Door-to-Door Selling on the Rise in Tahan

28 September 2011: In an attempt to meet both ends meet, an increasing number of people get into the business of door-to-door selling in Tahan Town, Kalewa Township of Sagaing Division in Burma.

The last few months have seen local Tahanians walking from one house to another in a bid to sell not only products but also services to the general public in the Chin populated town, according to a local.

Pa Kap from Tahan said: “A variety of products including medicine and clothes are now available from our doors. I believe the sellers can sell more products by visiting to their customers’ houses. And it has now become a kind of business.”

A range of products including snacks, drinking water, soaps, rice, meat, clothes, and gas are brought to your feet while some people offer various services such as repairing pressure cookers, washing clothes and even cleaning, according to the locals from Tahan.

Another local woman told Chinland Guardian: “It has been a few years that we have had some Chins selling sabuti – Chin traditional corn soup – and other traditional foods for lunch. Sometimes, it’s nice having them as it is too hot for us to go out.”

Pa Kap mentioned about some orphans who offer products such as soap powder remaining on the door until at least one item has been purchased by their customers, adding: “Sometimes, they get shouted at because they [orphans] don’t want to go without their items being sold to the family.”

Some ascribed a surge in the number of door-to-door sellers in recent months to the worsening condition of poverty and livelihood in the region while others said it was a good business requiring low investment.

Meanwhile, some shop-owners from Tahan Market complained they haven’t received their blinds and benches that were removed by the local municipal department during a visit to the bazaar by Chief Minister of Sagaing Division U Tha Aye in the second week of this month.

Home to many Chins and Mizos, Tahan stands as a major business town linking to Moreh town of India’s Manipur State via the Indo-Burma Friendship Bridge over the Tio River between Zokhuadar, Mizoram State, India and Rih of Chin State, Burma.

Tahan, a town at the confluence of he Chindwin River and the Myittha River and the administrative seat of Kalewa Township in Sagaing Division, has got over 50 churches, with 99 percent of its population being Christian.

Reporting by Thawng Zel Thang