How bad has inflation been in Thailand the past few years?

[NorthernRyland]

12 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

I'd say minimum wage as increased 3-4 times since I've been here, as remember giving my workers 150 baht a day, and was the going rate in 2000/2001 out in the village,  Now it's 400-500 baht a day, for help around the house, as the wife pay by the hour.  Even though minimum is less, she can't find anyone for less than 400 a day.   And far from a physical or mental stress day, tinkering around the house & garden.

 

 

Think how screwed you'd be if you saved money and were planning on living on that for retirement. Day labor has more than doubled in 25 years and food has at least doubled. The only thing stable here seems to be rent.

 

I came in summer of 2005 which appeared to be the start of a sharp drop in the value of the dollar which never recovered even 20 years after. Fried rice was reliably 20 baht/plate and now I'm seeing many Thai restaurants charge in the 50-60 baht range for simple common dishes. Food could be close to tripling in the next couple years. Serious inflation I would say.

 

 

 

[NoshowJones]

On 5/24/2024 at 8:01 AM, worgeordie said:

Government numbers are far from realistic , in the real world it's different,

prices up , smaller products , especially any Farang foods ...

 

regards worgeordie

I have noticed prices in food in BigC on ie jars of Jam, increase by about 30%. Tins of beans and spam by at least 15% in Makro.

[fortz]

On 5/24/2024 at 7:21 AM, Cryingdick said:

I no longer live over there but the question speaks for itself. 

Actually, it doesn't. Do you mean headline or core inflation?

[newnative]

     No, I don't have any percentages for you.  But, I would say inflation has not been bad at all here.  I hardly give it a thought.  I've been here 14 years and price increases have been very reasonable over the years, in my opinion, and for what I buy.  Meanwhile, the dollar to baht was around 31 when I arrived and today is 36.6.  And, as another poster has said, the COLAs on my pension and Social Security have easily exceeded the low inflation.  I would be worse off in the US, my home country.

[Robert Paulson]

To me, a good example of actual inflation is in the usa, your rent is 1000 dollars per month. In a years time they hike it twice and now it’s 1400 and you look for other places and there is no finding the 1000 again. That doesn’t exist in Thailand. I stayed in a thai building right by a bts station a few years back and it was 4000 baht a month, and I didn’t even shop around. 
 

There’s no inflation here because you can live as cheaply or as expensive as you want here. This is not true in other countries. Once again, people don’t get it. Just because you need to eat croissants, imported butter, wine and stuff you fat faces with pizza every week doesn’t mean there’s inflation just because that stuff went up. 

[Robert Paulson]

I could seriously list 20 food items in markets that have not changed in price in ten years. Really the same goddam produce Thai herbs, 3 for 10 baht… it’s all the same prices. The vegetable the basic the damn Thai whatever herbs. Lemongrass. It’s all the same. Your imported apricot jam may have increased but the stuff Thais buy has not. At least not in many areas it hasn’t. 

[FruitPudding]

On 5/24/2024 at 9:59 AM, BE88 said:

Frankly I don't know, what I do know is that my wife is asking me for more money so I suppose that yes, life has become more 40% expensive, This 40% is my wife's request

 

The birds here think they are economists, but if you hold fast they come back to the same old prices.

[Robert Paulson]

Let’s just say there was inflation though. Ok… well you still don’t know how <deleted> works. Most Thais drive out to issan every damn holiday and load up on rice and whatever the hell else. It’s just “free” staples they ain’t paying no more than they did even one or two decades ago. 
 

there’s food everywhere people. The stuff even grows on trees. This isn’t Manchester where it’d be a miracle to see a single piece of ripe fruit hanging off a tree. You got all sorts a stuff out there. The stuff just grows. It’s amazing. Shove that up your inflation pipe. 

[FruitPudding]

The only inflation I have really noticed is:

 

1. 30 baht fried rice is now 50 baht 

2. 300 oil massage is now 400

3. 70 baht beers are now 90

 

That said, I don't go to GoGo bars. And after 8pm the claws come out down Sukhumvit. 

 

I haven't noticed much change in anything else really. 

