Effects of recent tax changes upon alcohol prices

[Oxx]

Back in September taxes on alcohol were (generally) increased.  I was wondering whether this had actually had an impact upon retail prices.

 

Here are prices from then for a sample of alcoholic beverages at Big C (sorry for the ALL CAPS).  Current prices in parentheses:

 

HEINEKEN BEER 630 ML. PACK 3 ฿204 baht (฿204)
CHANG BEER 330 ML ฿34 baht (฿32)

WHISKY JACK DANIEL'S 70 CL ฿1199 baht (฿1249)
BLEND285 SPIRIT WHISKY 70 CL. PACK 12 ฿2982 (฿2994)

BEEFEATER GIN 750 ML ฿819 (฿810)
GILBEY'S GIN 1 LITER ฿499 (฿499)

JACOB'S CREEK RED WINE CLASSIC CABERNET SAUVIGNON 750 ML. ฿675 (฿675)
MUMM NAPA ROSE WINE BRUT ROSE NAPA VALLEY 750 ML. ฿5,679 (฿3,119)

 

Not a lot of change, apart from the sparking wine, where the price drop doesn't reflect the official line that "The tax per bottle of wine priced more than Bt1,000 will be Bt110 upwards".

 

Nor does the increase in Jack Daniels reflect "The tax on other imported spirits, such as Johnnie Walker Red and Blue Label Scotch whisky, will be a little less, from Bt3 to Bt26".

 

Still, it could have been a lot worse.

[BEVUP]

In my line of habits the price varies on my small can of Leo beer - Tesco sells 1 X 24 box for 744 bht

Shops varie 35 bht - 39 bht p/can so the profit from the Tesco price p/box can be 96 bht to 192 bht

As for my smoking they went from 86 bht to 95 bht p/pack (they don't do discounts here if you were to buy the ctn of 10 pks ) - Also don't know what the whole sale price of them is as well 

[observer90210]

Is it not cheaper for those into visa runs, to purchase booze within the legal limit, across the border ?

[Oxx]

9 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

Is it not cheaper for those into visa runs, to purchase booze within the legal limit, across the border ?

 

The legal limit is 1 litre.  That isn't going to keep anyone in a state of sublime inebriation for very long.

[Monomial]

Previously, 12 pack of Cheers 630ml bottles, 615 baht. Now, the same 12 pack, 672 baht. An increase of 9.2%. 

 

The effect of the tax is to raise the price of lower cost alcohol. Premium alcohols saw little to no increase.

 

 

 

[thecaveman]

Cigarettes:

Marlboro Red now 145 Baht, before 125 Baht (up 16%)

Camel Filters now 60 Baht, before 90 Baht (down 33%)

 

But what happened to the imported butter? Allowrie butter 227 grams now 115 Baht, before 89 Baht.

Edited November 25, 2017 by thecaveman

[Paul Laycock1]

Wow that's new to me, Sparking Wine - where do you get it, what a shock.

[jobwolf]

Well the point is who is pricing it. It is not necessarily done right.

It would be worse if it was the gold

price at the dentist.!!  

[BEVUP]

31 minutes ago, thecaveman said:

Cigarettes:

Marlboro Red now 145 Baht, before 125 Baht (up 16%)

Camel Filters now 60 Baht, before 90 Baht (down 33%)

 

But what happened to the imported butter? Allowrie butter 227 grams now 115 Baht, before 89 Baht.

There's an apparent shortage world wide & has gone up big time

[Oxx]

41 minutes ago, thecaveman said:

But what happened to the imported butter? Allowrie butter 227 grams now 115 Baht, before 89 Baht.

 

Allowrie "butter" isn't butter in the normal sense of the term.  It's made from  "butter oil", which is then mixed with various chemicals and water to produce a solid emulsion.  The manufacturer is Kim Chua Trading Ltd. - a Thai firm.  The kangaroo on the pack is probably intended to mislead you into thinking it's an Australian product.

[dotpoom]

Exilerating stuff..... ???

[KittenKong]

4 hours ago, BEVUP said:

There's an apparent shortage world wide & has gone up big time

 

Yes, the global price of butter, particularly cooking grade butter, has increased enormously.

 

http://uk.businessinsider.com/butter-shortage-why-prices-are-rising-and-supply-is-falling-2017-10

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

Close to where I live nothing happened for weeks then the 7Eleven put ฿10 increase on ALL beers (620-630cl) and ฿13 on my brand of smokes making them ฿100, not ฿87. That lasted about two days as everyone else was still at original prices (BigC, Tesco, MaxValue).

