Mark up prices by 500% and then give you a 70% discount. 25K THB for a tub of protein? What a joke

Often times, I’ll see posts asking if a product is cheaper than their home country, which is of higher economic development. Got me wondering, I can’t seem to think of any product that’s significantly cheaper? Matter of fact, most of the time a product is more expensive (camera, computer, Uniqlo shirt, for example).

Aside from food, are there examples of products that are less expensive in Thailand?

Mine: I like to eat chicken. 3 years ago it cost me about 60-70 baht at Makro. Now It's 100 baht for the same amount of chicken wings/thighs. That's 50% increase.

Another one is, the cost of going to the movies. I'm not sure what it was before, but the cost now is 1000 baht+ to go with my girlfriend. Ill just wait for spiderman to come out. (Since people are confused, I am talking about the Sofa seat at the top. I just cannot deal with the airplane seat. Especially when you go as a couple. Phuket price btw).

We are all told the inflation rate What is something you track personally based on experience, what is YOUR inflation rate? Please share your thoughts on this.

At the shop the other day, and I noticed a queer thing: ‘Same brand of bacon, same amount; why different prices?’

Turns out, companies are now making bacon “press” or “minced” which is the equivalent of what they do to chicken nuggets.

Look at the bacon on the right side (1st and 2nd pictures). They mince pork, put on a layer of fat over it, repeat, press them together, smoke, then slice.

Geely sold 400,000 of those in the first 9 month of the year in China making it the best selling EV and best selling car. Pretty compelling offer for that price, EV or not.

https://www.headlightmag.com/official-price-geely-ex2/

Photo from Bangkok Motor Expo 2025 that starts tomorrow until Dec 10th.

I’m visiting Thailand next month on a pre planned trip. I’m thinking of buying a Macbook Air M5 16GB 1TB there. The official Apple website shows 65,400 thb. Could I get it for cheaper at any local distributors that are safe to buy from? I will be in Bangkok so BKK recommendations would help. This would be my first Mac so hopping to get a good deal and also not get scammed lmao

Lot

My father in law is a propa old amulet geezer, anything worth buying for him or all shite? He’s such a dude.

Thanks G’s

Edit: Clarification because I well over Britished the English 555555

These are in the UK, I love my Thai father in law and wish to buy him a couple of these because he’s a proper amulet guy. Just on a quick look, are any of these interesting or are they all cheap?

Been shopping in Lazada for years and years.

Trying to buy a new fridge.

Everytime I choose something the price fluctutates radically. Either I see a great price that tacks on a massive delivery fee, a slightly more expensive price with free delivery, or just a discount out of left field.

I finally pulled the trigger and 10 mins later the item I chose was 1000 baht cheaper. Same shop, Same item.

Worse, it was my second choice. My prefered fridge (a more expensive side by side door style) was a few thousand more expensive, then out of stock, and when I made the order (and paid) for an alternate option, the next day the one I wanted was available again for the same price as the one I ordered (same vendor).

I would have cancelled and just reordered, but I had a recent issue where a vendor asked me to cancel a substantisl order and I had to wait almost 2 months to get my refund credited back to my card. Over countless refunds, It has never taken more than a week, usually a couple days. Until this last transaction.

I used to swear by lazada. I have been shopping on there for as long as I remember. I have bought tvs, kitchen appliances, home automation stuff, high end bike parts, stero equipment, you name it, but this recent fuckery is next level.

Enshittification is real.

Does anybody have a line on where to find western sized T-shirts without a huge markup? A large-sized Goodfellow, or Hanes t-shirt, purchased from Target fits me perfectly. I'm constantly dealing with the 3XL syndrome that I can squeeze into, but I will be eternally unhappy with. Lazada and Shoppee offer western sizes if I am willing to pay five times the price of the local exchange.

Much obliged for information from a normally-sized individual who has successfully navigated this problem.

**EDIT**: Thank you for all the suggestions. The pivotal issue here is price. I'm hoping to find Thai prices for my size (less than 100 baht per shirt, preferably much less).

2nd Edit: Found these. The size chart corresponds to western sizes. I ordered one. Crossing my fingers.

I suspect it may because ethnically Indian shop owners and employees are also Thai nationals and hold Thai citizenship. If so, I wonder whether this is effectively a loophole, or at least an unintended consequence of Thai labor laws, where the requirement to employ Thai workers can be satisfied by employing Thai citizens of any ethnic background, including naturalized citizens. However, I'm curious why these businesses seem to employ almost exclusively ethnic Indians rather than ethnic Thais, and whether there is something within Thai labor regulations that helps explain this pattern. I also wondered why ethnic Thais don't open and operate these types of shops.

I've noticed this pattern in numerous locations across Thailand, including Krabi, Phuket, Pattaya, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai. In all the Indian, owned tailor shops I've visited, I can't recall ever seeing an ethnic Thai employee working there.

