Why do people move to Thailand and Complain How Much Things Cost?

[StevieAus]

9 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I'd be complaining if I was still in Australia. Don't have any complaints about the COL in Thailand.

Particularly lettuces which I read recently are selling for $12 due to shortages.

[Thujone]

I read an article that serotonin production decreases with age.

Serotonin is a hormone that works as a mood stabiliser, and promotes wellbeing and happiness.

A diet of fiber-rich plant foods with meat and fat in moderation can help with serotonin production.

Exercise is also helpful.

So try swinging your beer gut from the barstool, eat healthily and exercise and maybe, like me, you wont notice how much things cost, but just buy them because you enjoy them.

[Andycoops]

Because their hobby is moaning.

[Fairynuff]

Why can’t we complain? 

[VocalNeal]

Why complain at all? Doesn't change anything. 

[patman30]

Because they lack a good understanding of the fractional reserve banking system and credit created money,
they would complain no matter what country they are in.
 

[2baht]

Are you complaining about people complaining? ????

[VocalNeal]

3 minutes ago, 2baht said:

Are you complaining about people complaining? ????

No just an observation.????

[Lacessit]

59 minutes ago, Thujone said:

I read an article that serotonin production decreases with age.

Serotonin is a hormone that works as a mood stabiliser, and promotes wellbeing and happiness.

A diet of fiber-rich plant foods with meat and fat in moderation can help with serotonin production.

Exercise is also helpful.

So try swinging your beer gut from the barstool, eat healthily and exercise and maybe, like me, you wont notice how much things cost, but just buy them because you enjoy them.

Having eliminated 4 daily medications with a combination of diet, exercise and meditation, I figure I am saving 3000 baht/month.

[mikecha]

10 hours ago, captainjackS said:

Are you referring to local product price increases, fuel prices, or excessive import taxes on some items?  I often find myself complaining about import tax too when i want to buy something "nice" from outside Thailand (tools, electronics, beer, wine), but then stop myself when i think of all the other necessities of life that are more affordable and accessible here than in US (housing, income tax, medical, insurance, services)

completley right    lifehere is still INEXPENSIVE compared to europe  

of course if people dont like it they can always go and start somewhere els and then complain again

but there are many here breakfast complain 10 am beer complain  lunch  complain  after noon complain early evening complain Dinner complain and when they go to bed complain day in day out 

For some that is there Life  Sad 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pomchop]

Because there are millions of people who have zero clue about how to budget or manage their resources and continue to be unable to differentiate between needs and wants and what they can and cannot afford....so they have to blame somebody/something for their own failure to have learned over decades how to plan to live within their means.  If you can't live a decent life in Thailand on a relatively limited budget it is not Thailand's fault.  It is your fault.  

[jesimps]

Because they can and don't need other expats' approval to do so.

 

[BritManToo]

11 hours ago, FalangKino said:

Because they are bitter old men who think they should be living like millionaires here while on 500 quid a month pensions

I was a millionaire back in the UK, that barely got me a decent house!

My pal's bedsit (nothing special) near Hyde Park cost him 600,000 pounds.

 

Living here on my pension of 1,000 quid a month gives me a far better lifestyle, and a much younger and prettier woman.

[BritManToo]

10 hours ago, moogradod said:

but to simple things like orange juice or risotto rice. There is no delicious orange juice available here (something like "Andros") or apple juice (line Gravensteiner) - even irrespective of price for the imported (a bit better) ones which sell at exuberant rip-off prices.

Makro sell very nice Valencia orange juice at 5l for 250bht, next to the fresh milk.

You should try it!

[BritManToo]

10 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Haven't seen or noticed much increases in costs apart from fuel and bread.

Cooking oil, 40bht/ltr before COVID, 80bht/ltr today.

My woman complained this morning after getting back from the market.

[ThailandRyan]

10 hours ago, KIngsofisaan said:

Nothing remotely to do with the post.

 

Lots of folks, through their own admissions, moved to Thailand because it is cheaper than their home country.

