Goodbye 20 Baht Store! (Kad Suen Kaew)

[SamSanuk]

Sad to saunter by one of my favorite stores in Kad Suen Kaew Mall...and it is no longer there.

 

The 20 Baht Store was marvelous for plates, glasses, silverware, scissors, assorted kitchen wares...bought a baseball cap there...along with some earbuds for my phone. Got a Halloween mask (good one! scared the cleaning lady!) Nice Tupperware-like stuff. Take a risk, only out 20 baht.

 

Alas, all good things come to an end. For whatever reason, they left, seemingly overnight.  Someone told me to new place, farther away in Old City. Not sure where. Not sure why. Oh, well.

[SiamAndy]

How long was that store in Kad Suan Kaew? I only shopped there for a month and then it just closed and disappeared.  Know of any other 20 baht shops nearby?

 

 

[SamSanuk]

25 minutes ago, SiamAndy said:

How long was that store in Kad Suan Kaew? I only shopped there for a month and then it just closed and disappeared.  Know of any other 20 baht shops nearby?

 

 

Hard to say. Stumbled upon it maybe 6-8 months ago, tucked away back on the 2nd floor. Always looked busy. 

 

When I bought my earbuds, one fellow said “30 Baht!” The girl next to him said “No, 20 Baht!” LOL. 

 

Unfortunately don’t know of any others in the neighborhood. 

[elektrified]

Yikes. No great loss. Those Thai plastic shops are quite literally everywhere.

[LomSak27]

On 12/11/2018 at 3:23 PM, SamSanuk said:

Hard to say. Stumbled upon it maybe 6-8 months ago, tucked away back on the 2nd floor. Always looked busy. 

Kad Suan Gaoew never looks busy when I am in there. Frankly it looks sad. I wonder how much longer it can hang on before they shutter it.

Edited December 14, 2018 by LomSak27

[ramrod711]

On ‎12‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 3:23 PM, SamSanuk said:

Hard to say. Stumbled upon it maybe 6-8 months ago, tucked away back on the 2nd floor. Always looked busy. 

 

When I bought my earbuds, one fellow said “30 Baht!” The girl next to him said “No, 20 Baht!” LOL. 

 

Unfortunately don’t know of any others in the neighborhood. 

I bought earbuds there as well, still had the Tesco label on them. I took them to the checkout, young woman said 20 baht, asked her to wait a moment, bought three more pairs. I'm fixed for a while. My wife is a gardener so she was always buying plastic pots to start plants. I liked it, but didn't expect top quality goods.

[Rc2702]

We got a 10 baht store by us in khon Kaen and the stuff is miles better than the 20 baht. Lot of stationary items and Tupperware.

[elektrified]

On 12/14/2018 at 3:25 PM, LomSak27 said:

Kad Suan Gaoew never looks busy when I am in there. Frankly it looks sad. I wonder how much longer it can hang on before they shutter it.

It won't be shuttered. It actually does quite well.

[LomSak27]

Just now, elektrified said:

It won't be shuttered. It actually does quite well.

I will be surprised,  and happy, if Kad Suan G and Promenada are around in two years time.

[NancyL]

KSK does well, especially on the week-ends.  Why else would they have put money into redoing the basement?  There is talk of redoing the upper floors, even trying to get Bangkok Bank to move to an upper level since it's a big draw in the mall.

 

On the second floor, Black Canyon Coffee, Swensen's and the pizza restaurant next to Swensen's do well, even during the week and there's a small hot pot restaurant next to Black Canyon coffee that is always packed with young Thai people, often with people waiting.  

 

But the back part of the second floor and the third floor definitely do seem to be under utilized.

[elektrified]

18 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

I will be surprised,  and happy, if Kad Suan G and Promenada are around in two years time.

No guarantee on Promenada, but KSK 100%.

[neeray]

If they chose to stick with 20 baht (about $1 more or less in other currencies), rising costs of inventory from suppliers would eat away at their profit margin.

But they could have done like other "dollar stores" and modified their business plan and marketing slightly so that they could stock and offer two and three dollar items as well.

This has proven very successful in other similar stores (and in other countries).

I agree, these stores are great for "some" items. I'm a regular.

