Australia laments Thailand’s high wine tax as excise dept delivers bitter news

[Isaan sailor]

2 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

I agree with you that the punitive taxes are unfair and ridiculous and I would love to pay a fair price for decent wine, but the above is taking things a bit far.  So you are saying high quality tourists - or any tourist in fact - researches the price of wine before they visit a country and base their choice of holiday destination on that?   Of course they don't.

Although I agree with your premise, consider the hypothetical tourist, who visits Thailand and purchases an overpriced bottle of red wine—the same wine he or she has purchased in the home country for 70% less.  Upon his or her return home, they would remember and inform others about Thailand’s overpriced imported wine. It could have a cumulative negative effect on future tourism.

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

I agree with you that the punitive taxes are unfair and ridiculous and I would love to pay a fair price for decent wine, but the above is taking things a bit far.  So you are saying high quality tourists - or any tourist in fact - researches the price of wine before they visit a country and base their choice of holiday destination on that?   Of course they don't.

 

Of course they do. And it they do not, they realize it once they arrive. I have alot of major wine collectors as friends, and the first thing they look at is the wine scene. A wealthy couple typically drink a very good bottle of wine daily, or several times a week, at dinner. If they are used to drinking a good vintage Bordeaux, and they pay $100 for it at home, it is very unlikely they will be happy about paying $550 - $800 for it, at their hotel. And if they do, they will not be returning. I cannot even tell you the number of wealthy friends who have visited Thailand once, and never came back. What were their chief complaints?

 

Poor english skills. Mediocre concierge services. Ridiculous wine pricing. A stunning lack of wine knowledge at the fine dining, restaurant level. Unreasonable luxury taxes. Very unsafe driving conditions. Very limited, high speed transportation options. Wealthy people are very particular, and Thailand simply has to be prepared to cater to them, and they are not on any level. 

[Moo 2]

Either the Thai Excise Department is walking next to its shoes or it is lying. I am not referring between Importers/Exporters, I know for a fact the price on the shelf for cask wine (4litres) in Australian and French supermarkets compared to the price in Thailand supermarket and it's about 100% here. Example: at Aldi Stores in Australia a 4litres cask of red/white plain table wine is about $10.00, now in my book it's 250.00 baht.

If anyone can find a 4litres for 500.00 here tell me I'll buy it and that's already 100%!!

[Dart12]

3 hours ago, xylophone said:

Agree, when one compares the price here to back home, it seems extortionate, however I have got used to the idea of paying more for my wine and no longer compare prices, because this is where I live now, and have done for 14 years, so comparing prices is pointless.

 

As I have said in another post, I do seek out what I consider good quality wines here and don't mind paying up to 500-600 baht plus, a bottle, although my favourite at the moment sets me back 450 baht and it's a good Aussie wine.

any chance it's a Cabernet or Merlot? and what is the brand?

Thanks

[Thomas J]

Merely a guess on my part but few Thai's drink wine compared to beer and hard alcohol.  Just like Florida has no income tax which helps it residents, it has a high sales tax, and resort tax which catches the tourists.  I suspect they know they are taxing a higher percentage of non-thais. 

[Bangyai]

On 1/25/2021 at 12:28 PM, webfact said:

Thai supermarket shelves remain packed with Australian products like wine, beef and lamb

 

Yea right.

 

Maybe in Pattaya but nowhere else.  I've never once seen Australian lamb here so hardly as common as the article suggests.

 

But I can understand the whining about whine.  Pity the boxed stuff got taxed into almost extinction.

[xylophone]

38 minutes ago, Dart12 said:

any chance it's a Cabernet or Merlot? and what is the brand?

Thanks

Blend of Shiraz 49%, Grenache 30%, Malbec 14% and Petit Verdot 7%, from South Australia........very smooth with ripe black fruits coming through. I did post this pic and info a few posts back.

 

 

 

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

35 minutes ago, Bangyai said:

I've never once seen Australian lamb here so hardly as common as the article suggests.

Makro in Laem Chabang and Pattaya has it.

[Bangyai]

15 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Makro in Laem Chabang and Pattaya has it.

 

Exactly. You only see it where there are a lot of falangs to buy it. Up country it is unseen, even in provincial capitols.

[thedemon]

1 hour ago, Bangyai said:

 

Exactly. You only see it where there are a lot of falangs to buy it. Up country it is unseen, even in provincial capitols.

