Are fresh markets a better value than Big C?

[NoshowJones]

Naklua market is very good , everything is priced , but just ask if it isnt , no one ever seems to ask more from me than they do from Thai people , despite what the whingers on here tell you .

I have always found that stallholders in markets to be very decent and honest people.

[maderaroja]

The "fresh markets" are rat ridden and quite a few vendors spray the produce with preservatives. The meat and produce are fly ridden and stale.

[razer]

At my veggie market I can get a little more than a week's supply of vegetables for two people for 130 Baht or less. Sometimes I get veggies free ... but the lady knows me as I am a regular customers. But just take mushrooms for example ... at Bic C are 25-34 Baht ... at my market it is a steady 20 Baht.

And quite often Big C often puts items on the shelf marked with the wrong price so you need to be careful. Example ... I bought some breakfast cereal on the shelf and the price under the box was 99 Baht. BUT it was actually 249 Baht when I checked out. I didn't read the small print over the shelf price. It was stocked incorrectly.

[digbeth]

Buy from the farmers selling direct from their trucks at the side of the road.

Always cheaper and fresher.

I've known a few of the guys selling from their truck on the side of the road, some just drive up to the big wholesale market north of Bangkok to get their load and set up their truck instead of a stall in the market.... it's definitely cheaper and probably fresh, but it doesn't mean they're local produce and could even be from China even

[mgjackson69]

Buy from the farmers selling direct from their trucks at the side of the road.

Always cheaper and fresher.

I've known a few of the guys selling from their truck on the side of the road, some just drive up to the big wholesale market north of Bangkok to get their load and set up their truck instead of a stall in the market.... it's definitely cheaper and probably fresh, but it doesn't mean they're local produce and could even be from China even

Fresh is fresh...who cares if it is "local" ?

[aronp1]

Yes, much better prices at a market, plus better quality as well. Someone mentioned "I don't see rats running around Big C". Well I don't know what markets you've been going to. I've never seen any rats at any market, besides what does that have to do with the quality and price of the food there? I think some people are just sitting too high on their horse to live in Thailand. GO to the markets! Support your community and eat healthier food.

[connda]

You're kidding, aren't you? You just off the boat? Been out trolling and feel the need to take a run by Thai Visa? <sigh, head shake>.

OK, I'll bite. We bought two kilos of Bell Pepper for 30 baht locally last week. Go to Big C and see how many Bell Peppers you get for 30 baht. Lol And yes, I've seen rats in the markets. Really, so what. Farang get all excited when they see a chipmunk or squirrel and start looking for something to feed them, but a rat??? "OH my God...A RAT!!!!! They are all disease-carrying rodents you know.

Edited January 15, 2016 by connda

[Nowisee]

Yes, much better prices at a market, plus better quality as well. Someone mentioned "I don't see rats running around Big C". Well I don't know what markets you've been going to. I've never seen any rats at any market, besides what does that have to do with the quality and price of the food there? I think some people are just sitting too high on their horse to live in Thailand. GO to the markets! Support your community and eat healthier food.

Rats are in all the markets, you just don't see them. It affects quality if the rats are pissing and shitting on your food. Has little to do with riding high on a horse.

Eat healthier?

If you want to eat healthier, support the local farmers growing organic.

[balo]

Buy from the farmers selling direct from their trucks at the side of the road.

Always cheaper and fresher.

AYOR

Gay slang? ......... surely not!

AYOR Definition / AYOR Means The definition of AYOR is "At Your Own Risk"

Google do provide enough links to suggest it , but not in my world.

[tropo]

I hate fresh markets and I hate Big C, but if I was forced to make a choice I would choose Big C, where prices are displayed and you can pick up and inspect everything. Buying power probably offers better deals at Big C too and the selection is far greater. It's also probably fresher at Big C than the "fresh markets" as it is air conditioned.

