Econ 101: the Yellow Shirt

On the eve of the biggest non-recurrent holiday in recent memory – our monarch’s 60th anniversary on the throne – Bangkok has been swaddled in yellow, the King’s color. Donned by people from all walks of life, yellow shirts bearing “We [heart] the King” have imbued the streets. Newly unemployed and caught up by the merriment of the occasion, I ventured to BoBae market, the garment wholesalers’ district, to examine the yellow shirt trade. Moving briskly, the shirts are available in all shades of yellow – canary, lemon, sunflower, gold, and saffron (sort of borderline orange) – and all styles.
In the spirit of the holiday and in reverence to the King, this particular trade should not yield personal profit as such gains should technically be donated to charitable endeavors. As demand has hit stratospheric levels, there is virtually no consumer bargaining leverage, even on the wholesale level. In fact, suppliers will inevitably gouge last minute shoppers, raising prices through hearsay as the day progresses.
In the end, I consumed a dozen of these shirts (y'all are getting one), partaking in laissez - faire capitalism at its best. However, I hope that at least some of the proceeds behind the spirit of yellow - the country’s love for our sovereign - end up where they are most needed.