Food shopping tips in Thailand

[mardhi]

As there are quite a few residents or semi permanent residents feel free to add in where certain stuff can be purchased especially hard to get foodstuffs from home.    

 

Big plus for me the other night was doing a shop in Big C extra - hardly ever go in there and do most food shopping at Foodland. However as I was in Homepro I wanted a few things and eventually walked out with a laden trolley and about 8000b lighter.   anyhow the big PLUS is the new cheese range.     The old Carrefour range is long gone and replaced by Casino or Casio which apparently is the French competitor of Carrefour who own a chunk of Big C.     Their cheese range is very good and very cheap.    Think of it as about half the price of Friendship and Foodland Cheese wise.   

 

Bacon & Sausages

If your near that very Big C Extra its a hop skip and a jump 300 years down Soi Yume where you come across some half deserted development of shop houses on the left hand side - set back a bit.  Anyhow this is home to KPK, suppliers to most of the pubs/restaurants for meat products.    a kilo of Pork sausages is about 210b - elsewhere they are about 180-200b for 500grams.    Its also frozen and the bacon is about 1/3rd of the price of Foodland.    Retail customers more than welcome and they have loads of sauces and dried stuff like mustards, pickles etc as well.    

 

Wine.

Some of you maybe familiar with Mont Clair - its used as house wine in loads of places.  You may not be aware why its so cheap.   Its because it comes in as fruit concentrate and is made into wine in Thailand. Different taxation levels apply.   Anyhow they also have other brands and I had a 299b bottle of Peter Vella "smooth red" the other night.   Very drinkable plonk and at that price its dirt cheap (for Thailand).   Almost all their wines be it Mont Clair and Peter Vella plus some others that escape me are all easy to drink and pretty potent in some cases (MC shiraz being good example).  You can buy these wines almost anywhere supermarket wise - its not cheap because its crap - just that they avoid the taxes that others have to pay.   

 

As I think of other tips I will add them here and feel free to add your own.  

[SiamSam]

Good info Mardhi. Thanks. 

[bumblebee]

I agree with you Mardhi about BigC extra, it's the one on Pattaya Klang by the way guys, on the left walking away from Third rd, towards sukhumvit, you cannot miss it as they say.  I used to do a weekly shop there, like you say a great range of farang foods, unlike the other BigC outlets around town.  There is also one of the 2 Aeon ATMs in pattaya there, which as far as I can see still don't charge the 150 Baht withdrawal fee.

 

Simple Simons on Soi 5 Jomtien has a small deli fridge with some tasty Scotch eggs among the savory treats.

[mardhi]

Simple Simon used to be my defacto home for an English brekkie when I lived in BKK some 10 years ago and would head down to Pattaya for the weekend.    Times have changed and you can get the same food everywhere now.   

 

Best British bread is still at Friendship and badged up as "Rick's bakery" - large 'Bloomer' style bread, pre-sliced and still best bread in Pattaya for a real British style loaf of bread.   Makes the best toast by the way.   Unfortunately Rick was killed in a motorbike accident but his missus has kept things going well.    

[Jimslim]

Anyone any idea why cheese is so expensive in Thailand ? 

[ArchieBunker]

I noticed that about the cheese JS and I stopped buying it for ages.

 

The best advice about food shopping is to go to a local type market.  I dont know if/where these exist in Pattaya but they are all over the place in Bangers.  I have been going lots to the one down the Tewets pier.  Go feed the fish and peruse the local food at the market.  Its all cheaper-shrimp, pork loin, chicken, chicken wings, fruit and veg.  It also helps if you have someone to cook it for you as well.  YUM!!!!!

 

Cannot always get there though so Big C is a pretty good option here in Bangers!!

 

Like going to Paragon or mporium theres only some stuff I buy in there but I never seem to walk out of there spending less than 500 B!!!

[mardhi]

Anyone any idea why cheese is so expensive in Thailand ? 

 

Imported dairy products are taxed high.  However then you also have the fact that demand is relatively low and suppliers charge a premium as they sell so little and have high wastage on perishable products.

