Was cruising down Silom the other day and was stopped by a group of Uni girls who were conducting a survey. To all you folks who live outside of Thailand who would normally say “no thanks” and keep walking - your Uni girls don’t dress like this:
So yes I took the survey. It happened to be about Starbucks which is a favorite subject of mine in Asia. So before we get to the survey and my feelings about Starbucks lets discuss Uni girls and their outfits.
A few years ago I used to see a girl, I helped with tuition fees, who was going to Uni and one afternoon while she was dressing I could not help but notice how tight her Uni outfit was. She looked so good in it that I convinced her to let me take off. Anyway. The picture gives u an idea of the outfit. Simple button up white shirt, black skirt and shoes. All the Unis pretty much require the same outfit. This is Thailand though. Women don’t really like to dress the same and Uni girls still have pretty intense competition when it comes to looking good.
She told me that even though she buys the approved outfits at the proper places - the first thing she does after she buys the uniform is to take it to her tailor- her friends all use the same one, to have the uni altered. The slit on the skirt made to go up higher, the skirt shortened, the skirt taken in at the waist(sometimes the ass for some girls), the shirt is taken in so it is tighter around the bust and sometimes the buttons altered to button up correctly while exposing just the right amount of cleavage. Also if u look carefully you will see how they use a binder clip to keep the belt in just the right spot above the hips given the skirt has no belt loops. So the Uni girls look pretty nice around here. God love em. So when they are hanging out on the street conducting a survey I usually bite. U would too.
Their teacher was working with Starbucks to help conduct some customer experience surveys with foreigners in Thailand. 2 pages of questions related to selection, service, decor and price. It was an easy enough survey and the Uni girl stayed nice and close through it all. I took my time of course since she was cute and smelled great. I love it when they smell good.
The survey was rather annoying though unless u absolutely love Starbucks. It was almost like a fill in the survery if u love Starbucks since there was no way to properly answer questions with a negative answer. There was no place to put comments and the questions were not properly poised so as to get a valid answer. I even put my email on the survey and told the teacher to email me to discuss since his survey sucked. Either way I still got some quality time with a Uni girl.
Here is what really gets me going about Starbucks but before I berate them let me first praise them. I am doing this more and more now since it is the best way I know to manage Thai employees. Throw in a praise prior to a scold. Seems to work better. The stores are clean, the staff is usually great, I love the blended drinks and I don’t mind chilling out at Starbucks but the freaking pricing drives me nuts. U basically pay the same price for a Latte in San Francisco as u do in Bangkok. It makes no sense. Labor is cheaper here, utilities are cheaper and chances are the rent is cheaper but yet the product is the same? The same toothbrush sold in Bangkok is more expensive in the states. Most product oriented items are cheaper. The fridge I buy for like 40,000 baht in the US costs like 10,000 baht here. Makes sense to me. So why is Starbucks the same price here as say Tokyo or New York?
Add to that there ridiculous WIFI prices and I just can’t be bothered to frequent Starbucks anymore. Sure when I used to make real money and would come here on holiday I would not think twice about eating, drinking and WIFIng in Starbucks. Used to be my second office but now that I earn baht I just can’t toss my coin around like that anymore. So the survey barley touched on pricing but everywhere I could I answered as negatively as I could since I just don’t think they get it. Oh well. The survey sucked ass but the girls made up for it. I guess there is a lesson in there somewhere.
Great pic, when we do we get Mango pic updates?
View all comments by andy
Walking from Soi 2 to Soi 14 yesterday, a girl in her uni outfit stepped in front of me. Her skirt was an inch or two shorter than usual, but it made all the difference. She had unbelievable legs, which she had chosen to present atop 3 inch stiletto heeled pumps.
I immediately slowed my speed from full-ahead, to 1/3 and casually followed (stalked?) her for several blocks. (Note to the large Englishman who stepped in an blocked my view for 25 metres… stay away from my girl!) Her body was perfection presented in a tight wrapper.
I finally gave up the stalking when she decided to mount the step to the BTS. I picked up my pace just enough to get a good look at her face as she hit the first step, which was on par with the rest of the package.
Slowing to Thai-pace for several blocks probably cost me 5 minutes on my walk, but I wasn’t in a hurry ~ and even if I had been ~ who cares!? “Beauty lasts but a moment…”
Before moving to Thailand, who ever thought a girl could look devastating in a simple blue skirt and a white blouse?!?!
View all comments by werewolf
WTF…Starbucks is pissing off a lot of people here (US) too. The latest is an arguement that you should tip the barrista. Fuck that, just gimme a coffee.
More uni girls stories, please.
