Foods that are overpriced in Thailand but you simply can't live without!

[Jingthing]

I think most expats have a list.

Imported GROCERY foods that are much more expensive than the home country, but you still just have to have them.

Talking more here about foods for the home as opposed to restaurant meals (such as pizza).

Here is part of my list:

Parmesan cheese

Cocoa

!!!!!Avocados!!!!! (Australian and N.Z.) absolute must

Breakfast cereals: muesli / shredded wheat / (have dropped Grape Nuts, just not worth the prices here)

Natural peanut butter

Wine (limited but it feels to me more affordable here than it was 5 years ago)

Tequila 100 percent agave (limited)

Olive oil

Olives

Fresh jalapeno peppers (buy the Thai ones when in stock, won't pay the imported price)

I think wealthier people can pretty much have everything they might want here (short of availability issues) but those on more typical budgets have to make some hard choices about what we really "need" vs. what we can do without because the costs are just too ridiculous for some things. I kind of feel sorry for non-rich people who are seriously into CHEESE here.

Edited July 13, 2013 by Jingthing

[StreetCowboy]

Haggis. If I could get haggis here it would probably be over-priced, but I can't so I live without.

And pheasant, that's fowl too

Anyway, if it was over-priced, you wouldn't buy it; if the price was right on the borderline, that would be the correct pricing for the vendor...If you're not happy with the price of groceries, then go back to Brooklyn

SC

Edited July 13, 2013 by StreetCowboy

[StreetCowboy]

And what about Tizer?

Ye can grizzle all ye waant, but it'll no' rain irn bru

Edited July 13, 2013 by StreetCowboy

[jcgodber]

While shopping at Costco in Los Angeles last year, I toyed with the idea of packing 30 pounds of PRIME U.S. BEEF into a suitcase. Add some dry ice and making the 20+ hour trip home to Thailand.

[pigeonjake]

Haggis. If I could get haggis here it would probably be over-priced, but I can't so I live without.

And pheasant, that's fowl too

Anyway, if it was over-priced, you wouldn't buy it; if the price was right on the borderline, that would be the correct pricing for the vendor...If you're not happy with the price of groceries, then go back to Brooklyn

SC

hi cowboy,

have you treid making haggis,?

i make my own lincolnshire and cumberland sausage,

just a thought mate, i just bring all the seasoning mixes back with me, i buy them from ebay, and illsay to the wife, be ready to clean a lot im going to have a sausage making day,,lol,

she loves it, shes got a taist for them now,lol,

jake

[pigeonjake]

sorry its me again,\

this has just made my smile about something that happend last time i was home,

it is about things we miss, honest,

my wife had picked me up from the airport, and was in the truck reading the papers that i had brought with me,

anyway in one of the magazines that come with the papers, she said whats that darling?

half an egg with powder,

i said no love its a scotch egg,

so to cut a long story short i ended up making them to, and bloody hell was they good, i had never eaten one warm,

right carry on

jake

[Payboy]

Imported GROCERY foods that are much more expensive than the home country, but you still just have to have them.

I need my figs, every now and then.

[craigt3365]

Great list JT. Wine is ridiculous here. Maybe getting a bit better, but still expensive!

Beer should be on that list. Not sure about all countries, but back home, we have a much better selection at greatly reduced prices. Even for imports.

[kurnell]

Foie gras is reasonably priced

[chaiyaphumlove]

I don't live there as an expat(one day soon hopefully) but I'd miss the great selection of beers(micro brews, and imports) so on holiday I will be spending quite a bit to stock up the fridge with Beervana(already planning on ordering 2 cases of Rogue) and would probably do the same if I lived there.

[johnlandy]

They levy something like 400% ++ on items we have in our daily diets.

As long as you are prepared to eat rice 4 times a day 'yes' it can be cheap to live in the realm.

The 'affordable wine is shyt' a decent bottle is 5x the cost at home.

Add in staples like Marmite, Vegemite (for the antipodeans) jams, halfway decent biscuits, etc., and the cost is over the top

[craigt3365]

I don't live there as an expat(one day soon hopefully) but I'd miss the great selection of beers(micro brews, and imports) so on holiday I will be spending quite a bit to stock up the fridge with Beervana(already planning on ordering 2 cases of Rogue) and would probably do the same if I lived there.

