Thai People Don'T Want To Sell.

[cmjantje]

Thai's don't want to sell their product. To give you two examples from last week only:

I wanted to buy a few hundred kilo big rivers stones. Mai dai, did not have the scale, come back tomorrow. After coming back 4 times still: Oh I forgot.

I like San Miguel beer a lot. The problem is that I bought almost every single box here in Chiangrai already. Asked the big chief at Makro, I was the only one who drinks it, they don't order anymore. Tried a few times at Big C. Only had the unpacked bottles and when I asked to buy some more for me: Mai Dai.

Called the headoffice near Bangkok, Nobody knew what I was talking about !! Could not give me an naswer where I could buy Their brewings.

Thai don't want to sell their products. Three answers always:

Mai me

Mai dai

Mai lu

[Richard4849]

Oh the humanity.

[bunta71]

I went to buy an electric space heater in Chiang Mai a few years ago and the guy said he doesn't stock them anymore. Reason? They sold as soon as they hit the shelves and he didn't like to re-order.

[steelepulse]

It's just easier to say mai dai or mai me then to take action or look like they don't know (which is often the case).

[noise]

RE RIVER STONES: Unless you were asking for something that was really hard for them to do (see San Miguel), they would most likely wanted to sell to you. Did you ask them how do they normally sell them? Maybe they sell them by the truck load and never use a scale. When I bought sand and gravel for some concrete work, they sold by bulk, not weight. So if they thought you were adamant about buying by weight, maybe they were just trying to "gracefully" put you off?

RE SAN MIGUEL: I think you answered your own question: you are the only customer in Chiangrai (give or take a few people). Insufficient demand, they won't work to get it. Same thing will happen anywhere in the world. You might consider buying a truck load in Chiangmai (for sale everywhere) and taking it back with you to Chiangrai. Buying in bulk, you would not have to worry about the time of day.

[longstebe]

Recently looking for a new house to rent here in Sakon. We found one by calling a builder (who had a small sign hanging from a gate) who in return gave us a customers number.

We found the house from the private owner with no sign saying it was for rent or sale.

The lady opposite also told us her house is for sale/rent and I then asked how has she advertised it, she said she hasn't.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

The lady opposite also told us her house is for sale/rent and I then asked how has she advertised it, she said she hasn't.

Why is that strange?

I have a fridge I don't use. If the topic ever comes up and someone needs a fridge then they can have it, cheap. Doesn't mean I can be bothered to advertise it.

[moe666]

Heheheh why getting all worked up, these are all of the little reasons you thought Thailand was so cute a few years ago.

[bkkjames]

Never had san mig on the rocks before.

[samran]

It may be that the Thai doesn't want to sell.

But it is certain that the OP doesn't have an ounce of business sense.

Edited September 27, 2011 by samran

[mca]

Asked the big chief at Makro, I was the only one who drinks it, they don't order anymore.

Fancy that.

[longstebe]

The lady opposite also told us her house is for sale/rent and I then asked how has she advertised it, she said she hasn't.

Why is that strange?

I have a fridge I don't use. If the topic ever comes up and someone needs a fridge then they can have it, cheap. Doesn't mean I can be bothered to advertise it.

Maybe I'm the strange one then for thinking advertising would increase your chances.

[samran]

Recently looking for a new house to rent here in Sakon. We found one by calling a builder (who had a small sign hanging from a gate) who in return gave us a customers number.

We found the house from the private owner with no sign saying it was for rent or sale.

The lady opposite also told us her house is for sale/rent and I then asked how has she advertised it, she said she hasn't.

It doesn't take too much grey matter to figure out that people sometimes prefer/only take word of mouth referrals to help ensure quality clients.

No different here.

The last apartment we rented was purely word of mouth from the sister of the landlord who we knew. We had a great relationship, she knocked off 20% of the asking price for rent. She trusted us, we trusted her during the entire time we stayed. No problem whatsoever.

[cmjantje]

It may be that the Thai doesn't want to sell.

But it is certain that the OP doesn't have an ounce of business sense.

Where did you get That wisdom???

[samran]

It may be that the Thai doesn't want to sell.

But it is certain that the OP doesn't have an ounce of business sense.

Where did you get That wisdom???

You are asking Makro to supply specifically for you. Margins on that would be pretty low and the quantities would be small. But still, you had the expectation they'd do it out of the goodness of their hearts.

I like steak and kidney pies too, but I don't expect my local 7-11 at the end of my soi to cater just for me.

But they do have San Miguel. So maybe the do like me.

