UK food prices

[howard]

Also need to remember some items do change a lot in price over time. I think WW hasn't been back to the UK for a while - try buying tinned tomatoes and baked beans at 10-15 baht a tin - it will be a very small tin or from the basics range - named brands (which is what you are comparing to in Thailand) are between 25-50 baht a tin,same as for beans in Thailand, and who buys tinned tomatoes in Thailand? Expensive because no-one buys them.

One thing where prices are starting to equalise is chocolate - several chocolate bars in Supermarkets in Thailand are now similar or only 50% more in Thailand - used to be twice the price 5 years ago.

The one problem is although you can get nearly any TYPE of UK food here, the range of brands/sizes is so much smaller; but with smaller volumes selling that is inevitable, as is the fact that prices are not so competitive.

Hi Rick
I think you will find that WW spends quite a time in the UK as I do.
I have posted a Tesco web page as it may give you a better idea of their prices. Actually navigate the various pages and apart from the cost of meat you'll be hard pushed to find items cheaper in LOS.
As WW states compare the salaries of Thai and England and it's fairly pricey in Thailand.
I actually shop at Asda or Morrisons which I find cheaper than Tesco.
http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Shopping ... ed%20beans
Regards
Howard

[welshwizard]

Mr PAPAFARANG could you tell me where you shop ? Who pays 6gbp for 1lb of stewingt beef ? I paid 100 baht in tesco .Sirloin steak is cheaper than your stewing beef.I am not sure you exaggerate uk prices so your own in thailand do not seem so bad or you do your shopping in harrods or a delicatessen shop ?
Potatoes tesco 5kgms 100 baht. I live 8kms from tesco/sainsburys in uk 35 kms for tesco in thailand so no more for fuel . Parking , which supermarket in uk charges 175 baht for parking ? I have never paid.
Glass of wine 125 in my local pub 80 baht even though i am sure i could pay 5000 baht for a glass depending on the wine. Cannot comment on this thread without stating the wine you are drinking . I go out for a meal with my wife in thailand and a couple of beers about 500 baht ,take away in uk for 2 600 baht. Where do you eat . Not the same place as 99% of rank and file people. Perhaps you are really rich which most on here are not and do not shop or eat in the same places as you.

RICK i been back to uk 2 times in 7 years . Last time was april 16 to july 23 last year (2013) 10 weeks . I lived by myself and shopped every week in tesco and sainsburys.The beans i bought were tescos own make , medium tin and tasted a lot nicer than the branded 48 baht and 72 baht beans i have bought in thailand. Nobody buys tomatoes in Thailand because they are to expensive ? This is the whole point of this thread.Uk is cheaper for food, electrical goods and clothes as they are mostly same price as thaiand but a lot better quality and even the shorts have pockets.
Chocolate in Thailand is about the third of the size as uk and twice as expensive. I was buying chocolate in my local spar shop. 3 bars for a pound . I mars bar , 1 twix and 1 kitkat good size for 50 baht . Thailand 1 under size mars bar 59 baht .
As howard says except for meat not much in thailand is cheaper than uk. Try to think a bit . Tesco lotus was not built for farangs but thai people . They have to pay thai tesco prices on 300-500 baht a day while british people pay cheaper prices on 3,000 baht a day .
In 2007 I bought a 28 inch tv in tesco uk for 8500 baht . I bought the same size tv in thailand 10000 baht . Uk 4 days pay . Thailand 40 days pay. If you had to work 40 days in uk for a tv would cost you roughly 150,000 baht. That is why thais pay monthly. Tv in uk made by sony in wales . Workers earning good wage ,holiday pay, sick leave , pension plan, subsidised canteen . Workers made my samsung tv thai city electrics bkk . Workers earn less than 300 baht a day , no holiday pay ,no sick leave , no pension.
Say you love thailand and love to live here but please do not slag off uk to make thailand seem better . Uk is one of the fairest and cheapest country in the world and i am proud to be british.
ww

[rick]

I'm not slagging off UK - hey, i live there for 4 months every year. And i would say UK cheaper than western Europe. As for prices, in Tesco UK Heinz beans 400 gram are 68p (say 35 baht) i bought some Ayams beans same size in Big C for 31 baht. I like chocolate and buy a bar about 2 times a month. have been buying a Tesco own brand chocolate here for 65 baht 150 grams. I think exactly same bar about £1.20 (65 baht) in UK. Sure the Kitkats and Mars bars here in Thailand are more expensive, but there are alternatives at comparable prices - i can get a pack on 12 x 18 gram snack bars for under 50 baht

TVs, well depends on model, but i have seen low end TVs cheaper in Thailand than UK (current prices). Mid range smart phone about 2,500 baht, 4000 in UK (same model, international brand). I know prices for Thais are expensive as proportion of salary, but we are on pensions same in UK or Thailand - which is cheaper for us, has to be Thailand.