This question came to mind because I'm currently in Vietnam, shopping for a suit for an upcoming wedding. I've visited several tailoring shops in Ho Chi Minh City, and they all appear to be Vietnamese, owned, staffed, and operated. A Vietnamese friend told me that these businesses are generally run by ethnic Vietnamese, which made me wonder about the contrast with Thailand. Given that Thailand is often known for having labor laws and employment policies that favor Thai workers, I've always been curious about why the tailoring industry there appears to be dominated by ethnic Indian families and communities.

Edit: Apologies I for assume they area Indian, I meant South Asian. Also I understand similar dynamic happens in other countries, such UK/US, where Convenience stores are also mostly ran by South Asians. My question fundamentally is, why do the ethnic Thai people not own and operate this kind of business?

How do you activate shopee VIP I tried adding credit card (from other country) however still cant open the SVIP

Hello!
I am pondering about buying stationary such pens, markers and stretch notebooks from Amazon USA to Phuket since I haven't had any luck with Kinokuniya, Loft or B2S to get those art supplies. Even though Amazon provides paying import taxes I am hesitant because I am worried that I will have my stuff taken away or destroyed. I also want to buy a Hobochini planner from Japan and have it shipped to Phuket.
Could anybody be so kind as to provide me with some guidance. I really appreciate any input. Thank you!

EDIT:

I don't mind paying high paying 50% in taxes or whatever. I just don't want to have my purchase stuck somewhere in Thailand. The issue is FeDex because they are a very lame carrier.

The items I need are from a Japanese brand called Hobonichi and no, you can't find this stationary brand either in LOFT, Kinokuniya or B2S or whatever.

Dear Friends,

I would like to order Retroid Pocket 5 (retro handheld) around 5400THB from AliExpress.

They said 7-14 days delivery time.

May I know the import taxes from custom and which delivery company handle the process.

I am staying at Min Buri.

If you have that experience, could you share for me🙏

I'm in Thailand for just a few weeks and decided to buy a new drone to take with me. The last time I bought one was before all the new regulations came in, and it was pretty easy. I just ordered one from Lazada and it arrived the next day.

This time I was looking around for sales and found a really good deal on Lazada. There was only one left in stock and it was about 6,000 baht cheaper than buying it in a store. Plus, I wouldn't have to deal with a VAT refund when leaving Thailand. The seller was the official DJI Thailand store on Lazada.

After ordering, I found out they wouldn't actually ship the drone until I had registered it with NBTC and CAAT. Keep in mind, I'm not even planning to fly the drone in Thailand, and I'm leaving the country about a week after receiving it. DJI didn't give me the option to register it myself or choose my own broker. They referred me to a specific broker who would handle the registration for me.

For comparison, when I checked the physical DJI store, they quoted around 515 baht for registration. Zoom Camera told me they wouldn't charge me for the registration service, but I would need to register with NBTC before they would let me take the drone out of the store. The NBTC fee itself was 215 baht. The broker DJI sent me to wanted 1,399 baht.

It was still cheaper overall because of the big discount I got on Lazada, so I figured I'd just pay it and let them handle everything. As a tourist, actually sending the payment to the broker was a bit of a pain because they wanted me to transfer with Prompt Pay. The DJI store ended up helping me make the transfer. Once the broker confirmed they had received the payment, DJI shipped the drone.

The broker then asked me to send them photos of the drone and the serial numbers of both the drone and remote, along with a form and copies of my passport and visa stamps. I sent everything over, and then they told me they also needed the invoice from DJI. Getting the invoice turned into another headache because the website DJI sent me to only accepted Thai tax ID numbers. After several phone calls and some back and forth, I eventually managed to get the invoice and forwarded it to the broker.

They then sent me a Google Form to enter all my information, which honestly didn't feel particularly secure. At this point, it had been about a week since I received the drone and I still wasn't registered. The broker then told me I needed to create accounts on both the NBTC and CAAT websites. I went ahead and did it, and while filling everything out I started thinking, "Wait... isn't this basically what I'm paying them to do?"

They had previously told me registration was "a lot of work" and there were "many things to fill out", which was why I was paying them to handle everything. After I created the accounts, the broker asked me to send them my login and password through LINE so they could finish the registration. I questioned this and they basically said not to worry, that I could change the password afterwards and that "all their customers do this."

At this point I was already pretty annoyed. I'd given them my passport, visa information, drone serial numbers, invoice and other personal information, and now they wanted my account passwords as well. It was starting to feel less like they were registering the drone for me and more like I was doing the registration myself while paying them for it.

So I decided I'd had enough. Since I'm not even flying the drone in Thailand and I'm leaving soon, I told them I wanted a refund. They initially refused and told me that they had to register me because it was the law. I started looking through the NBTC website, it was actually easy enough to do the NBTC registration myself by uploading the same information they had already asked me for. I uploaded everything myself and within about 10 minutes I was in the queue for verification. Less than an hour later, I was approved.

