Price Changes

TOPS - Big red chillies 270/kg (280 early May), Chinese Morning Glory 88/kg (90 early May), S&P Frozen Meals were marked down to 50 baht from the usual 55 baht.

Villa - S-Pure Pork Shoulder now 215/kg (200 in April), Talley Frozen Peas 89 baht/500 gram pack (99 in early May).

Price Comparisons

Comparing prices at Tesco Lotus with TOPS.

Tesco Lotus had the promo on Scott toilet rolls, 57 baht for a pack of 6 with a free roll of Kitchen Towels. Also had a promo on Comfort Fabric Softener, 43 baht for 3×700 ml. TOPS had the same promotions in March. Aquafresh Flex toothbrush selling at 60 baht (69 baht in TOPS in March), Sensodyne toothpaste 129 baht (132 in TOPS in March).

Nestle Pure Life drinking water priced at 58 baht per 600mlx12, this usually sells for 63 at TOPS, though last week TOPS marked this down to 53 baht only. The 6lt bottles sell at 31 baht (32 at TOPS) while Coke Zero is 64 baht for a 6-pack (62 at TOPS).

NOTE: I (usually) update this Price Watch every week. If you come to this page from a Search Engine and it is more than 2 weeks old, search this site for a more recent entry. Alternatively, go through older entries for prices of items that may not be included here. Just click on the Tag “Food and Grocery Prices”.

General Notes
1) Please note that especially when it comes to fresh produce, quality can vary from supermarket to supermarket, as does price. Villa for example usually has very meaty pork spare ribs, and the chicken legs (bone-in) are larger than I see elsewhere.
2) These price indicators are as per items I actually purchased, and are as of the date I made the purchases. They do not represent a commitment on the part of any supermarket mentioned to sell the items at said prices. Also, whilst said items were available at the time I made the purchase, things do run out.
3) I do not get paid or receive any other benefits from any supermarkets mentioned to publish this post or make any comments. If and when any supermarket sees fit to advertise here, I shall be pleased to run the ads. My priority remains to shop for items that we require, and to post information about them as a general service.

Tags

We had some stuff to do at Central Bangna so we did some of our weekly shopping at the TOPS supermarket there.

They renovated the place with a view to attracting more of the growing expat community in that neck of the woods, and now stock more items that will appeal to expats. However, they neglect to stock the shelves in an expat friendly fashion - all the facing labels were in Thai so if you don’t read Thai you would be turning every item (brand) to find the one you are looking for, eg the Nautilus Tuna in brine.

Some items only have labels in Thai, but for those which are bilingual, it would be nice to have a portion of the items with the English version facing out. A small point, but it would ease things for the expat crowd. On more than one occasion my wife has helped out expats who appeared to be lost when buying detergents and other household items for example.

Price Changes

TOPS - Straw mushrooms were 145 baht/kg (169 baht last week), Nautilus tuna chunks in brine 33.5 baht (36 baht previously), Double Pagoda Groundnuts 19 baht a pack (19.50 previously), Healthy Boy Mushroom Soy Sauce 43.5 baht (48 baht in mid-April) and Nestle Pure Life Drinking Water 53 baht for 600mlx12 (usual 65 baht).

Villa - S-Pure Chicken Breast is up 10 baht/kg, to 125 baht/kg (115 baht/kg last week), lime is 25 baht for 6 pieces (35 baht in early May).

NOTE: I (usually) update this Price Watch every week. If you come to this page from a Search Engine and it is more than 2 weeks old, search this site for a more recent entry. Alternatively, go through older entries for prices of items that may not be included here. Just click on the Tag “Food and Grocery Prices”.

General Notes
1) Please note that especially when it comes to fresh produce, quality can vary from supermarket to supermarket, as does price. Villa for example usually has very meaty pork spare ribs, and the chicken legs (bone-in) are larger than I see elsewhere.
2) These price indicators are as per items I actually purchased, and are as of the date I made the purchases. They do not represent a commitment on the part of any supermarket mentioned to sell the items at said prices. Also, whilst said items were available at the time I made the purchase, things do run out.
3) I do not get paid or receive any other benefits from any supermarkets mentioned to publish this post or make any comments. If and when any supermarket sees fit to advertise here, I shall be pleased to run the ads. My priority remains to shop for items that we require, and to post information about them as a general service.