I agree Papa farangs food prices from UK made my eyebrows raise, and i certainly wouldn't spend £50 on a takeaway (when i get a takeaway chinese for 3 people, pay about £15-20). Also can eat out at local pub (in London suburb) for under £10 and that includes a beer. But i cannot afford to rent a one bedroom flat in the UK AND eat as well .... in Thailand i support a family, pay the mortgage, run a car and pay the loan, on about what it would cost me to exist alone in the UK.

[papafarang]

80 baht for a glass of wine? it was 70 baht for a glass of lemonade . rent on the place i was staying 4000 pound a month, council tax band G ,300 pound a week, gas and electric 500 pound a week, i now i paid it for my brother while i was there, maybe in whales you can rent a 2 up 2 down with an outside toilet and it will be cheap, amd maybe you can get a cheap glass of wine from a bottle from a cheap wine,but i don't drink it that often and i went for a pint rather than pay 6.50 a glass. .just looked at the tesco site and tesco beef on offer 10.00 pound a kilo, if WW got a pack for 2 pound he must have been at the going out of date section

[lepidoptra]

I don't post here very much cause I've left LOS and chosen to live back in good old Blighty.
Yes we call the UK 'Rip off Britain' but IMO not quite so much as LOS.
I've got to agree with WW. Fortunately most of us have a choice of where we live. I'm not going to defend my decision to live here and would not criticize any other members who choose to live in LOS.
Everyone's circumstances are different.
I live in a very modest 2 bedroom semi in Kent. (with an inside toilet and bathroom including a bidet) I own the property so don't have to pay rent. The current value is about £180,000. To rent a similar property would cost about £600 per month. My council tax is is just over £100 per month (C or D band I think). A' G' band property according to government website is £200 per month. PapaFarang states his rent he says is £4000 per month plus £1200 per month.
They seem to be Mayfair prices. Wow! that's expensive.
I do own a small car. The insurance is £200 per year plus £140 per year tax. I don't use it too much as I have a free bus pass. My wife does have trouble trying to keep up with the bus on her bicycle.
Diesel at the moment is £1.34 a litre. We do have a free bus that takes us from our village to Tesco. However I usually shop at cheaper supermarkets such as Aldi where a tin of Baked beans(400g) is 25 pence. Taste not quite as good as Heinz but acceptable. Meat is expensive and on par with Tops or Villa.
As far a Papafarangs prices go I think
he's good value compared with other shops who sell Farang food in LOS.
My gas and electric has just increased from £80 to £90 per month. I do make my wife wear a duvet in the house.Ha Ha
I don't drink but was alwalys cheaper in Thailand. Cigarettes in the UK are expensive £8 for 20.
When the baht was over 70 to GBP and now 54. Did anyone see a reduction of Farang food in LOS. Imports must have been cheaper due to the strong Baht but did not reflect in the price of goods.
I went to the Chinese take a way last week. Average cost £7 per meal. A meal at a local pub/restaurant (carvery) including one drink was £10. Eating at a 'Posh' restaurant is expensive.
Just one other thing before I bore you to tears. 2 years ago I was seriously ill in LOS. The operation cost me £4000 in Udon. If I was in the UK it would have been free. Hope all members are not affected by the turmoil in LOS.
It wouldn't do if we all had the same opinion,would it?
Best regard to everyone over there
Lepi.

[welshwizard]

80 baht for a glass of wine? it was 70 baht for a glass of lemonade . rent on the place i was staying 4000 pound a month, council tax band G ,300 pound a week, gas and electric 500 pound a week, i now i paid it for my brother while i was there, maybe in whales you can rent a 2 up 2 down with an outside toilet and it will be cheap, amd maybe you can get a cheap glass of wine from a bottle from a cheap wine,but i don't drink it that often and i went for a pint rather than pay 6.50 a glass. .just looked at the tesco site and tesco beef on offer 10.00 pound a kilo, if WW got a pack for 2 pound he must have been at the going out of date section