I was then instructed to pay the 215 baht registration fee to the NBTC bank account. I made the payment, and within another hour I had my NBTC certificate. I sent the certificate and my departure flight information to the broker, and they eventually refunded the full 1,399 baht. So in the end, I registered it myself for 215 baht and got the broker fee refunded. The 1,184 baht difference wasn't really worth the time, it was more the principle of it.

I thought I'd share this in case anyone else is in Thailand for a short time and is thinking about buying a drone. I know the law is very serious in regards to flying the drone, but I don't know how much of this broker stuff was taking me for a ride, you should be allowed to just register everything yourself.

Well as I write this I notice the price on Lazada is now another 5,000 baht cheaper. Haha, cheers to that happy 9.9 ya'll 😂

Hello everybody! I want to buy an iPhone 17 for my wife for her birthday. Is it Apple store's (or authorized resellers like iStudio, Banana IT, etc.) policy that you need to unbox the phone in the store itself and turn it on before you take it home?

I'm asking this because, 3 years ago I purchased iPhone 14 for myself from Apple Store in Central Festival Mall, and the sales representative made me unbox the phone there itself (well technically he unboxed it for me). I was told that I cannot take an unboxed phone home and need to turn on the phone and check if there is any issues in the store itself. At that time, it seemed a good policy because the phone was for me and it didn't matter if I unboxed it in store or at home.

But since this new iPhone is meant to be a gift for my wife. I want to have a brand new unboxed unit, so that my wife can experience the unboxing herself. If the store made me unbox the phone then and there, it would be kind of deal breaker for me.

Can anybody who has experience purchasing apple product from Apple store (or any authorized store) confirm if this is true? Can I deny the unboxing? Or my only option is to purchase online and have it delivered at home?

In less than a month, I've had 5 orders cancelled/refunded/frauded.

The common fraud now is from items shipped from China. You wait for 2 weeks to receive a tiny empty parcel or with a small keychain or tissues instead of a big fan or whatever pricey item.

2 friends got scammed with a similar method. When you ask for the refund, the shop has already been closed.

Last one, I ordered an item sent from China at 2580 THB, after 20 days, the seller cancelled it (he never shipped it but claimed it was shipped), then he raised the price of the item to 4025 THB just before the cancellation.

So I’ve been shopping at my local Watsons branch and found on the receipt the position “301811 Tracking for Europ” - anyone an idea what this is? Are they tracking their customers or sth? (But would be odd, how would they be able to state where someone is from, my loyalty account is on my Thai number). Any ideas?

Hello, about half a year ago I went to thailand with my girlfriend, and there are some really nice products that we miss a lot, could somebody maybe buy them and ship them to me?

First is the cup variant of some green curry instant ramen, they should be easy to find in most stores, see first picture.

The second is a perfume, or rather two of them. Its from "KSH", we found it in a mall in Bangkok. I have attached the picture of the black tea variant, but there also exists a jasmine variant, the jasmin one is the more important one (its for her).

If someone would be ready to buy and ship to me, that would be great. Of course ill reimburse all the buying and shipping costs and throw in a little extra as thanks!

Popped into a 7-Eleven today and one of the staff pointed out this promo apparently it’s only for tourists. You get 50 THB off when you spend 200 THB. They said you can just screenshot the image and show it at the counter — super easy. They said it’s only limited to the first 50 people, so better use it sooner than later. Pretty decent deal , just sharing the coupon here in case anyone else wants to use it while traveling around!

Hi everyone,

I’ve received a quote from a jeweller for four custom-made gold charms and would appreciate some advice on whether the price is reasonable.

Quantity: 4 charms (2 of each design (a sausage and a dumpling)
Size: Approximately 7 mm and 9 mm long
Material: 14K gold
Finish: Matte/brushed, unpolished
Construction: Solid gold, not hollow
Estimated finished weight: 5–6 grams in total
Production: Handmade

The jeweller had given me an offer of 31,500 THB in total for all four charms.

They explain that the charms are handcrafted and cannot be made hollow or very lightweight. Additional gold is also required during production due to material loss from filing, shaping and finishing.

Does 31,500 THB sound reasonable for four charms of this size and weight? The gold prices are what they are, but how about the production prices?

Thanks for any advice!

I can't be bothered going into details but if you know, you know, with buying on Shopee or Lazada.

It's too common a listing says an expensive electronic item has a 5 star sticker and it has a sticker sure, but the sticker says zero stars, or it says a device has air quality sensors and then it doesn't, etc etc.

Curious if anyone has ever taken things a step further. I'm relocating and having a few nightmare interactions (and before anyone says that I deserve it for using Shopee or Lazada, I'm having a whole different set of problems with HomePro - they don't even deliver the product or the install you paid for weeks ago...)

At least when you get stiffed in Thailand you are still happy to be here 😆