have any of you residents or regular visitors notice a marked reduction in the size of portions of local food that are now being served in outlets. Everywhere I go a simple one course dish that would have done me looks more like a child's portion. I am not a big eater either. I went to MBK shopping yesterday and on the way back went to the food court near where the Airport bus to Pattaya departs and had to order a couple of dishes to fill me up. I counted 3 prawns in one dish.

Anyone not factoring inflation into their future retirement plans will starve to death. The young Thais must be eating real shit coz they can't be getting fat on the portions.

Same here in SHV.

The restaurant owners have 3 choices

Smaller portions
Raise prices and watch the cheap charlie customers go to the place next door or
Go bust

Option 1 seems to be the way to go.
Still can get battered fish, chips and salad for $2 but you get 20 chips instead of 30 and the fish is getting smaller.

phuketrichard wrote:been seeing that for years,
prices have gone up for everything here ( ingredients and dishes)

I eat at the local market and what was 25 baht 3 years ago is now 40 and smaller sizes

I've been a periodic rather than regular Thai food eater because I usually cook myself so it's probably why I've been slow to notice the change. I can almost get a good western main meal in a farang pub for the same price as a filling Thai meal, before I always considered the western option much more expensive.

their portions are small but they compensate eating 3-4 times per day.

said that, yes, it's not worth it compared to a big fat western meal.

Inflation... Or maybe a sign of things to come.

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote:Inflation... Or maybe a sign of things to come.

????? A sign ??? Which one ? Pay money....get no food ???......would be the ultimate inflation.



$ 25.90 please

I meant a sign of the economy of the country. Quickly rising costs of living/inflation. I don't follow the Thai baht or COL in Thailand though. Just a comment based on what you guys are saying.

Hmm....Cambodia has traditionally a (very) high inflation rate and as in many 3rd world countries prices and income are not related. Corruption and dirty money is keeping such economies alive and not the working class.

Francis wrote:Hmm....Cambodia has traditionally a (very) high inflation rate and as in many 3rd world countries prices and income are not related. Corruption and dirty money is keeping such economies alive and not the working class.

it depends, i would say that in genera the prices have gone up 20% in the last 4 years if we talk about food you can buy at markets and supermarkets.

cigarettes up 10-15%, gasoline is stable, guesthouses and hotels from 20 to 50% in some cases, booze +10-15% for beer cans in minimarkets but not much for draft beers in bars.

i heard the 3$ BBQ in snooky's beach is now 4$, that's a whopping +30% in 4 yrs .. 6-7% per annum, on par with PP.

bargirls and sex workers in general .. it depends but we're definitely on a range of +50-100% in the worst cases, 20$ was ok for all night a few years ago, now 30$ is the minimum for freelancers, and bargirls can easily ask 50$ short time, barfines were 5$ and now 10$ almost everywhere, lady drinks 1.5$ and now 3-4$.

on the other side, airplanes are a bit cheaper thanks to AirAsia and other carriers, transportation is still affordable.
we're still very far from the inflation that hit thailand after 2008 !