Prices of 205 essential goods to be frozen temporarily

[misskit]

Consumers product companies and retail traders have agreed to maintain prices of 205 essential goods for another six months until the end of November.

Ms Srirat Rastapana, permanent secretary for the Commerce Ministry, said the price freezing is aimed to ease the financial burden of the people and to correspond with the policy of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to return happiness to the Thai people.

She said the ministry reached price freezing agreement during last week’s meeting between senior commerce officials and major consumers product companies and shopping mall owners.

The Ministry’s Internal Trade Department officials had surveyed consumer goods prices at many shops and malls in Bangkok and upcountry and found that products prices remained unchanged, she said.

Prices of essential commodities would be frozen within a short-term period and their prices would have to be adjusted in line with market mechanism because some products need imported raw materials for the production, said Ms Srirat.

If prices of imported raw materials increase, consumers product companies will also have to raise the the prices of finished products.

Prices of 205 essential goods to be frozen temporarily | Thai PBS English News

[kingwilly]

Jeepers and folk thought Yunglick was bad

[taxexile]

Rather than freeze prices, manufacturers and retailers should be forced at the point of the juntas guns to abandon their cosy unofficial price fixing agreements / cartels and engage in a bit of good old fashioned competition if they want consumers to benefit.

[thaimeme]

Rather than freeze prices, manufacturers and retailers should be forced at the point of the juntas guns to abandon their cosy unofficial price fixing agreements / cartels and engage in a bit of good old fashioned competition if they want consumers to benefit.

Open and free competition and markets is not good for Thai business
One should never expect these things to come about.

[xanax]

Our local mall must have about 150 phone shops, every single model is exactly the same price. Down in the soi my barber said he was forced to put his prices up in line with all the other shops as they told him undercutting them was 'not fair' Thai don't do competitiion.

[kmart]

Our local mall must have about 150 phone shops, every single model is exactly the same price. Down in the soi my barber said he was forced to put his prices up in line with all the other shops as they told him undercutting them was 'not fair' Thai don't do competitiion.

Yep. Same everywhere in Thailand seemingly. The lack of a state welfare system has created an unofficial one within its population.

[taxexile]

Rather than freeze prices, manufacturers and retailers should be forced at the point of the juntas guns to abandon their cosy unofficial price fixing agreements / cartels and engage in a bit of good old fashioned competition if they want consumers to benefit.

Open and free competition and markets is not good for Thai business
One should never expect these things to come about.

Which is why thailand is often viewed as a nasty corrupt lawless third world shithole, populated by a people driven by dishonesty, selfishness and greed.

[Thormaturge]

Simple. if the price is frozen then manufacturers simply need to use cheaper components/ingredients in order to maintain profits.

Thailand finally has a national motto: Caveat Emptor.

[VocalNeal]

[QUOTE=taxexile;2800281]

, populated by a people driven by dishonesty, selfishness and greed.

I don't think all the people are as you say. But certainly the ones who strive for political control are.

Their is however a penchant for control.

[taxexile]

Maybe not, but in order to survive in a society driven by greed and selfishness, it is sometimes necessary to adopt some of those traits too.

[Pragmatic]

So what are the "205 essential goods"?

[Exit Strategy]

Fixed prices is socialism. Not good for economy. Market mechanism does not work properly in conditions like this. At least rice-pledging scheme was sane as far as agri subsidies go and with purpose. And with everything Jnta is doing, Yellow argument they had to step in to stop wasting Bangkok hiso money... blown away. On that note, most of tax revenue is collected in Northeast and North but spent in Bangkok. Why?

[Sumocakewalk]

So what are the "205 essential goods"?

That seems to be a big secret at this point. Maybe we can come up with our own list of the essentials. Here's a start:

prophylactics
KY
beer
whiskey
rum
t-shirts
flip-flops
camouflage shorts
shades

[Neverna]

Our local mall must have about 150 phone shops, every single model is exactly the same price. Down in the soi my barber said he was forced to put his prices up in line with all the other shops as they told him undercutting them was 'not fair' Thai don't do competitiion.

Bought some fruit in the market yesterday. Big lychee type things. Most sellers displayed the price as 65 b a kilo. One seller had no price displayed but when asked she whispered the price. 50 b. Clearly she didn't want the other market sellers to know her price!

[noelbino]

As far as I have noticed: the price remains the same, but the contents are smaller.

[Thormaturge]

So what are the "205 essential goods"?

That seems to be a big secret at this point. Maybe we can come up with our own list of the essentials. Here's a start:

prophylactics
KY
beer
whiskey
rum
t-shirts
flip-flops
camouflage shorts
shades

Whistles
Yellow tee-shirts
+ 100 items that went up in price by 25% just before the announcement.

[Seekingasylum]

Tax, your slip is showing a tad. You know the score here so why rail against the reality. The country is effectively owned by a cartel. There can be no competition. Incidentally, the £ has risen to a 5 year high against the $ not least because of the impending interest rate rise in Blighty. Despite this, it's rate to the baht has remained as it was for the past week and even dropped a smidgin. Perhaps this is a further clue as to the strength of that cartel and it's relationship to the banks and the BoT.

[zygote1]

Simple. if the price is frozen then manufacturers simply need to use cheaper components/ingredients in order to maintain profits.

Thailand finally has a national motto: Caveat Emptor.

I wish I could disagree with you. I suppose we can look for more "fillers" in some products. Oh well, there's a use for the rice stockpile after all.................

[sabang]

The country is effectively owned by a cartel. There can be no competition.

Nope- but their is a cartel that thinks they own the country. Time will prove them wrong.

[thaimeme]

The country is effectively owned by a cartel. There can be no competition.

Nope- but their is a cartel that thinks they own the country. Time will prove them wrong.

Spinning a positive note. Surely, these chains will break free in time. I, too, reckon that the changes will flourish - in time.