 

In fact Australian sheep and beef is all around us but we likely don't notice it.

 

Offal imports e.g. liver, heart, brain, kidneys, tripe etc. is a huge business. Australia, NZ, USA etc. don't consume much of that stuff whereas Asian countries like Thailand consume far more of it than they can produce locally.

[xylophone]

5 hours ago, Dart12 said:

any chance it's a Cabernet or Merlot? and what is the brand?

Thanks

Forgot to mention that they do make a Cabernet Sauvignon which is aged in oak brandy barrels for 30 days and is a bit "gruntier" than the blended one, so I do drink the occasional bottle of this, although my preference is for the previous one I mentioned.

 

Also if you like Australian Cabernet Sauvignon wines, for 500 baht you can try the Taras range and they do a Cabernet Sauvignon which is aged with oak – – notice the "with oak" because the winemaker uses the technique of either wooden staves or wood chips to impart an oak flavour, not ageing it in oak barrels, and that is a very drinkable wine.

[Mr Meeseeks]

4 hours ago, Bangyai said:

 

Exactly. You only see it where there are a lot of falangs to buy it. Up country it is unseen, even in provincial capitols.

Not disagreeing with you but there are hardly any farang in Laem Chabang. 

Edited January 27, 2021 by Mr Meeseeks

[Artisi]

On 26/01/2021 at 6:07 AM, PatOngo said:

(White) Skin tax!

Not entirely, have you looked at the price of lao beer lately

[Damrongsak]

" Although Australia is the world’s leading food exporter ..."

 

Huh?  World Bank says "In 2018, the top countries to which Food Products were Exports include United States, Germany, United Kingdom, China and Netherlands."

[Meat Pie 47]

19 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

" Although Australia is the world’s leading food exporter ..."

 

Huh?  World Bank says "In 2018, the top countries to which Food Products were Exports include United States, Germany, United Kingdom, China and Netherlands."

Maybe they haven't discovered the continent of Australia yet  

[thedemon]

6 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

" Although Australia is the world’s leading food exporter ..."

 

Huh?  World Bank says "In 2018, the top countries to which Food Products were Exports include United States, Germany, United Kingdom, China and Netherlands."

 

I don't know whether Australia is the world's leading food exporter or not. Possibly we need to look carefully at the criteria used to calculate statistics like that.

 

An example: The world's largest dairy producer is India with a population of 1.4 billion whereas the world's largest dairy exporter is New Zealand with a population of 5 million. That is probably not obvious to most people.

 

[masuk]

On 1/26/2021 at 9:18 PM, RJRS1301 said:

Nought to do with collapsable containers and oxygen, it has to do with product in the bladder, distatseful going in distasteful comeing out especially being held at room temp in the shops here. Overpriced stuff that rarely sells in its home country.

 

Wrong on both counts!  It's a good product and it sells extremely well in containers from 2 litres to 20litres (for BBQs!)

[Henryford]

Why do countries put up with this <deleted> from Thailand. If they put a 300% tariff on Australian wine they should put a 300% tariff on Thai rice.

[Pumpuynarak]

8 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Why do countries put up with this <deleted> from Thailand. If they put a 300% tariff on Australian wine they should put a 300% tariff on Thai rice.

 

I have asked this question many times, does anybody have an answer ? I believe Thailand is a big exporter of seafood to the UK, why don't we impose the same tariffs to their seafood ? see how they like that. 

[Bangyai]

12 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Not disagreeing with you but there are hardly any farang in Laem Chabang. 

 

Then you are lucky. I would love to make a real Sheppard pie. Never seen it myself in my travels all over the kingdom but seldom if ever go to Chonburi.

[Damrongsak]

1 hour ago, thedemon said:

 

I don't know whether Australia is the world's leading food exporter or not. Possibly we need to look carefully at the criteria used to calculate statistics like that.

 

An example: The world's largest dairy producer is India with a population of 1.4 billion whereas the world's largest dairy exporter is New Zealand with a population of 5 million. That is probably not obvious to most people.

 

Upon further research, the numbers are all over the place.  B.S. statistics if they don't explain the metrics in detail.  New Zealand has a lot of cow juice, USA has corn up the wazoo.

 

[Damrongsak]

13 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Not disagreeing with you but there are hardly any farang in Laem Chabang. 