[Greenside]

There's a 20 baht store adjacent to Tesco's car park on the Hang Dong road.  It's by the entrance at the opposite end to Decathalon.

[Ravi98008]

A new 20 Bhat store opened in the same spot in KSK one week ago on 2nd floor 

[sharktooth]

2 minutes ago, Ravi98008 said:

A new 20 Bhat store opened in the same spot in KSK one week ago on 2nd floor 

Bugger, I was in ksk today and didn’t know that. Need 3 x 1l airtight containers.

[Lacessit]

On 12/16/2018 at 1:22 PM, LomSak27 said:

I will be surprised,  and happy, if Kad Suan G and Promenada are around in two years time.

Kad Suan Kaow is far too central to go under, although it could do with a fair bit of refurbishment. Promenada is a disaster - the food court on the top floor is too hot to eat comfortably, and most stallholders have abandoned it. None of the specialty shops seem to have any customers.

[moe666]

On 12/16/2018 at 1:22 PM, LomSak27 said:

I will be surprised,  and happy, if Kad Suan G and Promenada are around in two years time.

How long do you think KSG has been there, it looked the same 9 years ago. It was the first mall in Chiang Mai

[moe666]

On 12/11/2018 at 3:23 PM, SamSanuk said:

Hard to say. Stumbled upon it maybe 6-8 months ago, tucked away back on the 2nd floor. Always looked busy. 

 

When I bought my earbuds, one fellow said “30 Baht!” The girl next to him said “No, 20 Baht!” LOL. 

 

Unfortunately don’t know of any others in the neighborhood. 

The new 20b store is at Chiang Mai Gate, far side of the outer moat road. Look for a flower shop and you have found it

[LomSak27]

13 hours ago, moe666 said:

On 12/16/2018 at 1:22 PM, LomSak27 said:

I will be surprised,  and happy, if Kad Suan G and Promenada are around in two years time.

How long do you think KSG has been there, it looked the same 9 years ago. It was the first mall in Chiang Mai

So I can assume, Moe, that you do NOT go to KSG, probably do not live in Chiang Mai, and most likely are just posting up a "a puff piece" so common today here in TVisa.

 

Before you dig yourself a deeper hole, I lived in CM 01-08 and between 08 and 17 would get to Chiang Mai at least every other year. Oh and of course used to go shopping at KSG regularly.  ????

 

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By the way you guys need to up your game and get to the 60 baht shop ... DAISO. Cheap Japanese goods are better.  Don't sit there mouth breathing, Make it so, Tonto.

 

 

[BobBKK]

On 12/17/2018 at 7:27 AM, elektrified said:

No guarantee on Promenada, but KSK 100%.

I'm rather fond of KSK and dramatically less fond of Promenadaaa

[elektrified]

7 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

So I can assume, Moe, that you do NOT go to KSG, probably do not live in Chiang Mai, and most likely are just posting up a "a puff piece" so common today here in TVisa.

 

Before you dig yourself a deeper hole, I lived in CM 01-08 and between 08 and 17 would get to Chiang Mai at least every other year. Oh and of course used to go shopping at KSG regularly.  ????

 

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

By the way you guys need to up your game and get to the 60 baht shop ... DAISO. Cheap Japanese goods are better.  Don't sit there mouth breathing, Make it so, Tonto.

 

 

Most goods in Daiso are actually made in China. But it's a better place to shop, yes.

[elektrified]

21 hours ago, Ravi98008 said:

A new 20 Bhat store opened in the same spot in KSK one week ago on 2nd floor 

Now wait a minute....I was there on Friday and parked right by where that shop was and walked right past it. There was no new shop. It was all boarded up.????

 

 

[SiamAndy]

21 hours ago, Ravi98008 said:

A new 20 Bhat store opened in the same spot in KSK one week ago on 2nd floor 

Thanks, I went to check it out today. Slightly less stuff than the previous 20 Baht store but I was able to get scrubber sponges and non stick mats for a lot less than what Tops would charge.

[FolkGuitar]

10 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

Before you dig yourself a deeper hole, I lived in CM 01-08 and between 08 and 17 would get to Chiang Mai at least every other year. Oh and of course used to go shopping at KSG regularly.  ????