Price Changes

TOPS - Bird Chillies are down 20 baht/kg to 260 baht, Straw Mushrooms are 169 baht/kg (195 baht in early March), Teajiw Fried Fish Cake is back up to 30 baht/pack (25 baht previously), Scott toilet rolls are 4 baht cheaper for a 6-pack (65 baht now), Magiclean Floor Refill is 38 baht down from 45 baht previously, and Sunlight Lemon dishwashing liquid is 74 baht for 3×600ml (79 baht previously)

Villa - Potatoes were 59 baht/kg (usual 70 baht) but did not have the usual brand marking.

Price Comparisons

S&P Frozen meals which sell for 59 baht a pack in Villa are still priced at 55 baht a pack at TOPS. That is the old price.

Nestle Pure Life Bottled water is 32 baht per 6lt bottle at TOPS, compared to 34 baht at Villa.

Foremost UHT milk is 35 baht/lt at Villa compared to 37 baht at TOPS in early May.

NOTE: I update this Price Watch every week. If you come to this page from a Search Engine and it is more than 9 days old, search this site for a more recent entry. Alternatively, go through older entries for prices of items that may not be included here. Just click on the Tag “Food and Grocery Prices”.

General Notes
1) Please note that especially when it comes to fresh produce, quality can vary from supermarket to supermarket, as does price. Villa for example usually has very meaty pork spare ribs, and the chicken legs (bone-in) are larger than I see elsewhere.
2) These price indicators are as per items I actually purchased, and are as of the date I made the purchases. They do not represent a commitment on the part of any supermarket mentioned to sell the items at said prices. Also, whilst said items were available at the time I made the purchase, things do run out.
3) I do not get paid or receive any other benefits from any supermarkets mentioned to publish this post or make any comments. If and when any supermarket sees fit to advertise here, I shall be pleased to run the ads. My priority remains to shop for items that we require, and to post information about them as a general service.

It was originally scheduled to commence trial runs on August 12th, the Queen’s birthday, but the contractors are unable to complete the project on time.

Official opening is now pushed back to March 2010.

The Airport Rail Link connects with the BTS Skytrain at Phaya Thai, and residents in communities near the line would have the option of riding the Airport Link into the downtown area and connecting with the rest of the Mass Transit system.

When all was done, I made my usual stop at the pub ‘on the way home’, a definition I must confess I sometimes stretch. When I got to Soi 33, I had a choice of the non-smoking joint or the smoking joint. Yes, they are all supposed to be non-smoking, and there are no hookers in Pattaya.

Anyway, I opted for the smoking place which shall remain nameless. It was not too smoky so I was fine for a while at least. The first beer of the week went down in record time. They don’t make beer like they used to, the stuff nowadays just doesn’t last very long.

Suddenly, the smell of burning garbage filled the air. The staff were looking at 3 Kiwis, one of whom had lighted a cigar. After a short discussion as to who would do the dirty deed, the one elected plucked up courage and went and told him cigar smoking was not allowed. He pointed to his mate who was smoking probably his third cigarette since I came in and said “What about him?” No joy, so he put out the cigar, though obviously not too happy.

About a half hour later, he re-lit the cigar, and another of his mates lit one too. This time another staff had the honour of telling him, which she did by standing in front of him and giving him a scowl. He put it out again, and asked to see the boss.

As they were obviously peeved, I had visions of them telling him to call the police if he liked, whilst all three sat and smoked cigars in defiance. The boss can be a stubborn bloke and I’m fairly certain it would have ended with him asking them to leave or else they would not be served anyway.

Unfortunately, the boss was not there and smokey could not make his point. It would have been fun to watch.

They settled their bills, then decided to have another round before leaving. And yes, smokey re-lit his cigar once more about 3 minutes before they stepped out.

I must confess my initial thoughts about the 3 Kiwis were not too charitable, but then I tried to see it from their perspective and my feelings changed. From smokeys perspective if you allow people to smoke in contravention of the law, you have no right to tell them what to smoke.