Big C fresh, really, omgggg... As for touching produce at fresh markets i do, my wife does and so do all the people i see at them.... As for pricing, they always have prices marked.. Open market i do find cheaper too

As I said, I don't like Big C and I don't like fresh markets. Fresh markets are for Thais who don't mind negotiating the heat and stink. Maybe your Thai wife picks up everything at the fresh markets, but I wouldn't do that. Also, they're not going to have most of the things I want, so it's a waste of time going to a fresh market to buy some items that maybe cheaper than the supermarket because it would mean an extra shopping trip to save how much? Very little.

If you have a Thai wife who does the shopping, great! She can do it (fresh markets) and save a few baht here and there, but if I do the shopping there's no way I'll go to one until all the supermarkets run out of food and I have no choice.

I do my vegie shopping at Friendship where every item is dated, Foodland and occasionally Big C Extra (not Big C normal). Vegies are such a small percentage of my daily/weekly food purchases there's really no benefit going elsewhere.

Edited January 15, 2016 by tropo

[onemorechang]

Always good to see some people are still fooled by packaging and labels .

in Thailand

[tropo]

Always good to see some people are still fooled by packaging and labels .

in Thailand

There's no need to be insulting. I'm well aware of what is fresh and what is not, but it doesn't matter either way as I wouldn't be seen dead at a fresh market.

Have another Chang!

[loonytune]

Buy from the farmers selling direct from their trucks at the side of the road.

Always cheaper and fresher.

i find these to be the biggest scam artist. mostly there is something wrong with the stuff they are selling. they breeze through from a different province then you never see them again

go very early in the morning to the fresh markets in my rural town locality and you get great value and virtually just picked freshness. stuff at the name super market just cant compete on either freshness quality or price. people are nice too in the early mornings and they have a reputation to up hold as they are selling virtually everyday.

Edited January 15, 2016 by loonytune

[Rimmer]

Off topic post attempting to hijack the topic has been removed

I have now removed further off topic bickering posts. Keep it civil please

[mango66]

You never see rats running around at big c.

i never bought the rats,

just what they left 555555555

[mango66]

You never see rats running around at big c.

i was told, where no rats,

a lot of poison, so everything contaminated with poison !!

[jacko45k]

Much cheaper at the markets, but beware the Falang element...... learn to read Thai numerical script!

Obviously I exclude say fresh fruit from behind Mikes which are tourist rip-offs.

Naklua market early is good. Nerm Plab Wan is a good market, a bit smelly and dirty but most are.

[craigt3365]

Be very careful buying meats/veggies from the markets as quite a few vendors spray the produce with preservatives, it used to be formalin but as that was easily identified by the Thai health inspectors they use even more dodgy stuff now.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/706792-thai-health-ministry-warns-of-increasing-use-of-formalin-by-vendors-at-fresh-markets/

We use to only buy at the fresh markets. We're feeding 5+ people every day, so we have to shop a lot. Prices at the markets have gone up dramatically over the years. They have everywhere here. Wifey doesn't find it a good value to buy at the markets compared with Makro. Plus, as you pointed out RabC, she actually has seen the vendors spray stuff on the veggies. Last time she bought from the market. The maid does sometimes, but we always soak the veggies in a solution for 30 minutes before cooking. Not sure Makro is any better. But can't be any worse. From your article:

At major fresh markets, formalin was found in as many as 59% of collected samples.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/587524-dangerous-levels-of-pesticides-will-poison-thailands-food-plan/

The risk of contamination varies according to the vegetable, with parsley topping the danger list. Tests on the herb revealed five types of pesticide, including Carbofuran, Chlopyrifos, EPN and Methidathion, at levels up to 102 times higher than the European limit. Yard-long beans and bird's-eye chillies came second and third, respectively. All of these chemicals are harmful to the health, threatening long-term effects and even acute poisoning if the concentration is high enough. Just three drops of EPN or a teaspoon of carbofuran can be fatal.

