"A little gin and tonic to start the morning?" offers Bobby Gulati, the ringmaster of Raja's Fashions, a Bangkok institution known for producing the fastest quality custom-tailored men's suits in all of Asia. "It's midnight somewhere in the world."
A handsome, worldly Sikh with a thick black beard and an understated joke for every occasion, Gulati is a commanding presence whose maroon turban adds three or four inches to his ramrod-straight six-foot frame. He orchestrates the free-floating chaos of his busy shop with a yellow tape measure draped around his neck and a cell phone nestled in the palm of his hand. Raja's—located in the center of Bangkok's flesh market, across the street from Nana beer bar and down a teeming alleyway from the Cathouse, Red Lips, Pretty Lady, Rainbow 3, and Lollipop clubs—is one of the few respectable institutions left on Sukhumvit Road. Gulati's father, Raja, founded the business in 1965 as an extension of the family fabric shop to outfit U.S. Air Force pilots who flew over Vietnam and Laos. Today, the shop is a magnet for stockbrokers and CEOs as well as visiting American senators and generals whose favored vice is good, affordable tailoring.
"Still have your place in the lakes?" Gulati asks the middle-aged Australian who has just walked through the door, followed by a pair of young American expats in sneakers and shorts. Gulati quickly sizes them up as first-time customers. "Gentlemen, I'll be right with you," he instructs. "I'm Bobby, by the way. Who told you about us?"
"A buddy of mine," the scruffier of the two answers. "We'll make you a well-dressed bum when you leave here," Gulati promises, handing each new client a frost-covered Heineken. "Embassy closed for the day, sir?" he greets an American diplomat, who has brought along a friend from the States. Gulati recognizes me from my last visit three years ago. "I try to remember something about everybody," he explains. "It's the Raja experience."
When I tell him I need two suits and six shirts by Saturday night, he doesn't blink, even though it's now early Friday afternoon. I choose a navy Super-180 wool suit with a custom blue Thai silk lining with separate pockets for my BlackBerry, my worry beads, and a notebook. I also decide on a black plaid jacket with a ticket pocket and matching button-fly pants. "How about trying this, sir?" Gulati asks, whipping out a pen from his breast pocket and sketching a neat scheme for slanted pockets that will emphasize the fit of the jacket without bringing in the waist too far. The price he quotes is shockingly low. I wander over to the wall and start choosing from several hundred bolts of high-quality cottons, marking the ones I like with a piece of purple chalk. Gulati's girls will send them out to the cutters to be made into shirts.
