Bangkokky

What kind of crazy response is that? The girl at Rimping said that many Thais were concerned about the prices as well. If you want to pay 260 Baht for a small bottle of mayo that's your business.

What is crazy about the response? My post refered to the expat-, not the local community.

It is worrying me that we have gotten to a point where expats care about mayo prices.

I apologize to the city of Chiangmai that we can't offer a healthier expat community and suggest to the immigration department to check BMI and bank accounts before renewing a Visa.

I'd say the majority of tourists and expats factor in the cheaper cost of living as a reason to holiday or live here.

Yours sincerely,

The Chaff

We don't necessarily disagree here. IMHO, there is nothing wrong with factoring in the lower cost of living. But to come here just because it's cheap, is falling short with a great amount of other factors. It might now be taking its toll when certain people left as it was suggested in the headline of this thread. I am quite sure they are not a great loss for the Thai tourism industry and economy anyhow and they have being replaced by other visitors as a stable number of arrivals indicates.

The number of arrivals was of a little bit over 14 million visitors in each of the last 2 years and the Thai economy is growing up to 7% this year (http://www.mcot.net/cfcustom/cache_page/92790.html). Chaff gone, wheat prices up.

Otherwise, one can only wince at the currency exchange situation.

Thailand deserves better tourists and expats than those who just want to get more bang for their buck. If your observations are correct, it will sort the wheat from the chaff.