Cost of imported wine and spirits set to be slashed in Thailand

[chalawaan]

34 minutes ago, Skallywag said:

Shop owners can still charge what they want cant they?  Price fixing for profit.  It happens

Peace

We have the freedom to just say no to price fixing for profit. Wine rots, let's see who blinks first. Peace.

[bronzedude]

This seems like hot air to me! The price of wine will stay the same or go higher.

[greeneking]

32 minutes ago, fondue zoo said:

Also please stop the First Familys and their little war against the craft beer industry..

Interesting to see the Democracy demonstrations often have representatives from the Thai Craft Beer industry.

[zzaa09]

37 minutes ago, fondue zoo said:

Also please stop the First Familys and their little war against the craft beer industry..

It might be more beneficial for them to open up the free market as such applies to the growing and popular craft/micro beer industry in Thailand - 

[chalawaan]

4 minutes ago, greeneking said:

Interesting to see the Democracy demonstrations often have representatives from the Thai Craft Beer industry.

Greeneking I like you just based on your handle, old chap! I miss the IPA!

[Nojohndoe]

1 hour ago, xylophone said:

From what I can see in the article NJD, it would appear that according to page six, the imported wine gets double the tax in total, than does the local wine – – or am I reading that wrong?

You are probably right.But is the same applied to the local spirits and beer producers? I feel there is something punitive about the policies even when by consumption volumes wine is hardly of serious competitive danger in the general Thai market. 

Indonesia (Bali) is now way more extreme I will say. On my last time there a bottle of Jamesons was priced at the rough equivalent to $100. Difficult to find any nice wine at less than $20. But at least the pricing/tax seemed to be applied according to alcohol content, not the form of the beverage.

In Thailand  Jamesons is not so much more than a bottle of mass produced mediocre Aussie wine.

[Charlie Halliday]

Bringing down the price of wines is well overdue. We accept that proposal.. The first sensible suggestion from this illegitimate  govt since they stole office. 

[metisdead]

Some off topic posts, troll posts and the replies have been removed. 

[4MyEgo]

8 hours ago, smedly said:

nobody is forcing you to participate - if you don't want to drink then don't 

I'll drink to that.

[kennw]

8 hours ago, smedly said:

a round of golf used to be cheap here until foreigners got involved 

Hey! foreigners dont set the price, look at many of the organizations that own the golf courses and their approach to pricing, start with hospitals.  

[khunPer]

5 hours ago, chalawaan said:

Its well known rich people don't get rich or stay rich by throwing money at bad deals. Also, there's rich (working/business class expat -oil fifo guys) and there's rich (Dr Doom and his mates) and there's rich (Bezos). Only the superyot set, and the Thai Army/Police can afford not to blink at the price of anything, the rest of us "rich" folks still need to be realistic or we won't be ¨rich¨ for long. You are probably far wealthier than me anyway, I get a feeling you are, the really well off are always crying poor.

There's a difference between rich and loaded, many of those that you refers to might be loaded, but not rich - Bezos of course in the last category - and I might not be better off than you, but I enjoy an affordable priced glass of wine, or two, with my dinner; I can afford a moderate priced 3-liters box, but that don't place me in the "rich" tick box...????

[unblocktheplanet]

Unlike us, wine only gets better with age. (We just get sharper!) Stock up your cellar while to good time roll, friends!

[bkk_bwana]

9 hours ago, MRToMRT said:

Its worse than you think and prices may NOT come down as customs and excise wants to reduce it because importers always undervalue their imports significantly to avoid the current rates.........

 

 

 

Are you serious? Of course the Customs Department knows the value of goods. It's their job. That's just barstool banter from the 1990s. 

[rupert the bear]

9 hours ago, chalawaan said:

Clearly there's ripping off at the checkout too, as I've not found midrange new world wines to be anything more than 5-10 baht cheaper than old world wines. The bottom line is they HAVE to decrease the prices, or they're only screwing themselves in the long term, I can and do vote with my shekels, no skin off my nose to buy wine when I go abroad, and just abstain here, so we shall see...

your quite right but people here ,not all of course cant think ahead or plan,they just see whats in front of their nose and can grab now .the way they think is if you dont wanna buy it....go somewhere else then.sad but true.the money grabbed by these high taxes is what they see. nothing else.i see 10 dollar wines for 25-30 bucks ....nuts.the only positive is that covid has brought this and many other issues clearly displayed for exactly what they are.

[BangkokBoyJohnny]

3 hours ago, Winegeeker said:

And I just stocked up last week, save money but directly from the distributors here, most have websites and sell direct and ask for a discount. It’s usually 15-25% off so with retailers markup not added you save like 40%

 

 

Can you list a couple please ! Distributors you use that is...

[Rookiescot]

7 hours ago, robblok said:

Unfair IMHO, the Aussies sold them. Should have blocked it then. If you do want to take back control fair market price must be paid.

 

I get the anti China feelings, i don't like them either but fair business practices should remain.                     

Normally I would agree but given how China has behaved towards Australia then I think the gloves are off.

[xylophone]

3 hours ago, Winegeeker said:

And I just stocked up last week, save money but directly from the distributors here, most have websites and sell direct and ask for a discount. It’s usually 15-25% off so with retailers markup not added you save like 40%

 

Yes, I've just done likewise, because I buy from a couple of importers and distributors here and every so often they have promotions and stock clearances, and I am on the list for those, so obviously I buy when they are available.

 

I have given the name of a couple of my suppliers to folks on ASEAN NOW so that they can benefit from the promotions, and as an example, just last week I bought some beautiful Italian wine at a 35% discount from retail price, and a superb older Australian Cabernet Sauvignon at 50% discount – – so bargains are out there if you look for them.