View all comments by The Asian Badger
The girls aside for the moment (another email), I would be as interested as you in the contents of the survey. This must be a reaction to the Chinese rant currently going on re: Starbucks.
Like you, Starbucks pricing appears out of line, although some marketing guy apparently has them convinced that this model works, for the moment anyway. I have a friend who closed on the Victoria’s Secret’s franchise in Romania (smart guy) last July, and is buying a franchise sub shop there as well. He says they love fast food in Romania, but only the wealthy can afford it.
View all comments by PB
Are you allowed to say “bullshit” on the internet????!!!
View all comments by werewolf
Hmmmmm. Looks okay so far.
View all comments by smitty
In some ways I like the pay 4 wifi at sbucks… keeps people from sitting around wasting table space…. free wifi is a 2 way street… what I do is grab a sbucks at the all seasons place and use the wifi in the conrad lobby… heheheh…. oh me so hi-so.
View all comments by Same same
Andy is right: Mango pics; some is good, more is better.
View all comments by PB
I concur - I’ve developed a great love and respect for students in uniform. I’ve been photographing a lot in my travels and have posted some at http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthurblenkinsop/sets/72157594401521004/. Some good photos - some bad.
I understand the uniform standards are set by the Ministry of University Affairs. The standards are looser for senior students than for juniors, e.g. freedom to wear your own shoes and the straight-cut skirt.
My best survey story was at MBK Centre a couple of weeks ago. Two students approached me with a survey about hotels. One gave me a short paper to fill out but she had nothing to rest on while I wrote. So the other told me to rest the paper on her back! Highly amusing and arousing too. I was so thrown by the experience that I forgot to take their picture.
If you are in Siam Square or MBK it’s pretty certain that you’ll be approached. I’ve contributed with pleasure to surveys on the environment, music, tourism and others. Remember they usually record your responses on a handphone - so be aware that your humourous replies will probably be replayed to all their friends.
Another really cool thing: groups of students collecting for charity. Most do with enthusiasm - sometimes signing and dancing to get the attention of passers by. I’ve seen that outside Chatuchak market and my local subway station.
Truly one of the great things about living in Thailand.
View all comments by Arthur
Prices on Starbucks drinks here are ~ 20% less than in the U.S.A. (as of today’s prices and exchange rates; was just in the U.S.A. a few days ago). However Starbucks coffee beans are about 90% more expensive here in Thailand. I usually buy a couple of pounds of House Blend ($9.99 each plus one free coffee) when I am in the States to bring back.
WiFi at Starbucks here is provided by a third party so you can’t really blame Starbucks for pricing. They probably should give out a complimentary free 30 min. scratch card with each purchase. A few years ago, as a post-paid DTAC subscriber, I used to get free KSC WiFi which was usable at Starbucks. That was a great benefit but it was dropped.
Starbucks in the U.S.A. offers WiFi via T-Mobile. On the fly subscribers pay $6.00 per hour. There are less expensive monthly plans available. I pay the $6/hr as I am an infrequent user.
Free WiFi is OK but I wouldn’t go out of my way to camp out at McD’s for internet access. If away from from my home/DSL connection I prefer EDGE as it is nearly free (One-2-Call/AIS: 107 baht for 25 hours) and available everywhere (even in Isaan in the middle of rice fields!). Speeds are decent here, ~ 150 kbps (EDGE), usually better than some over-subscribed free WiFi connections. I need the DSL at home for torrents.
I’ve heard about McD’s offering b’fast here but have yet to try it. Am looking forward to it; hope it is OK.
View all comments by Mark
–WiFi at Starbucks here is provided by a third party so you can’t really blame Starbucks for pricing.
that’s rich - reminds me of the nuremberg war crimes trials where the defendants would claim “i was only following orders, it was not my decision”. starbucks is clearly responsible for deciding to use a third party and passing on most, if not all, of such cost on to us.
View all comments by go go groupie
mark - u make some valid points but on the 3rd party thing being an excuse - sorry. not buying it. same as ggg.
Starbucks could choose to install a dsl line. put a wifi hub on it and turn it on. They choose to do a 3rd party solution. They choose to overcharge for it and make money on it. I know they are not a charity and I also know they probably don’t want people freloading on their net connection all day.
However I think it is great that the competitors to SB realize the opportunity to offer something like free wi-fi and therefore gain customers. Starbucks is not growing much anymore with same store sales. Seems they are only making money by opening new stores. I Wonder why.
SO I tend to go where my wifi is free. Coffee is not that big of a deal given starbucks coffee aint all that good. I hail from Berkeley area. Peets kills starbucks. I also go where the girls working are cute or the area is known to have some traffic in cute girls.
So the not having internet at home forces me out to where the free wifi is and the cute girls are.