[longstebe]

It doesn't take too much grey matter to figure out that people sometimes prefer/only take word of mouth referrals to help ensure quality clients.

No different here.

The last apartment we rented was purely word of mouth from the sister of the landlord who we knew. We had a great relationship, she knocked off 20% of the asking price for rent. She trusted us, we trusted her during the entire time we stayed. No problem whatsoever.

Thats all well and good I suppose it boils down to how desparate you are.

[saengsureeya]

I asked a bigger manufacturer of paint-spray-cans to make me an offer for 200,000 - 1,000,000 pieces of paint-spray-cans for the European market.

Mai dai.....we already have distributor in Europe,

But it is a private label

Mai dai......we not do private label

Goodbye THB 60,000,000 turn over...........

Printing of catalogues and brochures..........Bangok based companies will not send their sales people out in the province AND the delivery time is approx. 5-6 months for a full-color catalogue.

[Richard4849]

I asked a bigger manufacturer of paint-spray-cans to make me an offer for 200,000 - 1,000,000 pieces of paint-spray-cans for the European market.

Mai dai.....we already have distributor in Europe,

But it is a private label

Mai dai......we not do private label

Goodbye THB 60,000,000 turn over...........

Printing of catalogues and brochures..........Bangok based companies will not send their sales people out in the province AND the delivery time is approx. 5-6 months for a full-color catalogue.

You sound resentful that a company with exclusive distributorship agreements in place doesn't want to break those agreements to supply to you.

Not so difficult to understand, surely? But so much easier to chalk up to laziness/stupidity/racism...the usual TV rants.

[samran]

I asked a bigger manufacturer of paint-spray-cans to make me an offer for 200,000 - 1,000,000 pieces of paint-spray-cans for the European market.

Mai dai.....we already have distributor in Europe,

But it is a private label

Mai dai......we not do private label

Goodbye THB 60,000,000 turn over...........

Printing of catalogues and brochures..........Bangok based companies will not send their sales people out in the province AND the delivery time is approx. 5-6 months for a full-color catalogue.

You sound resentful that a company with exclusive distributorship agreements in place doesn't want to break those agreements to supply to you.

Not so difficult to understand, surely? But so much easier to chalk up to laziness/stupidity/racism...the usual TV rants.

Respecting a contract and not going behind a customers back.

I thought this was supposed to be Thailand where the locals are untrustworthy scum?

[nocturn]

i would like the OP to expalin to the family that appears on my soi at 5am and starts cooking only to spend the next 12 hours selling Khao man gai and noodles that Thais cant be bothered to sell, she must do 200-400 plates a day.

you might want to mention it to the guy who stands next to her all day selling orange juice too.

[samran]

It doesn't take too much grey matter to figure out that people sometimes prefer/only take word of mouth referrals to help ensure quality clients.

No different here.

The last apartment we rented was purely word of mouth from the sister of the landlord who we knew. We had a great relationship, she knocked off 20% of the asking price for rent. She trusted us, we trusted her during the entire time we stayed. No problem whatsoever.

Thats all well and good I suppose it boils down to how desparate you are.

And we have a winner.

Classic assumption that most people in Thailand are 'desperate'.

Far from the truth in my experience, but I guess it is an assumption new expats to Thailand often make to make themselves feel better about themselves.

[samran]

I asked a bigger manufacturer of paint-spray-cans to make me an offer for 200,000 - 1,000,000 pieces of paint-spray-cans for the European market.

Mai dai.....we already have distributor in Europe,

But it is a private label

Mai dai......we not do private label

Goodbye THB 60,000,000 turn over...........

Printing of catalogues and brochures..........Bangok based companies will not send their sales people out in the province AND the delivery time is approx. 5-6 months for a full-color catalogue.

And for your generous one off 60,000,000 baht turnover I wonder what they would have had to have given up by breaking the contract with their EU distributor? More than 60mil me thinks.

[Berkshire]

i would like the OP to expalin to the family that appears on my soi at 5am and starts cooking only to spend the next 12 hours selling Khao man gai and noodles that Thais cant be bothered to sell, she must do 200-400 plates a day.

you might want to mention it to the guy who stands next to her all day selling orange juice too.

I am equally perplexed. If the Thais don't want to sell anything, how does the OP buy anything. Unless the OP grows his own food, produces his own electricity, refines his own gasoline, yada yada yada, I'd say the OP is not being entirely truthful.

[Berkshire]

I asked a bigger manufacturer of paint-spray-cans to make me an offer for 200,000 - 1,000,000 pieces of paint-spray-cans for the European market.

