tampasailor Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Why is wine that expensive in Thailand, is it a combination of import taxes and demand ? At home (not in France), supermarkets offer a huge selection of perfect drinkable wines in the 300 Baht range. And seems to have become much more expensive recently as well. You used to be able to get some fairly decent offers in Villa and the like (buy one, get one, buy two get one) which meant the price per bottle was reasonable. My last trip there did not see even one offer, and individual bottles mostly up above 500 baht per. Even the local Lotus has little below 450 per bottle. And Thai "wine" -not the fruit stuff, just the stuff they sell as "wine" - undrinkable. i just had a glass of wine with the head of the largest wine importer in thailand, he told me the import duty for wines was 430% i'll stick to chang. 430%??? You sure that's right? Foodland sell bottles of Jacobs Creek in the 800-1000 baht range....so they are less than 250 baht before they get here? That can't be right surely..... I bought 10 bottles of different French Bordeaux in Burma in March. My gf has it in bkk but I am afraid it might go off a bit as it is not cool stored an only in normal ac around 27 deg C. Wish I had a better plade to store it till I return to LOS in Oct. It is a fraction of the cost in Burma and these good wines even hard to find in BKK at 4 and 5 times the price. Prices were around 600-800 bt per bottle. Jacobs Creek is a cheap supermarket wine in the states at 7 dollars a bottle depending on type of course as Jacob's have their fine stuff too. Jacob's Creek Reserve Shiraz 2006 is selling here for 14.25 per bottle USD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caf Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Why is wine that expensive in Thailand, is it a combination of import taxes and demand ? At home (not in France), supermarkets offer a huge selection of perfect drinkable wines in the 300 Baht range. And seems to have become much more expensive recently as well. You used to be able to get some fairly decent offers in Villa and the like (buy one, get one, buy two get one) which meant the price per bottle was reasonable. My last trip there did not see even one offer, and individual bottles mostly up above 500 baht per. Even the local Lotus has little below 450 per bottle. And Thai "wine" -not the fruit stuff, just the stuff they sell as "wine" - undrinkable. i just had a glass of wine with the head of the largest wine importer in thailand, he told me the import duty for wines was 430% i'll stick to chang. 430%??? You sure that's right? Foodland sell bottles of Jacobs Creek in the 800-1000 baht range....so they are less than 250 baht before they get here? That can't be right surely..... At 430% all taxes, the base price would be 151b and 189b; tax 649b and 811b; giving retail of 800b 1000b Yes, less than 250b; but you could you not have done the actual calculation from your own figures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Checker Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 When the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2005, Thai tariffs on Australian wine were gradually reduced from 54 per cent to the current 28 per cent, giving Australian wine an immediate competitive advantage over wine producers from other countries which attract a tariff of 51 per cent. The import duty will phase down by four per cent each year to reach zero per cent by 2015. There are relatively high tariffs on imported wines. In addition to import tariffs, imported wines are subject to four different tax systems: Excise tax – value-based rate at 60 per cent Municipal tax – 10 per cent of excise tax Value added tax (VAT) – 7 per cent Health support project – 2 per cent Excise tax can be calculated by on the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value or by volume basis (per litre). The higher excise tax calculation is used as a base for applying the municipal tax and VAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spysee Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I had a nice Thai white last week at my mates house, he tricked me as he said it was some aussie wine as he knows I hate Thai wine. It was actually very nice, I will have to get the name for it. Its probably expensive as I have tried many Thai wines and they dont taste very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyponeros Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I had a nice Thai white last week at my mates house, he tricked me as he said it was some aussie wine as he knows I hate Thai wine. It was actually very nice, I will have to get the name for it. Its probably expensive as I have tried many Thai wines and they dont taste very nice. I talked to an French wine importer and he explained that there are over 300% taxes on wine, then you need to add the 2 bottles of each type of wine taken by the customs and kept for their own consumption and the transportation of course. A good wine that would cost 3euro in France ends up costing more than 20euro here! So I stopped drinking wine. But I am trying some Thai wines and some are not too bad. You need to try some of the wines that are not made with grapes. Be a bit open. Give them a chance! And wine is a luxury product. Moreover, everybody knows that a good French wine is much worse for health than the cheap Thai whiskey! You see the government takes care of the health of its people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jai Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 http://www.chateaudeloei.