 

Then they complain if prices go up.

 

Because the bah bus or whatever goes up 10 baht, what is the reason for complaining?

 

Is 10 extra baht really hurting some folks that much?

It was 1/5th the cost when I moved here from the US, now it's just about 1/3rd the cost, but still cheaper.

[Richard 2020]

I have been living in Thailand for 32 years now.

5 years from 1990 - 1995 in Bangkok, then until today in Pattaya!
In the 90s there were for 1 DM about 17-18 .-THB
So almost the same rate as today!
Today the € at about 36.-THB
In the 90s I paid for a liter of gasoline about 8.-THB.
today it is about 44.-THB
But that is not only in Thailand so, the prices have risen worldwide!
If I buy local products, the price increase is very moderate!
If I buy imported goods, it is of course expensive!
But even that is worldwide the same!
So reason to the moaning I do not see!
I do not have to work, pay no taxes, have permanently good weather, live in my condo that I bought 18 years ago, with sea view only 80 meters from the beach.
Have a wife who is a good 20 years younger than me ... ????

 

So, what should I complain about.....???

 

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[chuang]

11 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Just for some clarification, who are the people complaining about ten Baht price rises ?

Many if you care to scroll back Asean Now....

[Henryford]

I don't mind small price differences but i think it's OK to complain about things like wine with a 300% surcharge.

[spidermike007]

Thailand is still reasonable. It used to be cheap. Has not been cheap for a long time. But, it is still reasonable. I know people who pay 10,000 baht a month for newer 3 bedroom houses in nice towns. In major cities in the US? $2000-3800 a month. That is 120,000 baht!

 

When I travel here, I can stay in a very nice 4 star hotel for under 2,000 baht, in Bangkok. In the US now, hotels are up to $300 to $500 a nite! 

 

I had my motorbike seat recently redone on my scooter. 400 baht. A friend of mine had similar work done in the US. $275.

 

I recently had a guy come over and insulate my ceiling. I bought the insulation and paid him 2000 baht for labor. In the US? $800 and up.

I recently had an electrician do some work on the house. Nearly a full day of work. Paid him 1000 baht. In the US? $800 and up.

 

A friend of mine paid $1,500 to get his tree trimmed in LA recently. I just paid 1,000 baht to get several trees and my entire garden trimmed, and that included hauling everything away. 

 

An oil change for my scooter costs me 200 baht, with Castrol oil. In the US? $75.

 

I eat well here. In a smaller town you can get a three course meal for 200-250 baht. In the US? 2000 baht and up, plus tax and a nearly mandatory 15% tip.

And I get attitude for leaving a $15 or $20 tip. Here, I get nothing but gratitude for a 20-40 baht tip. Recently I was in the US and wanted to order from a delivery service. Besides the meal costing $45 for two dishes, tax and delivery service fees was well over $14. So, $59 for two dishes? I made a sandwich instead of engaging in that foolishness. 

 

I visit the emergency room here to visit a specialist, and with x-rays I am out the door for 2000 baht, at a private hospital. In the US? $300-2000.

 

Friends of mine, who are single, enjoy the company of a young, beautiful woman for a couple of hours, for 2000 baht. In the US? $800 an hour now for a decent looking woman with an attitude problem.

 

I could go on and on, all day long. I live at a level here, that I would never be able to live at, in the US, in most of Europe, in Oz, or Canada.

 

A quote from a friend recently in the US:

 

My neighbor told me she got a quote for a wood fence around her house. It was around $8,800 ($2800 for the materials, labor (2 days), $6,000. 2 days at 8 hours a day = 16 hours of labor)

 

For $6,000 labor/16 hours that works out to be around $375 an hour labor.

 

Another neighbor got some quotes to get the outside of his house painted. Average quote was around $5,000. He bought all the paint and supplies for $1500. Labor $3,500 and the house would have been finished in 1 day.

 

$3,500 divided by 8 hours of labor = $437 an hour to paint a one story ranch house.

 

So, expensive is very relative. Thailand is still reasonable. 