Good song - "Hardly any farang in Laem Chabang, one must wonder what went wrong ..."

[PatOngo]

1 hour ago, Damrongsak said:

Good song - "Hardly any farang in Laem Chabang, one must wonder what went wrong ..."

No Farang in Laem Chabang.....that's a good name for a band! 

[toofarnorth]

On 1/26/2021 at 3:43 PM, Andycoops said:

I drink the Chilean wine as it's far cheaper than most of the Ozzie overrated brand <deleted> found here and delicious.

The best Ozzie wines come from Margaret River and I never seen any.

If you are refering to Kulu Chilean wine I agree with you. I get mine from Lotus and I think it is not bad at all. Less than 400B. There is an off licence in town where I get my Laodark from and this place has a fine selection of wines in stock from about 800 B up.  As there is only 1 other ferlung in this town I wonder who buys the wine , locals wouldn't know a good wine from a kick up the clacker.

I wonder if Laos make wine , their beer is good , unlike Thai lager.

[toofarnorth]

21 hours ago, Bangyai said:

 

Yea right.

 

Maybe in Pattaya but nowhere else.  I've never once seen Australian lamb here so hardly as common as the article suggests.

 

But I can understand the whining about whine.  Pity the boxed stuff got taxed into almost extinction.

Aussie , NZ and Brit. beef is on the shelves at Tesco Lotus up here but lamb I have not seen since arriving here a dozen years ago.

[xylophone]

20 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

If you are refering to Kulu Chilean wine I agree with you. I get mine from Lotus and I think it is not bad at all. Less than 400B. There is an off licence in town where I get my Laodark from and this place has a fine selection of wines in stock from about 800 B up.  As there is only 1 other ferlung in this town I wonder who buys the wine , locals wouldn't know a good wine from a kick up the clacker.

I wonder if Laos make wine , their beer is good , unlike Thai lager.

Kulu is a cheap wine because it has fruit juice (other than grapes) mixed in it, much the same as Montclair did, which was why Montclair was so cheap, and it's not something that I would buy, but then everyone to their own.

 

I think one poster also said, "the best Aussie wines come from Margaret River", which is of course a nonsense because Australia makes a huge range of good wines and although there are a few in Margaret River, Vasse Felix, being perhaps the best, there are loads elsewhere in Oz.

 

Saddened to hear that your off-licence wines only start at around 800 baht, as that really will make a dent in one's budget (well mine anyway).
 

Edited January 28, 2021 by xylophone

[RJRS1301]

4 hours ago, masuk said:

Wrong on both counts!  It's a good product and it sells extremely well in containers from 2 litres to 20litres (for BBQs!)

and persons with no tastebuds

 

[Bangyai]

15 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

up here

 

Too far north , toofarnorth. Nout around Petchabun

[indieke]

On 1/28/2021 at 11:42 AM, xylophone said:

Kulu is a cheap wine because it has fruit juice (other than grapes) mixed in it, much the same as Montclair did, which was why Montclair was so cheap, and it's not something that I would buy, but then everyone to their own.

 

I think one poster also said, "the best Aussie wines come from Margaret River", which is of course a nonsense because Australia makes a huge range of good wines and although there are a few in Margaret River, Vasse Felix, being perhaps the best, there are loads elsewhere in Oz.

 

Saddened to hear that your off-licence wines only start at around 800 baht, as that really will make a dent in one's budget (well mine anyway).
 

 

I not said Western Australia is the best of that continent. The wines of the brand I mentioned, are still  good value at WIne Connection, compared to the 1000 up one's. Mostly they are less heavy, compared to the one's in Barossa Valley.  In Western Australia more use of Cabernet Sauvignon as opposite from the Shiraz in Barossa. And yes, there are excellent wines (and also a lot of less Gods) all over Australia, even in less know regions. I tasted lovely Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from a tiny producer around Canberra lake. Or great classic  blends in Mudgee, in the New South Wales mountains, not to forget other regions like Victoria. But that stuff, forget to find that here...

 

In my cellar, in Southern France,  I have great Bordeaux, Burgundy, Northern Rhône wines, that I can just not buy here.... 

Edited January 29, 2021 by indieke

[xylophone]

11 minutes ago, indieke said:

I not said Western Australia is the best of that continent

I wasn't referring to a post of yours, but from another poster!