Hot weather has meant hot sales for Pattaya ice vendors. Boonanan Pattanasin, the president of the Pattaya Business & Tourism Association who also owns the Racha Group, said his company’s ice sales have jumped almost nearly 30% in April.
The Songkran “wan lai” days on April 18 and 19 were even better, which sales doubling from last year and three times more than the usual weekday. He moved 8,500 blocks of ice on April 19.
Ice went not only into drinks, of course, but into buckets of water that were splashed on shocked Songkran revelers. Each block was sold at 100 baht.
Boonanan said the ability to manufacture ice is finite, limited by electricity costs, storage capacity and labor supply. Even during busy times, ice factories like his can only increase production a maximum 10%.