 

 

[Robert Paulson]

Typical Thai visa post: “my Stella Artois and my Australian grass fed beef has doubled. It’s outrageous idk how the locals can get by”. wtf

[Robert Paulson]

The sad part is I’m the only one saying anything even remotely close to accurate about thai inflation. But the hoard will strenuously disagree of course because they saw a report on bbc. 

[Furioso]

When I see prices in local stores going up I usually end up going to Makro more often lol. 

 

Also, although inflation here in Thailand has been increasing my rent has barely went up. I'm paying way less rent here than I would in my home country. It's so good to see my savings account go up instead of down I'll never live in another expensive country again. 

[Mike Lister]

30 minutes ago, Robert Paulson said:

To me, a good example of actual inflation is in the usa, your rent is 1000 dollars per month. In a years time they hike it twice and now it’s 1400 and you look for other places and there is no finding the 1000 again. That doesn’t exist in Thailand. I stayed in a thai building right by a bts station a few years back and it was 4000 baht a month, and I didn’t even shop around. 
 

There’s no inflation here because you can live as cheaply or as expensive as you want here. This is not true in other countries. Once again, people don’t get it. Just because you need to eat croissants, imported butter, wine and stuff you fat faces with pizza every week doesn’t mean there’s inflation just because that stuff went up. 

Nonsense!

 

There is an oversupply of property in Thailand, your experience of looking for a place to live has nothing to do with inflation!

[BE88]

1 hour ago, Robert Paulson said:

Typical Thai visa post: “my Stella Artois and my Australian grass fed beef has doubled. It’s outrageous idk how the locals can get by”. wtf

 

Have you noticed that Thais don't drink Stella Artois and they do not eat grass-fed Australian beef.😁

[Furioso]

1 hour ago, Robert Paulson said:

To me, a good example of actual inflation is in the usa, your rent is 1000 dollars per month. In a years time they hike it twice and now it’s 1400 and you look for other places and there is no finding the 1000 again. That doesn’t exist in Thailand. I stayed in a thai building right by a bts station a few years back and it was 4000 baht a month, and I didn’t even shop around. 
 

There’s no inflation here because you can live as cheaply or as expensive as you want here. This is not true in other countries. Once again, people don’t get it. Just because you need to eat croissants, imported butter, wine and stuff you fat faces with pizza every week doesn’t mean there’s inflation just because that stuff went up. 

You're right, it's insane how much rent inflation is going on in the west, which is the main reason I live here in Thailand. 

[Mike Lister]

On 5/24/2024 at 2:53 PM, Robert Paulson said:

I got a kilo of chicken breast 10 years ago: 40 baht. 
Go grab a kilo of chicken breast today: 40 baht 

 

Chicken breast, 1 kilo, Makro, yesterday, 70 baht kilo.

 

 

1 hour ago, Robert Paulson said:

I could seriously list 20 food items in markets that have not changed in price in ten years. Really the same goddam produce Thai herbs, 3 for 10 baht… it’s all the same prices. The vegetable the basic the damn Thai whatever herbs. Lemongrass. It’s all the same. Your imported apricot jam may have increased but the stuff Thais buy has not. At least not in many areas it hasn’t. 

 

I do hope you are not trolling us with this nonsense, if you are, expect rapid deflation!

[KannikaP]

On 5/24/2024 at 8:12 AM, Cryingdick said:

i am looking for everyday prices, auch as the price of a room, the price of a beer or meal in Pattaya. The price of groceries.

Room, meal, groceries isn't quite so specific.

[Gecko123]

2 hours ago, Robert Paulson said:

To me, a good example of actual inflation is in the usa, your rent is 1000 dollars per month. In a years time they hike it twice and now it’s 1400 and you look for other places and there is no finding the 1000 again. That doesn’t exist in Thailand. I stayed in a thai building right by a bts station a few years back and it was 4000 baht a month, and I didn’t even shop around. 
 

There’s no inflation here because you can live as cheaply or as expensive as you want here. This is not true in other countries. Once again, people don’t get it. Just because you need to eat croissants, imported butter, wine and stuff you fat faces with pizza every week doesn’t mean there’s inflation just because that stuff went up. 

You are conflating your ability to find housing and food that fits into your budget with inflation which are two entirely different issues. Your reasoning would be the same as someone saying there's no inflation in the US because they could always move into a mobile home park, go van-life, or pitch a tent for free in a city park. You're the one who's being ridiculous.

