Thais overwhelmed by rising prices of food, necessities, poll shows

[snoop1130]

Thais overwhelmed by rising prices of food, necessities, poll shows

By THE NATION

 

 

Results of a Suan Dusit Poll released on Monday show that the biggest problem Thais are suffering now is the rising price of food and necessities.

 

The poll was conducted between October 5 and 9 and involved 1,164 respondents nationwide.

 

According to the poll, the biggest complaint people have is that food and necessities are getting expensive, followed by low income, inefficient government administration, inefficient teachers and schools, and political conflicts.

 

The top five reasons the respondents cited for making these complaints were:

 

• Urgent need to solve problems;

• The problems are unbearable;

• They want their lives to be improved;

• They want the government to be aware of these problems;

• These problems have made them anxious.

 

As for the top five persons who can solve these problems, the respondents chose the government, the prime minister, the people, related agencies and themselves in that order.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30396053

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-10-12

 

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[connda]

Food prices are rising globally.  We all see if locally.  However, the governments of the world including Thailand will then massage the price increases in statistical hocus-pocus and with a straight face tell the public that inflation is under 2% and thing have never been better. 
Why?
Because if actual inflation in the good and services that normal folks buy ever gets published, then the debt bubble will pop and the "It's never been better" facade comes crumbling down.  Think things are bad at the checkout?
We haven't seen anything yet.  The next depression is going to make the Great Depression look like a walk in the park.  In the meantime, governments world-wide tank their economies and are creating a new class of the "pandemic poor" at the same time as online billionaire magnates are capitalizing on the closure of brick and mortar retail stores and billions are flowing into their own coffers.  Money that could keep businesses afloat.  Good-bye middle-class.  Maybe you'll get a loan if the trillions of dollar being pumped into the banks actually get distributed to where it's needed instead of into the pockets of the bankers themselves and their corporate friends who use that money for stock buybacks instead of capital improvements and capital reserves. And what is the massive injection of capital going to do?  Make-prices-rise-even-more! 
But talking about statistic?  We're all told that unemployment is under control and is only a few percentage points.  Yeah.  Don't statistically count the total unemployed which in the US is about 1/3 of the work force.  Instead call them a pejorative like "uninterested workers".  Based on the labour participation rate almost close to 40% of the available work force in the US - wasn't working.  I have no doubt that the statistical hocus-pocus is used in Thailand to boot.  "Things have never been better and the economy is improving!  Stocks are rising! Happy days!"  Tell that to the people in debt up to their eyeballs who are now standing in food lines.
Government's message to the plebs:
"Most people are gainfully employee.  Inflation is under control.  You're imagining higher prices, it's all in your heads!  Economize - Eat rice stubble, it's good for you. Look at the ox and buffalo.  They love it."

Edited October 12, 2020 by connda

[DrTuner]

And then...

 

https://www.technologyreview.com/2011/08/15/192366/the-cause-of-riots-and-the-price-of-food/

Quote

What causes riots? That’s not a question you would expect to have a simple answer.

But today, Marco Lagi and buddies at the New England Complex Systems Institute in Cambridge, say they’ve found a single factor that seems to trigger riots around the world.

 

This single factor is the price of food. Lagi and co say that when it rises above a certain threshold, social unrest sweeps the planet.

 

Nice going, usurpers.

[Mr Meeseeks]

Crime is going to skyrocket and guess what? Foreigners will be a prime target.

 

I have just hired a local ex-military driver/bodyguard and I will keep him around for the next year or until the economy improves as I expect things to get really bad in the coming months.

[KC 71]

32 minutes ago, connda said:

