Located on a street corner in the Mueang Chiang Mai District is a baby clothes shop owned by Mr. Jarun Singchawala. The shop, ‘Baby Home’, has a wide selection of shoes, shirts, pants, dresses, and accessories for children who are infants to 8 years old. According to Singchawala, he imports the clothing from multiple factories in Thailand, China, and Vietnam. Mr. Singchawala has been in the baby clothes business for a long time, beginning as just a small stand about 35 years ago. Only in the last decade did he upgrade his location to Sithiwongse Road.
When asked for his reason behind starting a baby-clothes business, Mr. Singchawala immediately pulled out his smartphone. While swiping through photos of his daughter and 13-month-old granddaughter, he explained how he had grown up as an orphan in Chiang Mai and that he greatly misses his daughter and granddaughter who live in the United States. Selling baby clothes, according to Singchawala, makes him “feel less lonely”. Mr. Jarun Singchawala awaits the day his granddaughter can come see his shop in the city that raised him.
