Report from Makro, fuel

[Saltire]

6 minutes ago, jimn said:

Lockdown in Pattaya, since when?

 

[Rimmer]

Some off topic posts removed, this is Pattaya Forum

[jimn]

7 minutes ago, Saltire said:

 

Thanks but not really a lockdown in real terms just a restriction on movement.

[Peterw42]

12 minutes ago, jimn said:

Lockdown in Pattaya, since when?

Not a 24 hour lockdown as such but unless you are buying food etc there is nowhere else to go and going out is discouraged, so a lockdown by default,, a curfew overnight.

[Curt1591]

20 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

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

 

2 hours ago, LennyW said:

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

 

2 hours ago, Fairynuff said:

Because under the lockdown regulations those are not considered essential products

It's to cut back on the reasons to go shopping around. They want people to get their stuff and go home. Closing down certain sections cuts down in-store traffic.

Our Makro, Samsen/Dusit, sells kitchenware and cooking supplies - pots, pans, butcher paper, aluminum foil, ... etc.

[Grusa]

I went to Makro yesterday, got everything I needed except copy paper. The aisle was blocked off, and the stock wrapped up.

I went to BigC, similar, but I asked one of the staff if I could have a pack of paper.....she went and got it for me with a smile, no problem at all!

[fredob43]

1 hour ago, jimn said:

Lockdown in Pattaya, since when?

Since tomorrow 4th Curfew. Cant leave your place of residence between 10pm and 4 am. Covers the whole of Thailand. And that doesn't mean going back to your house??? you must be there.

Edited April 3, 2020 by fredob43

[jimmjam]

Whats the big deal with eggs. ????

[ivor bigun]

3 hours ago, jadee said:

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.  

Oh good the wife needed some new thongs.????

[ivor bigun]

19 minutes ago, fredob43 said:

Since tomorrow 4th Curfew. Cant leave your place of residence between 10pm and 4 am. Covers the whole of Thailand. And that doesn't mean going back to your house??? you must be there.

I remember 10pm ,its when i used to go out a long time ago ,now we are fast asleep by then,oh how your life changes.

[Russell17au]

16 minutes ago, jimmjam said:

Whats the big deal with eggs. ????

since the covid-19 started a large quantity of eggs were being exported which was causing a shortage here in Thailand and the eggs that did make it to the local distribution were price gouged. Thus the big deal with the eggs.

[mickyr55]

3 hours ago, Fairynuff said:

Because under the lockdown regulations those are not considered essential products

What about if your fridge packs up according to the rules it's an electrical non-essential item, in this heat with all the food stocks in I beg to differ.

[Don Mega]

1 minute ago, mickyr55 said:

What about if your fridge packs up according to the rules it's an electrical non-essential item, in this heat with all the food stocks in I beg to differ.

Got a link to those rules ?

[Moonlover]

2 hours ago, fredob43 said:

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. 

Ah sorry. Quite right it is not nationwide as it is being decreed by the provincial governors. But the list is growing and don't be surprised if it comes to supermarket near to you soon.

 

This measure is already in place in Sakon Nakhon and there hasn't been a single case of C19 reported in the province yet.

[fredob43]

50 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Ah sorry. Quite right it is not nationwide as it is being decreed by the provincial governors. But the list is growing and don't be surprised if it comes to supermarket near to you soon.

 

This measure is already in place in Sakon Nakhon and there hasn't been a single case of C19 reported in the province yet.

We are having our hands sprayed and temps taken as we go in most places. Also have to wear masks. 

 

I will agree that we might have a change soon but it's not come yet. So far we are lucky haven't had one case in our province of this C19 thing yet. Thank Buddha for that.

 

Our local governor has fingers in a lot of pies so he should hold up on making it hard for getting things.  

[Blue Muton]

4 hours ago, Ombra said:

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.

or indeed online.

[Vigilante]

19 hours ago, WillyPlatt said:

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.

Madagascar for me

As far away from glo-bull-isation as possible.

[geoff65]

5 hours ago, rickb said:

I guess this reduces the workload on those that stock the shelves.

No, they want you in to buy your food and out back to your homes asap for obvious reasons.

[Moonlover]

2 hours ago, mickyr55 said:

6 hours ago, Fairynuff said:

Because under the lockdown regulations those are not considered essential products

 

2 hours ago, mickyr55 said:

What about if your fridge packs up according to the rules it's an electrical non-essential item, in this heat with all the food stocks in I beg to differ.

I'm sure that if you urgently needed to buy a 'fridge this could be arranged for you. What they don't want is people browsing around sticking their hands on things, which is what browsers do, and risk spreading the virus by touch.