European guidelines suggest that there should not be more than 0.05mg of chloropyrifos, 0.02mg of methidathion and 0.3mg of methomyl in any given sample of food. Thai standards impose no limits at all.

[tropo]

Be very careful buying meats/veggies from the markets as quite a few vendors spray the produce with preservatives, it used to be formalin but as that was easily identified by the Thai health inspectors they use even more dodgy stuff now.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/706792-thai-health-ministry-warns-of-increasing-use-of-formalin-by-vendors-at-fresh-markets/

We use to only buy at the fresh markets. We're feeding 5+ people every day, so we have to shop a lot. Prices at the markets have gone up dramatically over the years. They have everywhere here. Wifey doesn't find it a good value to buy at the markets compared with Makro. Plus, as you pointed out RabC, she actually has seen the vendors spray stuff on the veggies. Last time she bought from the market. The maid does sometimes, but we always soak the veggies in a solution for 30 minutes before cooking. Not sure Makro is any better. But can't be any worse. From your article:

At major fresh markets, formalin was found in as many as 59% of collected samples.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/587524-dangerous-levels-of-pesticides-will-poison-thailands-food-plan/

The risk of contamination varies according to the vegetable, with parsley topping the danger list. Tests on the herb revealed five types of pesticide, including Carbofuran, Chlopyrifos, EPN and Methidathion, at levels up to 102 times higher than the European limit. Yard-long beans and bird's-eye chillies came second and third, respectively. All of these chemicals are harmful to the health, threatening long-term effects and even acute poisoning if the concentration is high enough. Just three drops of EPN or a teaspoon of carbofuran can be fatal.

European guidelines suggest that there should not be more than 0.05mg of chloropyrifos, 0.02mg of methidathion and 0.3mg of methomyl in any given sample of food. Thai standards impose no limits at all.

Everyone should read that report: "Dangerous Levels Of Pesticides Will Poison Thailand's Food Plan" from 2012. Scary stuff! Does soaking the vegetables get rid of these pesticides? How about rinsing?

I might have been on the right track buying Australian carrots, but most of my other vegetables are produced in Thailand. The imported stuff is just too expensive. I wonder how many years I'm chopping off my life by ingesting so much pesticide.

Edited January 16, 2016 by tropo

[loonytune]

was thinking about this just recently. the leafy veg corriander, horapaa {some sort of basil}, shallots, something else looks like dandelion leaves etc look absolutely fabulous on display . within in an hour of getting them home and after immediately immersing the bottom stems in water, the wilt/droop sets in then after another hour the dandelions have changed from crispy leaf to brown dried leaf on the extremities..

so was wondering how they make them look so good for so long.

was giving them the benefit of the doubt and attributing just water sprays .

i am extremely sensitive to any chemical contamination for some reason more so than most people and i dont pick up any contamination currently. hasnt always been this way

[KittenKong]

OK, I'll bite. We bought two kilos of Bell Pepper for 30 baht locally last week. Go to Big C and see how many Bell Peppers you get for 30 baht.

Not sure about BigC but currently Makro have three colours of bell pepper for 89B/kg and they seem to be good quality.

15B/kg seems surprisingly cheap. Is that in Pattaya?

[onemorechang]

Tv has a lot of Drama Queens.

This is what i do

Eat the fresh veg from markets.

Drink the water from the Blue and white machines.

Eat at many different Thai road side stools.

Eat at many Different Thai shop house restaurants.

Eat the local Squid from pattaya bay.

Eat all the fresh fruit from the markets.

Eat Meat from the markets ( only the same day as bought )

Drink Samsong, Beer Chang, Leo, Mont Claire wine, also used to drink SangTip before it was stopped.

All for 15 years full time + 5 years as a tourist.

Must be real dangerous stuff in Thailand.

Of course stuff can happen, (be careful with small children and the elderly)

But come on, don't be pansies

You Stand far more chance of getting killed on the road , than dying of veg positioning.

