Breakthrough ! Issan sustainability problem finally resolved

[SurinBum]

Gentlemen ,

 

to make you understand my further moves I would like to make it clear that to my definite opinion a slow , educated , peaceful afternoon boom-boom is no doubt one the great achievements of the human race . Preferably within a safe ambience , hidden from hyperventilating husbands and wives appearing on scene unexpectedly. So now read further .

 

In the early hours of Wednesday the 15th of July we left Bangkok eastbound course set for Nakhon Ratchasima , lovely Nok's hometurf. Target being site inspection and purchase of 2 1500 l water tanks . One for [color:red]water rainy[/color] , one for [color:red]water come from outside[/color] . Passing along Don Muang a table and 6 chairs had been added to the list , I do not wish to elaborate any further on this matter . True love means dealing with collaterals .

 

Over the last maybe 2 years I have been researching the Isaan for anything that could be developed to support a local family including breeding cows, ostrichs, chicken , pigs, worms , frogs , you name it . A later move into the semi-industrial field of making ice or other led me to the conclusion that the Isaan citizen is simply not made to run a business , let alone overcoming the problem of the widely spread lazyness . I must admit that this journey was the last one on my list of researching local possibilities though travelling through the Isaan is generally great fun .

 

It was late afternon when we left Korat city center , Khun BuBi tired and separated form a hard life's savings when we turned away from the highway and were cruising through the local rain forest when I noted a signpost saying something in Thai with a arrow pointing awy from the road . Funnily there was red heart painted on that signpost . I asked the driver if there is a gogo in the bush and he said it is in fact a short time hotel . I said like what does a short time hotel in the middle of nowhere and he said we have a look . We found a fenced area of maybe 2 Rai with a cluster of 10 wooden sheds , all with separate carpark and a shed No. 11 , operational center of administration . 6 of the 10 carparks were occupied , due to clever design neither numberplates nor type of car could be identified .

 

I was pleased to see that apart from dreadful rice farming the Isaan citizen seem to have some sense left for entertainment left and we continued the journey . Driver explained people pay 500 Baht depending on equipment and comfort and there would be many , preferably near the main road . He did further say that they rent the rooms for travellers in the evening and they are all full . He himself would prefer to find a room for himself right now in fear of unsuccessful research later on . It was than that I asked the guy what the price was for his room and he answered 50.000 . Freudian misunderstanding as I wanted to know the overnight rental rate and not the building cost .

 

It took me almost half an hour to figure that 50.000 Baht is something close to 1000 Euros and I said to him this cannot be . Both Nok and him stated yelling at me that this was normal and I said we go and have a look . Next destination Starwood (?)Bali resort Khorat , they call these properties " Resort " . Driver booked a room ( cash in advance ! velly good system ) plus a 500 Bht deposit for losses from the fridge and we examined the room . Nowhere close to falang standards but looking nice . Price was 550 plus breakfast .

 

After dinner we travelled along the mainroad and investigated at more 6 places and all of them were fully booked . Number of rooms between 10 and 54 .

 

Rough estimation :

 

750.000 = 10 houses at 75.000 each

1.000.000 = land

500.000 = infrastructure , restaurant

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2.250.000 = preliminary total cost

 

 

Selling potential 300 rooms / month , realised 200 at 450 Bht resulting in about 1.000.000 / year . Adding another 10 units will make the revenue explode . I am a lot further with detailed planning , about cash the local bank will easily finance 50 % once you show the other 50 .

 

The final trick is that a whole Isaan family could be integrated into such a setup at initially low cost for a while , that there is a lot of cash surplus to pay the bank and BuBi and that it is finally greatly entertaining .

 

What ya think fellow bretheren , kinda goldmine innit or is ze BuBi wrong again ?

 

It could easily work with sound direction and management. Good luck to ya!!