Wine

[fresnoboy]

My apologies if this has been asked before.

Why does wine cost so much here ? Even Thai wine, which is barely palatable, has what I consider to be an enormous price.

Table wine available in California costs from $2-$10. Prices here are 2 1/2 times that.

All the doctors want you to drink wine but I think that they haven't seen the price.

Anyway, just a little 'moan & groan'

[highlander76]

The thai goverment put a high tax on it best to buy in Laos

[Beardog]

I'd stick to rum & coke or beer- rather than drink the overpriced pig swill they serve here. Even a trip to Indonesia you will be able to find wines from Australia that are not factory seconds that no country will by. Even the Siraz from OZ are the worst of the worst here. Forget about A good California wine from the U.S. or a decent wine from France.

It is easier to change your type of alcohol here rather than hunt for something palatable in LOS!

Good luck on your hunt. I gave up after the first 3 years of wine that makes your skin crawl.

[MMR]

My apologies if this has been asked before.

Why does wine cost so much here ? Even Thai wine, which is barely palatable, has what I consider to be an enormous price.

Table wine available in California costs from $2-$10. Prices here are 2 1/2 times that.

All the doctors want you to drink wine but I think that they haven't seen the price.

Anyway, just a little 'moan & groan'

I think that is being generous.

I have had very little success with Thai wines.

[Samuian]

My apologies if this has been asked before.

Why does wine cost so much here ? Even Thai wine, which is barely palatable, has what I consider to be an enormous price.

Table wine available in California costs from $2-$10. Prices here are 2 1/2 times that.

All the doctors want you to drink wine but I think that they haven't seen the price.

Anyway, just a little 'moan & groan'

I think that is being generous.

I have had very little success with Thai wines.

Got a prescription?

just joking - it' s a so called luxury tax (2++%) which is slapped on this kind of products, even cheese is considered a "luxury item", not an agricultural product!

Thai "Wine" is some brew which they call "Wine"... it's not anywhere near it!

[gennisis]

My apologies if this has been asked before.

Why does wine cost so much here ? Even Thai wine, which is barely palatable, has what I consider to be an enormous price.

Table wine available in California costs from $2-$10. Prices here are 2 1/2 times that.

All the doctors want you to drink wine but I think that they haven't seen the price.

Anyway, just a little 'moan & groan'

Yes,I have to agree with you,a bottle of wine in LOS is a luxury.I did find this boxed wine.. Mont Clair..which is S.African blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvigon...not too bad at 5 litres for 994 baht.

[Gumballl]

I was at Big-C the other day (in Korat)... 600 baht for a 750ml bottle of Bacardi, and if memory serves me right, 800 baht for a 750ml bottle of Malibu Rum.

Oh, what the h*ll I thought.... the prices are ripoffs, but I could use a decent/different drink. Beer Chang is getting awfully boring. I went to the checkout, with my other groceries as well, and the cashier attendant said that it was not yet 5pm, thus I could not buy the alcohol.

So in the end, I spent nothing on booze and Big-C/Thailand lost out on some revenue. Upon returning to the village, I immediately procured some Beer Chang (and it was not after 5pm). Thai regulations seem to serve no purpose.

Back in 2004, I used to drink palatable wines (from Oz) when I went out to the bars in Bkk. The cost was about 400-600 per bottle. Not bad when the exchange rate was 40 baht to a US dollar. I also recall Bacardi costing about 400 baht (if not less) at the corner mini-mart (in Bkk).

[kmart]

Not bothered with it much ever since, ever since they refused to serve me with a couple of bottles of expensive (very-bloody-expensive) Chianti in Foodland; due to prohibition time at the checkout.... Like I'm going to remove my shirt and start swigging it on the steps outside or something?

[zaza]

come on.......

I have a feeling this thread will develop to (Let's drink wine and whine about the price of it) one.

[samuibeachcomber]

maybe we should all hassle our local thai MP to get tariffs reduced

[syd barrett]

There is a certain irony here in the LOS regarding the cost of a bottle of wine. Indeed the Thai government do add a luxury tax to the cost, but this is only noticed when trying to buy a bottle of 'cheap' wine.

If you purchase a 'good' bottle of wine from the supermarket (by that I mean a bottle costing around 2,000 Thai baht) then the price is very reasonable when compared to the retail price in Australia, USA or the United Kingdom.

[jdinasia]

4 liters of decent Chilean red wine in a box (yes a box .. do a little research on the cost of bottling wine) for 1300 baht doesn't strike me as outrageous.

[bonobo]

I both drink and cook with wine, so I try to bring in as much as possible on each trip.  Thai wine is pretty bad, and the Aussie, American, Chilean, etc wine here is pretty weak and overpriced.

Luckily I have a friend who thinks nothing of spending exorbinate amounts on drinkable wine, so I drink at his place when we have a dinner, but other than that, it is what I manage to carry in with my luggage.  (I am a United 1K, so I can carry three bags at 32 kg each.  On my last trip, about 15 or 20 kg was for clothes--the rest was all foodstuffs and books.)

[fresnoboy]

4 liters of decent Chilean red wine in a box (yes a box .. do a little research on the cost of bottling wine) for 1300 baht doesn't strike me as outrageous.

Thanks for all your replies !

JD, $40 for 4 liters of Chilean sounds expensive to me. I must not have had the right job ?

Those of you from Europe are probably more used to the idea of paying a LOT for booze and food but for we 'colonials' this is a more recent experience.

Anyway, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one with a gripe

[jdinasia]

$10 a bottle for a decent red? (not a 'table wine' but something actually fit for human consumption) That's pretty cheap!

[fresnoboy]

$10 a bottle for a decent red? (not a 'table wine' but something actually fit for human consumption) That's pretty cheap!

Charles Shaw which is sold in Trader Joe's is a very palatable wine and in California it costs $2 a bottle plus tax of 7.85%. In Nevada it's $3 a bottle. I don't know how they do it but, they do it.

There are other prices to suit every wallet but you can see that it CAN be done.

Edited October 6, 2008 by fresnoboy