 

Your argument that food inflation has been strictly limited to "farang" food is simply uninformed. Durian, mangoes, oranges, bananas, salak, melons, pineapple - all locally grown produce - have all gone up considerably. A large peeled durian packed in a cello package can easily sell for 500 baht a package, unheard of five years ago and budget conscious durian loving Thais are buying them.

 

Potatoes, broccoli, green beans, peppers, onions, ginger, fak tong, pak chai, collard greens - you name it - have all gone up. Using tiny bundles of herbs sold by elderly women in the market for 10 baht does not represent overall food prices, and you will be hard pressed to find any Thais,n o matter how humble their diet is who will agree with you. A really good example are long green beans which 10 years ago sold for as little as 5 - 10 baht per "gam" (about 2 kit/7 ounces) are now selling for a whopping 82 baht at Lotus's (maybe 60 baht at the local farmer's market) but still that's a 600 to 800% increase over 10 years for a staple vegetable eaten with many staple Thai dishes (nam prik, som tam, massaman curry, stir fry, etc.) I have been growing my own green beans for well over a decade so hadn't purchased green beans in over a decade and I was totally astounded that the price had risen that high.

 

By the way, have you not also noticed that more often than not you no longer get that basket of mung bean sprouts and savory herbs that you used to get with your food at a restaurant? They're cutting costs because food prices have increased so much.

 

And another point I'd like to make is that if you are interested in eating a very healthy balanced varied diet (high anti-oxidant, high omega oil, high fiber), for example, the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in nuts and seeds, fatty fish, olive oil, green leafy vegetables and berries, you are probably going to gravitate  to a certain extent towards higher end imported foods. Anyone can "go native", saving money by eating at 50 baht noodle shops for a short duration, even multiple years, but if you're concerned about your health over the long haul, a hard-scrabble Thai diet of Ma-ma noodles, CP hotdogs, river fish, and swamp weeds is not going to cut it.

 

So no matter how hard you try to write off anyone who has noticed food inflation as  being a cheese, beef, and wine lover who refuses to adapt to the local diet out of inflexibility that's simply not true in all cases. And by the way, people aren't complaining, they're just sharing their observations, so you might want to tone down the righteous indignation a tad bit.

 

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

You are conflating your ability to find housing and food that fits into your budget with inflation which are two entirely different issues. Your reasoning would be the same as someone saying there's no inflation in the US because they could always move into a mobile home park, go van-life, or pitch a tent for free in a city park. You're the one who's being ridiculous.

 

Your argument that food inflation has been strictly limited to "farang" food is simply uninformed. Durian, mangoes, oranges, bananas, salak, melons, pineapple - all locally grown produce - have all gone up considerably. A large peeled durian packed in a cello package can easily sell for 500 baht a package, unheard of five years ago and budget conscious durian loving Thais are buying them.

 

Potatoes, broccoli, green beans, peppers, onions, ginger, fak tong, pak chai, collard greens - you name it - have all gone up. Using tiny bundles of herbs sold by elderly women in the market for 10 baht does not represent overall food prices, and you will be hard pressed to find any Thais,n o matter how humble their diet is who will agree with you. A really good example are long green beans which 10 years ago sold for as little as 5 - 10 baht per "gam" (about 2 kit/7 ounces) are now selling for a whopping 82 baht at Lotus's (maybe 60 baht at the local farmer's market) but still that's a 600 to 800% increase over 10 years for a staple vegetable eaten with many staple Thai dishes (nam prik, som tam, massaman curry, stir fry, etc.) I have been growing my own green beans for well over a decade so hadn't purchased green beans in over a decade and I was totally astounded that the price had risen that high.

 

By the way, have you not also noticed that more often than not you no longer get that basket of mung bean sprouts and savory herbs that you used to get with your food at a restaurant? They're cutting costs because food prices have increased so much.

 

And another point I'd like to make is that if you are interested in eating a very healthy balanced varied diet (high anti-oxidant, high omega oil, high fiber), for example, the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in nuts and seeds, fatty fish, olive oil, green leafy vegetables and berries, you are probably going to gravitate  to a certain extent towards higher end imported foods. Anyone can "go native", saving money by eating at 50 baht noodle shops for a short duration, even multiple years, but if you're concerned about your health over the long haul, a hard-scrabble Thai diet of Ma-ma noodles, CP hotdogs, river fish, and swamp weeds is not going to cut it.