Last week beer went up everywhere in the area ฿2-3 mostly, but cheap stuff (Archer) went down by the same amount in MaxValue but stayed the same old price elsewhere, as has my brand of smokes (฿87 today)...

 

Seems to be the same old story, make it up as you go along.

 

 The one thing about Thailand you can count on, is that it is always inconsistent.

 

 

 

 

 

[Keesters]

Archa beer. Before 488/case After 488/case. This is Macro in Pattaya. Stocks went down to zero then restocked at same price.

 

Archa beer. Per Bottle. Before 46. After 46. This is Tesco Lotus Pattaya. Stocks went to zero then restocked at same price.

 

Same goes for Big C and Mini Big C. Archa same price after restocking.

 

WHAT INCREASE?

 

Local bar has increased all small beers 5 baht. They don't sell Archa. My local mom+pop shop increased Archa beer by 5 baht.

 

Profiteering?

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2017 by Keesters

[Keesters]

15 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

Yes, the global price of butter, particularly cooking grade butter, has increased enormously.

 

http://uk.businessinsider.com/butter-shortage-why-prices-are-rising-and-supply-is-falling-2017-10

And I've noticed smaller packets (200g) on the shelves. The Toblerone Trick. TTT.

 

[rickb]

I believe the government explained the tax increase as a way of getting people to drink and smoke less.  My son runs a local minimart and he is finding that all of his regular customers are drinking and smoking the same amount, but they are now buying the cheaper brands.  That's why the makers of Krong Thip cigarettes, as well as other brands, have now introduced a smaller cigarette (7.1 mm) and are selling it for a lot less than the original cigarettes.  And people are buying the cheaper ones.  So the government's original intention, other than collecting more tax, didn't work.

[sandyf]

8 hours ago, Keesters said:

Archa beer. Before 488/case After 488/case. This is Macro in Pattaya. Stocks went down to zero then restocked at same price.

 

Archa beer. Per Bottle. Before 46. After 46. This is Tesco Lotus Pattaya. Stocks went to zero then restocked at same price.

 

Same goes for Big C and Mini Big C. Archa same price after restocking.

 

WHAT INCREASE?

 

Local bar has increased all small beers 5 baht. They don't sell Archa. My local mom+pop shop increased Archa beer by 5 baht.

 

Profiteering?

 

 

 

Agreed, went to the local beer wholesalers yesterday to get some more Archa and surprised it was still the same. My wife asked if they were still selling old stock and she said no, it didn't go up.

None of the mom+pop around here sell Archa usually just Leo and Chang. Our local Kapow shop doesn't sell beer, it's next to a Lotus Express and you get your beer from there, great arrangement.

[tutsiwarrior]

Gilbeys vodka (liter) 499 at sebben and 490 at the corner shop, no change...

 

Marlboro Gold 145 up from 125...

 

never seen them camel filters...they're cheaper, gonna hafta try 'em...I useta be an unfiltered camels man in the old days...then switched to copenhagen snoose...useta smoke unfiltered gauloise when I could afford them...

 

I shoulda been dead by now...

 

 

Edited November 27, 2017 by tutsiwarrior

[thecaveman]

15 hours ago, tutsiwarrior said:

never seen them camel filters...

Widely available at 7-11 and Family Mart stores. Elsewhere hard to find.

 

The 7-11 stores in my area (Mukdahan) are usually carrying only very small amounts (not more than 3 or 4 packs).  

[kickstart]

In my local Tesco's they have cans of imported German beer sold in  1  lt cans one is black beer ,before the tax rise it was 195 baht , and now it is still 195 baht ,old stock ? or what.

My local 7-11 now sells the  nomale beer in  1 lt cans  the price is still 195 baht.  

The price of butter, I read over 2 months ago that they are  a shortage of butter ,as I have worked with dairy cows for 20 years , that surprised me.

@Keesters thanks for the link ,can not seeing  it being a shortage of feed ,if it was why is thay not a shortage of cheese , milk  being diverted , to a more profitable butter production, leaving less for cheese  production .

[Oxx]

Just as I thought there'd been no change in the price of spirits, I noticed that Villa has upped its prices for GIlbey's gin and vodka.  1 litre gin was 499 baht, but now it's 504 baht.  70 cl vodka was either 394 or 399, but now is 413.  1 litre vodka, however, is still (for the moment at least) 499 baht.

[sklmeeera]

So Thailands not the cheapskate alcoholics paradise that it was when I was there .