Do the posters affect you in any way?
Yes, a lot. Since the posters have been put up here, I make a lot less money. People stop just to look at them for a laugh instead of looking at my accessories.

How much do you have to pay for this stall?
To the city police officer, B1,500 a month, and I can only sell from Tuesday to Friday. They don’t let us sell on Mondays, and I have to stay with my kids on weekends. I sell from 6:30 to 9:30am in the morning, and from 5 to 9pm in the evening.

Is this enough for a living? Do you do anything else?
No, this is the only business we have; both my husband and I. We make around B70,000 to B80,000 a month and we spend B50,000 on the products. We have to manage the money very carefully: with four people in the family, B20,000 is very little. I have to pay for my two children’s school fees, then B8,000 for nursery after school because they are very small and we are both working till 9pm, gasoline to drive here, food, home, and other essentials for living.

Do you want to do anything else?
Not right now. I feel that this is making a lot more money for me. That’s why I decided to put all my time into this business.

Where do you live?
Prachauthit, around Rama 2; it’s very far away from here. I have to drive here every day to sell my stuff because I believe I can make the most money here. But I’ve never thought about moving here at all. The city is always too busy.

Do you have any trouble selling here?
Well [in a lower voice], you see the kao moo daeng shop there? Sometimes when there are a lot of customers at my stall, they will pretend to be watering the plants from above, to splash water on my customers. They have a young daughter and, in the past, they sent her over to ask for the prices of all my items. Then, they opened their own shop selling the same stuff that I do. My friend used to sell orange juice beside their shop and, guess what, they started selling orange juice too.

Anything else?
Sometimes people steal. It is hard to oversee the whole stall when there are a lot of customers. Some people will just pick an accessory up, put it in their purse and walk away. I don’t usually realize something is missing until it’s too late. One customer who had already bought three bags from me took a B2,000 bag and said she would come back to pay for it. But it’s been days and she’s not back yet.

What would you like to tell Bangkokians?
We have to eat on Mondays too, why can’t we do our business on Mondays? Interview by Natthanun Prasongchaikul