Can we still afford to shop at Thai supermarkets?

[scubascuba3]

An example, Big C Extra charging 289 baht for Marmite, available on Lazada 199 baht, or if you buy Tesco version 80 baht

[Golden Triangle]

12 hours ago, pomchop said:

"I would say my personal food shop has gone up around 20% in the last six months, especially if I stick to the expat-type style supermarkets."

 

These expat markets selling western foods have always been premium priced....if u want western food maybe live in the west or if you MUST have it in Thailand be prepared to pay major premiums.  Never ceases to amaze me how many falangs move to Thailand and then try to eat/drink like they are back in their home country.

 

 

So, with that statement I assume that you expect every Thai person living in the UK for example, to eat a full English breakfast every morning & a full Sunday roast every weekend ??

 

You really should think about what you want to say. ????????

[farangroby]

6 hours ago, Tropposurfer said:

In Italy it's much worse, I'm not complaining in Thailand

[John Drake]

Forgot about the Gourmet Market about 1 km from my house. Doesn't have bad produce or deli products but still not as good as Foodland and some of the prices are insulting, frankly. Package of sour cream for 540 baht!!!  Can get it in Foodland for 39 or 49. I had to ask someone at GM to help me find the sour cream. When he located it, even he was shaking his head and laughing. A store that does that has little respect for their customers. Not to let Foodland off the hook, either. I remember the time they tied together a tiny package of walnuts for over 1400 baht. 

[DjSilver]

It's cheaper just to eat street food everyday and jummy.

[Lacessit]

3 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

In the real world the shop would be on-line and people wouldn't have to drive half the length of the country to buy from them. Just imagine the business they are losing. Assuming that your claim is correct, of course.

I've tried buying food online from Bangkok. The problems are an unwieldy payment system, I have to go to my bank.

Second is delivery, it's unpredictable, which is not good news for perishables, although I will say any bacteria or virus would be slaughtered trying to get near this comestible. The odor is unmistakable.

Why would they want to go online when they are selling it nearly as fast as they can make it? There's a glassed-in counter that fronts the shop, it usually has about 50 kg in it, and they add to it all the time in 5kg bowls.

I'm inferring from the Bangkok plates and the quantities purchased the buyers intend to take the sai ua back to Bangkok, I may be wrong in that inference. All I can tell you is what I see.

[Caldera]

I think the OP is way over the top. Even more so now that 1 USD buys more than 32 baht again.

[Camillof]

7 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

a pack of 5 Beng Beng in 7-11 for 26 Baht but singles priced at 5 Baht

I've seen and keep seeing even worse than that. As an example I'm annexing the last photo I added to my personal gallery of supermarket absurdities. Shot at Big C a couple of weeks ago: same product, 1 box 39 baht, two-box pack 85 baht. This widespread absurdity (you see it everywhere) shows clearly enough that the consumer market here is not a free market. To me, that explains everything.

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by Camillof

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

An example, Big C Extra charging 289 baht for Marmite, available on Lazada 199 baht, or if you buy Tesco version 80 baht

Marmite is  beef extract, maybe that adds to the import cost, due to Thai quarantine law on anything with meat in it.

The Tesco version at that price could be where all the sick buffaloes end up.

There's no such excuse for Vegemite, which is spent yeast formulated to be addictive to all Australians. Americans react as if they have been poisoned.

My son sends me a shipment of Vegemite from Australia about every six months, even with the postage it is less than half the cost of the supermarkets here.

[scubascuba3]

1 minute ago, Lacessit said:

Marmite is  beef extract, maybe that adds to the import cost, due to Thai quarantine law on anything with meat in it.

The Tesco version at that price could be where all the sick buffaloes end up.

There's no such excuse for Vegemite, which is spent yeast formulated to be addictive to all Australians. Americans react as if they have been poisoned.

My son sends me a shipment of Vegemite from Australia about every six months, even with the postage it is less than half the cost of the supermarkets here.

You're thinking of Bovril which is beef, Marmite is yeast extract, i did try Vegemite but it had a chlorine twang to it. Thing is the expat shops are even more expensive than Big C. I'm pretty sure Harrods is cheaper

[Pattaya Spotter]

Haven't really noticed...I just pick up what I want...toss it in the cart...and pay what the cashier demands ????

[sambum]

9 hours ago, internationalism said:

Time to convert car to lpg. 
Macro is my choice and my first stop there are discounted fruits and vegetables, less than half price. Also large 5kg bags for traders. 
I would stop at makro whenever passing by just to look for special offers, to top up my 2 large fridges. 
Frozen fruits are always cheaper than fresh and can keep them long. Same with 100% juices. So I need to get them only once a month. 
 

i do also buy food on lazada

I was pleasantly surprised a few months ago when I found out that Lazada sell a lot of what used to be my favourite "farang treats" - B******n Pickle, H***z Original Salad Cream etc etc, but the onl;y downside to shopping on Lazada is the cost of delivery - sometime as much as the item itself.

