Talat Rong Kluea is a border market which stocks a diversse range of commodities, particularly used brandname accessories, and is located in Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaeo Province. Bargain hunters from everywhere find the market a must-stop when they travel to the province.
Covering an area of 200 rai, the market is sub-divided into zones such as Rong Kluea, Golden Gate, Dech Thai, Thesaban II, Thesaban III and Benjawan.
It is constantly expanding, developing along the lines Bangkok's Chatuchak Market. Brandname clothes, sneakers and leather bags top the list of items sought by bargain hunters.
Pichai Prasitchuwong, a vendor selling sneakers and shoes, said most of the stuff he deals in are shipped from South Korea.
According to him, Korean people are very fashion conscious. They do not want to keep clothing and accessories that are no longer in vogue, so they sell them to a recycle company which resells them to another party through bidding. The goods are then sent to Busan from where they are shipped to Laem Chabang in Chon Buri and then transported by rail to Lat Krabang, and from there by trailers to Talat Rong Kluea.
"The shoes come directly to Thailand but clothing items come via Cambodia because import tax is lower there," he said.
Each trailer can carry 15-16 containers and each container, when fully packed, weighs approximately 17 tons which translates into 1,000-1,200 pairs of shoes.
Malaysian and Japanese are among the visitors who come to the border market to buy items for resale back home. Japanese collectors love second-hand Levi jeans, slacks and brandname shoes.
Remarkably, 95 percent of vendors are of Cambodian nationality.
The sneakers, for example, are packed in sacks which arrive in containers. It is the job of his staff to sort out the shoes. Sometimes there is mismatching, in which case the buyer will have to wait for the next container, which can be a few months.
Since most of the items on sale are second-hand, they need to look appealing to customers. Therefore they are given a touch-up - repair, washing and ironing - before being put on sale.
From time to time, a Louis Vuitton bag may arrive with a scar or damage. The vendors will keep it and wait till another bag of the same kind arrives. They will then use parts from the second bag to mend the first one, or vice versa, and put it up for sale.
It's all a matter how good you are at spotting used items. You can find everything... from Nike, Adidas and Puma to other famous brands. If you are lucky, you can a relatively decent pair of shoes for a cool 250 baht.
In addition to the accessories, the market stocks fresh and dried food such as fish and live insects from Cambodia, snacks, and dried food products from China.
According to Mr Pichai, the market arose during the Cambodian civil war when the area was used to stock salt. After the war ended in 1991, it became a market where vendors converged to sell commodities. A year or so later it was destroyed by a fire and a new, bigger market was built which has expanded since.
Mr Pichai does not know exactly how many people visit the market everyday but he did say that when oil prices were still stable daily trade was in the tune of 50 million baht.
That was before oil hit record highs, but these days people are more cautious.
Bangkok Post October 2005 www.bangkokpost.com