 

I call it the Mercedes approach to pricing.  They know that they have a premium brand and that few people can afford say 3m baht for a car.  They also figure that that person who can, could also afford 4m baht. So they load the price and sell it for 4m.    It even applied to their models they make here in Thailand - which have far fewer taxes but they still apply the same logic.    Much better off buying a Toyota Camera for 1.2m baht than a C class Benz for nearly 4m baht in Thailand.  However, they sell C class by the bucket load here as its a status symbol.   Odds are Benz are making more profit per unit sold in Thailand than any other market in the world.     It's just how the logic works in Thailand.    

[mardhi]

I noticed that about the cheese JS and I stopped buying it for ages.

 

The best advice about food shopping is to go to a local type market.  I dont know if/where these exist in Pattaya but they are all over the place in Bangers.  I have been going lots to the one down the Tewets pier.  Go feed the fish and peruse the local food at the market.  Its all cheaper-shrimp, pork loin, chicken, chicken wings, fruit and veg.  It also helps if you have someone to cook it for you as well.  YUM!!!!!

 

Cannot always get there though so Big C is a pretty good option here in Bangers!!

 

Like going to Paragon or mporium theres only some stuff I buy in there but I never seem to walk out of there spending less than 500 B!!!

 

Pork and chicken are deffo cheaper at markets than in supermarkets and often fresher as is seafood/fish. Mainstream fruit & vegetables are as you say cheaper as well at markets.   

[JaiDee]

Is anyone else here a big fan of the Villa markets in BKK?

 

There is one on soi 49 Suk, I used to live 5 minutes from that one and it was heaven; western food at outrageous prices but when you are jonesing for something from back home, that place fits the bill for sure. Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia??  In Bangkok? YES!  But they will charge you 300 baht for a pint, getting that stuff all the way from Vermont is not cheap.

 

They also have Pepperidge Farms cookies and lots of other western stuff you can't find anywhere else; yummm. I don't drink wine or eat cheese, these things are much more to my liking.

 

  Archie, that store is just a stone's throw from that hospital you and I like,  Samitivej -maybe you can stop in there when you are next on soi 49.

 

  In Pattaya I think the best place is below the Pattaya Central Festival Mall, ground floor.  Not quite as good as Villa in Bangkok but still pretty good, albeit pricey for Thailand.

 

 Yes, I know  we are supposed to eat local products and Thai food when we are in Thailand and 75% of the time I do. But sometimes you need a fix of some stuff from back home and these places fit the bill.

[dixon cox]

The bulk of my food purchases are made from Friendship Supermarket on Pattaya Tai, mainly because it is incredibly convenient for me and just a few minutes walk away.

 

But anything that requires cooking I wouldn't buy because cooking it wouldn't be worth the bother. There are so many eateries around with such good prices that buying the ingredients and then subsequently cooking it wouldn't make sense to me when all I have to do is go less than 10 minutes away to a enjoy a selection of cooked meals from any number of my favourite restaurants.

[JaiDee]

Yes, I liked Friendship also when I stayed not far from there last spring.....I thought it was some kind of Chinese temple until someone told me "that's actually a good supermarket."

 

And indeed it is, another place to get decent ice cream and western cereals, cookies, decent milk, etc....

[pdogg]

I'm a Friendship guy often popping in right before it closes at 2:30 AM.

 

Been told Makro offers great deals.

 

Crabby used to go there loading up the sidecar on his bike.

[dixon cox]

And indeed it is, another place to get decent ice cream and western cereals, cookies, decent milk, etc....

 

Western cereals, reasonable bread. milk, drinks and fruit pretty much sums up what I buy from Friendship.

 

Having quality well-known cereals and toast for breakfast 95% of the time makes for decent savings and is a major convenience too. I love my long mornings because of eat-in breakfasts and the quality internet where I stay makes it very easy to not leave the building until sundown or later. My idea of chilling out in peace and quiet on a daily basis.

