2 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

Buy a cooked one.

 

You still need to buy other stuff to pair it with.

It's way too bland just to eat one of those supermarket roasted chickens.

Maybe the legs are ok.

But then the breast meat tastes like cardboard.

I have bought pre-cooked pork or chicken from supermarkets, but then add it to mushroom soup or something.

 

15 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

Minimum wage in 1974 was $2.00/hour.

Minimum wage in 2025 is $9.50/hour.

 

375% increase

 

Big Mac in 1974 was $0.65

Big Mac now averages $5.79

 

790.769% increase

 

 

Back then, you could raise a family on one salary.

The wages stagnated because women entered the workforce. Or this is one reason, I believe.

Would need to compare % of women in the workforce in 1974 compared to 2025.

So on 2 salaries, your numbers need to be tweaked.

Of course my theory could be bs.

 

3 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

 

You still need to buy other stuff to pair it with.

It's way too bland just to eat one of those supermarket roasted chickens.

Maybe the legs are ok.

But then the breast meat tastes like cardboard.

I have bought pre-cooked pork or chicken from supermarkets, but then add it to mushroom soup or something.

 

Sticky rice and 5 star chicken

Just now, save the frogs said:

 

Back then, you could raise a family on one salary.

The wages stagnated because women entered the workforce. Or this is one reason, I believe.

Would need to compare % of women in the workforce in 1974 compared to 2025.

So on 2 salaries, your numbers need to be tweaked.

Of course my theory could be bs.

 

 

Well obviously, if women are leaving the home, there are fewer in the kitchen making sammiches, so more Big Macs being purchased.

 

Makes sense.

1 minute ago, Harrisfan said:

Sticky rice and 5 star chicken

 

Yeah you could do sticky rice.

Stay away from McDonald's!

1 hour ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Wow, was that at the airport?

Walking Street Pattaya, may as well have been the airport.

32 minutes ago, JensenZ said:

A 1/4 pounder is a very small meal with about 114 grams of meat, so very expensive back then, too. It has never been cheap food; just the big photos are very deceptive. That burger is a small snack for most people.

 

If one's goal is to become OBESE, like most Americans, then...yes, 120 grams of beef is a small snack.

However, for the average Japanese restaurant goer, 120 grams of beef is for fatties.

 

Also, do NOT buy Coke.

And, the fries are killing Americans, where they sit.

 

The cost is not in the food, but in the hospital bills.

If these Burger Joints added in the cost of hospitalization for the American population which exists on their garbage, then nobody could afford a single meal.

 

 

Then and now....

It's all in food choices you make.

 

 

If McD is losing customers, then what about 5-GUYS Burgers?

 

No doubt, 5-Guys has far more dedicated clientele.

Seems that the satisfaction with 5-Guys just continues to balloon.

 

 

I am interested in trying this huge meal.

Where can I get one in Chiang Mai?

 

Also, I might need someone like this girl to show me how to eat it without spilling even one scrumptious morsel.

 

Go Girl...!!!

You are making Oprah proud.

 

 

3 hours ago, save the frogs said:

And it was dirt cheap to get everyone hooked. 

 

Correct.

And, Microsoft used the same strategy to hook consumers with an inferior product, simply by overlooking pirating of MS DOS/Windows, initially.

 

I was not allowed to eat Burger-King glop when it was first introduced to my area.

Once in a while, a neighbor would take us kids to get a meal.

However, at the time, I was old enough so that my taste preferences were already set.

The unfortunate ones, these days, are the children who are becoming addicted to garbage meals for MC-Kids....

 

This is the dark side of capitalism, and the unethical side of the American government.

 

Children, young children, are unable to protect themselves from companies such as Coke and Pepsico.

Someone, the gov, ought to protect our children.

 

Trump should pass a law:  One must be over the age of 18 to eat at McDees.....

 

Trump could still eat there, of course.

But, even he has cut way back, one is told.

 

 

4 hours ago, transam said:

And what does your 7/11 sell in the eatery department..

 

I do not buy anything from the "food selections" at 7.

I don't like the way the sandwiches look large on one side, and then find them empty on the back side.