[Kerryd]

The things I couldn't find in the Makro in Pattaya include - small (200-250 gram) blocks of cheese (they had some packs of pre-sliced cheeses as well as those huge blocks of generic cheddar and mozza, but none of the "aged" or "vintage" cheddars) for example. 

Some things they may not stock, like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese dinners or various types of Noodle mixes. Saw some canned soups but no dry soups. 
One thing that surprised me, I was going to buy a whack of those Thai "seasoning" packs - the ones you use to make Green Curry or Tom Kha Gai (where you just have to add meat and veggies as all the spices/seasonings are in the pack) but instead of having bins of the 20 or so different types, they had a couple small bins holding just 4 types.

As well, frozen sausages were at a premium. Despite the crapload of fresh and frozen meats available, they had next to no frozen sausages at all except for a small quantity of "artisan" sausages like "Chipotle & Thyme" flavoured.

Of course, if they sell out of an item it doesn't look good to have empty shelves so they just rearrange things so all the shelves look full, despite having less of a selection.

Fortunately, Big C (South Pattaya at least) usually has whacks of all the stuff I couldn't find at Makro. One reason I went to Makro was that they opened at 6 am - not as many people at that hour. Still, probably 30+ shoppers in there by the time I was leaving and nearly half of them were "old, white guys" !

Maybe closing all the bars is causing all of them to start going to sleep earlier and waking up earlier and instead of hitting a bar they are hitting the supermarkets !

[jimn]

5 hours ago, fredob43 said:

Since tomorrow 4th Curfew. Cant leave your place of residence between 10pm and 4 am. Covers the whole of Thailand. And that doesn't mean going back to your house??? you must be there.

Thats not a lockdown, its a time limited curfew. You can still go out outside od these hours. No lockdown.

[Ireland32]

10 hours ago, LennyW said:

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

I think it’s because unfair for other retailers cannot open shops 

[BTB1977]

13 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

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

I'm guessing the 95 Shell V Power is the higher priced. Always been 8 baht or more for this specific blend of gasoline with added cleaning power. 

[fforest1]

20 hours ago, Saltire said:

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.

Stock up it will escalate....

[RocketDog]

23 hours ago, LennyW said:

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

I noticed Makro had a few shelves of non essential goods at the very front of the store. Didn't inquire but I wonder if these can be bought. The aisles these are normally in are blocked though. I'll ask on my next visit in 2 weeks. 

Otherwise, as the op reported, plenty of food and tons of beer available in Huahin Makro. More employees than customers and everybody has masks. 

[RocketDog]

16 hours ago, Kerryd said:

The things I couldn't find in the Makro in Pattaya include - small (200-250 gram) blocks of cheese (they had some packs of pre-sliced cheeses as well as those huge blocks of generic cheddar and mozza, but none of the "aged" or "vintage" cheddars) for example. 

Some things they may not stock, like Kraft Macaroni & Cheese dinners or various types of Noodle mixes. Saw some canned soups but no dry soups. 
One thing that surprised me, I was going to buy a whack of those Thai "seasoning" packs - the ones you use to make Green Curry or Tom Kha Gai (where you just have to add meat and veggies as all the spices/seasonings are in the pack) but instead of having bins of the 20 or so different types, they had a couple small bins holding just 4 types.

As well, frozen sausages were at a premium. Despite the crapload of fresh and frozen meats available, they had next to no frozen sausages at all except for a small quantity of "artisan" sausages like "Chipotle & Thyme" flavoured.

Of course, if they sell out of an item it doesn't look good to have empty shelves so they just rearrange things so all the shelves look full, despite having less of a selection.

Fortunately, Big C (South Pattaya at least) usually has whacks of all the stuff I couldn't find at Makro. One reason I went to Makro was that they opened at 6 am - not as many people at that hour. Still, probably 30+ shoppers in there by the time I was leaving and nearly half of them were "old, white guys" !

Maybe closing all the bars is causing all of them to start going to sleep earlier and waking up earlier and instead of hitting a bar they are hitting the supermarkets !

Makro recently announced 6-8am as senior hours. 

[elgenon]

Are the staff administering Covid tests, doing operations ???  : )

 

Good to hear they are administering food.

[fredob43]

20 hours ago, jimn said:

Thats not a lockdown, its a time limited curfew. You can still go out outside od these hours. No lockdown.

Agree with you it's not a total lock down. But where are you going to go? Everywhere, well 99% is closed. So might as well be.

[fforest1]

Went to Makro today no shortages of anything or any panic buying......I changed my mind about stocking up on things...I dont like the ever more restrictive direction things are going....So bought 4,000 worth of storable food incase madness ever takes over and they close the grocery stores.....

Edited April 4, 2020 by fforest1

[MyTHaiMyKe]

Why do people shop at Makro? The prices are almost always higher than prices at Big C! I have been comparing prices for months, they are not cheap.