Sharp tax hike on alcohol and tobacco effective immediately

[speedtripler]

On 20/09/2017 at 2:21 PM, dick dasterdly said:

Makro today - the price of a montclair wine box has increased by around 100 bht.

Marlborough smokes were the first thing to go up that I noticed. In the 7/11 they were about 145 but in family mart still about 95

 

 

[lkv]

30 minutes ago, speedtripler said:

Marlborough smokes were the first thing to go up that I noticed. In the 7/11 they were about 145 but in family mart still about 95

 

 

 

95 for a pack of 10 maybe.

 

Marlboro were 125 before.

[speedtripler]

25 minutes ago, lkv said:

 

95 for a pack of 10 maybe.

 

Marlboro were 125 before.

Maybe I got scammed then.... 

I only smoke them when I'm drinking 

[ukrules]

6 minutes ago, speedtripler said:

Maybe I got scammed then.... 

I only smoke them when I'm drinking 

 

Nah, they were 95 Baht a year ago, then they went up to 125 at the time of the last '5 Baht increase', this time they've gone up to 145 Baht.

[GanDoonToonPet]

LM Daeng have been 99B in the 711 here for over a week. Wholesaler put up the price to 940B per carton so at least they didn't add anything at their end; still 5B cheaper per box than the 7.

 

Looks like the new 'alcohol' stock is filtering through more slowly at Lotus so I might pop down today & see if I can still pick up a box of Bodega for 599B.

 

Also, a friend recommended the new Line brand of ciggies. Reckons they taste the same as LM but much cheaper at 60B...

Edited October 8, 2017 by GanDoonToonPet

[Pib]

20 hours ago, puchooay said:

Just bought a case of Chang from our local wholesaler, privateer not big chain store, at 568. No price increase as yet.

I just come back from a Makro store here in western Bangkok....Chang was still Bt568 (large bottle case) but Leo had went up to Bt614 from its normal approx Bt584 price.   

 

Now Chang has always been lower cost than Leo (can't remember how much...I use to drink Chang before switching to Leo), but I'm thinking the excise tax is just not showing up yet with Chang...maybe because a higher amount of unsold stock when the new rates went into effect....time will tell.

[GanDoonToonPet]

Went for a brisk walk to Lotus this morning for some non-alcoholic shopping but noticed that Bodega boxes were still at 599B. Damn! Overpaid by 180B at Makro over the last 10 days...

 

...also on the way back I paid 930B for LM at the wholesalers vs 940B last time. This may be because granny was training up her very young grandson, using him as a runner for the change.

 

All this may be academic soon anyway as I'm 4 days into Champix, a drug that blocks nicotine binding to receptors, so may (WILL) be giving up soon.

[lkv]

On 10/9/2017 at 5:11 PM, GanDoonToonPet said:

All this may be academic soon anyway as I'm 4 days into Champix, a drug that blocks nicotine binding to receptors, so may (WILL) be giving up soon.

Champix apparently can lead to suicidal thoughts, depression and some other serious side effects. One guy killed himself after 8 days, another one about a month.

 

3000 people have sued Pfizer before for side effects from Champix.

 

I'd exercise caution.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/concerns-of-a-link-between-quit-smoking-drug-and/6591456

Edited October 10, 2017 by lkv

[ukrules]

15 minutes ago, lkv said:

Champix apparently can lead to suicidal thoughts, depression and some other serious side effects. One guy killed himself after 8 days, another one about a month.

 

3000 people have sued Pfizer before for side effects from Champix.

 

I'd exercise caution.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/concerns-of-a-link-between-quit-smoking-drug-and/6591456

They say stop taking it if you get any negative side effects.

 

Not being aware of them is what leads to this kind of thing.

[Pib]

On 10/9/2017 at 1:35 PM, Pib said:

I just come back from a Makro store here in western Bangkok....Chang was still Bt568 (large bottle case) but Leo had went up to Bt614 from its normal approx Bt584 price.   

 

Now Chang has always been lower cost than Leo (can't remember how much...I use to drink Chang before switching to Leo), but I'm thinking the excise tax is just not showing up yet with Chang...maybe because a higher amount of unsold stock when the new rates went into effect....time will tell.

And my local Lotus store has now raised the Leo price to Bt614 from Bt584.

[newatthis]

Popped into the local 7/11 on the way home from the hardware store and included in the purchase were 2 packets of L&M 7.1. They are now 60baht; previously 72baht.

[Shiver]

6 hours ago, newatthis said:

Popped into the local 7/11 on the way home from the hardware store and included in the purchase were 2 packets of L&M 7.1. They are now 60baht; previously 72baht.