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huggybear Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Heard recently that Grapes have started being imported from outside Thailand and fermented here locally to get round some of the hefty import duty on wines. Seems to be true. Tesco has a decent quality 10L box of wine that is made in Thailand with imported South African grapes. 950B for 10L of 'quality' wine is the best wine deal I've found so far. I know this wine you are talking about and they use "some" South African but then blend with Thai. The red you can use to cut rust on your vehicle, the white works good as a laundry stain remover. I would not recommend drinking the stuff........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackdanielsesq Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Power corrupts : Absolute power, corrupts absolutely! BR>Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pakboong Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 There are wine rating companies that taste and rate wine on a large scale such as Wine Spectator. They also report on the winery, how many cases were exported and what the release price actually was. Ocasionally, you can find a wine that was exported in big numbers that you can pick up locally within a few dollars of its original release price. For example, I have found a couple of wines at Wine Connection which were given mid 80 ratings by wine spectator and can be bought here within a few dollars of their original release price. Takes a bit of work but if you like your wine and you want to pay reasonable prices, it is well worth the trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbiecia Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I have just picked up a case of Penfolds bin 2 for 500 baht a bottle There are deals to be had if you ask around and buy by the case Slightly off topic, but how long can you store it here at room temp before it goes bad?????????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spidermike007 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 I am under the impression that Thai wines are taxed at the same absurd rates as imported wines. The government isn't hip to the health promoting qualities of wine and/or doesn't give a fig about anything but money for the beer/whiskey mafias. That is ABSOLUTELY incorrect, and more than likely a PR ploy on the part of embarrased government officials. I know for a fact that imported wine is taxed at 430%. As far as I know, this is the highest import wine tax IN THE WORLD! I was told that a group of Thai wineries (monsoon valley, and the other purveyors of boones farm type garbage wines) lobbied some of the Thai senators, and got them to pass the anti import wine bill. It was supposedly to "protect" the Thai wine industry. Unfortunately, the reality is that Thailand in their xenophobic zeal, is depriving themselves of an estimated 5 to 10 billion baht per year, which they would earn on imported wine, if it were taxed reasonably, at 100%. The wine industry here would flourish, as there are many Thai people, and of course many ex-pats, and tourists who would avail themselves of a great selection of reasonably priced, and high quality wines. Instead, people are having to pay 2,000 baht for a bottle that I can get in California for $8.00. I went to a nice restaurant (Dr. Frogs) in Samui recently. The house wine was gato negro, for 1,450 baht per bottle. This wine is $4.00 in Los Angeles, and nobody that I know drinks it, as it is garbage wine. And it is the house wine at one of the best restaurants on the island. It is a shame that Thailand has to appear to be so ridiculous, and so unreasonable in the eyes of the world, on this issue. And all for what? Protectionism? Lack of vision to be sure. Lack of wisdom to be sure. But protectionism of what? An industry to creates a horrific product. They cannot compete with the foreign market without this silly taxation. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spidermike007 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 According to the Excise Department web site the excise tax on wine is 50%. (I thought it was now 60%.) The import tariff is 54% (only 40% on Australian wine). Then there's a municipal tax of 10% of the excise tax, the value added tax (VAT) of 7% and the health support project tax of 2%.The crazy thing is that these are all ad valorem taxes based on the CIF price of the wine. A more enlightened policy might tax alcoholic beverages based on the percentage of alcohol. The current policy encourages the purchase and consumption of beverages high in alcohol content. (More bang for the buck.) That is incorrect info. According to people in the industry here, it is 430%! That is what import wine is charged. That is why you cannot find any good deals, and why the import wine here is so crappy. The bottles I pay $6.00 for in Los Angeles, are 1,500.00 baht