212 - money talk
Duff went to look for Noi at Dietmar’s restaurant. Dietmar sat outside in the shadow by a table, waving Duff to come over.
- Hello my friend! said Dietmar. – Want some pork and sauerkraut?
- Thank you but I am just looking for Noi, said Duff.
- Noi and Bia are handing out brochures in the city.
- Where?
- I don’t know. I told them to mingle in the streets. But do sit down. Want a beer?
- I have somewhere to go.
- It’s on the house! Keep me company for five minutes. What’s the hurry?
- Well… I guess a beer can’t hurt.
Dietmar signalled to Lek, who brought two beers.
- My marketing campaign is over tomorrow, said Dietmar.
- Are you going back to Bangkok?
- Yes. I am only here to get the business up and running.
- What about the boys?
- The kids doing the marketing? I guess they will go back to Bangkok too. I don’t have work for them here.
- Do you have work for them in Bangkok?
- They are too fussy. They don’t want to work in the go-go bar. Especially that ladyboy guy. Bia. He is a snob. The bar is where the big money is I tell them, but they don’t listen.
- Fussy indeed, said Duff.
- How about you? asked Dietmar.
- Me?
- How is your business going?
- What business?
- I thought you had a business. A smart young guy like you must be enterprising.
- I don’t have any business.
- How do you make a living?
- I am looking for a teacher job.
- That’s no money. And how do you live when you don’t have a job?
- I sold my apartment back home. The car too. I called it the Fagmobile.
- The Fagmobile? Ha ha ha! You have a great sense of humour. I like that.
- Thanks. It is history now. I own nothing.
- How did you invest the money from selling your property?
- It’s in the bank.
- No no, said Dietmar and shook his head. – What interest rate do you get in the bank? Don’t even tell me. It is peanuts. I know.
- It is not much, said Duff.
- You must be aggressive and make your capital grow, said Dietmar. - Invest! Develop a business!
- I am not much of a capitalist, said Duff. – I like it safe and easy. As long as the money is in the bank I know where it is.
- Ach! said Dietmar.
- What?
- It is frustrating to see you waste opportunities like this. You are a clever guy. You could use the money from the apartment and – ha ha ha! – the Fagmobile as start-up capital. Set a goal. Double your capital in two years. That’s how I do it.
- Really, said Duff.
- There are perfectly safe and yet highly profitable ways of making money in this country, said Dietmar. – My bar in Bangkok is a success already. I am expanding in Pattaya. Now I am looking for a partner to invest in an even bigger project.
- What is that project? asked Duff.
- How much is your capital at the moment?
- In pound sterling?
- In euro.
- Let me think… About a hundred thousand euro.
- What a coincidence, said Dietmar. – I am looking for a passive partner to make a hundred thousand euro investment. That partner doesn’t have to do anything. He becomes owner of half the business, I do all the work and money flows in.
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