The Price Of Cheese

[JSixpack]

Cheese is saturated fat, anyway . . . Farangs can go without it in LOS.

Oh, farangs can do w/o a LOT of things in LOS. But we don't want to. And we get annoyed when we realize that we are going without something we enjoy--and poor Thais going without the jobs, income, and goods that lower tariffs would generate--just so that Khun Somchai, holding a near local monopoly, can enjoy driving his Benz.

[Ulysses G.]

stop eating cheese ,way over priced now ,1 kg ,and i could eat thai food for a week for what it costs

I have stopped eating certain foods because of the price increases. Cheese is saturated fat, anyway. Thais don't eat it that much. Farangs can go without it in LOS.

Personally, I don't eat a lot of cheese by itself, but many farang dishes have to have it to taste right. Italian or Mexican food can not do without it!

[Boater]

Have you been to Tesco or Carrefour?

Have you seen the price of a good old cheese?

What a bloody disgrace!

I can buy a kilo of "pad krapow" for 100 baht, but a 50g block of ye good olde cheddar is going to cost more than I paid for my house... damned foreigners!

agree

[Edonista]

Have you been to Tesco or Carrefour?

Have you seen the price of a good old cheese?

What a bloody disgrace!

I can buy a kilo of "pad krapow" for 100 baht, but a 50g block of ye good olde cheddar is going to cost more than I paid for my house... damned foreigners!

One more reason to move to the Philippines.

[Andrew Hicks]

Have you been to Tesco or Carrefour?

Have you seen the price of a good old cheese?

What a bloody disgrace!

I can buy a kilo of "pad krapow" for 100 baht, but a 50g block of ye good olde cheddar is going to cost more than I paid for my house... damned foreigners!

You can buy cheese??!! So lucky!

I wrote a book about the rigours of living in a village in Surin but my greatest deprivation relates to cheese.

Big C and Tesco in Surin town an hour away only stock the disgusting processed stuff in slices made of rubber. Makro has cheddar which isn't outrageously priced but they only stock it in two kilo packs. It'll have gone 'orrible or I'll have had a coronary infarct before I've internalised all of that.

Where do you live that you can get cheese??

TIT surely!

[lifeisrandom]

stop eating cheese ,way over priced now ,1 kg ,and i could eat thai food for a week for what it costs

You eat at expensive restaurants .

What irritates me is that Thai cheese and wine ( ) is priced way up there with the imported and import taxed foreign produce.

yeah, i guess with no competition they just make prices to match, but i dont get why they dont use the theory - "low price = sells more".

[jeffer]

Did some shopping in Villa Ari the other night and cheese is pricy there as well, surprised anyone buys it but I didn't notice the brand referred to earlier. They did have some decent natural yoghurt and other Thai produced yoghurt that was quite cheap. Tasted okay though not as good as the European product however for the price I would buy again.

[philstone]

I don't get it. How can the price of cheese in Thailand be a national disgrace? Thailand is not a major cheese producing nor exporting nation. If it were and the price of Thai Cheddar in Kuala Lumpur was less than in Bangkok then it would be an issue but, even so, hardly a national disgrace. The government imposes import tax that hikes the price of cheese locally. If Thais were major consumers of cheese maybe pressure could be brought to bear on the government to cut the import tax. But they are not so the price remains high for the foreigners who do eat the stuff. Thai Rak Thai as the party was named.

Anyhow, so the price is high. What percentage of your weekly food intake is comprised of cheese? If cheese were cheap and rice, chicken or fish were expensive then you'd have a point.

Cheese is always good with a nice whine, for some people Phil.

I live in Thailand and I eat cheese and drink wine almost other everyday with mine friends I guess I must be very lucky.

[lifeisrandom]

Have you been to Tesco or Carrefour?

Have you seen the price of a good old cheese?

What a bloody disgrace!

I can buy a kilo of "pad krapow" for 100 baht, but a 50g block of ye good olde cheddar is going to cost more than I paid for my house... damned foreigners!

You can buy cheese??!! So lucky!

I wrote a book about the rigours of living in a village in Surin but my greatest deprivation relates to cheese.

Big C and Tesco in Surin town an hour away only stock the disgusting processed stuff in slices made of rubber. Makro has cheddar which isn't outrageously priced but they only stock it in two kilo packs. It'll have gone 'orrible or I'll have had a coronary infarct before I've internalised all of that.

Where do you live that you can get cheese??