This kind of thing goes against the grain.

 

Maybe some can just accept this kind of promoting, but I cannot.

 

53 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

If one's goal is to become OBESE, like most Americans, then...yes, 120 grams of beef is a small snack.

However, for the average Japanese restaurant goer, 120 grams of beef is for fatties.

 

Also, do NOT buy Coke.

And, the fries are killing Americans, where they sit.

 

The cost is not in the food, but in the hospital bills.

If these Burger Joints added in the cost of hospitalization for the American population which exists on their garbage, then nobody could afford a single meal.

 

 

Then and now....

It's all in food choices you make.

 

 

I'm not interested in discussing the health benefits of eating or not eating McDonald's. I'm only discussing the price and value now compared to 52 years ago, as per the 1973 price board. If people aren't getting fat or obese on McDonald's, or if McDonald's never existed, there are plenty of other fast food chains to pick up the slack. Due to the small size of the portions, they are probably getting fat somewhere else. Blaming one store for a population's obesity is absurd. 

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Average 3000+ THB a day, marketing/office work.

 

Companies here pay white-collar workers by the day?

 

So, is Gemini wrong?

 

If hired by a local international company, then:

 

 

 

People in Thailand seem to be making money, hand over fist.

Is the buying power of the average Thai person now equivalent to the true local buying power of a Taiwanese person in Taiwan?

 

Burger joints are popular in Taiwan.

Plenty of fat people in Taipei, but maybe not as many has here, or...are there actually more?

 

Does income now predict obesity?

Or, is there only this correlation in the USA?

 

Here we go again....Farang eating recycled Thail food lecturing about McDonald's being junk 😄 🤣 

22 minutes ago, JensenZ said:

I'm only discussing the price and value now compared to 52 years ago,

 

It's quite difficult to make this comparison.

 

The quality has changed radically.

 

The same goes for BK.

A burger 52 years ago at BK is not the same product as a burger purchased today, even though the brand has not changed.

 

2 hours ago, Yagoda said:

The hash browns are just grease sponges, so good with a hangover and sour stomach.

100%, they work a treat.

5 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

Eat a real burger like Carls Jnr

 

They were ok burgers but did not survive in thailand after the covid wankdemic.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1253601-say-goodbye-to-big-carl-as-carl%E2%80%99s-jr-leaves-thailand-by-the-end-of-march/

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

 

No, pay by the month, I just broke it day to the day, replying to someone stating minimum 'daily' wage.

 

It's not the educations system, or the business world that dictates anything.   It's the individual's drive and applying themselves, with what they know, learned, will learn, whether book smart & diploma'd or street smart, school of hard knocks, education with trial & error experiences.   I was the latter, but which ever, never settle for what one will offer, when there other options.

 

If not offers worthy your talent, endure the system, to you become independent of it, and self employment works for most, when the employment market doesn't appreciate you.

 

Don't know about about others, but her first job out of Uni was ...

... 30k, within a yr, 50k monthly, after interning w/ no salary

... next, start at 65k, hated it

... next, start at 85, hated it even more

... now 78k + 10k & 1.5k (allowances) then 10k raise every year, I think, if memory correct.  Incentive for hitting target, is 6 months base pay, evaluated quarterly w/ payout ... SWEET 👍👍

 

Think she'll be there for awhile, whether she hates it or not.  Her fiancé has good paying job also, banking.  Should be able to pay off her rental properties in 5 yrs, and she's only 26.  Buy more properties & shooting for retirement same as me, before 50 yrs old.

8 hours ago, Alan Zweibel said:

Economists call it a symptom of the stark wealth divide

Prices have risen so high at the iconic fast food chain that traffic from one of its core customer bases, low-income households, has dropped by double digits, McDonald's chief executive Christopher Kempczinski told investors last week. Meanwhile, traffic from higher-earners increased by nearly as much, he said.

The struggle of the Golden Arches — long synonymous with cheap food for the masses — reflects a larger trend upending the consumer economy and making "affordability" a hot policy topic.

