Such a service has never been offered before, with all the personal items for monks wrapped in a modern, artistic way and delivered to customers.

Natasha, or Ple, has long been known in the world of high fashion, but few people know that after her busy on-stage schedules, she enjoys practising dhamma and making merit.

This has led to the opening of her Sala Dharma shop in Patanakarn with the new Sung Ka Tarn service offered as a unique additional feature.

"I have been giving alms since I was young," she says. "I hop in and out of Sung Ka Tarn shops very often. It has always been on my mind that I should own this kind of shop one day, so when the chance came, with a good business location, I decided to try it."

Under her concept, Sala Dharma is a shopping place for merit-making.

"From my own experience, ready-to-buy Sung Ka Tarn items are not okay. Most of them are cheap and of low quality. I would rather buy and wrap the items up by myself."

As a result, all items from Sala Dharma are of premium quality and are clearly marked with expiry dates.

"If any items are near expiry, we won't offer them for sale. It is not like purchasing ready-to-buy packages from other shops. Sala Dharma also offers a wider variety of packages, to suit the objectives of customers' merit-making."

Currently, the shop has a range of 20 to 30 Sung Ka Tarn packages covering almost all religious ceremonies from New Year to birthdays, as well as the Songkran festival. The higher quality brings a higher price, but Natasha is confident that her customers will be willing to buy. The prices range from hundreds to thousands of baht.

Personal items for monks aside, Sala Dharma also sells dhamma-related CDs and books. The shop also has a dhamma corner to serve the needs of all customers.

Sala Dharma also offers a delivery service for religious ceremonies across the country.

"Recently, a group of teenagers visited the shop to buy CDs and books. I was so glad to see people of the new generation turning their attention to dhamma.

"Many people say my shop is nicely decorated. I don't really mean to run the shop commercially, but I love to do the things that make me happy," Natasha says.

Looking ahead, Natasha says Sala Dharma may also serve Thais living abroad.

"We are not officially open for foreign markets yet, but we've received some phone calls and e-mails from this group. Some have already placed orders with us," she says.

Using her organising experience to supplement the business concept of Sala Dharma, Natasha says the shop now offers to organise all religious ceremonies.

"We offer a full-fledged service from inviting monks and preparing food to Sung Ka Tarn, fresh flowers and souvenirs," she explains.

The organising service is currently offered only in Bangkok and its peripheral areas but will be expanded to provincial areas in the future.

Sala Dharma is a family business that began with initial investment of Bt2 million. Most of it was spent on shop decoration and run-up stock. Having been open for four months, the response from customers so far has been warm.

Natasha is not worried about rivals, as her business is based on faith and not on commercial purposes.

"Whoever wants to do this business, they might need to ask themselves first whether or not they 'click' with dhamma," she says. "I love practising dhamma and meditation whenever I am free from my regular work. I have been with dhamma since I was young.

"I will do my best to offer a greater variety of all items for monks. I will also try to build brand awareness. We are now ready to go, as all marketing plans are already sketched out."

It might take a little time to see how Sala Dharma performs, but Natasha has already proven her courage by launching a business concept that no one has tried before.

Kamonwan Makarun

Bizweek