Thailand is experiencing sky high inflation this year. Not the onley country in the world but one that is probably affected more considering the average income of the Thai people is still only a few hundred US$ (barely more than two actually). It has come down a bit lately but anyway, the today prices are still far higher than yesterday prices...

I'm therefore going to give you an updated price list of what you buy everyday in Thailand, updated this morning in the Carrefour supermarket located on Rama 4 in Bangkok (the one you can see the exact location if you click on the small yellow guy on the Farangrakthai pages, if you zoom on him, that is).

Carrefour is not the place having the lowest prices in Thailand, the lowest prices for vegetables and fish are on the wet markets. But they have more choices and hygienic standards the wet market don't have. And they are cheaper than what you can find in your neighborhood pop and mum store. I'll give you in the near future the prices you'll have on the wet markets.

So here we go for a price list about foodstuff. And if you need the prices in US$, divide by 34, in euros, by 50, more or less today rate.

We'll start with fruits, Thailand having lot of them

Fruits

As far as local fruits are concerned, you'll find pineapple for baht 19/piece and 20 small bananas for 15 baht. Papayas sell for 25/kg, guava 29 and watermelon 20, the mangoes have different prices depending on origin and quality, prices vary from 29 to 49/kg. The durian, king of fruits for many Asians, sell for baht 39/kg but if you want only the meat, you'll pay 219/kg. There are small local oranges for baht 29/kg and rambutan for 27.

And if local fruits are not enough and you want to buy imported ones, one apple is 13 baht and a kiwi is 12. And grapes go for baht 82/kg if they are Chinese and baht 200/kg if they're not.

Drinks

Thailand is a hot country, especially Bangkok, and you need to drink a lot, so here is the drink list.

First, what people drink most, expats and tourists alike, beer. Lot of brands are available in Thailand but mostly the lager type with among tourists and expats, 2 main ones, the local Singha and the dutch Heineken. One bottle of 66 cl of Singha will cost you 49 baht and one of Heineken, 59 baht. Othe local beers are cheaper and other forign beers have a price between Singha and Heineken.

The local water Minéré produced by Nestlé is 15 baht for 1.5 l bottle. The pepsi and the coke are at the same price, 33 baht for a 2 liters bottle. The local scotch whisky 100 Pipers is at 259 baht for 500 ml and the big ones, Chivas Regal and Johnnie Walker are at 1,190 baht for a one liter bottle of 12 years old whisky.

There is also a wide variety of fruit juices. The ones made with local fruits are generally cheaper, with pineaplle juice at 52 baht and guava juice at 50 baht for one liter. Most of the other ones are made from concentrate and price is around 69 baht for the Tipco brand. Some fresher juices available in the fridges go from 80 to 90 baht.

Meat, fishes, vegetables,...

Thai people, when they eat meat, eat mainly chicken and pork, very little beef, hence there is not much beef available in the shops and it is more expensive. For one kilo, pork loin is at 160 baht, chicken legs at 69 baht and chicken fillet at 115 baht. For the beef, prices vary between 200 and 600 baht depending on the quality  but as said before, with little availability.

Lot of fishes available with prices around 100 baht, a sea perch is 119 baht. The only expensive fish is the imported Norvegian salmon with the fillet going for 419 baht/kg. White prawns are at 149 baht/kg.

A lot of vegetables but a lot of them are local, no English name, so I'll just give a few examples of known vegetables. Carrots are 24 baht, cabbage 22 and potatoes 39 baht/kg. A salad, whatever the type, is 19 baht and the tomatoes are at 119 baht. The record is for the green peppers at 200 baht/kg.

There has been a lot of talk about the rice lately since it is the main food of a majority of people on this earth and the increase of price was threatening to semd quite a few into starvation. Thailand being the biggest exporter of rice in the world is of course no exception, with the rice costing about twice what it was costing one year ago. The jasmine quality, considered as the best, sells now for 185 baht for a 5 kg bag.

A few other items are the oil, all the local ones sell for 49 baht/liter and the imported one, olive oil, sells for 254 baht for half a liter. Industriel bread is at 25 baht for 1/2 kg and you'll have a French baguette for 27 baht. Thais do not eat cheese or dairy products in general, so cheese is imported and expensive. You want a French camebert? It will be 486 baht.

Let's end with flowers. Thailand is the world biggest producer or cut orchids and it shows, you will be able to buy a small bouquet for 15 baht.

I'll update this list and I'll include other products, but it will be for another day...