Interesting blog post about how people go about doing their economic business in Thailand –  7-11!

The most popular destination in Thailand is? Phuket? Bangkok? Chang Mai?

No, wrong, nope.

The 7-ELEVEN store across from my apartment- always busy

7-ELEVEN. As in the 7-Eleven convenience store.

Yep, but not the 7-Eleven we know and ignore in America. Small, clean, efficient stores that are truly one-stop shops.  Milk, eggs, beer, cooking spices, school supplies, booze, batteries, fast food- got ‘em all.

Need to pay your phone bill? Need to pay your cable bill? Yep, head to the 7-Eleven. Utility bills include a bar code, head to 7-Eleven with your Baht for the payment, the bill is “scanned” and you pay the amount due plus Thb 20 to 7-Eleven as the service charge. The 7-Eleven store transmits the funds to the utility/payee.

Why is this done? In Thailand, based on the economic situation of the majority of the people, checking accounts are not common and the vast majority of Thai people don’t have a credit card. 7-Eleven having the bill pay service keeps transactions cash (Baht) based while providing an easy and convenient way to make payments.