TIT surely!

you could get someone from bkk to mail you some i am sure

[missismiggins]

I don't get it. How can the price of cheese in Thailand be a national disgrace? Thailand is not a major cheese producing nor exporting nation. If it were and the price of Thai Cheddar in Kuala Lumpur was less than in Bangkok then it would be an issue but, even so, hardly a national disgrace. The government imposes import tax that hikes the price of cheese locally. If Thais were major consumers of cheese maybe pressure could be brought to bear on the government to cut the import tax. But they are not so the price remains high for the foreigners who do eat the stuff. Thai Rak Thai as the party was named.

Anyhow, so the price is high. What percentage of your weekly food intake is comprised of cheese? If cheese were cheap and rice, chicken or fish were expensive then you'd have a point.

Err.....hook ...err...line....sinker?

[missismiggins]

One of the drawbacks of Thailand, super expensive cheese. What're ya gonna do? The indigenous folk don't dig it, so it's no skin off their nose, so we're out of luck.

I've given many a longing look at the cheese rack at Rimping while I order my cheap cold cuts at the deli counter.

In Chiang Mai, there's a place (company is DACHEESO, I love that name) where they make decent Mozzarella (smoked or plain), sell it at Rimping. I'm cheap enough to just go buy it at the factory shop, but then I end up buying their homemade cheesecake too.

What the hel_l does "rimping" mean?

"Rimping" as described by the Encyclopedia Brittanicca is..." an overpriced pretentious supermarket dedicated in providing Farang with some home comforts, at aprice they can barely afford!. (Sic)

AKA... blatant rip off for those stupid enough to shop there!

[missismiggins]

I don't get it. How can the price of cheese in Thailand be a national disgrace? Thailand is not a major cheese producing nor exporting nation. If it were and the price of Thai Cheddar in Kuala Lumpur was less than in Bangkok then it would be an issue but, even so, hardly a national disgrace. The government imposes import tax that hikes the price of cheese locally. If Thais were major consumers of cheese maybe pressure could be brought to bear on the government to cut the import tax. But they are not so the price remains high for the foreigners who do eat the stuff. Thai Rak Thai as the party was named.

Anyhow, so the price is high. What percentage of your weekly food intake is comprised of cheese? If cheese were cheap and rice, chicken or fish were expensive then you'd have a point.

Phil...go back to sleep! <deleted>

[zorro1]

Just a warning. In Thailand ,never buy more cheese than you can walk away from

[greenmember]

When going to Vietnam, my Thai husband bought cheese to bring back home. A lot cheaper in Vietnam.

[Monroe]

Anyway, what has this got to do with cheese?

As for making cheese here, it will be a failure. "REAL" cheese does not require refrigeration because it is usually made in countries with average temperatures of between 15 to 25 degees Celsius (many parts of Europe). As an example, a "real" cheese manufacturer (an individual who made cheese) was taken to court by the local Health Authorities for not refrigerating his cheese. He ended up winning the court case because he made "real" cheese that ideally should be stored between 15 to 25 degrees Celsius. This was in Tasmania, Australia. Tasmania has a cold climate compared to the rest of Australia. He now has a thriving business.

Basically, any cheese that is wrapped in plastic is not "real" cheese since the cultures in real cheese require air & an appropriate temperature in order to survive.

Some of the higher regions in Northern Chiang Rai meet those temperature criteria year-round and during the winter, temperatures around Mae Sai (even the lower regions) fluctuate between 45-70 degrees Fahrenheit, or 10-21 degrees C. This is generally when you'll see the locals double-stuffing sweaters--though for many visitors it's t-shirt weather. Also, cattle and goats are readily available around here.

Of course, it's understandable why nobody's decided to open shop--this isn't the same as opening a bar. Land would have to be fanagled from the government (or run through a Thai proxy) if it's in the mountains and the facilities for animals and production would tack on at least a few hundred thousand USD. Since the demand for cheese in Chiang Rai is almost nonexistent, most of it would have to be transported to Bangkok which is another headache entirely.

[JohnBanPrang]

Just a warning. In Thailand ,never buy more cheese than you can walk away from

How much are you worth.Love your way.

I need cheesee friends like you

I need as may posts on TV as I can get get.

I want to grow big.

I love a good cheese.

[unomi]

Simple 'cheeses' are dead simple as has been noted in this thread, 

I used to live near a dairy farm up NE and would buy a dozen litres a week or so, quite a bit set aside for cheese experimenting. 

You can make your own cream cheese or mozerella simply by adding vinegar or lime juice to milk (dont forget to pasteurize it first though). Let it sit and then skim off the curds, let them sit in the appropriately named cheesecloth till you get your desired dryness, mix with herbs, chilli and salt.

for 'real' cheese you need access to a good pharmacy or a calf and alot of patience.