McDonald's executives say the higher costs of restaurant essentials, such as beef and salaries, have pushed food prices up and driven away lower-income customers who are already being squeezed by the rising cost of groceries, clothes, rent and child care.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mcdonalds-losing-low-income-customers-110000082.html

 

The article doesn't disclose the income level of those higher earners. I suspect that they are people who used to be able to affording eating at higher priced places and are reducing their expenditures. I don't think that billionaires are now flocking to it.

Yea, McD’s jacked up the prices way too high for fast food.  This price increase started during COVID. 

4 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

Walking Street Pattaya, may as well have been the airport.

 

Ah, yes, I remember going there once. For those prices there, the female staff should at least be

🎩less... 😆 

9 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Cool. Now the fat welfare chicks in spandex will drop a few pounds.

I am near 80, never had MD in my life

McD pricing eliminated the value proposition long ago. A selection of items is as expensive if not more expensive than a comparable restaurant meal. The difference is that the restaurant meal offers table service, more comfortable seating, and better quality. The McDonalds Hamburgers are reheated and items are often microwaved. Almost everything is fried and high sodium with the result that many  have the fast food nausea syndrome within an hour of consuming it. Even the basic egg McMuffin is a travesty. No butter is used, but you do have the option of an oil spray on your muffin. The orange processed goop is not actually cheese etc. 

 

9 hours ago, BritManToo said:

McDonalds don't sell food, they sell franchises and rent land.

https://www.skylineprp.com/post/mcdonalds

 

Don't forget the requirement to purchase all supplies from the corporate designated supplier.

 

 

I like tatters, hmmmhuh

 

Poor folk have no business eating out, Mc D's or anywhere. You're poor, you bring food from home.

14 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Low income Thais are not eating at those places.  Not even MK.

 

As long as I've been here, 25 yrs, the Thais have packed western fast food places.  Western tourist also, though locally, Udon Thani and Prachuap Khiri Khan (not Hua Hin), the low income expats seem to avoid western fast food ... what I notice anyway.

 

You'd also be surprised how much folks make per day, as most are not at minimum wage, especially the ones dining in AC spending 2-3-4-500 baht a meal.

 

My daughter, only 4 yrs out of Uni, makes more per month than I do now.  Average 3000+ THB a day, marketing/office work.

 

Her first job, out of Uni, was 30-50k a month, depending on OT.

 

How do you manage to identify the "low income expats" in any dining environment?

No one on this devil's earth should be eating that poison, rich or poor.

 

It's a 1000% Illuminati operation.

 

💯0%

9 hours ago, still kicking said:

I am near 80, never had MD in my life

Cool, but you shouldnt wear spandex either

10 hours ago, still kicking said:

I am near 80, never had MD in my life

Is there a badge of honour for that? Some of the special burgers they make these days are actually very good. There's a reason why McDonald's is such a big thing around the world. They produce food that people enjoy eating... It's that simple. What kept you away for 80 years? Are you worried that you might enjoy it?

1 hour ago, Woke to Sounds said:

No one on this devil's earth should be eating that poison, rich or poor.

 

It's a 1000% Illuminati operation.

 

💯0%

Most people enjoy ice cream, chocolate and luxurious cakes, but that doesn't mean they live on it. Live a little, it won't kill you. You're still going to die.

 

Are confectionery manufacturers evil Illuminati, too?

1 hour ago, Woke to Sounds said:

No one on this devil's earth should be eating that poison, rich or poor.

 

It's a 1000% Illuminati operation.

 

💯0%

I bet you're a larf at party's................

19 minutes ago, JensenZ said:

Is there a badge of honour for that? Some of the special burgers they make these days are actually very good. There's a reason why McDonald's is such a big thing around the world. They produce food that people enjoy eating... It's that simple. What kept you away for 80 years? Are you worried that you might enjoy it?

 

    Mainly poor people having the chance to eat out in  "restaurant" , as they couldn't afford proper restaurants

20 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

 

Use'ta be affordable....

 

It's all relative, (USA) as remember burger, fries & drink, $.99, ... but ... minimum wage was also about $1 an hour.

 

Now, a burger, fries & drink cost ??? $10-$15, and minimum wage, also $10-$15, location dependent, so not much has changed in USA