Why Is Thai Wine More Expensive Than Imports?

[smallbear]

I've been surprised in the past that Thai wine is not substantially cheaper than it is, since it presumably does not fall under the import duties. Notwithstanding this, there are taxes on Thai wine, of course. Perhaps I'm wrong that the duties are not reduced?

I have been buying Chilean, Australian, Argentinian and French recently from one of the smaller independent outlets. The quality is fine even at 319 Baht (for the Argentinian). This is just everyday swigging wine. However, the Thai red wine is clearly still lagging behind in quality, yet the price is 590+. We tried the P.B. Valley Reserve at Khao Yai some weeks ago and the price was very high and quality just really average. The Chilean imported wine I bought last week was comparable with it and at a price of only 329 Baht. The Thai wines of comparable taste and complexity are double the price.

So, why is the Thai wine relatively expensive, yet unimpressive? Is it due to profiteering, which we see so often?

There will be the Australian-Thai tax treaty coming into force soon (if not already), but I'm not sure if that will affect pricing at retail level, even though it obviously should do.

[remiss]

If this is true it's not so weird it's expensive:

"Thailand is one of the world's most expensive countries for wine, with taxes of 200 percent on locally-made wines -- and a staggering 360 percent on imported wine."

- http://www.thingsasi...es-photos/20810

The thai wines I've bought has been ~300 baht pr. bottle.. But you can get it cheaper too if you buy bigger, can get 5 litre bottles I think..

Don't think it's so many wine producers in thailand, and competing with the international supply they can charge nicely.

Edited July 4, 2011 by remiss

[seriouseats]

Thai #1 in everything. if they ask for less than farang wine they lose face.

They'd rather have little sales than offering at a low price.

[smallbear]

Thai #1 in everything. if they ask for less than farang wine they lose face. They'd rather have little sales than offering at a low price.

Yes, I was thinking along those lines earlier today in fact. I didn't like to write it in my post in case it upset anyone. Well, Thailand has a lot of work to do to compete with the quality, variety and price from the rest of the wine-producing world. The only Thai wine I have enjoyed is the white Cabernet from Monsoon Valley, but all the red wine I have tried, was disgusting.

The previous poster has mentioned something about the taxes. The oddity is that the local wine tax is extremely high, but the cheap spirits with higher alcohol content, such as Thai brandy (which they call whiskey) and worse stuff too, is just a few Baht.

[Chonburiram]

The "cheap" white wine at silver lake ( Pattaya ) was okish,

the "very expensive" red homebrew was nasty, but still the best Thai red I've ever had...

My recomondation... stick to the beer...

[23423981]

Thai #1 in everything. if they ask for less than farang wine they lose face.

They'd rather have little sales than offering at a low price.

I agree with this theory.

There simply is no other explanation considering the poor quality of Thai wine compared to all others.

[craigt3365]

Thai #1 in everything. if they ask for less than farang wine they lose face.

They'd rather have little sales than offering at a low price.

I agree with this theory.

There simply is no other explanation considering the poor quality of Thai wine compared to all others.

Many of the wineries here are owned by some very rich families. Profit is not #1 to them. I know Silverlake is jammed on the weekends and they are opening a very large theater there to sponsor high end concerts...as well as building a hotel.

Expensive wine here is a problem for many of us expats.

[HDRIDER]

You know the Thai way,, if you cant sell put the price up

I wonder who drink that crap anyway, have tried quite a few types of Thai wine, i think its have a bad taste compare to imported wine, they have a long way to go in wine making

[23423981]

It takes a knowledgable grape grower and expert wine maker to produce descent wine.

Garbage in garbage out is what winemaking is all about. Without quality grapes, you simply can not make good wine.

Generally speaking no good wine grapes could be grown in Thai weather. It's just too hot all the time without cool morning and evening breeze.

It rains too much, it dilutes sugar contents in the grapes and causes root decay. You also need state of art facility with wine makers with years of

experience. I can not imagine rich Chinese winery owners investing millions of dollars in a business they can not succeed.

[seriouseats]

Also remembers thais do not care if food tastes good. You will see a big road with tons of thai restaurant, each of them making it taste as horrible as they can to save money and a bunch of thais will flow there everyday because its close to them(CONVENIENT) and they will probably say it tastes good afterwards. Also most farang restaurant(even high end) are pretty crappy compared to other countries. People here just like convenience.. having a bottle with thai letters on it, lets go for it!