Food prices are rising globally.  We all see if locally.  However, the governments of the world including Thailand will then massage the price increases in statistical hocus-pocus and with a straight face tell the public that inflation is under 2% and thing have never been better. 
Why?
Because if actual inflation in the good and services that normal folks buy ever gets published, then the debt bubble will pop and the "It's never been better" facade comes crumbling down.  Think things are bad at the checkout?
We haven't seen anything yet.  The next depression is going to make the Great Depression look like a walk in the park.  In the meantime, governments world-wide tank their economies and are creating a new class of the "pandemic poor" at the same time as online billionaire magnates are capitalizing on the closure of brick and mortar retail stores and billions are flowing into their own coffers.  Money that could keep businesses afloat.  Good-bye middle-class.  Maybe you'll get a loan if the trillions of dollar being pumped into the banks actually get distributed to where it's needed instead of into the pockets of the bankers themselves and their corporate friends who use that money for stock buybacks instead of capital improvements and capital reserves. And what is the massive injection of capital going to do?  Make-prices-rise-even-more! 
But talking about statistic?  We're all told that unemployment is under control and is only a few percentage points.  Yeah.  Don't statistically count the total unemployed which in the US is about 1/3 of the work force.  Instead call them a pejorative like "uninterested workers".  Based on the labour participation rate almost close to 40% of the available work force in the US - wasn't working.  I have no doubt that the statistical hocus-pocus is used in Thailand to boot.  "Things have never been better and the economy is improving!  Stocks are rising! Happy days!"  Tell that to the people in debt up to their eyeballs who are now standing in food lines.
Government's message to the plebs:
"Most people are gainfully employee.  Inflation is under control.  You're imagining higher prices, it's all in your heads!  Economize - Eat rice stubble, it's good for you. Look at the ox and buffalo.  They love it."

You're Not Wrong

[KC 71]

10 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Crime is going to skyrocket and guess what? Foreigners will be a prime target.

 

I have just hired a local ex-military driver/bodyguard and I will keep him around for the next year or until the economy improves as I expect things to get really bad in the coming months.

Job For Life Then ????

[jollyhangmon]

2 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Crime is going to skyrocket and guess what? Foreigners will be a prime target.

 

I have just hired a local ex-military driver/bodyguard and I will keep him around for the next year or until the economy improves as I expect things to get really bad in the coming months.

 

... no need, will do the wetwork myself ...

 

[Blumpie]

The pain has only just begun and look at it.  It's mid October.  There will be another year of this before it begins to slowly improve, and that's the best case scenario.  

Let's hope that I'm wrong.  

[trucking]

2 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

As for the top five persons who can solve these problems, the respondents chose the government, the prime minister, the people, related agencies and themselves in that order

 

Just not this government and this prime minister.

[elliss]

2 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Crime is going to skyrocket and guess what? Foreigners will be a prime target.

 

I have just hired a local ex-military driver/bodyguard and I will keep him around for the next year or until the economy improves as I expect things to get really bad in the coming months.

  Good thinking .

   You live in the USA , or UK ..?

 

Edited October 12, 2020 by elliss

[Andy from Kent]

3 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

I have just hired a local ex-military driver/bodyguard and I will keep him around for the next year or until the economy improves as I expect things to get really bad in the coming months.

 

[Lacessit]

This must be some other area of Thailand, Chiang Rai is very cheap. Rents have tumbled, a kilo of mangos in season was 25 baht. Most fruit and vegetables are inexpensive.

IMO prices are not rising, it's unemployment and underemployment that is the problem. No income, no money for food.

I was talking with a caddie at one of the golf clubs here. Pre-pandemic, she was making 8000 - 10,000 baht/month. Now, 2000-3000. That's underemployment.

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, jollyhangmon said:

 

... no need, will do the wetwork myself ...

 

My GF has the same disposition as a pit bull if anything threatens her ATM. It's actually quite frightening to watch the transformation.

[ChrisY1]

12 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Crime is going to skyrocket and guess what? Foreigners will be a prime target.

 

I have just hired a local ex-military driver/bodyguard and I will keep him around for the next year or until the economy improves as I expect things to get really bad in the coming months.

You must be from the US.......!

[HashBrownHarry]

12 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Crime is going to skyrocket and guess what? Foreigners will be a prime target.

 

I have just hired a local ex-military driver/bodyguard and I will keep him around for the next year or until the economy improves as I expect things to get really bad in the coming months.

People have been saying this about the crime here since March / April, little or no difference though.

[BritManToo]

12 hours ago, connda said:

Food prices are rising globally.  We all see if locally. 

I've not noticed much in the way of food price rises.

Milk is getting cheaper (85bht/2l at Rimping)

Flour is the same price it was when I came here 10 years back (32bht/Kg bread, 24Bht/Kg all-purpose)

Wine coolers still 28Bht/bottle.

Cheese is a lot cheaper than when I first arrived.