 

Also, I have found that shopping at the local market can be just as expensive once they see the colour of your skin! (And that is not a racial comment - just an observation, as things are a lot cheaper if my (Thai) wife does the shopping there!) Buying local veg also puts income in the pockets of desperately poor people, but I do make sure that all veg is soaked in salt water for 10 minutes and washed thoroughly before cooking.

[moogradod]

5 hours ago, possum1931 said:

but just watch Villa Market, they can really go over the top with some prices.

Wanna see some REALLY expensive fruits ? Here they are - a couple of japanese crown melons at a bargain price of 5 Million Yen (which amounts to something like US$ 45'000.--). No joke, you can easily check on the web. OK, now back to the discussion of an apple costing THB 80 at Villa vs. 15 at the local market.

 

BTW, my wife just brought some kilos of strawberries home - from the local market near Tukcom - and they are extremely sweet and tasty.

 

 

[pagallim]

My wife was in our local Tops in Central Festival yesterday, and had picked up a pack of what is a kind of rice porridge/soup which she likes.

 

A pack of 3 sachets was 55 baht, or single sachets around 23 baht.  Out of curiosity, I 'Googled' the producted for more information in English, and lo and behold, the exact same item is available in the US from Amazon.com.   Slight difference in price though, 667 baht equivalent, and that doesn't include posting!

 

https://www.amazon.com/Xongdur-Organic-Instant-Sprouted-Mushroom/dp/B07WMX6X88

[pagallim]

One tip, instead of buying those expensive bags of salad, get some plastic bags and go outside gathering weeds and grass.   Then put them in your fridge where after a few days, you can throw them out as normal.

[Lacessit]

5 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Funnily enough I recently watched a case in South Africa where a doctor was prosecuted for propagating a diet based purely on meat and fat....literally.

 

He won the case based on the evidence he presented.......have to say he did look ultra fit for his age.

There are a lot of fad diets out there, high carb, low carb, high protein etc. List as long as my arm.

Inuits eat a diet mostly of meat and fat, with a few berries and seaweed thrown in. They are genetically adapted to do so.

IMO the Thai diet is healthy, a small amount of protein, unsaturated oils, vegetables and rice. As long as I can stop them throwing in MSG and sugar.

The ultimate zero-calorie diet is celery and bamboo. Not fond of celery, but I do enjoy bamboo and chili.

During the U-boat blockade of Britain in World War II, a British dietitian was tasked with finding a diet on which Britons could survive without any long term health effects, and was simple. She concluded wholemeal bread, lightly cooked cabbage and potato were the only foods required to supply enough nutrients, meat was unnecessary. Somewhat boring, though.

[Lacessit]

22 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

You're thinking of Bovril which is beef, Marmite is yeast extract, i did try Vegemite but it had a chlorine twang to it. Thing is the expat shops are even more expensive than Big C. I'm pretty sure Harrods is cheaper

Vegemite has plenty of salt in it - aka sodium chloride. Chlorine is a corrosive and poisonous gas that was employed by the Germans during World War I, and is still used for disinfection of swimming pools.

[moogradod]

OK, one more about weird pricing. I invite everybody to check it by himself.

 

When you exit BIG C Extra to the parking at the back, you will find a stand selling orange juice on the left just before the door.

 

One small bottle with 220ml is THB 20.--. Sometimes I buy 5 for THB 100.-- (and therefore a little bit of more than 1 liter).

The 1 liter bottle at the same stand sells for THB 150.--.

 

I tried to explain this absurdity to the sales girl and what I got back was a nice smile. I am not really sure if she even understood what is wrong here.

[zzaa09]

14 hours ago, pomchop said:

"I would say my personal food shop has gone up around 20% in the last six months, especially if I stick to the expat-type style supermarkets."

 

These expat markets selling western foods have always been premium priced....if u want western food maybe live in the west or if you MUST have it in Thailand be prepared to pay major premiums.  Never ceases to amaze me how many falangs move to Thailand and then try to eat/drink like they are back in their home country.

 

 

Appropriately said. 

A bit mystifying as to how many aren't able to [or won't] acclimated or adjust to local conditions. 

Quite numbingly dependent on Western-style supermarkets larder or "specialty" online/brick-n-mortar Farang food shops, where they'll naturally pay premium prices for such <deleted>. 

[Iamfalang]

120 usd oil.   Just bought a hummer h3.

 

back in 1970 I planned for oil being at 250 today and carrots at 1000 baht.

 

This is way better than that

[Golden Triangle]

10 minutes ago, zzaa09 said:

Appropriately said. 

A bit mystifying as to how many aren't able to [or won't] acclimated or adjust to local conditions. 

Quite numbingly dependent on Western-style supermarkets larder or "specialty" online/brick-n-mortar Farang food shops, where they'll naturally pay premium prices for such <deleted>. 

Who cares what you or anyone else feels about it, I can afford to shop in those places and eat the food I like, I am not morally obliged to eat Thai food just because I live here, the smell of some of it makes me reach, but each to their own eh ????????