I would think thais would start by trying to beat laos at beer making before going into wine.. not add more failure to their arsenal haha

[nocturn]

Also remembers thais do not care if food tastes good. You will see a big road with tons of thai restaurant, each of them making it taste as horrible as they can to save money and a bunch of thais will flow there everyday because its close to them(CONVENIENT) and they will probably say it tastes good afterwards. Also most farang restaurant(even high end) are pretty crappy compared to other countries. People here just like convenience.. having a bottle with thai letters on it, lets go for it!

I would think thais would start by trying to beat laos at beer making before going into wine.. not add more failure to their arsenal haha

well, there we have it, no need for further comment after this excellent analysis. thais dont care about food.

[thaimate]

After having tried the wine? from silverlake, not up to much i,me afraid and vastly overpriced, i think i will stick to imported.

[Nawtier]

Simply because the thai business model...if you sell less, up the price to make up for less sales.....easy peasy

[soundman]

Also remembers thais do not care if food tastes good. You will see a big road with tons of thai restaurant, each of them making it taste as horrible as they can to save money and a bunch of thais will flow there everyday because its close to them(CONVENIENT) and they will probably say it tastes good afterwards. Also most farang restaurant(even high end) are pretty crappy compared to other countries. People here just like convenience.. having a bottle with thai letters on it, lets go for it!

I would think thais would start by trying to beat laos at beer making before going into wine.. not add more failure to their arsenal haha

well, there we have it, no need for further comment after this excellent analysis. thais dont care about food.

Concur.

I know many Thai's that will drive halfway accross the country just to visit a particular restaurant on a recommendation.

[soundman]

It's all image.

Price yourself cheap, you look like an inferior low end product.

As with many things in the boutique market, I find price rarely reflects quality/value for money.

[seriouseats]

Also remembers thais do not care if food tastes good. You will see a big road with tons of thai restaurant, each of them making it taste as horrible as they can to save money and a bunch of thais will flow there everyday because its close to them(CONVENIENT) and they will probably say it tastes good afterwards. Also most farang restaurant(even high end) are pretty crappy compared to other countries. People here just like convenience.. having a bottle with thai letters on it, lets go for it!

I would think thais would start by trying to beat laos at beer making before going into wine.. not add more failure to their arsenal haha

well, there we have it, no need for further comment after this excellent analysis. thais dont care about food.

Concur.

I know many Thai's that will drive halfway accross the country just to visit a particular restaurant on a recommendation.

Those recommendation were usually given by a thai living nearby who convinces himself that its good food.

All the thai recommendation i have had in phuket were pretty shitty compared to the ones i got on the forum for similar type of food.

[samran]

Thai #1 in everything. if they ask for less than farang wine they lose face.

They'd rather have little sales than offering at a low price.

Once again we have the cream of the farang expatriate community making comments such as these. I shiver in my boots to think what the dumb ones would say.

[dunkin2012]

If this is true it's not so weird it's expensive:

"Thailand is one of the world's most expensive countries for wine, with taxes of 200 percent on locally-made wines -- and a staggering 360 percent on imported wine."

- http://www.thingsasi...es-photos/20810

The thai wines I've bought has been ~300 baht pr. bottle.. But you can get it cheaper too if you buy bigger, can get 5 litre bottles I think..

Don't think it's so many wine producers in thailand, and competing with the international supply they can charge nicely.

I might be wrong.....

cheeses locally produced costs as high as the Aussie and NZ cheeses.

my observation from Foodland Pattaya

TAX is the major cause. me think!!!!!!!!!

[ra1n85]

It's all image.

Price yourself cheap, you look like an inferior low end product.

As with many things in the boutique market, I find price rarely reflects quality/value for money.

I agree, you see that a lot in Thailand. One just needs to look at the furniture stores in Paragon.

Any oenophiles in Thailand will be at a loss - inferior local products and any imports being priced ridiculously.

Having said that, I have had a reasonable drinkable pokdum - although it became more drinkable the more I drank, funny how it works that way.

[DtemJai]

Thai #1 in everything. if they ask for less than farang wine they lose face.

They'd rather have little sales than offering at a low price.

Once again we have the cream of the farang expatriate community making comments such as these. I shiver in my boots to think what the dumb ones would say.

I’ve been drinking siang sun for decades, instead for wine.

120 BHT for a beer bottle of this stuff. Mostly Chinese text, good luck

[lazygourmet]

What a bunch of Thai wine connoisseurs on this topic...

But I am not going to elaborate with the philistines, because I've got a GranMonte Chenin Blanc 2009 waiting to accompany my lunch!

[TheWalkingMan]

Maybe the local producers consider wine a premium product, so they price it high to enhance the perceived value of paying a lot for something good.

