18 replies to this topic

[boss45]

http://www.bangkokpo...tion-soars-4-29

[Crackerjax]

Boss45, do you ever post anything other than price inquiries?

Oh I forgot - u do sometimes ask if the natives are "friendly".

[boss45]

Boss45, do you ever post anything other than price inquiries?

Oh I forgot - u do sometimes ask if the natives are "friendly".

Given the fact that I am a newbie and not an experienced monger I like to keep a breasts :-), of what is happening in that department. People like you who know the lay of the land can navigate this crap. By the way, it always comes down to money, one way or the other.

[patrick]

Hardly a newbie on here boss, with 327 posts, I guess you're the opposite of expert BM's with 10 posts under their belts.

[boss45]

PostS??? Really??? is that what determines your experience level?

[donnykey]

PostS??? Really??? is that what determines your experience level?

Definately Not.

DK

[mardhi]

In simple terms prices will rise in Thailand. There are no signs of prices reducing for staple items despite what the government proclaim. Reference is often made to the 'price controls' on staple food items - so they take a shopping basket of commonly purchased products and they 'red ring' them with a mximum retail price. Some examples being:-

Pork Tenderloin (fillet) - actually one of the least popular cuts among Thai's as it is flavourless and has little to no fat. From memory the price ceiling on this is 119b KG. However no mention is made of other pork products. End result is that pork mince is selling in Foodland Supermarket for some 200b kilo. Yes that is correct, minced meat leftovers are twice the price of the most expensive premium cut. Thai buyers don't always realise this - they assume mince should cheap but its not price controlled like Tenderloin.

Palm Oil. Palm oil, in which almost all Thai food is cooked is price controlled, except for one major point - it only applies to 500ml (or some measure like that) bottles. There is virtually no stock of this size on any shelves anywhere. Its being drip fed into the market. 1000ml size is freely available and 3 times the price of the 500ml bottle.

Chicken feet - on a pure weight comparison, chicken feet are more expensive than chicken breast in Thailand. How odd. But Chicken breast is not popular in Thailand.

There are plenty more examples like this and little enforcement is done to prevent it. The staple basket of items remains the same price - its just you cannot buy them.

Fuel costs (petrol) have risen in 10 years from an average of some 13baht Litre to as high as 48baht Litre. Almost all fossil fuels are imported and subject to global prices so little anyone can do about it. This has now come down for a short period as a fuel tax has been removed. However it wont remain like this for long. There is not sufficient money to subsidise it below market prices.


So what relevance to the P4P sector? Price pressure will increase considerably and the P4P market is contracting due to fewer P4P tourists. Its not exactly rocket science economics that the capacity for the sector is too large and will sooner rather than later contract in overall size. Too many small operations will gradually fold into fewer big scale operations where they get better much stronger economy of scale. So for example, less 5-10 staff beer bars and more 25-75 staffed bar beers. This trend is being seen already. Less choice = more opportunity for price fixing among owners - this is one angle that could emerge.

In a nutshell expect prices to continue increasing in Thailand.

[jimbo34]

Rice will also rise dramatically in the next month or so, with price-guarantee from the government. So, as Mardhi says, i'm afriad everything will follow in its path.

Not good for anybody involved in the tourist business, with other, cheaper alternatives popping up, eg Viet Nam.

[boss45]

There is always a counter balancing mechanism-if prices get to high to hurt business than then supply will contract. Prices will decrease and then supply and demand will increase. As far as bars contracting then maybe Craigslist will come into play? In any case, I agree nothing gets cheaper, only more expensive and given the exchange rates, it will get worse.

[soulboy]

Tell me about it .

The Sunday Mirror and a packet of Jaffa Cakes in my local garage £2.45

[jeanclaudecalbuth]

you can always cut on the sunday mirror.