My wife has always ordered potatoes from the local market ten kilos at a time. They appear to be professionally packed in aerated plastic backs and the quality is usually excellent. Far better than what I see in the supermarkets like Big C.

I suspect they may come down the river from China.

The price has always been great, as low as 15B a kilo occasionally creeping up to 25. Yesterdays were 30B a kilo.

We were informed it was all down to fuel costs. I never took any notice of the supermarket prices when I was last in town, usually around 40B, but I assume that they have risen accordingly.

I just paid 52 B a kilo at Big C. Four nice big baking size potatoes cost 67B. So many of my favorite things are going up almost daily it seems.

Price increases on food have been astounding over the past six months. Potatoes have doubled. Pork has doubled. Flour is up about 50%. Butter has nearly doubled. Even drinking water has gone up 20%. A bus ride that cost 5 baht two years ago is now 9. Motorcycle taxis recently raised their standard fare from 10 baht to 15. In that same time my dollar based income has remained the same and the dollar itself has fallen by 25%.

Life here is getting tougher all the time and it's becoming difficult to decide what to give up next.