You dirty dog! Rogue! I love it! But at 180-200B+ per bottle here, it's something I just can not afford.

Enjoy!!!!

[Jingthing]

Affordable is relative.

I've just noticed in recent years I've been able to buy DRINKABLE wines (nothing great of course) in the 400 baht range, sometimes even 300. In the U.S. I was used to paying 250 - 500 baht per bottle and yes got better wine for those prices there, but still drinkable at 400 is better than nothing.

Edited July 14, 2013 by Jingthing

[Gsxrnz]

I can't find a decent meat pie (Kiwi style) in Pattaya. Tried many Farang owned outlets but none of them cut the mustard.

[Suradit69]

Over the past 20 years in Thailand and the UAE I have maybe 5 times bought a Butterball turkey around Thanksgiving/Christmas time and tracked down the requisite cranberry relish to accompany it. In the UAE I got the whole turkey and cooked it in an oven and then wondered whether all the time spent, heat generated and ensuing mess was worth it. In Thailand I bought the Butterball turkey breast roll and microwaved it, which was simpler to deal with, although the cranberry relish I ended up with once was some ghastly British stuff bought at the supermarket in Central Festival Pattaya that was a major disappointment.

Last year I picked up the Butterball turkey breast again, but didn't notice or appreciate the word WHOLE in the description. Whole meant it hadn't been de-boned and you really can't microwave a bone-in turkey breast so I spent more time than I care to think about and ended up with frostbitten fingers while deboning a semi-frozen turkey breast.

The worst experience was while living in southern Africa I once found some dubious looking thing in a shop freezer labeled "turkey." I decided to give it a try. Eventually got it into the oven where it gave off a decidedly gaming odor as it started cooking in my electric stove ... for about 30 minutes and then the power went off, a common occurrence there. After the oven and bird returned to room temperature. The power came back on ... for about an hour. And then it stayed off for the next 3 days. The gamey smell given off by the "turkey" was replaced by something far worse and I reluctantly heaved the thing into the bush behind my home and listened to a lot of crashing about and growling as something devoured my turkey. Never tried that again there.

Edited July 14, 2013 by Suradit69

[Iamemjay]

Avocados on your list?? I LOVE them and relish buying all that I need here at a mere fraction of their cost in Australia - even varieties identical to Australian grown ones eg. Hass or Williams.

[Jingthing]

Avocados on your list?? I LOVE them and relish buying all that I need here at a mere fraction of their cost in Australia - even varieties identical to Australian grown ones eg. Hass or Williams.

If you're talking about good Haas like Thai grown varieties at low cost, yes I see them in the markets in Pattaya for a very limited time every year and of course buy lots of them! But its a short season at in the markets here. There is another larger smooth type of Thai cado that is commonly sold here that in the U.S. we call Florida variety and those in my experience are not nice at all. Those are of course quite cheap and rightly so. So for year round use I'm most stuck buying imports at about 60 baht per piece.

Basically I feel a deep need to have cados in the house all year as I use them in specific recipes that I frequently want, so I pay for that vice.

Edited July 14, 2013 by Jingthing

[dod]

Aye aye Cowboy, don't know where you live but for any haggis starved Scots in Chiang Mai, Kelly's fish and chip restuarant gives a plate of haggis, neeps and tatties for 170 Baht. The owner is Scottish and my mate who lives here (a retired butcher) learned him how to make haggis.

[charlieboz]

Weetbix for breakfast and the natural confectionery company sweets for a snack

[Suradit69]

Affordable is relative.

I've just noticed in recent years I've been able to buy DRINKABLE wines (nothing great of course) in the 400 baht range, sometimes even 300. In the U.S. I was used to paying 250 - 500 baht per bottle and yes got better wine for those prices there, but still drinkable at 400 is better than nothing.

Where? I have occasionally stumbled across something relatively cheap and fairly good (and usually with a label that didn't inspire confidence), but then it seemed to disappear from the shelves. More usually, at Friendship or Central, anything red that was palatable was at least in the B550 to B900 range and of course price was rarely a good indication of quality, so heading for the more expensive stuff on the assumption it will automatically be better is usually a disappointment anyway.