 

So no matter how hard you try to write off anyone who has noticed food inflation as  being a cheese, beef, and wine lover who refuses to adapt to the local diet out of inflexibility that's simply not true in all cases. And by the way, people aren't complaining, they're just sharing their observations, so you might want to tone down the righteous indignation a tad bit.

 

I think RP is correct and you are wrong!

Let me just pick some holes in your long long post,

Cavendish bananas, still 40bht a bunch, same price as the last 15 years.

Potatoes still 32bht/kg, same price as the past 15 years (although there are wild seasonal price swings).

Mangos 20bht/kg when in season, no change.

High fibre diet, I always have granola, 75bht for 250gms, cheapest it's ever been (younger farms or daily mee)

 

The 2 guesthouse I stayed in 15 years back still 5k and 6k month today.

 

Even Mainland Vintage cheddar at 275bhr for 500gm has only risen from 260bht in the past 10 years.

[rickudon]

Not a lot of inflation recently, i did notice somd items went up last year, but prices fell this year. Some specifics-

Bread. Price rose 20% last year.

Milk. Went up about 1 baht a bottle, but price was pretty static for years before.

Frozrn mixed veg. A kilo has gone up 10 baht in about 5 years. 

Crisps. A 5 baht packet is still 5 baht, same as 10 years ago - but hit by shrinkflation, maybe 25% less.

7-11 burger/toasted sandwich. Same price or maybe 2-5 baht more.

Fruit juice. Stayed same price for 10 years, but has gone up 25-40% in the last 4.

Cheese. Up 20% - but over 10 years. Basic cheddar is now as cheap as the UK.

Meat. 100% in 14 years, eggs a bit less than that.

Tilapia. Can still get a kilo for 50 baht, maybe up 20% in 14 years.

 

What has changed many more upmarket items, which cost more.

 

Overall, my budget was 30,000 baht  a month 14 years ago, now 40,000 baht. Pensions up 50%, so better off.

[Paris333]

We must be aware about of the current Global Mickey Mause economy which is calculated in fake figures of individual country economy (not only for Thailand but everwhere by WEF).

In corona period all economies output shrink at the bottom and many economies experienced high deficits and high debt furthermore the rate between fraction of your GDP and deficit should not exceed some standards which in EU States is Maastricht Treaty equivalent not above of 60% of GDP.

Prime Ministers across the world have received orders from IMF and in EU States additional from European Central Bank (E.C.B) wrongly increasing product prices in order to increase fake their GDP (Gross Domestic Product) so the fraction between Deficit of National Budget to G.D.P not to exceed 60% which false budget data fake decrease your National Debt.

Inflation is one of the "tool" of Mickey Mause economy which benefit rich bussinessmen.

Τhe States received higher income taxes from VAT (as products price increase then the VAT also is increased.....) in order to give billion euros in benefits to civilians for everything.

Another "tool" is I.M.F which fund the wars in order to "burn money" and close "black holes" of countries National Budget because all States budgets run huge deficits...... at their National Budgets.

For Thailand Consumer Price Index is 0.85% (measures the overall change in consumer prices based on a representative basket of goods and services over time).

Source:

https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Thailand/inflation_monthly/

What’s your personal inflation rate?

If your inflation rate is high, there are some things you can do to lower it. Start by focusing on your biggest expenses: energy, housing, fuel and food.

These items get divided into 8 categories:

Food and Beverage
Housing
Transportation
Apparel
Medical care
Recreation
Education & Communication
Other goods & services

My inflation rates is very low because I own and rent as landlord my houses -trasportation I have my car driving few km everyday - Apparel we have huge discounts in clothes etc -Medical care absolutely - thanks God - (zero) nothing - Recreation very low because I work in two works until 23:00 for 5 days -Education & Communication very very low approximately nothing -Other good & Services in middle size expenses.

