Postcards from Thailand

When I first came to Thailand everything seemed very cheap compared with the UK.  As a rough rule of thumb I figured fruit and vegetables were about a third of the cost back home.  Nowadays, however, things feel much more expensive, though I’ve totally lost touch with how much food now costs in the UK.  I therefore decided to compare some every day items from Tesco-Lotus (Thailand) and Tesco (UK).  As far as possible, the items were of similar quality, and prices have been adjusted where unit sizes are different between the two countries.  (For example, in Thailand yoghurt is sold in slightly smaller pots.)

Looking at fruit and vegetables, these were generally 30-50% cheaper than the UK, except for bananas, lettuce and tomatoes which are around the same price, which is odd given that they are all locally grown. Onions and red cabbage were more expensive.  Red cabbage I can understand, since there’s little demand for it here, but onions, which are grown in the north and also imported from China are a mystery.

Limes in Thailand aren’t quite the bargain they seem since one needs 2 or 3 to yield the same amount of juice as a lime in the UK.  The price is also strongly seasonal – currently they are at pretty cheap, but towards the end of the dry season the price skyrockets.

The cheap price of potatoes is a bit of a mystery since potatoes are only used in a few southern Thai, Indian-influenced curries such as Matsaman – not that I’m complaining. Though French Fries are very popular here – usually as a snack with drinks accompanied by tomato ketchup for dipping, or as part of a fast food meal – they are virtually never made from fresh potatoes, but from frozen, imported fries; Thai potatoes just don’t fry very well.

I had expected chicken to be cheaper in Thailand than in the UK, given that Thailand is a major exporter of chicken to Europe, though whole chickens here are quite a bit more expensive than in the UK, yet chicken breast is less than half the price.

Beef isn’t particularly popular in Thailand.  Most people favour fish and chicken.  However, lots of people do enjoy a visit to a steak house, which is a bit of a mystery, given how tough and chewy much of the locally produced beef is.  The prices of both beef and pork are broadly comparable in Thailand and the UK, which is perhaps unsurprising, given the global nature of the market for animal fodder.

Thai fish varieties are very different from those in the UK – no cod or haddock here – so a direct comparison isn’t straightforward, apart from salmon, which is imported from Australia, and smoked salmon which usually comes from Japan.  The fresh fish is much more expensive, but the smoked version is much cheaper than back in the motherland.

Eggs are cheaper in Thailand.  They are also one of the many items the government controls the price of.  Milk, which historically hasn’t been part of the Thai diet, is pricey.

Imported cheeses are very expensive, being double or more the price in the UK – and this is for mere Australian copies of the European originals – though Edam is curiously cheaper.  The cottage cheese isn’t imported, but is locally produced.  I suspect that low local demand justifies the high price.

The high price of yoghurt I don’t understand.  It’s not as if it’s made wholly with fresh milk; it’s mostly made from milk powder imported from China.

It’s not really fair to compare Thai sliced bread with that of the UK; Thai bread is pappy and sweet, to be eaten with condensed milk and sugar.  The baguettes from Tesco-Lotus, however, are actually pretty good; I always have a few chunks in the freezer for emergencies.  Low demand probably explains the relatively high price.

As expected, imported ingredients are expensive (olive oil, flour, jam), and locally produced ones (sugar, rice) relatively cheap.

Sunflower oil is locally produced, but most locals will used the cheapest available oil, usually soya bean or palm oil, so there’s not much demand.

Honey is locally produced, so the high price is a little odd.  The high price has also encouraged a lot of adulteration, and some things labelled as honey are largely sugar syrup.

Perhaps surprisingly the taco shells are locally produced.

Coke (locally produced) is cheap, as is tonic water (imported).

Fruit juice is more expensive here, even though oranges are grown locally, as are apples (though I suspect that apple juice is made from cheap Chinese apples).

Coffee is more expensive here – though there are cheaper, locally grown coffees available.

Tea is popular here – particularly amongst the Thai-Chinese – though it’s thin, watery stuff, not a proper cup of British tea. Proper tea is therefore a minority interest, hence the price.

The good news is that when I get too troubled by the high price of tea I can console myself with a nice, cheap glass of gin and tonic or a tot of Scotland’s finest.

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A mere couple of days after the hatchlings flew the nest the parent Oriental Magpie-Robins were back, patching it up then promptly producing a new clutch of eggs. The first of those eggs has now hatched.

Oriental Magpie-Robins 2: The New Batch

Of the eggs, one is old, from the previous batch, so the world can look forward to three new birds, all being well.

Day 13: The hatchlings are still in the nest. Precisely how many feathers do they need before they can fly? Of course, if I were in their position, I’d be perfectly happy to lie in bed all day and be fed tasty insects.

Oriental Magpie-Robins, Day 13

Day 14: Morning, and the slugabeds are still there.

Oriental Magpie-Robins, Day 14

Around about noon I noticed that for the first time one of the hatchlings was poking its head above the edge of the light fitting. An hour later it made its way onto the rim.

The First Bird

Fifteen minutes later the second bird appeared. It’s noticeably smaller than the first one. I guess we now know who got the lion’s share of the insects.

And Then There Were Two

A few minutes later and the first bird had flown off, leaving behind the smaller one.

Left Behind, Looking Forlorn

It was a full hour and twenty minutes before the second bird flew. During that time it would occasionally stand up an stretch its wings, with the occasional flutter. The parents visited it three or four times to feed it, but the impression given was that they were leaving it alone to encourage it to take to the air.

It’s now evening and the birds are still around. The larger one has no trouble flitting between the branches of a nearby tree. The smaller one, however, seems pretty much confined to the ground for the moment. Fingers crossed it’ll be OK.

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Day 12: Whilst the chirps of the nestlings are in no way melodious, Oriental Magpie-Robins are prized for their song, and are kept as caged birds by people who love that sort of thing (and don’t care about putting “all heaven in a rage”). Such was the love of these songbirds that they became virtually extinct in Singapore in the early ’80s (fewer than 50 birds survived in the whole country). A subsequent attempt to reintroduce them to Singpore failed; the released birds were simply captured by modern-day Papagenos.

Fortunately, the range of this bird is vast, so they are not, as a species, under threat. They are found from India and Pakistan in the west to the Philippines in the east, and from the foothills of the Himalayas in the north to Java in the south.

Oriental Magpie-Robins, Day 12

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Day 11: The ceaseless efforts of the parents to bring the two surviving hatchlings an endless stream of insects from day break to dark humbles me, and puts to shame the half-hearted parenting efforts of some members of another species with which I’m familiar.

A Beakful of Insects is Always Wlecome

Today the feathers are much more developed, and the distinctive colours of the plumage are now clearly discernible.

Oriental Magpie-Robins Day 11

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Day 9: I had hoped that a wider-angled photo would reveal the missing third bird today. It was not to be. The two surviving chicks seem to be developing well, and have more feathers. It won’t be long now before they take their first flights.

Magpie-Robins Day 9

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