 

In addition I have snaffled some great wines on clear out/promotion from the likes of what was Tesco/Lotus, and just recently Big C.

 

However any reduction in the price of a bottle of wine would be most appreciated!

[Nojohndoe]

3 hours ago, chalawaan said:

We have the freedom to just say no to price fixing for profit. Wine rots, let's see who blinks first. Peace.

 

2 hours ago, khunPer said:

There's a difference between rich and loaded, many of those that you refers to might be loaded, but not rich - Bezos of course in the last category - and I might not be better off than you, but I enjoy an affordable priced glass of wine, or two, with my dinner; I can afford a moderate priced 3-liters box, but that don't place me in the "rich" tick box...????

For sure Chateau a la Cardboard places you in the not so "rich" box. On an average day I am in same box. ????

[bristolgeoff]

The tax on wine has always being high,wine sold across the borders in burma for passport control in the days gone by were half the price in the duty free shops.Thais always asked friends of theirs buy some wine duty free.Like any country the tax is high on brooze  and wine is up there,imported brooze is a premium anywhere,

[Maybole]

How much of the tax cut will be passed on to the customers? I would expect very little change in prices.

[Scoop427]

12 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I have not been able to find any specific mention of a reduction in the rates of tariffs on imported wines anywhere. They mention imported alcohol, which has a for lower rate than wine. Anyone know anything about wine specifically, in regard to this proposal?

 

If wine was included, it would be monumental, as it would be the kind of sacrifice that is needed to attract the wealthier tourists and ex-pats they keep ranting about. Next, lower luxury taxes. Then, Thailand begins to join the real world, and wealthy people feel like they are not being taken for a ride, and then they start returning, instead of vowing to never come back. In reality wine taxes should be reduced from the ridiculous 300% plus, to around 75%. Income from the industry would likely increase 1000%. 

 

 

It’s time the “wealthy people” started paying for the ride

[Harveyboy]

11 hours ago, djayz said:

Those kinds of people really don't care about the cost of a bottle of wine, do they? 

but these People wont come ..but us residents that live here and spend daily do care ..

[talahtnut]

In Pattaya I used to miss going into my Essex pub and ordering

a Brown Split followed by a Boiler Maker, at weekends after

payday I was rich, it would be a Black Velvet [stout + champagne].

All in the best possible taste, sheer nectar of the Cods.

[farangroby]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

The measures to try and encourage a million wealthy foreign visitors to come to Thailand over the next five years are set to have a broader impact for consumers of imported alcohol.

Before the cost of imported wine and spirits is cut, wouldn't it be better to stop with these bans, avoiding arresting those who smell a beer in the bar?

[itsari]

10 hours ago, khunPer said:

There's a difference between rich and loaded, many of those that you refers to might be loaded, but not rich - Bezos of course in the last category - and I might not be better off than you, but I enjoy an affordable priced glass of wine, or two, with my dinner; I can afford a moderate priced 3-liters box, but that don't place me in the "rich" tick box...????

If you have good health and food on the table you are rich .

[kiwikeith]

19 hours ago, xylophone said:

Would love to see the price of wine come down as it is one of the things that I enjoy here, but the prices compared to other countries are criminal!

 

And it may put an end to the practice of adding fruit juice to wine in order to get around tax/excise duty!! 

Yes bring down the wine duty, don't worry about tobacco, forget cigars and hand out  Kojak lollipops.

Wine has been treated as a luxury item , most Thais don't drink it.

So it is a no brainer , take the duty down so all the nice tourists and expats can enjoy a bottle with a nice meal.

I will be loading a container for export as soon as the new rules are in place, prepare for NZ plonk.

[Walker88]

The real target group of a tax reduction is the Middle Class traveler, not TAT's pie-in-the-sky HNW individual.

 

My name is not Jeff Bezos, but I'm financially fortunate, so perhaps might be a member of the TAT's target group. When it's available, I will buy a bottle of wine to accompany my dinner, even though I know full well it's at least twice what I'd pay in a restaurant in the US or EU, and a multiple of what I'd pay in a store outside Thailand.

 

Wine and a good meal are one of life's great pleasures, so it's silly to quibble over an extra 1000 baht or so when the mood to imbibe strikes. The tax mostly affects low and mid range wines anyway, as NOBODY declares the true price of Sassicaia or a Biondi-Santi Brunello when they import, so in a restaurant the prices for high end wines are not terribly different from outside (except at a few really tony places). It's the 10-30 euro price range that would really be impacted by a tax reduction. Such a tax cut would sell a lot more wine both in restaurants and shops.

 

Of course TAT is silly thinking a tax cut on booze will encourage folks to make a Thai trip. As part of an overall reduction in Thai silliness, however (easier visas, change in % ownership of businesses, changes in property availability for foreigners), it might help draw in more HNW visitors.

[kiwikeith]

38 minutes ago, itsari said:

If you have good health and food on the table you are rich .

When we were kids the only time we smelt hot food was when a rich man ,passed wind.

[zzaa09]

3 minutes ago, kiwikeith said:

Yes bring down the wine duty, don't worry about tobacco, forget cigars and hand out  Kojak lollipops.

Wine has been treated as a luxury item , most Thais don't drink it.

So it is a no brainer , take the duty down so all the nice tourists and expats can enjoy a bottle with a nice meal.

I will be loading a container for export as soon as the new rules are in place, prepare for NZ plonk.

Sure would be nice if all these special duty slashes had a real effect on the real economy, instead of pandering to the special needs of whinging foreigners. 

[itsari]

43 minutes ago, kiwikeith said:

When we were kids the only time we smelt hot food was when a rich man ,passed wind.

And lived in a shoe box