[mgjackson69]

Yes, much better prices at a market, plus better quality as well. Someone mentioned "I don't see rats running around Big C". Well I don't know what markets you've been going to. I've never seen any rats at any market, besides what does that have to do with the quality and price of the food there? I think some people are just sitting too high on their horse to live in Thailand. GO to the markets! Support your community and eat healthier food.

Rats are in all the markets, you just don't see them. It affects quality if the rats are pissing and shitting on your food. Has little to do with riding high on a horse.

Eat healthier?

If you want to eat healthier, support the local farmers growing organic.

Guaranteed, "organic" will have rats and insects in the fields.

If you want hermetically-sealed food items (full of hormones and antibiotics, by the way) go back to "the west".

[mgjackson69]

I hate fresh markets and I hate Big C, but if I was forced to make a choice I would choose Big C, where prices are displayed and you can pick up and inspect everything. Buying power probably offers better deals at Big C too and the selection is far greater. It's also probably fresher at Big C than the "fresh markets" as it is air conditioned.

Big C fresh, really, omgggg... As for touching produce at fresh markets i do, my wife does and so do all the people i see at them.... As for pricing, they always have prices marked.. Open market i do find cheaper too

As I said, I don't like Big C and I don't like fresh markets. Fresh markets are for Thais who don't mind negotiating the heat and stink. Maybe your Thai wife picks up everything at the fresh markets, but I wouldn't do that. Also, they're not going to have most of the things I want, so it's a waste of time going to a fresh market to buy some items that maybe cheaper than the supermarket because it would mean an extra shopping trip to save how much? Very little.

If you have a Thai wife who does the shopping, great! She can do it (fresh markets) and save a few baht here and there, but if I do the shopping there's no way I'll go to one until all the supermarkets run out of food and I have no choice.

I do my vegie shopping at Friendship where every item is dated, Foodland and occasionally Big C Extra (not Big C normal). Vegies are such a small percentage of my daily/weekly food purchases there's really no benefit going elsewhere.

If you need a date label to tell if a vegetable is fresh, then by all means stick to the supermarkets.

[donnybay]

Where do the markets buy there veg these days, i bet if you go to Makro at 6am you would find out.

Makro every time for me, very cheap even compared to Thai markets or supermarkets

[craigt3365]

Tv has a lot of Drama Queens.

This is what i do

Eat the fresh veg from markets.

Drink the water from the Blue and white machines.

Eat at many different Thai road side stools.

Eat at many Different Thai shop house restaurants.

Eat the local Squid from pattaya bay.

Eat all the fresh fruit from the markets.

Eat Meat from the markets ( only the same day as bought )

Drink Samsong, Beer Chang, Leo, Mont Claire wine, also used to drink SangTip before it was stopped.

All for 15 years full time + 5 years as a tourist.

Must be real dangerous stuff in Thailand.

Of course stuff can happen, (be careful with small children and the elderly)

But come on, don't be pansies

You Stand far more chance of getting killed on the road , than dying of veg positioning.

We've got a board member still suffering from the effects of drinking the water from the cheap machines here. According to his docs back in the UK. It's rare, but it does happen. And if it's easy to avoid, I'll take that approach.

Just because you've been here for XXXX years with no ill effects means nothing. But yes, your odds of getting killed on the road are orders of magnitude greater than dying of food poisoning. The effects of this are the greatest on the very young.

[Asiantravel]

You never see rats running around at big c.

...............but some of the cockroaches are nearly as big as rats

[tropo]

I hate fresh markets and I hate Big C, but if I was forced to make a choice I would choose Big C, where prices are displayed and you can pick up and inspect everything. Buying power probably offers better deals at Big C too and the selection is far greater. It's also probably fresher at Big C than the "fresh markets" as it is air conditioned.

