Report from Makro, fuel

[Peterw42]

Just back from Makro getting some groceries. We are definitely not going to starve, the stock on the shelves is literally overflowing, I have never seen so much rice in my entire life. 

For some reason they cant (or have elected not to) sell office supplies, kitchenware etc, those aisles are now full of pallets and pallets of rice and Mama noodles. 100% of people wearing face-masks, required to enter Macro and 711. Makro staff looking like surgeons , mask and plastic full face shields, gloves.

 

Another Bonus is the price of Petrol at the moment, 17-18 Baht a litre, filled the car that usually costs 1,000 baht, for 600 Baht.

 

Other than the wife asking if I am hungry every hour and cooking every 2 hours, the lockdown isnt to bad. 

 

 

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, Peterw42 said:

Other than the wife asking if I am hungry every hour and cooking every 2 hours, the lockdown isnt to bad

It is driving me nuts..... bored daft!

[kinyara]

I was never really worried there would be food shortages, with the absence of tourists and a large proportion of unemployed workers returning to the provinces the supermarkets are catering to a vastly reduced customer base. 

[WillyPlatt]

Talk of Russia and Saudi coming to an agreement about production.

Back here in Blighty neighbours avoid you on the street as if you have the plague.

Every man for themselves. Community my <deleted>.

As soon as the coast is clear can't wait to get back to Thailand.

[LennyW]

18 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

For some reason they cant (or have elected not to) sell office supplies, kitchenware etc,

I was wondering about the reasoning behind that, seem rather odd!

[rickb]

Our local Tesco Lotus has also closed the aisles where office, electrical, recreation and car supplies, home furnishings and TVs, etc. are stocked.  It seems like they are only selling food, drink and bathroom supplies, i.e., essential things.  I guess this reduces the workload on those that stock the shelves.

[jadee]

16 minutes ago, LennyW said:

I was wondering about the reasoning behind that, seem rather odd!

Think it was something in the announcement from the government last week - supermarkets can stay open but only essential food items. Tesco and Big C are the same - they've closed off various isles like homeware and clothing.
At a senior management level there have probably been some bizarrely specific meeting about the definition of 'essential items' and what to sell and what not to, I noticed in my local Tesco store, the entire clothing section has been cordoned off, yet the underwear and socks - which are usually in the center- have been moved to the edge, just outside the cordon.  

Edited April 3, 2020 by jadee

[Kerryd]

18 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

For some reason they cant (or have elected not to) sell office supplies, kitchenware etc,

 

11 minutes ago, LennyW said:

I was wondering about the reasoning behind that, seem rather odd!

There was a directive some time ago that stated they (supermarkets and such) were only allowed to sell "essential" supplies.
Someone decided that food, personal hygiene and cleaning supplies are considered essential while staplers, blenders and furniture aren't.

I just came back from Makro 20 minutes ago. Was there when they opened at 6 this morning. 
18 things on my list to buy.
Left still needing 10 things.

Things they have, they have a lot of (including eggs and toilet paper). Still not liking the fresh meat section though. Yeah, they provide plastic gloves which people put on before pawing the meat, moving their cart 2 meters, pawing some more meat, opening/closing a freezer lid, moving their cart again, going back and pawing some different meat - all while wearing the same set of plastic gloves.

And unlike when I was there last week, this time everyone in the place was wearing a mask. I think that was another directive (by Makro) - nobody allowed in unless they are wearing a mask.

Sigh - guess I'm going to have to make a trip to Big C to try and get the rest of the list before someone decides that everyone everywhere should be locked down 24/7 for the next 2 weeks.

[Fairynuff]

32 minutes ago, LennyW said:

I was wondering about the reasoning behind that, seem rather odd!

Because under the lockdown regulations those are not considered essential products

[Andrew Dwyer]

On the strength of this thread I called in my local petrol station to top up my 1/4 full tank ( was on a food run anyway ).

At PTT 95 octane was down to 17.89 baht at Shell it was 25.89 baht !!

[Peterw42]

9 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

 

There was a directive some time ago that stated they (supermarkets and such) were only allowed to sell "essential" supplies.
Someone decided that food, personal hygiene and cleaning supplies are considered essential while staplers, blenders and furniture aren't.

I just came back from Makro 20 minutes ago. Was there when they opened at 6 this morning. 
18 things on my list to buy.
Left still needing 10 things.

Things they have, they have a lot of (including eggs and toilet paper). Still not liking the fresh meat section though. Yeah, they provide plastic gloves which people put on before pawing the meat, moving their cart 2 meters, pawing some more meat, opening/closing a freezer lid, moving their cart again, going back and pawing some different meat - all while wearing the same set of plastic gloves.

And unlike when I was there last week, this time everyone in the place was wearing a mask. I think that was another directive (by Makro) - nobody allowed in unless they are wearing a mask.

Sigh - guess I'm going to have to make a trip to Big C to try and get the rest of the list before someone decides that everyone everywhere should be locked down 24/7 for the next 2 weeks.

What were the things missing ? As I said above, I couldn't see anything missing or in short supply.

[Moonlover]

18 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

For some reason they cant (or have elected not to) sell office supplies, kitchenware etc,

This applies in all stores nationwide. They can only sell essential goods i. e. food and drink.

 

The rationale is, I'm sure to reduce the risk of spreading the virus by indirect contact. Here's an example.

 

Browser a. wanders around picking up and looking at pens. (for instance) Browser b. comes along a while later who is also looking for some pens.

 

Browser a. was an asymptomatic Covid 19 victim who has just left the virus on the pens. Browser b. is now at risk of also catching the virus.