 

[Fat is a type of crazy]

2 hours ago, StevieAus said:

Particularly lettuces which I read recently are selling for $12 due to shortages.

I can confirm. Australia is extremely expensive for fruit and vegetables now. Many more than $10 a kilo. Except for bananas. Bananas is cheap. Wine is cheap. Beer is a bit more but better.

The cheapest things I noticed in Thailand last week was hotel accommodation and fruit. Many things used to be super cheap in Thailand are just a bit cheaper now. 

[moogradod]

39 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Makro sell very nice Valencia orange juice at 5l for 250bht, next to the fresh milk.

You should try it!

First of all thank you for your answer which is aimed to help ! Not self-explanatory with many answers you get nowadays on aseannow !

 

I will really try your suggestion, but I suspect that given the reasonable price this is juice from concentrate and "Valencia" rather a brand name than the origin. But who knows, lets try.

 

One brand from Germany, which is a direct juice, that I buy from time to time in Central is something around THB 280.-- / l if I recall correctly and even this one does not live up to the expectations given the exorbitant price. Sometimes we cook the Vietnamese Duck from the cookbook of Rick Stein (as a Brit you should know him) which calls for fresh orange juice. Then we buy about 6 kg of fresh oranges to get the 1 liter needed. Which is expensive.

 

But this French brand (Andros) comes as near as it gets to the real thing. We alway bought it in Switzerland. Sold at several big supermarkets:

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

10 hours ago, KIngsofisaan said:

12 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Just for some clarification, who are the people complaining about ten Baht price rises ?

Do I have to read the posted articles to you?

No, obviously, you do not but you could quote some of them, I'd be interested to see who is so upset by B10 price rises.  My guess is that there aren't any, none at all.

[Kwasaki]

43 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Cooking oil, 40bht/ltr before COVID, 80bht/ltr today.

My woman complained this morning after getting back from the market.

I don't shop much only shop in 7-11 and all the stuff I buy is the same price except for bread. 

 

Obviously I see the price of fuel but still only stick a 1000 in when the trucks near empty. 

 

My bike tank fill up usually about 500 it was 750 last time. 

 

I don't eat fried food. ????

Mrs gets my potatoes weekly no complaints. 

[Liverpool Lou]

10 hours ago, KIngsofisaan said:

Because the bah bus or whatever goes up 10 baht, what is the reason for complaining?

 

Is 10 extra baht really hurting some folks that much?

I think that your imagination needs reining in, where are all these alleged complaints about tiny price rises?

[Liverpool Lou]

9 hours ago, Adumbration said:

I don't complain about price, just the abissmal customer service that surrounds the sale of any Thai product.

"...abissmal [sic] customer service that surrounds the sale of any Thai product".

Any specifics that you've experienced out of every single purchase you've made?

[moogradod]

40 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

...........................

So, expensive is very relative. Thailand is still reasonable.

Everything related to work (like repairs etc.) is extremely cheap here. This is good for us as customers, but many times I have to think about the people doing this work and the compensation they get for it.

 

That is clearly the more than sad part then.

[Aussieroaming]

 

I don't think that you can really associate complaining about higher costs with the initial reason for moving here. Some people just love to complain about costs regardless of their reason for coming here. In reality total costs of living for foreigners who don't own property probably reduced during covid as rental prices slumped. This new inflation correction will test everyone on a fixed income I think, as prices continue to rise. This will be especially true for people if they had large portions of their income tied up in the SET or in crypto. 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Cooking oil, 40bht/ltr before COVID, 80bht/ltr today.

My woman complained this morning after getting back from the market.

Tell her to go to 7-11, Lotus's, Big C, Tops etc. instead, none of them charge anything like B80 for ordinary cooking oil.  

[Liverpool Lou]

51 minutes ago, chuang said:

12 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Just for some clarification, who are the people complaining about ten Baht price rises ?

Many if you care to scroll back Asean Now....

Funny how no one, so far, has been unable to quote a couple of them out of the many that, apparently, are so easy to find!