Edited July 14, 2013 by Suradit69

[charlieboz]

in Australia $2 an avocado (60 baht) is about the normal price sadly

[Jingthing]

in Australia $2 an avocado (60 baht) is about the normal price sadly

OK, that I didn't know. Much cheaper for most of the year in the U.S., especially California. I think most are imported there from Mexico actually, depending on the season.

That's interesting about the Australian price. If they are 60 baht there, I would normally expect them to be much higher here.

Edited July 14, 2013 by Jingthing

[bigbamboo]

I have to say cheese is the one thing I will buy and pay over the top for.

Fortunately very few Thais will eat it!

Biggest misses from England are real ale and fresh cream cakes.

But in ten years or more here things have improved a lot. There was a time when you couldn't get decent biscuits or wine here at all and hardly any imported beer except bloody Heineken. Now at least you can buy blonde beer.

One thing I have noticed is after a run where imported goods seemed to go up every week there prices have now leveled off or even dropped with plenty of discounts on offer. Perhaps it has finally twigged that farangs are as wealthy as we once were.

[retell]

Haggis. If I could get haggis here it would probably be over-priced, but I can't so I live without.

And pheasant, that's fowl too

Anyway, if it was over-priced, you wouldn't buy it; if the price was right on the borderline, that would be the correct pricing for the vendor...If you're not happy with the price of groceries, then go back to Brooklyn

SC

hi cowboy,

have you treid making haggis,?

i make my own lincolnshire and cumberland sausage,

just a thought mate, i just bring all the seasoning mixes back with me, i buy them from ebay, and illsay to the wife, be ready to clean a lot im going to have a sausage making day,,lol,

she loves it, shes got a taist for them now,lol,

jake

yep same here like my meats and sausages and cheese , cheese buy big pieces once in a while it saves a lot of money , i wish there where more imported beers thou in the Makro bigc tesco up in Mukh

[Bangkokhatter]

Branston pickle and Heinz salad cream are vastly overpriced but i cant live without them

[stoli]

I would love to find packages of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing no matter what the cost. I have looked all over Pattaya with 0 result.

[blazes]

Avocados on your list?? I LOVE them and relish buying all that I need here at a mere fraction of their cost in Australia - even varieties identical to Australian grown ones eg. Hass or Williams.

If you're talking about good Haas like Thai grown varieties at low cost, yes I see them in the markets in Pattaya for a very limited time every year and of course buy lots of them! But its a short season at in the markets here. There is another larger smooth type of Thai cado that is commonly sold here that in the U.S. we call Florida variety and those in my experience are not nice at all. Those are of course quite cheap and rightly so. So for year round use I'm most stuck buying imports at about 60 baht per piece.

Basically I feel a deep need to have cados in the house all year as I use them in specific recipes that I frequently want, so I pay for that vice.

What time of year do you get Thai avocados?

[SSSlongtime]

try shopping in France ,thailand is cheap ,or try buying thai food in the UK ,got long way to travel ,thailand is a cheap place to live ,if you can keep away from the girls

[bradenroger]

Well, my item is not overpriced. I just cannot find it anywhere. That is plantains - the large cooking bananas found everywhere in Latin America and the Caribbean. Also, I cannot find cassava (yucca) in the supermarkets although I know that Thailand produces and exports it. I want these items to make South American soups (i.e., Colombian sancocho and caldo de gallina). Any advice would be appreciated.

[stoli]

Avocados on your list?? I LOVE them and relish buying all that I need here at a mere fraction of their cost in Australia - even varieties identical to Australian grown ones eg. Hass or Williams.

If you're talking about good Haas like Thai grown varieties at low cost, yes I see them in the markets in Pattaya for a very limited time every year and of course buy lots of them! But its a short season at in the markets here. There is another larger smooth type of Thai cado that is commonly sold here that in the U.S. we call Florida variety and those in my experience are not nice at all. Those are of course quite cheap and rightly so. So for year round use I'm most stuck buying imports at about 60 baht per piece.

Basically I feel a deep need to have cados in the house all year as I use them in specific recipes that I frequently want, so I pay for that vice.

What time of year do you get Thai avocados?

A few days ago I was in Bittenbang, Cambodia, and the food stalls were filled with avocado's. They were not Hass. They appeared to be more like the variety that grows in Hawaii, where they do not grow on the branch, but directly off the trunk of the tree. Nowhere near the flavor of the Hass, and not as buttery. Is this what you are calling a Thai avocado? Possibly?