sorry Rick i wasn`t meaning you were slagging uk off but a lot of people are .
Mr PAPFARANG you are obviously one of the tiny minority of people who is very rich has or are telling porkies.
you paid rent 4000 pound a month
council tax 1200 pound a month
gas and elec 2000 a month ; about 270,000 baht a month for just those 3 bills. Is it buckingham palace ? The council tax on my c band is 72 pound a month
with all the rest of your bills at those prices your income must be well over a half a million bahts a month. Why are you in dirty old thailand instead of st tropez , bermuda ,hawaii etc. Why are you selling food?
I would think you are the only person in thailand with that amount of money.
Hi mr lepidoptra nice post pretty accurate for all living in thailand on modest amounts of money. The truth is it is a lot cheaper in uk to buy goods from shops but just get completely ripped off on taxes on everything to pay for immigration , health and safety and social security . Take them away from uk and what a wonderfull place to live it would be.
Thailand is cheaper to live as there is no money paid to immigrants , no social security, no bloody health and safety ,i am sure about that to be paid for.
ww

[MALC]

well i spend 6 months in udon 6 months in uk .yes uk is now a shihole.but its much cheaper here in the uk than thailand.to live in all aspects.ok the weather is not has hot.no beautiful smiling faces be thusaey true or false.no i am not slagging thailand off.just stating a fact.aldi have the freshest and cheapest products.by a country mile over the other super markets.thats why they are building 8-000 new shops in the usa.they will damage wallmart.and aldi pay good wages to their workers.top dollar.

[747man]

Cheaper to live in the U.K, Malc ?? Sorry YOU Must be joking...

[lepidoptra]

https://homelet.co.uk/rentalindex

http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/ ... nce/bands/

Don't take my word for it, just open the websites

[nel123]

Cheaper to live in the UK? Joking right!? If your argument is that you can buy cheaper beer, pies and baked beans in the UK then maybe that's the life for you... I'm sorry but I just don't see the argument.

[MALC]

sorry 747 i forgot to say that i live up north not london.plus i don't drink.my outgoings are cheaper here in the uk.for me anyway.i still like udon.

[nel123]

Even the rice farmers would feel rich, living in parts of northern England. (Banter)

[plumbers]

Cheaper to live in the UK ! what planet are some of you people on , People i am in contact with are all
struggling to make ends meet .
Plus rubbish weather , even have food banks now .The week before i came to Thailand (2110) i was caught speeding
(37 mph) by police HIDING in a bus stop , fined £60 pounds Three points on my licence.
The ordinary working man in the Uk is taken for a complete fool and most of my elderly customers use to be very bitter after working hard all their lives and wished they had done things very differently , their advice to me was enjoy your self spend your money and take chances you only live once ,so i for one am not going to worry about prices of potatoes chocolate and beer .

[papafarang]

80 baht for a glass of wine? it was 70 baht for a glass of lemonade . rent on the place i was staying 4000 pound a month, council tax band G ,300 pound a week, gas and electric 500 pound a week, i now i paid it for my brother while i was there, maybe in whales you can rent a 2 up 2 down with an outside toilet and it will be cheap, amd maybe you can get a cheap glass of wine from a bottle from a cheap wine,but i don't drink it that often and i went for a pint rather than pay 6.50 a glass. .just looked at the tesco site and tesco beef on offer 10.00 pound a kilo, if WW got a pack for 2 pound he must have been at the going out of date section

sorry Rick i wasn`t meaning you were slagging uk off but a lot of people are .
Mr PAPFARANG you are obviously one of the tiny minority of people who is very rich has or are telling porkies.
you paid rent 4000 pound a month
council tax 1200 pound a month
gas and elec 2000 a month ; about 270,000 baht a month for just those 3 bills. Is it buckingham palace ? The council tax on my c band is 72 pound a month
with all the rest of your bills at those prices your income must be well over a half a million bahts a month. Why are you in dirty old thailand instead of st tropez , bermuda ,hawaii etc. Why are you selling food?
I would think you are the only person in thailand with that amount of money.
Hi mr lepidoptra nice post pretty accurate for all living in thailand on modest amounts of money. The truth is it is a lot cheaper in uk to buy goods from shops but just get completely ripped off on taxes on everything to pay for immigration , health and safety and social security . Take them away from uk and what a wonderfull place to live it would be.
Thailand is cheaper to live as there is no money paid to immigrants , no social security, no bloody health and safety ,i am sure about that to be paid for.
ww

sorry i ment 300 pound per month council tax and 500 pound a month for gas and electric, and no i'm not rich and my brother gave me the money to pay the bill. he has money i dont lol

[JimboPSM]

While for many the cost of living may be cheaper in Thailand, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that for some the cost of living (and not dying) can be cheaper in the UK.