Mai dai.....we already have distributor in Europe,

But it is a private label

Mai dai......we not do private label

Goodbye THB 60,000,000 turn over...........

Printing of catalogues and brochures..........Bangok based companies will not send their sales people out in the province AND the delivery time is approx. 5-6 months for a full-color catalogue.

You sound resentful that a company with exclusive distributorship agreements in place doesn't want to break those agreements to supply to you.

Not so difficult to understand, surely? But so much easier to chalk up to laziness/stupidity/racism...the usual TV rants.

Or maybe the company just didn't take him seriously. I know I wouldn't. Regardless, it's impossible to argue logic with a delusional, Thai-hating whackjob. Quite a few here, starting with the OP. So no point trying.

[Spoonman]

It may be that the Thai doesn't want to sell.

But it is certain that the OP doesn't have an ounce of business sense.

Where did you get That wisdom???

You are asking Makro to supply specifically for you. Margins on that would be pretty low and the quantities would be small. But still, you had the expectation they'd do it out of the goodness of their hearts.

Ask the head honcho at Makro to buy you in a pallet of SML instead of a slab or two.

Edited September 27, 2011 by Spoonman

[longstebe]

And we have a winner.

Classic assumption that most people in Thailand are 'desperate'.

Far from the truth in my experience, but I guess it is an assumption new expats to Thailand often make to make themselves feel better about themselves.

Samran, your way off mate, this is the problem when you're trying to get your point across on a forum and people like you start thinking the worst.

I never assumed that most people in Thailand are desparate, maybe I should have said that if I was desparate to sell something I would advertise in every way possible.

[samran]

And we have a winner.

Classic assumption that most people in Thailand are 'desperate'.

Far from the truth in my experience, but I guess it is an assumption new expats to Thailand often make to make themselves feel better about themselves.

Samran, your way off mate, this is the problem when you're trying to get your point across on a forum and people like you start thinking the worst.

I never assumed that most people in Thailand are desparate, maybe I should have said that if I was desparate to sell something I would advertise in every way possible.

Okay, stand corrected. Apologies for the mus-interpretation of your post, though my observation of the broader point still stands. It often feeds into the 'if it wasn't for us expats, Thailand would fall into a heap' school of thought.

[paulian]

They don't want to sell or accommodate people because of the incompetent management throughout the Kingdom in so many businesses. These sales people are not College business graduates and with the lack of any guidance from store mangement they just assume they are doing the proper thing. Your dealing with people with mostly 6th grade eduction or 6th grade education with bogus papers that say they went to high school. They are just trying to survive the best they can and the best they know how to. Rag on the people above them, owners and idiotic management from the small stores right up to the malls.

[Soutpeel]

They don't want to sell or accommodate people because of the incompetent management throughout the Kingdom in so many businesses. These sales people are not College business graduates and with the lack of any guidance from store mangement they just assume they are doing the proper thing. Your dealing with people with mostly 6th grade eduction or 6th grade education with bogus papers that say they went to high school. They are just trying to survive the best they can and the best they know how to. Rag on the people above them, owners and idiotic management from the small stores right up to the malls.

You actually think college business graduates make the best sales people ?......the average collage business graduate doesnt know their ar*e from their elbow.

The average sales person in a big company in Thailand generally has a degree in something, so you are way off base with your remarks about the educational level.

[Kilgore Trout]

i would like the OP to expalin to the family that appears on my soi at 5am and starts cooking only to spend the next 12 hours selling Khao man gai and noodles that Thais cant be bothered to sell, she must do 200-400 plates a day.

you might want to mention it to the guy who stands next to her all day selling orange juice too.

You must make a distinction between street sellers and the "merchant class" of thailand. Big difference.

The merchant class (many of whom are of Chinese descent) own the land/property or building they operate out of, and yes I agree with the OP about the attitude. You walk into their store and the feeling is they are doing you a BIG favor by answering a question about something they are selling, and they certainly don't want to put forth any effort into making a sale or bargain in any way (even for way overpriced items that have been on the shelf for years).

I see this all the time, most recently when looking for guitars. The new shops don't give a rats arse if you walk in or not (the clerk at the last one I was at was playing a guitar and didn't even look up at me as I was holding a guitar and looking at him as if to ask how much or I would like to buy this.

The used shops have some very nice stuff, but try to sell them at incredibly over inflated prices and they are in horrible condition. All they would have to do would be to put on new strings, wipe them down and make sure the electronics are working properly, but noooo.

So yes I agree with the op, the merchant class does not care about selling things.