TheWalkingMan

[eyebee]

I like the wines from Siam Winery. They produce Mont Clair from South African grapes and Peter Vassa from Californian. A 70 cl bottle costs around 299 baht. The Vassa Cabernet Sauvignon is particularly good. I think the way they get around the high taxes is by importing the grapes (which attract a lower tax rate) and then make the wine in Thailand. I've bought them from Big C and Villa, so not hard to find.

Give them a try, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

[lazygourmet]

I like the wines from Siam Winery. They produce Mont Clair from South African grapes and Peter Vassa from Californian. A 70 cl bottle costs around 299 baht. The Vassa Cabernet Sauvignon is particularly good. I think the way they get around the high taxes is by importing the grapes (which attract a lower tax rate) and then make the wine in Thailand. I've bought them from Big C and Villa, so not hard to find.

Give them a try, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Actually Siam Winery did not produce the Mont Clair in Thailand.

It's coming directly from South-Africa - Breede River Valley- in containers and it's bottled in Samut Sakorn.

According to my palate, the red is good enough for a fancy sangria... and the rose is going well with a bbq, after having several of the previous sangria!

But Siam Winery will have their own great wines coming in very near future, their shiraz -from Pak Chong- is nearly ok.

They have patience and their quick bucks are coming mainly from Spy and Mont Clair.

All the Thai winemakers that I met are really passionate about their "hobby"

Edited July 5, 2011 by lazygourmet

[DP25]

There is no reason for them to price the wine cheaply. Production is very small, and Thai restaurants and food are incredibly popular and common world wide. There is already a market of people who will be willing to try a bottle, especially at a Thai restaurant.

[lovetotravel]

I like the wines from Siam Winery. They produce Mont Clair from South African grapes and Peter Vassa from Californian. A 70 cl bottle costs around 299 baht. The Vassa Cabernet Sauvignon is particularly good. I think the way they get around the high taxes is by importing the grapes (which attract a lower tax rate) and then make the wine in Thailand. I've bought them from Big C and Villa, so not hard to find.

Give them a try, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Actually Siam Winery did not produce the Mont Clair in Thailand.

It's coming directly from South-Africa - Breede River Valley- in containers and it's bottled in Samut Sakorn.

According to my palate, the red is good enough for a fancy sangria... and the rose is going well with a bbq, after having several of the previous sangria!

But Siam Winery will have their own great wines coming in very near future, their shiraz -from Pak Chong- is nearly ok.

They have patience and their quick bucks are coming mainly from Spy and Mont Clair.

All the Thai winemakers that I met are really passionate about their "hobby"

I think you might have hit the nail on the head as to why wine here in expensive. Siam Winery importing wine has no reason to reduce duties...of which they probably get a fair amount. Helps them have a higher price on theirs????

[nocturn]

I like the wines from Siam Winery. They produce Mont Clair from South African grapes and Peter Vassa from Californian. A 70 cl bottle costs around 299 baht. The Vassa Cabernet Sauvignon is particularly good. I think the way they get around the high taxes is by importing the grapes (which attract a lower tax rate) and then make the wine in Thailand. I've bought them from Big C and Villa, so not hard to find.

Give them a try, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

i tried the red at gunpoint.it is, in my estimation, shockingly bad. I would rather drink vinegar.

it may be good enough for sangria, but i havent tried that yet.

Edited July 5, 2011 by nocturn

[Richard4849]

Wine is not a commodity. The producer can set the price for their product at whatever level they want.

[Nawtier]

What a bunch of Thai wine connoisseurs on this topic...

But I am not going to elaborate with the philistines, because I've got a GranMonte Chenin Blanc 2009 waiting to accompany my lunch!

Bet you are in the camp that thinks it tastes better, is made better than all the other wines available in this country....therefore it is worth much more..

[Heribertg]

There is a lot of misinformation and misconception in this discussion. Thai Wine is taxed as luxury goods and the tax is the same as on imported wines. Additionally and because wineries produce alcohol there is a Sin Tax to be paid.

The Thai Wine industry is still young but over the years Thai Wines have received international recognition from blind tastings conducted abroad by recognized organizations.

By the way none believers about the quality wines produced please come to visit the exhibition THAILAND RESTAURANT & BAR 2011 INTERNATIONAL being held at Impact Convention and Exhibition Center from July 7 to 9, 2011. The wine tasting area of the members of the Thai Wine Association is opposite Booth G1 - 5 - cheers.

PS: please also note that there are wines on the market which are not made from grapes but still are called Thai Wine.

Edited July 5, 2011 by metisdead
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