 

Like I say, it's just an example, but these are the kind of risks that these restrictions are meant to reduce. I suppose you could call it 'indirect social distancing'. 

 

Don't touch and stay safe.

[Peterw42]

2 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

On the strength of this thread I called in my local petrol station to top up my 1/4 full tank ( was on a food run anyway ).

At PTT 95 octane was down to 17.89 baht at Shell it was 25.89 baht !!

That is some serious price gouging by shell, I hope they get reported, as it is part of the current gov directives, no price gouging

[Don Mega]

Am loving the price of diesel,  My daily commute is now 63 baht cheaper per week !!

[time2093]

There is plenty of rice but NO eggs, I was in Makro couple days a go, they had a sign of just 2 cartons of eggs per person. That didn't stop people from hoarding them like it was free gold emptying the egg section in no time. It should be 2 cartons of eggs per family as typical Thai way I see a family of five each buying two cartons of eggs.

[GeorgeCross]

53 minutes ago, LennyW said:

I was wondering about the reasoning behind that, seem rather odd!

 

less staff on the floor = less staff infection risk = more staff cover

 

hats off to all the essential workers 

 

 

[Saltire]

Actually I am a little concerned about future food supply. The nearest town to us is an hour's drive. The nearest Makro/BigC is almost 3 hours drive.

 

We normally shop at Makro/BigC once a month and last went about 2 weeks ago, so have plenty of frozen provisions for now. We didn't buy any more than normal. Now been at home for 12 days as of today.

 

Now in the village the local markets (Sunday, Monday and Thursday) are shut since 2 weeks. Local shops are open randomly, but there are only 4 or 5 of them and they don't sell everything you need and rely on stock from the nearest town or deliveries. So far the pork shops are still opening about 5 AM and I guess unless they run out of pigs, this should be ok.

 

Wife is now terrified of buying anything. One or two of the market vendors are going around selling from their motorbikes/pickups but if they have no mask she says 'not clean, not buy'.

 

Village had a run on eggs for week but normality seems to have returned. Now I see people buying a tray at a time, as we always do, but prior most locals would buy 5 or 6 eggs at a time.

 

I just hope it stays this way and doesn't escalate.

 

Stay Safe.

[Ombra]

1 hour ago, LennyW said:

I was wondering about the reasoning behind that, seem rather odd!

They want you in and out of the store as fast as possible, and so that means you buy only essential things. Choose your new rice cooker at leisure some other time.  I saw a news report from the UK which said that shop workers (in Boots, I think) were complaining about customers who spend time browsing when they should just shop and go.

[bbz404]

46 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

On the strength of this thread I called in my local petrol station to top up my 1/4 full tank ( was on a food run anyway ).

At PTT 95 octane was down to 17.89 baht at Shell it was 25.89 baht !!

PTT one is 95 Gasohol and the Shell one is VPower which is their top brand. Shell usually stocks only 91 Gasohol which should be the same price as at PTT. No price gauging at all. 

[bbz404]

I don’t understand the run on eggs last week. Eggs are being produced everyday so it doesn’t make any sense unless they’ve killed all the chickens laying them. 
Sure enough, yesterday, Makro was fully stocked. And our local Tops Daily market didn’t even know where to stock all the eggs they had. 

[Lone Ranger]

54 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

What were the things missing ? As I said above, I couldn't see anything missing or in short supply.

Noticed Cheddar cheeses all out in Hua Hin day before yesterday.

[Fairynuff]

44 minutes ago, time2093 said:

There is plenty of rice but NO eggs, I was in Makro couple days a go, they had a sign of just 2 cartons of eggs per person. That didn't stop people from hoarding them like it was free gold emptying the egg section in no time. It should be 2 cartons of eggs per family as typical Thai way I see a family of five each buying two cartons of eggs.

I bought eggs at Makro (Bkk) yesterday. No limit per person and definitely plenty of stock. I wasn’t aware of anything being in short supply, in fact everything was very well stocked including fresh produce. The store was quieter than I’d expected and driving there was a breeze.

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, LennyW said:

I was wondering about the reasoning behind that, seem rather odd!

They are 'non-essential supplies' as banned in the announcement.

However, they are essential according to my staff - they receive their salaries in an envelope - now I have run out.

[Peterw42]

3 minutes ago, Chassa said:

I wish TV posters would give us some idea of where they are posting from! I saw no shortages of anything in Makro, Nong Bua Lamphu.

A good idea but this thread is running in the Pattaya forum so most will be responding from pattaya.

[fredob43]

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

This applies in all stores nationwide. They can only sell essential goods i. e. food and drink.

Well it's not where I live, Not Pattaya. You can get anything you want. I brought a fan and other bits yesterday in my local Big C. Could have got  in Makro but they didn't have the one I wanted. Every isle is open just like normal. Even restaurants are open to the general public. For eat in or take away. Must say that you do have to wear masks when going into shops/restaurants. Pointless exercise on the latter as you have to take off to eat. 

[Brunolem]

18 hours ago, jacko45k said:

It is driving me nuts..... bored daft!

Just another year or so and it will be over... 

 

[Somtamnication]

Shelves are full. But I was stopped from buying printer paper. Not included as food essentials. 

[Brunolem]

44 minutes ago, bbz404 said:

I don’t understand the run on eggs

They use the eggs to play checkers, while killing time

[jimn]

Lockdown in Pattaya, since when?

[jimn]

25 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

A good idea but this thread is running in the Pattaya forum so most will be responding from pattaya.

Well its now in the newsletter. Once its in there you get every Tom Dick and Harry posting their local issues which deflects from the original topic.