Factors that may have affected some individuals are the difference in their personal relative costs and incomes such as health, location, lifestyle, taxation of UK sourced pensions (and other income sources) and loss of the UK annual state pension increments.

While each factor on its own may not seem to be much, collectively they can add up to be of material concern (like straws on the back of a camel).

It should not be forgotten that three other major factors have also come into play:

• 1. The marked fall in the GBP/THB exchange rate since the halcyon years of 2004 and 2005 when the rate averaged over 73 – while the recent improvement to 54 from its low of 44 in 2013 is welcome, it is still way below the levels seen in 2004 and 2005.
  
  2. The financial impact of domestic inflation in Thailand (including increasing domestic taxes) on food, drink and other goods and services.
  
  3. The financial impact of the land and housing price bubble in Thailand – which is disproportionately large for Udon (especially when you consider its provincial location).
  
  A decade ago the cost of living in Udon was substantially cheaper than Bangkok or the seaside resorts; much of that advantage has been eroded but with few of the advantages in infrastructure, utilities and lifestyle that Bangkok and the seaside resorts continue to offer.
  
  Even within Udon there are marked differences in the cost of living in Udon dependant on whether one is living inside or outside of the ring road or in Udon villages.

Trying to make comparisons based on just a few factors can lead to some dangerous sweeping generalisations (regrettably the sheer breadth of the subject will inevitably result in a few generalisations – including my own).

Some members should try thinking rather more deeply about how the many different factors can affect others in a whole host of different ways before concluding that Thailand (or the UK) is cheaper or more expensive for everyone.

[nel123]

And you can't really put a price on not freezing your nuts off for 6/7 months of the year.

[welshwizard]

Mr jimbo while your post is pretty accurate the actual deep thinking is not needed . The thread is really about uk food prices compared to thailand which is pretty simple and not the cost of living which is complicated as people live different type of lifestyles.
I have lived in thailand for 7 years and went back to uk last year for 10 weeks and shopped in tesco and sainsburys every week and the majority of the food is a lot cheaper than thailand . Not 5 or 10% but in some cases up to 300%, and better quality.
I am talking about food bought in supermarkets not on the streets. If you go to speciality shops in uk to buy foreign food you will pay high prices same as you do in Thailand going to farang shops who sell food at crazy prices but always say only so many baht as if it is cheap. I am a strong enough person not to need these shops and if i could not live in Thailand without imported beers, cheeses , bluberry pie ,wines etc i would not live here so they do not affect me but there are a few simple things that i would like to buy as sausages300% more ,beans 500% more bread same but taste crap ,margerine 400% more tomatoes tinned 300% more . No apparent reason for these high prices as all have ingredients in Thailand.
There are a lot of things more expensive in uk but food and beer is not one of them. I remember once buy a duty free 1litre bottle of jim bean at bangkok airport for 1200 baht (24pound) and found when i went to tesco uk it was duty paid only 1000 baht (20 pounds). I carried it all the way from bkk to wales for 4 pound more ??
ww

[papafarang]

shopping today 5 kg cauliflower 50 baht, white carrot 5kg 50 baht, 5kg carrots 100 baht, 10 kg spuds 320 baht, 10 kg chicken breast 750 baht, 10 kg onions 180 baht, 5 kg cucumbers 80 baht. this time of year veg gets real cheap.
chicken tikka massalla take away in the uk at exchange rate today worked out 503 baht, yet i make and seel the same for 100 baht. simple here yo can eat quite good on 250 baht a day if you had too, try eating out in the uk on 5 quid a day. three bags of chips a day is not eating well for sure

[Shado]

Everyone who has posted on this thread knows more about UK food prices than I do. I'm no authority on anything that has to do with shopping either here in Udon Thani or abroad. I did run across this comparison and found it rather interesting as it compares prices between whatever locations you might choose. This link was updated February 2014 and it show how many people have contributed to the pricing information. Not definitive by any means but perhaps something of a guideline.

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/co ... %20Kingdom

[BobHelm]

Thanks Shado, interesting.
As far as I was concerned...

Groceries Prices in Cheltenham are 256.70% higher than in Udon Thani

Which is just about substantiated by the small bit of shopping I did this morning.
Fair enough 2 of the items I bought were Asian fruit which I would expect to be cheaper here.
One was ginger, which is also pretty obviously going to be cheaper here.
The last was chicken breast from Topps though. I paid 168 baht a kilo, so about £3.10. The identical item in Tesco online shopping 10 minutes ago is £13.00 a kilo.

OK it might be argued that I bought items that favoured Udon Thani for price, however I bought them because I wanted them & am going to eat them...so it is valid for comparison..