Many expats used to be regular wine drinkers back home but are shocked by the prices in Thailand and cut down their consumption. This is too bad considering drinking red wine regularly is proven to help longevity and prevent heart attacks. So, my idea, to make wine drinking more affordable here. A wine club with an annual subscription. You agree to a delivery of 3 bottles a week, 2 red, one white, all very modest but drinkable wines of table wine or slightly better quality selected by the business. All customers would get exactly the same bottles every week, no changes. There would be variety in the selections week to week. The white would tend to be either an appertif style or a wine that would go with Thai food. Deliveries maybe twice a month. Stiff penalties for cancellation. Similar to a water delivery service. The key of course is that the prices would have to be much less than in any local store. Perhaps this could be possible if a business had no retail location and had this guaranteed customer base and huge volume (perhaps they could negotiate bulk sales from suppliers). Just an idea. Sign me up if you do it!

The reason for the steep wine prices is not so much the greed of wholesellers and retailers, but the high import duties. Once you found a way around that, you can offer very competitive...