I'm paying 530 bahts for color and 370 bahts for black and white(InkTec) at Lotus in Hat Yai. I don't want to mess around with refills but wonder if there are some alternatives to these high prices. If so, what or where can I buy them? Thanks- a newby to computers...........

I heard that ink compatibles are illegal in Thailand making the cost of inks very expensive, since you're forced to buy originals. Can anyone verify this? In the UK at least, is possible to get 6 black compatible cartridges for an Epson C40SX for £9 (ca 540 Baht).

I always (I have the little printer now for six years) bought refills. 350 Baht for two refills of 20 cc each. Sometimes an easy job, sometimes I got the ink even behind my ears.

Now there is a big competition of shops which offer refills for 6 to 8 Baht per cc (depends on the rent they pay for the shop, not the brand of the ink). They do the job for you. B/w or colour the same.

And you pay only for the ink which gets into the cartridge, not the ink on your clothes or on the wall and floor.

That's what I might do next time.

A friend bought the cheap chinese ink on the market, the kind of fountain-pen ink.

He used it for years and I never heard him complain.

If refills are illegal I don't know. You can buy them everywhere.