Source:

How To Calculate Your Personal Inflation Rate

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/retirement/personal-inflation-rate/

 

White Horse - Laid Back 1983

 

 

 

 

[sandyf]

On 5/24/2024 at 3:02 AM, Cryingdick said:

 

i am nit talking about any of that i am trying to find out the reality. 

The reality is it depends on what you want to purchase.

People's perspective on inflation will be influenced by their personal circumstances so there is no straightforward answer.

 

[Mike Lister]

9 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I think RP is correct and you are wrong!

Let me just pick some holes in your long long post,

Cavendish bananas, still 40bht a bunch, same price as the last 15 years.

Potatoes still 32bht/kg, same price as the past 15 years (although there are wild seasonal price swings).

Mangos 20bht/kg when in season, no change.

High fibre diet, I always have granola, 75bht for 250gms, cheapest it's ever been (younger farms or daily mee)

 

The 2 guesthouse I stayed in 15 years back still 5k and 6k month today.

 

Even Mainland Vintage cheddar at 275bhr for 500gm has only risen from 260bht in the past 10 years.

The CPI basket of goods that is used to measure inflation contains over 400 items, banana's, mango's and granola bars aren't in there for a  reason. The first two because the supply of them in Thailand, outstrips demand for them.

[Mike Lister]

15 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I think RP is correct and you are wrong!

Let me just pick some holes in your long long post,

Cavendish bananas, still 40bht a bunch, same price as the last 15 years.

Potatoes still 32bht/kg, same price as the past 15 years (although there are wild seasonal price swings).

Mangos 20bht/kg when in season, no change.

High fibre diet, I always have granola, 75bht for 250gms, cheapest it's ever been (younger farms or daily mee)

 

The 2 guesthouse I stayed in 15 years back still 5k and 6k month today.

 

Even Mainland Vintage cheddar at 275bhr for 500gm has only risen from 260bht in the past 10 years.

The following link will start to give you some idea of the contents of the CPI basket.

 

https://www.ceicdata.com/en/thailand/consumer-price-index-2007100-weights-annual/cpi-weights-clothing--footwears-cf

[J Branche]

I would first advise to create an expense list to understand what and total spent per month, track for at least 6 months.  Next review all income after taxes.  

Are you spending more than you earn?

 

Do you have excess money that can be better invested?  Find the best, high quality, most consistent performing ETFs, step into them if the current market is trending up.  Step= invest 20% or similar amount and add more when the Investment is providing positive returns.   A lot of great investment resources but only rely on high quality info and resources NOT someone on YouTube 

[sandyf]

On 5/26/2024 at 5:21 AM, Mike Lister said:

The following link will start to give you some idea of the contents of the CPI basket.

 

https://www.ceicdata.com/en/thailand/consumer-price-index-2007100-weights-annual/cpi-weights-clothing--footwears-cf

CPI baskets mean very little at a personal level.

Late 70s in the UK inflation touched 18% with interest rates around 10%, tough at the time with little government support but we weathered the storm.

[noobexpat]

In the (almost) 2 years i've been here...

Meiji milk, 2 litres, was 85b now 99b.

Mcgarret rolled oats, 45b now 56b.

10 eggs are 69b in villa. Can't remember before price. But up i'm sure.

Bananas went up quick, then down, now up again?? ...130b for a bunch of 14.

 

But in the same timeframe, since the day i arrived here and after 2 years costs and expensive visa, i'm about 12m baht up. GBP to THB up lately, but when gbp weakens when uk interest rates drop my domestic uk funds will go up nicely. Bases are covered!

[jas007]

On 5/24/2024 at 2:41 PM, rwill said:

where I live the 30baht noodle places have gone up to 50 baht

 I remember years ago (2006) when the Thai girls at a bar told me that Pad Thai cost 29 baht from a street vendor.  Today, the woman operating a food cart in the neighborhood charges 50 baht.

 

Does anyone keep track of the Big Mac index and the price of Big Macs in Thailand?

[rwill]

1 hour ago, jas007 said:

 I remember years ago (2006) when the Thai girls at a bar told me that Pad Thai cost 29 baht from a street vendor.  Today, the woman operating a food cart in the neighborhood charges 50 baht.

 

Does anyone keep track of the Big Mac index and the price of Big Macs in Thailand?

Well there was a time when a bowl of noodles was 5-10 baht.