I’m not sure how others would describe this sort of thing, I call it trying to be a little bit pregnant - wanting to allow smoking in contravention of the law, but still wanting to dictate what can and cannot be smoked.

Missed out on an interesting discussion. Anyway, there was less smoke in the air so I could enjoy a few more beers in relative comfort.

The Minimum Lending Rate (MLR) is thus 6.25%, with Minimum Retail Rate (MRR) and Minimum Overdraft Rate (MOR) at 6.75%.

This makes it the 4th local bank to announce rate cuts after pressure from the Central Bank and Finance Ministry to pass on previous rate cuts to customers.

The price contractions that the Central Bank referred to do not seem to be much in evidence, even for basic stuff like pork and chicken, and there are only price increases to report this week.

Price Changes

S-Pure Chicken Breast (Skinless) up 5 baht/ kg as expected, which makes chicken at TOPS vastly over-priced.

KC Fresh Chinese cabbage is now 140 baht/kg, from 108 baht/kg in mid-April.

S&P Garlic Pork Rice and Chicken with Basil are 59 baht/pack, from 55 baht previously. I need to check whether the price at TOPS is still 55 baht/pack.

BMP Frankfurters are now 90 baht for a pack of 3 (250g), from 85 baht a fortnight ago.

NOTE: I update this Price Watch every week. If you come to this page from a Search Engine and it is more than 9 days old, search this site for a more recent entry. Alternatively, go through older entries for prices of items that may not be included here. Just click on the Tag “Food and Grocery Prices”.

General Notes
1) Please note that especially when it comes to fresh produce, quality can vary from supermarket to supermarket, as does price. Villa for example usually has very meaty pork spare ribs, and the chicken legs (bone-in) are larger than I see elsewhere.
2) These price indicators are as per items I actually purchased, and are as of the date I made the purchases. They do not represent a commitment on the part of any supermarket mentioned to sell the items at said prices. Also, whilst said items were available at the time I made the purchase, things do run out.
3) I do not get paid or receive any other benefits from any supermarkets mentioned to publish this post or make any comments. If and when any supermarket sees fit to advertise here, I shall be pleased to run the ads. My priority remains to shop for items that we require, and to post information about them as a general service.

Since we were there and I am in the market for a second monitor to run off my laptop, we went up to the IT floor. I had not been there for a couple of years and was curious as to how the place was doing.

The first thing I noticed was the large store that was rather like an IT Mall or Supercentre was no longer there. The large corner lot it occupied was boarded up for renovation. All that remained was the numerous small shops selling anything and everything computer related.

There were not too many customers either. All rather unimpressive in comparison to Fortune Town and Pantip Plaza.

Siam Commercial Banks reduction by 0.15% brings its Minimum Lending Rate (MLR) to 6.0%, Minimum Overdraft Rate (MOR) to 6.25% and Minimum Retail Rate (MRR) to 6.5%.

Kasikorn Bank announced a quarter percentage point cut for an MLR of 5.85%, MOR of 6.15% and MRR of 6.45%.

Deposit rates remain unchanged. The cuts come on the heels of the cut by market leader Bangkok Bank, prompted by criticism from both the Central Bank and Finance Ministry that commercial banks have been too slow to pass on cheaper market rates to borrowers.

Prime Lending Rate is now 5.875%, Minimum Retail Rate (MRR) 6.5% and Minimum Overdraft Rate (MOR) 6.125%. Deposit rates remain unchanged.

The announcement comes on the heels of the Bank of Thailand leaving the policy rate unchanged at 1.25%.

The Central Bank noted that whilst the Monetary Policy Committee had cut rates by a total of 2.5% since December 2008, Commercial Banks had on average cut lending rates by 1.19% (about 50% of the interest rate cuts) and deposit rates by 1.96% (about 70% of the rate cuts).

Looks like a little bit of profiteering by the banks, cutting lending rates on the one hand and slashing interest rates on deposits even more sharply.

Other commercial banks are expected to follow suit in the next few days, though there is some waffling.