[ArchieBunker]

You know I come and go a lot.  When I really crave stuff from back in the US of A there is usually a suitable substitute.  I like my sweets.  back in the US of A I LOVE Grandmas soft chocolate chip cookies.  They are sweet but they are delicious.  Dont have them here and I wouldnt pay the extra in Paragon/Big C to buy the Pepperidge Farms.  Instead I will eat the Grussen Choco wafer cookies.  These are delicious or, once in a while, I will eat a magnum Ice Cream bar.  I have no idea if we have Magnums in the US.

 

Now salty snacks are a bit more problematic.  Back in the US I LOVE Doritos Ranch chips.  They dont have these in LOS and, trust me, the Doritos they have in bangers arent the same as we get back in the US.  I might go for some Lays but they aint nearly as good.  Sigh.  Hell, we will NEVER starve here in bangers!!!!!

[pacman]

I have no idea if we have Magnums in the US.

 

Good stuff those Magnums. I don't have a sweet tooth but I can eat a dark chocolate Magnum without much coaxing.

 

Hey Arch, you might want to go easy on the cookies, cakes, crisps, etc in Thailand. Because of the heat they have much more transfats added to the recipe to stop them melting or having the oil separate out of them. Chocolate bars too, you can taste the stuff they add to stop them melting in transit.

 

And that shit they add to the flour to stop it from gluggling up in the heat & to stop the bread going off too soon, I forget what it is (too lazy to google it) but that stuff is terrible. It gives the bread horrible mouth-feel for a start but it's responsible for disruptive behaviour in children (they suspect it has links to ADD) & also affects some adults. I can't recall just what exactly but I don't want to eat it. And we have it in much of our mass produced bread in Australia. Some folks wanted it banned but it meant the price of bread would rise too much plus the extra waste, the authorities decided it wasn't practical.

[pacman]

The additive is Calcium Propionate. I have no data. I think that is part of its notoriety, the scientific proof is not in yet.

 

But here in Oz the current affair shows on TV regularly feature the stuff with families almost destroyed by its effects. I estimate between the channels, they give it a run three or four times a year. All parent groups supporting schools here where I live have been warning about it for years. Some shops advertise which bread is free of it, there is just too much attention being paid to it for it to be a figment of someone's imagination.

 

If that isn't proof enough for you Route67, sorry. I am not interested in debating it, you have the name of it, you can research it all you wish.

 

I am inclined to agree with you about ADD but try telling that to the parents of children who cannot be calmed. Or their exasperated teachers. Tell them there's nothing wrong with the child, they just need more sleep. I know teachers who have to deal with these kids & they might not be as polite as I am.

 

But I am completely open to the suggestion there is something else going on & perhaps the bread has nothing to do with it. But the kids improve once they stop eating the additive apparently. 100% cure? I have no idea. (One other thing, this city is called the Ritalin capital of the world given all the children prescribed it. That does suggest there could be some local factor involved. There is a lot of research going on here trying to get to the bottom of it.)

 

As for THEY, yes, it is a rhetorical device, it saves time. There is no THEY but given that this isn't a scientific treatise, it'll do. 

 

Not the answer you wanted old bean but all I have.

 

Cheers...        

 

PS: Caramel Magnums are too sweet for me. I tried a few flavours but I prefer the dark chocolate. It's good, see if you can find one.         

[mardhi]

Mcvities biscuits are now selling in Foodland for their Brit fans.      Rich tea, chocolate digestives (milk & plain) plus couple others.   Now using typical Thai logic - there are TWO brands of Mcvities they are now selling.      One pack of Rich tea is 31b and one is 90 odd baht.  The 31b pack says its made by Mcvities in some little town in England.   good enough for me and no reason to try and understand why another version is 3 times more expensive.    The 31b looks and tastes exactly as I remember from home - its the real deal.   So probably is the one for 90b - just different packaging and price.  

 

By the way, seeing comments about milk.   Are you aware that 95% of milk in Thailand that is sold as 'Fresh' is stretching the legitimacy of the claim.    95% of milk in Thailand comes into the country in powder form and is re-constituted locally.   there you go another boring fact.    You have Nestle to thank or blame for that.