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

[finnomick]

Breakfast

Proper black orange pekoe tea English, Australian or Canadian

Marmite or vegemite

Brown bread

Cereals

Yoghurt

Butter

Lunch

Decent cold cuts

Pickles

Cheese

Butter

Supper

Vegetables - sprouts especially root vegetables

Salmon

Beef

Double cream

Butter

I miss butter so much I've resorted to making my own, love the butter milk on my cereal and finally the one I find insane is paying 389 baht for 200 grams of maldon salt flakes.

How's your cholesterol level?

Try Anchor New Zealand butter, tastes just like real butter from the UK which errrr is New Zealand butter. Best price is in Macro but you can get it in BigC. You can buy single 227 gram packets, or they come boxed four packs in a box. Available in salted or un-salted varieties

[blazes]

I live near Buriram, and for me to go down to Pattaya and stock up with goodies, usually from Friendship supermarket and Continental bakery is a two day trip which costs me between 2,500 and 3,000 baht in travel and accomodation. So, I get a parcel sent out from home every so often, the cost of the items plus the postage being a lot less than I would spend here. Everything went fine until the last parcel was sent a couple of months ago via the Post Office. The Thai post office used to clear parcels through customs at Laksi sorting office in Bangkok. Not any more. They now send your parcel to the nearest customs office in your area which for me is Chong Chom. So off I went to Chong Chom to collect it. Sure enough, there was my parcel sitting on a desk awaiting collection. I had to wait for the boss to be summoned as the officers there wouldn't take the responsibility of dealing with it -- it was the first box to have been sent to them from Laksi. I was asked as to the contents of the box which I duly listed. Tetley tea bags, Marmite, Colemans mustard, Colemans mint sauce etc. Can we open the box. Of course you can I replied. Once opened, the contents were unpacked and examined. One of the girls was then asked to check on her computer as to the import duty tariffs. After about twenty minutes and with the help of three other officers, she gave the boss a piece of paper which he mulled over for some time. He instructed his officer to re-pack the box. The only item he spoke to me about was the Tetley tea bags of which there were 7 packets each containing 160 teabags. 65% import duty on those he declared. OK I said, so how much do I owe you ? He slid the re-packed box over to me, all nicely taped up. OK, so how much must I pay, I asked a second time. Oh, he replied, nothing to pay. Thankyou very much, you can go. I was amazed, and you can read into that what you will.....

Amazing story!!! Police refusing TEA money????

[Travelman868]

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.

Wine is expensive, however some of the boxed wines are drinkable and are around 1000 baht for 3 litres. Cheese is

horrendous I bought a 125 grm Brie 280 baht (French) Back in UK £1.50. One of the things that I find strange

is, I cannot find Chinese egg noodles, the dry ones that are used in UK style Chow main.

[retell]

Wine is expensive, however some of the boxed wines are drinkable and are around 1000 baht for 3 litres. Cheese is

horrendous I bought a 125 grm Brie 280 baht (French) Back in UK £1.50. One of the things that I find strange

is, I cannot find Chinese egg noodles, the dry ones that are used in UK style Chow main.

also not from tesco ? they got em here in mukhdahan

[Glan Deas]

I think Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is costly. And it necessary too.

A few shavings of nice cheese on top of pasta or vegetables can take a simple dish from good to great but you don't have to fork out $28 a pound for the famous stuff.

Kopi Luwak

[finnomick]

I live near Buriram, and for me to go down to Pattaya and stock up with goodies, usually from Friendship supermarket and Continental bakery is a two day trip which costs me between 2,500 and 3,000 baht in travel and accomodation. So, I get a parcel sent out from home every so often, the cost of the items plus the postage being a lot less than I would spend here. Everything went fine until the last parcel was sent a couple of months ago via the Post Office. The Thai post office used to clear parcels through customs at Laksi sorting office in Bangkok. Not any more. They now send your parcel to the nearest customs office in your area which for me is Chong Chom. So off I went to Chong Chom to collect it. Sure enough, there was my parcel sitting on a desk awaiting collection. I had to wait for the boss to be summoned as the officers there wouldn't take the responsibility of dealing with it -- it was the first box to have been sent to them from Laksi. I was asked as to the contents of the box which I duly listed. Tetley tea bags, Marmite, Colemans mustard, Colemans mint sauce etc. Can we open the box. Of course you can I replied. Once opened, the contents were unpacked and examined. One of the girls was then asked to check on her computer as to the import duty tariffs. After about twenty minutes and with the help of three other officers, she gave the boss a piece of paper which he mulled over for some time. He instructed his officer to re-pack the box. The only item he spoke to me about was the Tetley tea bags of which there were 7 packets each containing 160 teabags. 65% import duty on those he declared. OK I said, so how much do I owe you ? He slid the re-packed box over to me, all nicely taped up. OK, so how much must I pay, I asked a second time. Oh, he replied, nothing to pay. Thankyou very much, you can go. I was amazed, and you can read into that what you will.....

Amazing story!!! Police refusing TEA money????

.......excellent -- just wished I'd thought of that

[Billmont]

I left one item off my previous post, and I am surprised that some of the Brits didn't mention it since it seems to be a favorite with their breakfasts and that is some decent Baked Beans. Terrible stuff here but then, I am a fan of B & M Boston Baked Beans back in the US which are mostly a US East Coast item - seems no one west of the Mississippi has even heard of them. Busch's can't hold a candle to them, Campbells, S&W, Baxters not tasty at all - but to each his own!

