Is Thailand raising ahead of peers ito higher cost of living

[mjakob007]

Was in Bali earlier this month and they seem to be busy with visitors. may not be pre-covid levels but way more busier than what we see here.

 

It appeared the cost of groceries were not as expensive as we pay here.

wine, cheese, chocolates, pringles, cookies, beef were  8-15% cheaper there than here. 

compared to pre-covid years, the restaurant prices also seems to tipped in favour of bali!

 

Would this be stemming from higher import duties on food levied here?

[marin]

What parts of Bali are you comparing to what parts of Thailand? 

[worgeordie]

9 minutes ago, mjakob007 said:

Would this be stemming from higher import duties on food levied here?

Imported food ,yes, but it's profit that makes things expensive ,

UK imported food stuffs have not gone down in price and in fact

some prices have risen , since the Pound dropped dramatically in

value , more profit for the sellers.

 

regards Worgeordie

 

 

[mjakob007]

8 minutes ago, marin said:

What parts of Bali are you comparing to what parts of Thailand? 

Seminyak, jimbran, ubud etc

They were all cheaper than here, in varying degrees

[marin]

Comparing to Bangkok, Udon Thani, Phuket, Chaing Rai?

[mjakob007]

10 minutes ago, marin said:

Comparing to Bangkok, Udon Thani, Phuket, Chaing Rai?

Chiang Mai (50%), bangkok (10%), pattaya (40%) 

[Expat68]

Maybe a little but for us Brits it is the weak pound 

[NoshowJones]

I don't think so, here it is probably more to do with greed and putting the blame on the pandemic or the Russian war.

[Sparktrader]

Wine has always been paeng. 7/11 was cheap for me

[Sparktrader]

I ate 50 baht meals in Phuket. Same as 5 years ago.

[PeachCH]

For Bali, on arrival, what Covid-19 requests? 

[mjakob007]

1 hour ago, PeachCH said:

For Bali, on arrival, what Covid-19 requests? 

Airline asked for us to complete some application similar to 'thai channa'. didnt work and nobody asked upon arrival.

 

upon arrival, was asked for 'vaccination certificate' with 2 jabs, of which they scanned QR code & off we went.

[Lacrimas]

Yes surely Thailand has soared in terms of cost of living, 20-30% more compared to pre-Covid years and 80% to 10 years ago. It's actually scary. I remember eating at street shops for 30 baht in 2012 and now the minimum is 40 baht, average 50 baht. 

[LittleBear57]

The only food which has stayed the same price for a few years is Noodle soup. Everything has gone up or shrunk in size or quality. "50 bht meals" in Phuket, that must be nice. You can just about get that at at our local market but most of the food is lacking in real quality. At the market they do a nice tasting chicken and cashew nuts for 50bht (no rice) but since peppers have gone up by 50% I noticed they disappeared from the dish. Meals are around double what they were 8 years ago.

[Lacrimas]

44 minutes ago, LittleBear57 said:

The only food which has stayed the same price for a few years is Noodle soup. Everything has gone up or shrunk in size or quality. "50 bht meals" in Phuket, that must be nice. You can just about get that at at our local market but most of the food is lacking in real quality. At the market they do a nice tasting chicken and cashew nuts for 50bht (no rice) but since peppers have gone up by 50% I noticed they disappeared from the dish. Meals are around double what they were 8 years ago.

Yeah the 50 baht meal in phuket must be microscopic 

[internationalism]

today my makro monthly food shopping (bread, vegetables, salmon) was 1400b.

All products were discounted 50%.

That would feed family of 4 in large part.

No, no pringles, wine, cookies and beef. 

The rest food, high quality, comes from lazada and is stored for months and years. This month some 10k spend. Old stock still going cheap.

[mjakob007]

11 hours ago, mjakob007 said:

Airline asked for us to complete some application similar to 'thai channa'. didnt work and nobody asked upon arrival.

 

upon arrival, was asked for 'vaccination certificate' with 2 jabs, of which they scanned QR code & off we went.

And no 'mask madness'.

barely anybody with masks on

[mjakob007]

On 10/25/2022 at 12:26 PM, worgeordie said:

but it's profit that makes things expensive

You hit the nail on the head.

 

Most of the retailers in Bali were smaller outfits who may not be able to 'price-fix', unlike lotus, tops, big c etc here, who are able to control retail behavior as a few biz houses are in charge of everything.

 

 

[Lorry]

Hasn't Bali always been cheaper than Thailand?

 

Oh, and Bali certainly cannot be called "peers" of Thailand. 

Thailand is an upper-middle income country, like China, South Africa, Mexico - poverty exists,  but you wouldn't call them poor countries. And it's a whole country. 

 

Bali is just a touristy island in a lower-middle income country (that's countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar - countries that you would call poor).

 

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/middle-income-countries

[mistral53]

28 minutes ago, Lorry said:

Hasn't Bali always been cheaper than Thailand?

 

Oh, and Bali certainly cannot be called "peers" of Thailand. 

Thailand is an upper-middle income country, like China, South Africa, Mexico - poverty exists,  but you wouldn't call them poor countries. And it's a whole country. 

 

Bali is just a touristy island in a lower-middle income country (that's countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar - countries that you would call poor).

 

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/middle-income-countries

I hope you understand that per-capita income has absolutely nothing to do with how well off the average pleb is - as with most statistics, they serve a designed purpose, but never the stated description.

[Lorry]

1 hour ago, mistral53 said:

I hope you understand that per-capita income has absolutely nothing to do with how well off the average pleb is - as with most statistics, they serve a designed purpose, but never the stated description.

So just look around Indonesia and look around Thailand  - can't you see the difference? These statistics are not far off from what you can see in real life.