Amazing old shop selling all kinds of hardware and tools.

Several weeks ago, I blew off an old lightbulb which was inside the ventilation system above the cooker. You know how lightbulb wound just go pop as soon as you switch on the lever. It seemed as if excess energy in my body jumped along the wire to pop out the lightbulb. Oh! Yay, there was that sound of a small explosion inside the lightbulb.

The old Chinese community near Sathorn Pier in Bangkok seemed to be full of old shops and grocery stores. I guessed I would get lucky there. I found a shop selling plastic screen for face protection from virus infection at very cheap price.

So, I had to go searching for a new lightbulb. Most shopping malls only stocked very modern and expensive electrical spare parts and gadgets. They did not have the old model lightbulb that I wanted; the staff told me to look for them in old style Chinese hardware shops. I remembered passing by old shops near a bus stop in New Road just opposite Robinson mall. So, I headed that way as soon as I had spare time.

This old shop must have been in the same family for at least three generations. The elder grandmother was sitting in a wheel chair having a good time watching people and cars passing by while other members of the family could keep an eye on her. This shop-house must have been selling electrical gadgets and building materials for over sixty years, long before we have shopping malls. In the old days, we could find all sorts of grocery stores, hair salons, fast food joints, clothing shops selling fabric and sewing tools, in any local community. I was glad to see this shop with shelves all around being stocked full with everything you could want to buy for repairing the house either the kitchen or bathroom.

I found the third generation of this family still carrying on with his grandparents’ shop. He seemed to know where to find everything!

This shop in incredible and very different to the electrical or hardware department in big shopping malls. I was fascinated by all the old wooden shelves with partitions and boxes of nails and screws, including all the tools for gardening!

This was very typical of how the older Chinese shopkeepers did their business perhaps over sixty years ago! They would never know anything about the total stocks of all their goods so accurate accounting would be impossible. They operated on cash base system with credit lines for old trusted customers. On the old days: merchants closed their deals on ‘words’, it’s a bit like hand shake in the old days: “their word is their bond” . It is impossible to do business base on trust or promises nowadays. The good old days of honour and chivalry were gone forever.

I finally found the second and third generations working together side by side. The mother was a very nice and kind lady. I did haggle for reduction in the price of the four lightbulbs. The sweet lady frankly told me that she made less than 1% profit as she had never raised the price for ten years. I liked this way of shopping a lot as there was genuine conversation and interactions as human beings. In big shopping malls, the staff could not care less of customers would buy the goods as they did not own the shop. Personal service in small shops tended to be much better and more polite. I hope this old shop will stay in business for a long, long time.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Cheers.