Political insurrection |can be good for business

ATMs will still work (maybe), but the airlines are cutting way back on incoming flights as bookings shrivel in fear. Not a single person from Singapore wants to come here next week, for example.
However, the Ministry of Silver Linings has discovered – among the multitude of hotel-room cancellations from overseas – the joyful fact that hotels near the sites of anti-government rallies have been full since the protests started more than two months ago, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon.
Baan Din Sor, a boutique hotel close to the Democracy Monument, is jammed with protesters who prefer to sleep somewhere other than on oily pavement. It’s the same with all the five-star hotels near the other rally sites, and of course their restaurants too.
Yes, revolution makes you hungry, so business is booming at every coffee shop and fast-food outlet in the vicinity. The venerable restaurant Sorn Daeng has been packed since Day 1 of the latest political turbulence. Good old 7-Eleven can barely keep up with demand for cup noodles and whistles.
While the last major rally was taking place on December 22 in the Siam area, the Starbucks branches at Siam Centre and Siam Paragon enjoyed record sales, an informed coffee-guzzling source tells Soopsip.
Basic necessities, you might suggest, but protesters clad in their “statement T-shirts” and flag-theme accessories were also shopping for trendy stuff. The discount sale at Club 21 was mobbed, in a lucrative way. Nothing was left on the shelves. The “Muan Maha Pracha Chon” protesters were jokingly re-dubbed “Muan Maha Pracha Shop”.
And so, with democracy and nation-building in mind, most of the big malls will stay open on Shutdown Day. Siam Discovery, Paragon, CentralWorld, Zen, Amarin Plaza and the Emporium evidently have no fear of being burned to the ground. This is capitalism in service to the revolution.
Meanwhile, don’t get us started on the street vendors, who’ve been trailing along behind the protesters like Hollywood stalkers. If they can make decent sticky rice with barbecued pork, these trying times are glory days. And since many of the protesters can’t seem to accumulate enough souvenir hair clips, headbands and tees that make political statements, that sort of retail is a good career choice too. The hottest item at the moment is a T-shirt bearing the words “Bangkok Shutdown” and the date 13:01:14. Print some up – you’ll be rolling in dough!
Nor does the economy seem all that endangered for stockholders of the MRT and BTS, whose trains are constantly hauling mobs back and forth. On Monday they’ll be jam-packed in and around the Pathumwan intersection, site of the main stage.
Finally – yes, we admit it – people are reading newspapers a lot more these days. And if you’ve got a blog or a media website, you should have more than the usual number of advertisers asking about rates because they know you’re getting way more page views than usual.
As for those tourist flights being called off, let’s just say it’s a gift from Thailand to our friends in Asean. The beaches of Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam should be getting much more crowded.