Have you ever tried Brook baked beans ? They are from Australia and taste pretty much the same as Heinz. I hate the Ayam (?) sweet baked beans so I was very happy to find Brook's. They sell them in most Makro's and all the western food outlets in Pattaya.

You should look for Ayam light beans, they are much less sweet. I tried Brooks once and thought someone had been confused with the salt.

I agree. Ayam Brand Baked Beans are quite acceptable especially so the "Blue Bottom" ones, reduced sugar and light sodium formula, not for health but I think they taste better. I always have a few tins in my store cupboard and when I cannot think what I want for lunch my fallback is a couple of slices of wholesale bread toasted, Ayam beans topped with a couple of poached eggs. Very tasty, wholesome and filling. Chang complements it very nicely :-) Edited July 15, 2013 by Billmont

[masuk]

I miss the AYAM brand goods which come from Malaysia. Yes, there are AYAM baked beans and tinned fish here, but that appears to be our lot!

A constant diet of Thai food with chilli needs a change, and so I wrote to AYAM and asked where they sold their products here. Sadly the reply was that "Thais do not eat Malaysian food" and so it's not on sale here.

They have some great prepared rendang curries, sauces etc.

Next visa run KL, but it's also on sale in every asian food store in Oz.

[Jasun]

Liquorice.

[OldChinaHam]

Can't get no good cold pressed olive oil from the first pressing, like I had the olive trees in my own yard and was pressing them myself, I can't get none.

I have looked, and much of the available olive oil is actually mixed with other oils or is probably not the good stuff.

Actually, great olive oil is something I do miss and would rather not do without because I use it in place of all the other things that most Farang spread on sandwiches like mayo, mustard, that red stuff, and, who knows. For me, I am just happy with a liter of olive oil and meat, fish, tomato or anything else that is local. I make my bread from the whole wheat flower that is imported, but that is about it.

So if anyone in Chiang Mai is thinking about growing some olive trees and selling the proceeds, please let me know.

[Sigurris]

Nobody has mentioned Dundee fruit cake!! Or Saffron cake and clotted cream (its the Cornishman in me!).

Worst of all though is the inability to buy swede. As a vegetable I would not give it house room but it is one of the four essential ingredients in a proper Cornish Pasty. Unreplaceable with anything else. And No the Cornish pasties available here are not even close to the real thing.

Big C often have BOGOF on some cheeses and cream. And Tesco and Big C have a small area with near expiry or unwanted stuff at knockdown prices (I won't be buying pesto sauce for a good while).

Also makro do a grand padano which is a close approximation for Parmesan at a fraction of the price.

I have found sprouts for sale at one market in Jomtien. They are looser than British sprouts but taste good.

[TheSpade]

Well everyone is always telling me never to eat Western food and drinks because it's just too expensive here.

Yet in the past few weeks I've bought bread, cheese, wine, ham, steak, minced beef and other items for less than what they cost back home and buying them has worked out cheaper then eating Thai food.

[masuk]

Nobody has mentioned Dundee fruit cake!! Or Saffron cake and clotted cream (its the Cornishman in me!).

Worst of all though is the inability to buy swede. As a vegetable I would not give it house room but it is one of the four essential ingredients in a proper Cornish Pasty. Unreplaceable with anything else. And No the Cornish pasties available here are not even close to the real thing.

Big C often have BOGOF on some cheeses and cream. And Tesco and Big C have a small area with near expiry or unwanted stuff at knockdown prices (I won't be buying pesto sauce for a good while).

Also makro do a grand padano which is a close approximation for Parmesan at a fraction of the price.

I have found sprouts for sale at one market in Jomtien. They are looser than British sprouts but taste good.

you might like to give the sprouts a touch of frost in your deep freezer. I found the sprouts were always tastier in the garden if it had dropped below freezing during the night. It removes some of the bitterness.

[kblaze]

Quaker oats granola cereal. Not the quaker oats oatmeal.

its 350 baht here. i only was able to talk myself into buying it once, and that was because i was 4 beers deep.

[yannic]

Extremely expensive are Cellery roots or called celeriac are only available at Villa Market, but I need one once a week, price range between 700 to 1000 Baht depending on size, while in good old Europe you can get it for around 40-60 Baht (1-1.50 Euro). Ususally when I travel from Europe and I have a couple of kilos available I bring 3-5 of those celeriac, slice them in cubes and put them in the freezer. Also leeks are quite expensive evenso they are local one. Milka chocolate costs almost a 100 Baht...

[yannic]

Extremely expensive are Cellery roots or called celeriac are only available at Villa Market, but I need one once a week, price range between 700 to 1000 Baht depending on size, while in good old Europe you can get it for around 40-60 Baht (1-1.50 Euro). Ususally when I travel from Europe and I have a couple of kilos available I bring 3-5 of those celeriac, slice them in cubes and put them in the freezer. Also leeks are quite expensive evenso they are local one. Milka chocolate costs almost a 100 Baht...

[Briggsy]

Biccies.

Interesting range of cereals.

Lamb

Cheese ,of course.

Rabbit

Turkey

Brussel Sprouts

Vegetables not drenched in carcinogenic, illegal pesticides.