Big C fresh, really, omgggg... As for touching produce at fresh markets i do, my wife does and so do all the people i see at them.... As for pricing, they always have prices marked.. Open market i do find cheaper too

As I said, I don't like Big C and I don't like fresh markets. Fresh markets are for Thais who don't mind negotiating the heat and stink. Maybe your Thai wife picks up everything at the fresh markets, but I wouldn't do that. Also, they're not going to have most of the things I want, so it's a waste of time going to a fresh market to buy some items that maybe cheaper than the supermarket because it would mean an extra shopping trip to save how much? Very little.

If you have a Thai wife who does the shopping, great! She can do it (fresh markets) and save a few baht here and there, but if I do the shopping there's no way I'll go to one until all the supermarkets run out of food and I have no choice.

I do my vegie shopping at Friendship where every item is dated, Foodland and occasionally Big C Extra (not Big C normal). Vegies are such a small percentage of my daily/weekly food purchases there's really no benefit going elsewhere.

If you need a date label to tell if a vegetable is fresh, then by all means stick to the supermarkets.

Date labels are very useful when buying veggies as the difference of a few days is not visible in most cases. At Friendship I look for the most recent dates of the stacked veggies, which are at the back. Then I check the vegetables visually and have a good feel for firmness if it's a root vegetable or zucchini or such like - all in air conditioned comfort with no one standing near egging me to on to buy or making me feel uncomfortable if I walk away. Sure, if I just look and walk on, no problem. But picking up a market holders vegetables to feel them and then walk away is not so cool.

For example, some things just have to be handled. Stall holders do not like you picking up and squeezing mangosteens, which is a must if you don't want to pay big money for rocks which are inedible. I can do that in the supermarkets.

[mgjackson69]

Date labels are very useful when buying veggies as the difference of a few days is not visible in most cases. At Friendship I look for the most recent dates of the stacked veggies, which are at the back. Then I check the vegetables visually and have a good feel for firmness if it's a root vegetable or zucchini or such like - all in air conditioned comfort with no one standing near egging me to on to buy or making me feel uncomfortable if I walk away. Sure, if I just look and walk on, no problem. But picking up a market holders vegetables to feel them and then walk away is not so cool.

For example, some things just have to be handled. Stall holders do not like you picking up and squeezing mangosteens, which is a must if you don't want to pay big money for rocks which are inedible. I can do that in the supermarkets.

I have no problem checking the merchandise in the open markets. You are absolutely correct, some of the stall owners get their back up a bit if one does so, but I have no problem putting it down and walking away if they start bitching about it.

Fortunately, there are plenty of options for those who like to shop in the supermarkets as well as for those who prefer the local markets.

We all manage to bring home the groceries.

[tropo]

Date labels are very useful when buying veggies as the difference of a few days is not visible in most cases. At Friendship I look for the most recent dates of the stacked veggies, which are at the back. Then I check the vegetables visually and have a good feel for firmness if it's a root vegetable or zucchini or such like - all in air conditioned comfort with no one standing near egging me to on to buy or making me feel uncomfortable if I walk away. Sure, if I just look and walk on, no problem. But picking up a market holders vegetables to feel them and then walk away is not so cool.

For example, some things just have to be handled. Stall holders do not like you picking up and squeezing mangosteens, which is a must if you don't want to pay big money for rocks which are inedible. I can do that in the supermarkets.

I have no problem checking the merchandise in the open markets. You are absolutely correct, some of the stall owners get their back up a bit if one does so, but I have no problem putting it down and walking away if they start bitching about it.

Fortunately, there are plenty of options for those who like to shop in the supermarkets as well as for those who prefer the local markets.

We all manage to bring home the groceries.

I don't see a single advantage to market shopping. If I had a Thai wife, she'd probably be there doing it, but not with me in tow. The supermarkets, and especially Big C, are full of Thais shopping for their veggies, so I suppose a lot of them are averse to slumming it at markets too.