View all comments by smitty
AFAIK KSC operates the WiFi hotspots at Starbucks here, but maybe that’s changed of late? Starbucks is in the retail food and beverage business not the internet service provider business so it makes sense they would outsource the network infrastructure and management. I guess we’re debating whether they should subsidize the service for their customers. I suggested that they should, in my previous post, via a complimentary 30 minute (or more?) scratch card (user-name and password) with a purchase. I thought that you had to make a purchase at Coffee World to get WiFi?
I’d be curious to hear feedback on how many extra 100 baht beverages (what’s the margin? 5%?) a typical store might sell by offering free WiFi?
At the time the KSC/Starbucks deal was inked (2004?) there wasn’t a lot of free WiFi here, and paid WiFi hotspots seemed to be the trend. AFAIK even today there are not a lot of retail-chain associated free WiFi hotspots. I understand there are a lot of open and free WiFi hotspots, and one-offs at various establishments, a la The Big Mango.
I think SBUX just reported a surprising surge in same store sales, but are probably slipping in the U.S. (Same store sales up, but customer visits down.) They are considering TV advertising for the first time ever.
http://www.123jump.com/earnings-story/Starbucks-Falls-to-a-One-Year-Low/23756/
I assume the Starbucks coffee is imported (into Thailand) and that higher duties are imposed to protect the nascent coffee business here in Thailand?
With EDGE (GPRS) you can park yourself anywhere there are cute girls. Like I said, I pay ~ 4 baht/hour for EDGE service.
View all comments by Mark
mark - I don’t mean I camp out in coffee world and dont buy anything. yes - I buy coffee there but I don’t need a card, I don’t need a password and so on. Same as mc d - just free and open wifi.
Starbucks chooses what they want to do. I think they are very clued in technically - just look at the whole iphone deal in the states. So if they want to they could offer something different. They choose not to. So I don’t buy the I am a coffee guy I don’t know about networks excuse.
All your points are valid but I can say this. Myself and my friends who to come to bangkok would camp at starbucks cause they had wifi before many places. We dont even bother now cause there are so many options for free wifi. SO they lost my business and many of my friends. I think that effects them.
Edge is cool but 4baht an hour is still not free. If thailand had a real internet backbone then for sure edge would look slow but given how slow Thailand is in general I guess edge aint too bad.
I think starbucks is just plain expensive - import or not.
cool thread and thanks for chiming in.
View all comments by smitty
Coffee strained through coffee-socks at wooden carts on the streets of Vientiane has better aroma and taste than anything that ever dribbled out of Starbucks!
One of the best things about going on a visa run to Vientiane is the deal you can get on Lao coffee. A kilo of rich dark Arabica or Robusto beans will seat you back the princely sum of $3.50 Uud.
Any Pimpone supermarket in Vientiane has piles of kilo packs for sale. You just have to look for a store that has taken RECENT delivery sort thru the stock for the newer looking packs. The aroma of these beans permeates the entire store.
Awesome!
For some reason this, wine at significantly sensible prices and fantastic baguette have remain fond memories of the Laos visa run experience.
I thoroughly enjoy telling every Thai coffee afficionado I meet that Lao beans are the best I’ve ever ground. I torture them silly with accounts of the rich chocolaty aroma that wafts from the grinder and how this is actually part of any real coffee experience.
I suspect that Thailand’s Black Canyon Coffee outlets (one of the country’s hidden treasures and one of its most under-marketed and under-invested enterprises probably uses Lao beans) use beans from Laos. This information comes as a shock.
Confronted with yet another lazy-ass national shortcoming they can chalk up to racism and xenophobia, Thai coffee snootsters blurt out that they have never been colonized. I counter that THIS sad fact is plain to see in the little things: in their use of Western languages, the quality of public works all over the country and until the 1968 Patpong renaissance the sorry state of Thailand’s BJ industry. If they’re still breathing I like to tell them that most Vientiane-istas
can sapeak a European language.
If they actually recover long enough to inform me that Chiang Mai coffee is pretty good as well. I pretend that I know FER SHURE that tons beans are smuggled in through the older Northern Thai “trade routes” on the backs of fresh dewy Lisu, Lahu and Akka brothel conscripts
Sometimes I am not a very nice person
I don’t talk about BJ’s because everyone knows and as one SE Asia know-it-all informed me over my first beer at the Woodstock. “That part of the body is lower than the head.”
I’m just a little giddy about this opportunity to introduce my new avatar (an actual Chula gator adjusting her thong and pantyhose before she slips back into her 4″ stilletos
The background, is soi Thonlor’s renown Au Bon Pain
View all comments by thongsuk
ts - I am not even remotely interested in the coffee now.
more photo info… damn.
View all comments by smitty