If there is interest in organic cream cheeses and peanut butter up near udon/sakhon let me know, I was meaning to get back up there and into it anyway  

[Moonrakers]

I am a bit of a Stilton monster myself, and also quite partial to a good strong English Cheddar.

As a hater of going shopping I really don't know the actual price of cheese, I just know that my misses will return from villa market or wherever with a healthy lump of the stuff just for me

Being far from wealthy it is a tad of a burden on my budget, but what can I say....... Its CHEESE

HHmmmmmm, Cheeese

Incidentally, I am a member of several forums most of which are outside of Thailand. And on each of those forums there is nearly always an active cheese related thread. Thst is the power of cheese.

[JohnBanPrang]

Say cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.

Always a good pict

Love Dana Blue.

But need "Farang money to bye it"

Ask a Thai what smells like cheese.

Hope you like the answer??

[JimShortz]

Oh dear, poor poor farang have no cheese.... lol

For the economy minded: check out the 2kg blocks of Aro cheese from Macro for about 600 Baht. A few months ago it was actually a really nice crumbly cheddar with a nice bit of flavour - something like Anchor mature cheddar. Unfortunately they have changed the cheese, but sell it in the same packaging! The last block I had wasn't crumbly, and didn't have as much flavour, but still not bad...

Give it a try! You can thank me later...

[Naam]

Just a warning. In Thailand ,never buy more cheese than you can walk away from

[missismiggins]

Have you been to Tesco or Carrefour?

Have you seen the price of a good old cheese?

What a bloody disgrace!

I can buy a kilo of "pad krapow" for 100 baht, but a 50g block of ye good olde cheddar is going to cost more than I paid for my house... damned foreigners!

You can buy cheese??!! So lucky!

I wrote a book about the rigours of living in a village in Surin but my greatest deprivation relates to cheese.

Big C and Tesco in Surin town an hour away only stock the disgusting processed stuff in slices made of rubber. Makro has cheddar which isn't outrageously priced but they only stock it in two kilo packs. It'll have gone 'orrible or I'll have had a coronary infarct before I've internalised all of that.

Where do you live that you can get cheese??

TIT surely!

Andrew,

I am an hour from Tesco in Chiang Mai, luckily it has a reasonable selection, if somewhat overpriced.

I believe that there are a few companies here that are making goats cheese...whatever that tastes like!

[qwertz]

Good English cheese is expensive and hard to find even here in Germany.

I noted a comment in this thread about making your own and I wonder if it's feasible in Thailand.

Just back from a trip to Austria where I visited a buffalo farm.

The buffalo cheese was excellent and the buffalo sausage was very tasty.

Any Austrian expats with cheese making experience?

[jadran]

work harder and make more money.. everything affordable then..

[NotNew2You]

Probably not an entirely bad situation as cheese is not that good for you and the high price keeps most of us from eating too much of it

[Pierrot]

Good English cheese is expensive and hard to find even here in Germany.

Good english cheese ?

I heard unicorn are hard to find in Germany too !

[Ricardo]

Good English cheese is expensive and hard to find even here in Germany.

Good english cheese ?

I heard unicorn are hard to find in Germany too !

What price-per-kilo does unicorn go for, then ?

The UK has many famous & good cheeses, best hand-carried on the plane, if you want to pay a sensible (sadly no longer cheap) price. Here in Thailand we do get some reasonable Aussie/NZ cheese .. to keep us cheese-a-holics going !

[calibanjr.]

Good English cheese is expensive and hard to find even here in Germany.

Good english cheese ?

I heard unicorn are hard to find in Germany too !

Oh Man!, Blue Stilton (from England) is one of my cheeses for near-religious experience! Some White Stilton's I like a lot, too.

They show up at Rimping (Nim Branch, at least) now and then, but as usual, pricey.

Edited September 7, 2008 by calibanjr.

[Travel2003]

Have you been to Tesco or Carrefour?

Have you seen the price of a good old cheese?

What a bloody disgrace!

I can buy a kilo of "pad krapow" for 100 baht, but a 50g block of ye good olde cheddar is going to cost more than I paid for my house... damned foreigners!

National disgrace huh?

I envy you my friend.

If this is among the national disgrace issues you have, then you most likely have a pretty good life here.

Btw,

just a thought as Im not an import expert.

Would not the price sometimes be higher when what is imported is only for a limited marked?

So, the import tax and the fact that the quantum of goods imported is not big, will make the price increase?

Again, Im not so familiar with the import business.

But I am, as always, willing to learn something new.