What does it take for an emerging milk tea brand to penetrate Bangkok’s already densely populated beverage market? A phone booth, it turns out.
In just a week of its Bangkok opening, Rin Rin Bubble Milk Tea — the capital’s newest boba tea shop on Sukhumvit 105, has gotten herds of metropolitans lining up to make a call under the sweltering city sun.
Here’s how it works. It takes three steps to order through the phone booth: You press a button, pick up the ringing telephone to place your order, then place your money in a basket behind a small door next to the phone.
Moments later — voila, the bubble tea comes right out of the same door.
It’s perfect for those times when you want a delicious serving of milk tea, but not direct human interaction. (You never even get to see a shop employee’s face.) It’s pretty affordable, too — a cup of tea starts at only THB19, or 60 cents in USD.
From its humble beginnings as a tiny tea shop in a Volkswagen parked outside his Hat Yai house, there are now thirty different locations of Rin Rin all over Thailand today.
Why a phone booth? Owner Pongwoladon Jinnupong told Coconuts Bangkok that he doesn’t have a particular reason for it — he just thought that it was a cool concept. We can’t agree more.
FIND IT:
519 Sukhumvit 105, Bang Na, Bangkok 10260
Tel: 064 964 4699
BTS: Bearing
