Commerce Ministry launches “3 Big Boom” campaign to cut costs of living

BANGKOK, 11 September 2015 (NNT) – The Ministry of Commerce has launched a “3 Big Boom” campaign to reduce costs of living in Thailand and assure consumers of fair prices of products and services, Minister Apiradi Tantraporn announced on Thursday. The plan came as prices of numerous products remain high despite the falling oil price.

The main measure of the “3 Big Boom” strategy is to control prices of 250 categories in controlled list such as foods, daily used products, production inputs and construction materials. Inspectors will be sent out to check prices of consumer products and analyze costs of production; meanwhile high-ranking executives of the Commerce Ministry will visit markets without prior notification on a daily basis during the next three weeks of September.

The second measure is to hold “Blue Flag and Mobile Unit” fairs nationwide. Moreover, ‘Nu Nit Pa Chim’ project selling low-price meals at 25-35 baht will be expanded from the existing 3,245 branches to provide alternative choices of food for people. New locations for the projects are at community areas where foods are sold at high prices.

The ministry will cooperate with the private sector to establish or expand community enterprises where farmers can supply agricultural products directly to consumers. It will also seek assistance from department stores to organize "Sale Season”.

Application entitled “Cryptic Path to Cheap Prices” has been created in order to help the public have wider access to lower-priced products. This runs in parallel with promoting the public to become wise buyers and good users.

Lastly, the ministry has attempted to expand its network to monitor prices in the market. Currently, it has hotline 1569 for consumers to complain if they encounter an unfair practice. Moreover, it has set up “Commerce Volunteer”, a civil voluntary network cooperating with educational institutes across Thailand, to follow up and report movement of goods prices to the ministry regularly.


-- NNT 2015-09-11

I hope it works better than 3BBB internet customer service.

Good luck getting 25-30 baht meals working on Samui.

A bowl of noodles can run from 70 - 120 baht. Even the Thai complain about how expensive ordinary food is (most of the ingredients of which can be grown on the island so transport shouldn't be a factor).

low price ... you only see the seize of the dish shrink and shrink ...

low price ... you only see the seize of the dish shrink and shrink ...

not only that, but we get rotten items, rotten value for cheapness.....

Great naming of the initiative after recent events...

Great naming of the initiative after recent events...

They could do with a few native English speaking P.R. guys.

“Cryptic Path to Cheap Prices” sounds so creepy to me........

More wacky government debt means weaker baht at some point. The more you fight the markets the more you burn through reserves.

I'm a big fan of Three Big Booms . . .

I can do two most of the time and even that third one from time to time - when properly motivated - but it usually isn't that big.

Ill-conceived plans - If I may sa so.

Well, I suppose it's better than sending the PM out shopping with the media in tow. Then announcing prices haven't gone up, the hot weather is making everyone just imagine they have.

Saving Face cheapness can be deadly.....

I thought the Thai economy was already facing deflation.

Regardless, a better 'quick fix' to people lives would be removing bribes and bureaucracy imposed on small businesses.

Boom Boom Boom eh?

Now they really know they're in trouble. It's thrashing about time folx.

A part of the way you know someone is heading for a stress breakdown is they start being unable to focus on big things. They can only cope with the little things. That and weight loss, increasing irritability and impulsive decision-making.

Ring any bells Mr P?

Price controls. Farmers markets. More monitoring.

Boom. Blip. Dud.

low price ... you only see the seize of the dish shrink and shrink ...

Yes this is blatantly obvious the same with packaging/bottling/services. Just another boom boom campaign that will go bust. The cost of living is ballooning here but the government keeps saying we are heading for deflation. Obviously just another fluffer campaign.

Great naming of the initiative after recent events...

On September 11 as well. Someone's taking the mickey.

Troll posts and replies have been removed.

They should just go straight to the Great Leap Forward, Eliminate the 5 olds and enter The Year Of Living Dangerously

The most simple method of cutting the cost of living for many people, would be to stop the large enterprises from excessive profiteering through the 30% / 40% downturn in all commodities across the entire spectrum of the market.

It is not just the cheap Oil prices that should aid a price reduction, but also the actual manufacturing, and raw material costs, Etc.