t really come naturally to us…especially to Midwesterners! You have to practice…just like learning a new dance-step - practice, practice, practice. Start with the cheap items though (I actually tried to bargain for water once in Bali)…then move on to the more expensive things. The bargaining shouldn’t just stop at the markets…you can bargain for hotel rooms, bus tickets, taxis, you name it - everything is a negotiation in Asia/Malaysia/Indonesia. It’s like a ballroom dance where you and your partner (the seller) knows all of the steps flawlessly - all you do is execute - hopefully without stepping on each others feet.
They state their initial price, you act shocked and say “Too Expensive!” Then they say,”We give you special discount today, How much you pay?” This normally includes them pushing a calculator into your hand so that you can punch in your price and show it to them. You take the calculator and display half of their original price and show them the calculator. They agitatedly say “No, No - I have to make money - you trying to kill me!” They take the calculator and say “I give you special deal - for you special deal.” They punch in a slightly lower number than their first one and hand you the calculator saying “Special deal…for you….you take?”. They even start to get out a bag and put the item in the bag at this point - just assuming you are going to agree. This next move is important - it’s the make/or break moment of the dance - the difference between getting rated a 2.5 or a 9.7 on your bargaining skills. You take the calculator and say “No, no, no, you give me best price.” Now they know that you aren’t completely gullible and the real bargaining begins…yeehaw! The calculator is exchanged many more times like a hot potato. In the middle of the hot potato game they normally make a statement “How can I feed my family - give me something - just a little.” Don’t let this pull at your heart strings…you have to be tough. If you are really giving them too low of price - they simply won’t sell it to you. Eventually you come to an agreement signified by you typing a number in the calculator and saying “This is the MOST I’ll pay.” At this point, you can’t be afraid to walk away…you may just have to move on and leave the item behind…don’t worry there are many more around the corner. Even though this may seem like a silly or uncomfortable process, this really can be a fun theatrical process - it doesn’t have to be intimidating. The funny thing is that you are normally negotiating over a difference of $3 US so be familiar and quick with your currency conversations! One of my favorite bargaining exchanges that day at Chatuchak was with a guy selling us shirts. We agreed on a price and then we threw in the curve ball - “Ok - better deal if we buy 3?” That sent him into a calculator frenzy! It was really hot and he would fan me with his hand fan as we worked on the calculator. We left with 3 shirts and all of us were laughing and enjoying ourselves - even the vendor! Sometimes I think that they should send all University business students to a big market and make them bargain for a day…it does teach you good negotiation skills!
Photo: Man made of birth control!
Finally the market was closing and Nick met us to take us to the car. When we got to the car he had more water and little, cold, wet washcloths for us to freshen up - brilliant! With our car full of purchases we had Nick take us straight to a restaurant for nourishment and a chance to get off our feet. We went to Cabbages and Condoms - a Thai restaurant well-known for it’s philanthropy and it’s goofy name. A portion of their proceeds go back into the community to support the food bank (Cabbages) and AIDS research (Condoms). The food was great - but I was most impressed with the decor. Everywhere they had life size figurines made of condoms! Instead of an after dinner mint, they handed you the bill and a condom for each person - what a fabulous idea! Now they just have to figure out how to give me a tall, cut boy to go with that!
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