The streets of Chiang Mai, Thailand's second city located near the northern end of the country, are nearly empty during summer middays. Most people you encounter will be tourists, backpackers and the drivers of tuk-tuks, the three-wheeled taxis that are everywhere in South East Asia. Thais know that the midday sun--or heated haze--is to be avoided.
So where are all the Thais? A great many are at home, safely shaded and cooled by those slow-motion fans that cool residents of South East Asia but provide no relief to visitors. But those Thais who need to get out of the house--especially those with some extra disposable income--head to the mall.
Recent visits to a few of the malls in Chiang Mai suggests that hotter days drive up mall visits. It's been unseasonably warm in the last few weeks, and business is booming. If you want to profit from fear of imminent environmental doom, the mall is where to do it in Thailand.
I'm officially on vacation here in Thailand, so I haven't bothered to find out who owns the malls or the bigger Thai stores. But I did notice a few American companies with Thai mall exposure: Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut and Duncan Donuts.
So the next time you hear about the "inconvenient question" you'll have a convenience store answer: Long the DQ Blizzard!
--John Carney is trying to find ways stay cool in Thailand.
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 3:56PM
is Duncan Donuts related to Dunkin Donuts?
Posted by big r , Apr 25, 2008 3:56PM
rapid JP posts
Posted by big r , Apr 25, 2008 3:56PM
rapid JC posts
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 4:15PM
What is the world coming to?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080425/ap_on_en_tv/people_gary_coleman
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 4:20PM
"I don't have any friends and don't have any intention of making any"
Mr. Pink, Gary needs a friend.
Posted by man , Apr 25, 2008 4:22PM
one night in bangkok makes a hard man humble.
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 4:22PM
"I always feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders every day I get up. ... There are days I don't even want to get up."
- WTF? I thought that this only applied to Bennie or Dick. Is Gary Coleman really running the planet? Who knew?
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 4:28PM
@$:22 I really don't like that song. I prefer the works of Huey Lewis.
PB
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 4:34PM
one more post and i ask tim sykes to teach you how to make money in commodities
Posted by mrpink , Apr 25, 2008 4:41PM
guest at 4:20-
For shame... I don't want to be his friend... LOL
-mrp
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 4:43PM
Do it! Do it! I want to learn to trade commodities from Master Timmay (that's what his loyal followers call him in the Far East). I've already seen Trading Places, so I probably only need Timmay's "advanced course" DVD to be ready to trade! And I drink orange juice and eat bacon. Give us all another update on rice - or the Vietnamese Dong would work as well. Are you long or short on the Dong? Do Thai hookers even take Dongs - or just Dollars?
Posted by Jesse Livermore , Apr 25, 2008 4:43PM
Duncan Donuts is a subsidiary of Duncan Hines. They specialize in cake donuts, but their margins have been under pressure recently due to the rising cost of rice flour and guava jelly.
No connection to Dunkin' Donuts which is Bill Clinton's new favorite hangout.
Jesse
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 4:46PM
Dongs is going down. They call this phenomenon 'Dig Dong'
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 4:52PM
@ Jesse Livermore
Does Monica Lewinsky now work at DD or has Bill and his impecable taste in women moved on to some other heffer?
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 5:19PM
h-e-i-f-e-r
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 5:21PM
Ugly has nothing to do with a blowjob.
-Jimmy Crack Korn, East Texas Gas Trader
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 5:45PM
@5:19
Thanks for the clarification on the spelling now get back to work because I want those god damn cows milked by 7:00!
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 5:51PM
@ 5:21
I agree, beauty is only a light switch away.
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 5:57PM
i-m-p-e-c-c-a-b-l-e. Milk your own damn cows.
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 6:01PM
@ 5:57
Fuck you and don't ever talk back again. That'll be 10 lashes, now get back to work.
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 6:09PM
I believe Dairy queen and Pizza hut are franchised. It is managed by Thailand's leading food and hospitality company, Minor International. It is listed in the Bangkok stock exchange with the market cap of about 53 billion bath (~1.8 billion USD). They are building their flagship 70 storey residential tower under the St. Regis brand. The starting price is $1.2 million USD!!
http://www.minorcorporation.com/
St. Regis
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/stregis/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=3199
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 6:42PM
In other news, 99% of all DB readers don't give a sh*t about Thailand. You've posted enough Carney, you can call it a business expense, please stop posting about Thailand.
Posted by guest , Apr 25, 2008 7:46PM
I wonder which IB made a killing from the rice price shock.
Posted by guest , Apr 28, 2008 1:25PM
It's a peanut buster parfait!
Posted by guest , May 09, 2008 8:32PM
Duncan Donuts or not, Thailand is no place of doughnuts! Sure would love a Krispy Kreme here now and again, but one can't have everything.
Indeed, on one of my first visits here before taking up residence, a friend said that, "It's going to be hot today so let's go the mall." Unless you've got air conditioning, which she did not, it can be a furnace in all these masonry buildings--all the wood is long gone.
Oh, and if one wants to read about climate change in Thailand, there's always http://www.thaiclimate.org.