Pork is more expensive, chicken about the same.

Rice and eggs seem to go up and down a bit, but still very cheap.

 

What food items is it that are now so much more expensive they cause such concerns?

[BritManToo]

9 hours ago, Lacessit said:

This must be some other area of Thailand, Chiang Rai is very cheap. Rents have tumbled, a kilo of mangos in season was 25 baht. Most fruit and vegetables are inexpensive.

IMO prices are not rising, it's unemployment and underemployment that is the problem. No income, no money for food.

I was talking with a caddie at one of the golf clubs here. Pre-pandemic, she was making 8000 - 10,000 baht/month. Now, 2000-3000. That's underemployment.

I agree totally.

My mortgage has fallen from 6.25% to 4.75% ...... 20% drop.

And petrol down from 33bht/l to 22bht/l ......... 30% drop.

Edited October 13, 2020 by BritManToo

[Venom]

Print more money, that'll fix it.????

[nobodysfriend]

When it gets tough to make a living because of a system that is based on financials , the poor should get an unconditional basic income guaranteed by the government ... that's better than new submarines , and will keep social unrest away ...

[Pattaya Spotter]

Do they just release the same poll results every year or is this a new poll?

[Pattaya Spotter]

13 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Crime is going to skyrocket and guess what? Foreigners will be a prime target.

 

I have just hired a local ex-military driver/bodyguard and I will keep him around for the next year or until the economy improves as I expect things to get really bad in the coming months.

You mean like it didn't during the last economic crisis in 1997-99? But I'm sure Sergeant Somchai appreciates your charity but I would keep a close eye on him as most thefts are inside jobs and murders committed by people they know.

Edited October 13, 2020 by Pattaya Spotter

[simon43]

13 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Crime is going to skyrocket and guess what? Foreigners will be a prime target.

 

I have just hired a local ex-military driver/bodyguard and I will keep him around for the next year or until the economy improves as I expect things to get really bad in the coming months.

The idea is not to look rich....  I look and dress like an impoverished tramp and found that absolutely every local gives me a wide berth... ????   Pretending to be mentally unstable also helps a bit.

[Ventenio]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

inefficient teachers and schools

Schools seem be set-up to make money

buildings falling apart as the director buys his 100th new car

teachers lazy

English teachers can't speak English, or from a country where English is poor

kids all get 100 percent and then fail a "normal" test

kids all get 100 percent and then realize their school is ranked 187,927,379 in the world

teachers have been hitting kids for decades

high turnover

parents don't complain much, the whole "face" thing

teachers don't get fired often, or never.   

kids can sleep in class, play on their phone, do anything

backpackers with zero experience can be their best teacher

[Pattaya Spotter]

11 hours ago, elliss said:

  Good thinking .

   You live in the USA , or UK ..?

 

Exactly what I was thinking...I doubt the member is even in Thailand. 

[Henryford]

Inflation will really take off soon. The Central Banks around the world have increased the money supply by 50%. Where do you think that extra cash will end up?

[Pattaya Spotter]

1 hour ago, HashBrownHarry said:

People have been saying this about the crime here since March / April, little or no difference though.

They've been sayin' it for 20 years...whatever the crisis of the moment happens to be. It must be terrible to go through life living in fear ???? 

[Crossy]

10 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Pretending to be mentally unstable also helps a bit.

 

I don't need to pretend

 

Handling awkward clients (we call one chap Dr No, it's always his first answer) and wayward contractors (usually upsetting Dr No), coupled with moderating you lot I'm amazed I don't have the screaming-habdabs more often.

[Pattaya Spotter]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

I agree totally.

My mortgage has fallen from 6.25% to 4.75% ...... 20% drop.

And petrol down from 33bht/l to 22bht/l ......... 30% drop.

At one point in the beginning of the crisis, the week oil prices went negative, I paid 18 baht a litre for gow-neung.

[Pattaya Spotter]

9 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Inflation will really take off soon. The Central Banks around the world have increased the money supply by 50%. Where do you think that extra cash will end up?

There's more chance of price deflation than inflation in the current scenario.

[alant]

Is this just Thai economics?

Less customers = less revenue

Less revenue = increase prices

Problem solved.

 

Not forgetting Thais polled recently do not want foreign tourists back and the knock on effects are a part of that.