 

With that history, you are certainly aware that people have been predicting the demise of Kad Suan Kaew for the past 15 years. From the cracks in the wall exposing structural rebar rust to small shops coming and going, the Doom-sayers were quite certain that Kad Suan Kaew had breathed its final breaths... But... as we've seen, money was recently pumped in to renovate that hideous basement food court that never seemed to have more occupancy than three lonely old men and their beer bottles into something that now becomes a place difficult to find seating.  I doubt Kad Suan Kaew is going anywhere in the near future.

[sharktooth]

1 hour ago, FolkGuitar said:

 

With that history, you are certainly aware that people have been predicting the demise of Kad Suan Kaew for the past 15 years. From the cracks in the wall exposing structural rebar rust to small shops coming and going, the Doom-sayers were quite certain that Kad Suan Kaew had breathed its final breaths... But... as we've seen, money was recently pumped in to renovate that hideous basement food court that never seemed to have more occupancy than three lonely old men and their beer bottles into something that now becomes a place difficult to find seating.  I doubt Kad Suan Kaew is going anywhere in the near future.

I wonder where they drink now. I saw the blonde haired one that always looked wasted in Tops the other day.

[LomSak27]

On 12/31/2018 at 1:32 PM, elektrified said:

Most goods in Daiso are actually made in China. But it's a better place to shop, yes.

Likely due to what I was buying, almost half were actually from Japan. Interestingly I did have a couple from India. Daiso is my CC go to place.

 

On 12/31/2018 at 4:48 PM, FolkGuitar said:

With that history, you are certainly aware that people have been predicting the demise of Kad Suan Kaew for the past 15 years. From the cracks in the wall exposing structural rebar rust to small shops coming and going, the Doom-sayers were quite certain that Kad Suan Kaew had breathed its final breaths... But... as we've seen, money was recently pumped in to renovate that hideous basement food court that never seemed to have more occupancy than three lonely old men and their beer bottles into something that now becomes a place difficult to find seating.  I doubt Kad Suan Kaew is going anywhere in the near future.

No, I would not know what local doom-sayers have said about KSG. When I first moved here, I was advised by a long term resident, pay no attention to the cliques & clubs, fussing & feuding of the “CM locals” Timeless advice. I did not mention what I thought was crushing KSG, because I assumed it SO OBVIOUS. However I note, both you and Moe66 have taken pains to avoid that topic …. so.

 

I used to shop there, still do when I can. I just hope it makes it and I don’t think its prospects are good. Nuff said.

[FolkGuitar]

1 hour ago, LomSak27 said:

No, I would not know what local doom-sayers have said about KSG. When I first moved here, I was advised by a long term resident, pay no attention to the cliques & clubs, fussing & feuding of the “CM locals”.

 

In this Age of Information, ignorance is a choice.

Pay attention only to one side of a debate and you'll be left only half informed.

[LomSak27]

Just now, FolkGuitar said:

1 hour ago, LomSak27 said:

No, I would not know what local doom-sayers have said about KSG. When I first moved here, I was advised by a long term resident, pay no attention to the cliques & clubs, fussing & feuding of the “CM locals”.

 

In this Age of Information, ignorance is a choice.

Pay attention only to one side of a debate and you'll be left only half informed.

 

Sorry to change the subject from the timeless art of deflecting .... I do hope you and Moe actually shop at KSG now. Support it by patronizing it, and not just those who post about it.  

[FolkGuitar]

6 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

 

Sorry to change the subject from the timeless art of deflecting .... I do hope you and Moe actually shop at KSG now. Support it by patronizing it, and not just those who post about it.  

 

I shop there regularly. At least twice a week if not more. It's very convenient, has most everything I need for day to day life, and the prices are right. As a matter of fact, we're off to dinner there in about 30 minutes!

[SiamAndy]

22 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

 

I shop there regularly. At least twice a week if not more. It's very convenient, has most everything I need for day to day life, and the prices are right. As a matter of fact, we're off to dinner there in about 30 minutes!

What did you eat?  Which restaurants in KSK are good?

Edited January 6, 2019 by SiamAndy