I'm sure I've seen "7.1" somewhere, but can't remember what they are.  Is that something to do with the slim cigarettes?  There are so many variants these days I'm confused - Especially when you ask for LM Blue and you get a menthol product instead.

 

LM Blue here btw has gone from 87 to 89 baht, though I'm told in 7Eleven they're more expensive (haven't checked).  I prefer to go to a family shop rather than a franchise anyhow, given the option.

Edited October 13, 2017 by Shiver

[newatthis]

1 hour ago, Shiver said:

I'm sure I've seen "7.1" somewhere, but can't remember what they are.  Is that something to do with the slim cigarettes?  There are so many variants these days I'm confused - Especially when you ask for LM Blue and you get a menthol product instead.

 

LM Blue here btw has gone from 87 to 89 baht, though I'm told in 7Eleven they're more expensive (haven't checked).  I prefer to go to a family shop rather than a franchise anyhow, given the option.

Yes, they're the slim ones. I was just surprised that they had decreased in price.

[GanDoonToonPet]

On 10/10/2017 at 6:05 PM, lkv said:

Champix apparently can lead to suicidal thoughts, depression and some other serious side effects. One guy killed himself after 8 days, another one about a month.

 

3000 people have sued Pfizer before for side effects from Champix.

 

I'd exercise caution.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/concerns-of-a-link-between-quit-smoking-drug-and/6591456

Those were anecdotal reports & the FDA removed the black warning last year. Several recent meta-analyses & literature reviews found no evidence of an increased risk of both neurological & cardiovascular disease compared to NRT or placebo...

 

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD009329.pub2/abstract;jsessionid=B038C89CC9FFC2935A980C0B55DFA42D.f03t03

 

https://academic.oup.com/ntr/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/ntr/ntu275

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Having just spent a week in Pattaya, I discovered the joys of 150 baht per pack of Mild 7s. In Vietnam, where I now live, they're 40 baht at regular price. A bottle of Tiger at a bar is 40 baht at non-happy hour prices. 

 

For many reasons other than overpriced products in Thailand, I moved here. If I could come up with a solid reason or two for staying in Thailand . . .  but I can't. 

Edited October 13, 2017 by Kaoboi Bebobp

[observer90210]

Now these price hikes will give a sense on visa runs for trans border purchases of alcohol (within the customs limits) ...

 

It may also develop parallel underground smuggling networks...remember the prohibition in the USA in the early 20th century....

[speedtripler]

14 hours ago, Shiver said:

I'm sure I've seen "7.1" somewhere, but can't remember what they are.  Is that something to do with the slim cigarettes?  There are so many variants these days I'm confused - Especially when you ask for LM Blue and you get a menthol product instead.

 

LM Blue here btw has gone from 87 to 89 baht, though I'm told in 7Eleven they're more expensive (haven't checked).  I prefer to go to a family shop rather than a franchise anyhow, given the option.

I bought the menthol a couple of times by accident and i don't like them

If you ask for lm lite rather than lm blue they give you the old style non menthol blue ones

 

Why could they not keep menthol green so we could tell the difference instead of having several veriants of blue I will never know.... 

[Shiver]

On 10/14/2017 at 4:24 AM, speedtripler said:

I bought the menthol a couple of times by accident and i don't like them

If you ask for lm lite rather than lm blue they give you the old style non menthol blue ones

 

Why could they not keep menthol green so we could tell the difference instead of having several veriants of blue I will never know.... 

That's pretty much my experience and thoughts also.  

Had a similar experience as a kid with crisps.  Walkers (Lays) came and dominated the market.  They're okay, but changing Salt & Vinegar (was always green) to blue (which was always cheese & onion) confused the heck out of me.  These days I just look at the picture to see that there is no seafood or bottom feeder pretender stuff in there - not easy - so I just ask for "Lay Tamadaa".

Edited October 15, 2017 by Shiver

[ripstanley]

Was in my local Makro today and had some spare time.   I checked  the Leo big bottles stock. The newest I saw was 23/08/2017 and the oldest was July 2017. They are all priced at 614 baht. A nice little mark up for old stock

[HHTel]

That's not necessarily Makro's old stock.  In fact I doubt it is which means they are not the ones marking it up. Where is the 'tax point' and from who do the Revenue Dept collect their tax?

[anto]

On 10/14/2017 at 1:25 AM, observer90210 said:

Now these price hikes will give a sense on visa runs for trans border purchases of alcohol (within the customs limits) ...

 

It may also develop parallel underground smuggling networks...remember the prohibition in the USA in the early 20th century....

No ,as i was not even born yet .On another note my large bottle of Cheers is still B49 and Federbrau still B65 at my local Tesco /lotus express .