Bangkok's smiling bargains

Have you ever felt that haggling with a road-side vendor could be a pleasurable activity ? Me, never !!

I have constantly avoided shops where there is no fixed price, not because I dont like good deals, but because I suck at bargaining. Even during the rare times when I have managed to stike great deals, the joy is always short-lived - mostly somebody will pop up to say that I have been duped and my best deal was actually double the price he got the same thing for. Ignorance is bliss ,sometimes !

The streets and bylanes of Sukhumvit, Bangkok is where you could possibly find everything from Japanese samurai swords to Thai-silk ties to second-hand(read stolen) mobile phones. Here, bargaining is the only activity that provides such guilt-free pleasure, when compared to the multi-cuisine restaurants providing material for some unfettered
gluttony, or others inviting people to commit the original sin for a price.

I learnt a new language right there, and its not Thai- Calculator language, the entire process of monetary negotiations and business transactions are done between people who dont share a common language- using a simple calculator. The shopkeeper punches his price in the machine, and invites you to key in your best offer, and this process loops till a deal is struck. This also ensures that you dont struggle with your limited Thai vocabulary, and the shopkeeper doesnt murder English by saying "thlii unthleth baaaah" (300 baht) and perplexing you by showing just two fingers in a 'V' symbol !

If anybody witnessed from a distance, me and some shopkeepers bargaining, you could hardly take us to be bargaining to reach a common price. The smiles in the faces, the loving intonations in the voices, and the warm friendly gestures would look more like we are some long
separated cousins meeting after years. And in the end after much talk peppered with liberal smiles and cajoling most shopkeepers would agree to a price thats 30-40 % of their initial quote.

And the best part was, even after haggling for quite a while, you decide against buying
something that does not satisfy you tastes, you will never get a disgruntled look or a angry curse hurled from the shopkeeper. Now, doesnt that sound like a bargain paradise ??