[scubascuba3]

25 minutes ago, moogradod said:

OK, one more about weird pricing. I invite everybody to check it by himself.

 

When you exit BIG C Extra to the parking at the back, you will find a stand selling orange juice on the left just before the door.

 

One small bottle with 220ml is THB 20.--. Sometimes I buy 5 for THB 100.-- (and therefore a little bit of more than 1 liter).

The 1 liter bottle at the same stand sells for THB 150.--.

 

I tried to explain this absurdity to the sales girl and what I got back was a nice smile. I am not really sure if she even understood what is wrong here.

It's the classic "buffalo" thinking they just don't understand

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

12 hours ago, MrNatural said:

For the more rare items, I had noticed that I started to find more exotic veggies in my Makro in Bangkok. Fennel, zucchini, eggplants, jerusalem artichokes, romanesco, all at thai prices. But since the pandemic, it is not so frequent.

 

In my book, you have to be careful about a lot of the fruit and veggies at Makro, because some of the fresh fruit and veggies, and almost all of their frozen fruit and veggies, are imported from China. (Sometimes, you gotta look in tiny print on the back of the packages to find the "Made in China" tag.

 

And for political and food health/safety reasons, I prefer not to eat food products that originate in China.

 

 

[Knocker33]

Now alcohol has gone up. That's the last straw

[KanchanaburiGuy]

In theory, larger packages should be cheaper per unit than smaller packages. Smaller packages involve more handling and additional packaging costs money.

 

For example, I seriously doubt Pepsi/Lay's pays more than maybe 10 or 15% more for an empty "Family Size," 158g foil bag.... than they pay for their 35g bag. But they've got to use 4 1/2 of the smaller bags to sell the same volume of crisps/chips. 

 

But I noticed pretty early in my adventures to Thailand that buying the small packs is often more economical than buying the larger ones.

 

(Example: At Lotus's, Cheese Rings crisps---the best American-ish "cheesy" taste I've found in a Thai snack, so far! lol---four 14g bags in a multipack works out to 56g for 16 baht. But the 57g single bag costs 20 baht! And I've seen a bunch of snack items priced this way.)

 

So it got me wondering.......... 

 

If you wanted to encourage Thai People to stay slender and attractive instead of fat and ugly like the millions of American and European farang who visit tend to be.... might you (or a price-controlling government!) make the larger packages proportionately MORE EXPENSIVE, to discourage the overeating that larger packages tend to encourage? 

 

Thus, lower price-per-unit encourages buying.... and eating..... fattening snacks in smaller quantities! 

 

I even imagine the Thai government encouraging this through regulation or financial incentives........ with the goal of helping to keep Thai People "more healthy!" 

 

Crazy idea, huh? But New York City effectively tried this very thing by outlawing the sale of sugary drinks over a certain size! If you wanted an "extra large," you suddenly had to buy two smaller ones, apparently. So maybe my "crazy idea"....... isn't so crazy, after all, huh? 

 

555

 

Cheers! 

Edited March 4, 2022 by KanchanaburiGuy

[Lacessit]

3 hours ago, moogradod said:

OK, one more about weird pricing. I invite everybody to check it by himself.

 

When you exit BIG C Extra to the parking at the back, you will find a stand selling orange juice on the left just before the door.

 

One small bottle with 220ml is THB 20.--. Sometimes I buy 5 for THB 100.-- (and therefore a little bit of more than 1 liter).

The 1 liter bottle at the same stand sells for THB 150.--.

 

I tried to explain this absurdity to the sales girl and what I got back was a nice smile. I am not really sure if she even understood what is wrong here.

I doubt Thais learn basic maths, my Thai GF is amazed I can add up numbers in my head.

Having said that, they certainly know the difference between the various baht denominations.

[Barefootknobby]

My advice is take up cooking if you want to eat western food, thai is still relatively cheap for eating out. I use a motorbike so fuel costs are cheap. I like a beer but we have been educated not to drink alcohol so now I don’t drink it. For me I am living cheaper now than ever:-)

[KhaoYai]

The price of Cheese in Thailand has always amazed me, its not imported so why is it so expensive?

[bert bloggs]

1 hour ago, KhaoYai said:

The price of Cheese in Thailand has always amazed me, its not imported so why is it so expensive?

⁰if your in Pattaya buy cheese in Siamburys it is far cheaper,they nearly always have specials ,and that goes for most things 

[shdmn]

8 minutes ago, bert bloggs said:

⁰if your in Pattaya buy cheese in Siamburys it is far cheaper,they nearly always have specials ,and that goes for most things 

I wouldn't say that but maybe it depends what type you get.  When I was there a couple years ago the cheddar was similar price to Friendship Market.  The stuff at Siamburys wasn't even called cheddar but it looked and tasted similar.  I think the cheddar at Friendship (imported from Ireland as I recall) was probably a little better.

Edited March 4, 2022 by shdmn