here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 This was covered on another thread. The Thai wine industry is indeed heavily taxed, but does not suffer the same import taxes as the imports. Bottom line 500 baht for an Australian wine is usually going to be better than 500 baht for a Thai wine, taxes or no taxes. I agree the wine situation is tragic. I gave up wine here for some years but now realize I "can't live without it" so add me to the people coughing up for these over the top taxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkkmick Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 There's an off-licence/bottle shop in the basement of Esplanade shopping mall selling some decent South Africa wine for 349 per bottle. Not bad at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thewayup Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 When the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2005, Thai tariffs on Australian wine were gradually reduced from 54 per cent to the current 28 per cent, giving Australian wine an immediate competitive advantage over wine producers from other countries which attract a tariff of 51 per cent. The import duty will phase down by four per cent each year to reach zero per cent by 2015. There are relatively high tariffs on imported wines. In addition to import tariffs, imported wines are subject to four different tax systems: Excise tax – value-based rate at 60 per cent Municipal tax – 10 per cent of excise tax Value added tax (VAT) – 7 per cent Health support project – 2 per cent Excise tax can be calculated by on the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value or by volume basis (per litre). The higher excise tax calculation is used as a base for applying the municipal tax and VAT. So the Thai hoteliers and restaurateurs who insist on displaying prices as eg. ฿100+, ฿100++ or ฿100+++ , could legitimately advertise a 1000 Baht bottle of wine as ฿250+++++ Incidentally, foreign embassies can get wine tax-free, so befriending a slightly corrupt diplomat could be the solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheshiremusicman Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Maybe it is becasue they want us to start drinking, and enjoying the good local produced stuff. I am under the impression that Thai wines are taxed at the same absurd rates as imported wines. The government isn't hip to the health promoting qualities of wine and/or doesn't give a fig about anything but money for the beer/whiskey mafias. I reckon that you are spot on in this. I was recently asking at 'Halex' in Hua-Hin about 'Good Thai red wines' and was shown some at 500+B per bottle. How can they charge that for home produce when I am told that imported wine is charged at 400% import duty? Reckon that good Thai Shiraz should be on the market for around 200B max. If they had the blxxdy sense to reduce it they might sell a lot more! Noted recently that 'Makro' are now importing Italian Barbera in boxes. Tried same but not the 'Barbera' that I used to drink, very ordinaire in my opinion. The guy in Halex told me that they are in the process of importing 'boxed' Chilean wines - now there is a thing to look forward to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_smith237 Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 I have just picked up a case of Penfolds bin 2 for 500 baht a bottle There are deals to be had if you ask around and buy by the case Slightly off topic, but how long can you store it here at room temp before it goes bad?????????? Check your bottles, they won't have the 'tax' strip across the top. You have probably bought wine that has been smuggled in through various channels Keep your supplier, he will save you a lot on wine costs !... But exercise caution as I'm not sure what would happen should you get caught with a crate of un-excised wine. Buy a wine fridge (some are about 15000B in places like Emporium) store your wine in that and it will last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_smith237 Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 I tried the boxes of white in Villa - One was rocket fuel, another was quite drinkable... it's put me off experimenting a little, but at B1200 for 3 or 4 liters its not so over priced when compared to the bottles if all you are looking for is something to wash down your evening meal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nisakiman Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Why is wine that expensive in Thailand, is it a combination of import taxes and demand ? At home (not in France), supermarkets offer a huge selection of perfect drinkable wines in the 300 Baht range. And seems to have become much more expensive recently as well. You used to be able to get some fairly decent offers in Villa and the like (buy one, get one, buy two get one) which meant the price per bottle was reasonable. My last trip there did not see even one offer, and individual bottles mostly up above 500 baht per. Even the local Lotus has little below 450 per bottle. And Thai "wine" -not the fruit stuff, just the stuff they sell as "wine" - undrinkable. i just had a glass of wine with the head of the largest wine importer in thailand, he told me the import duty for wines was 430% i'll stick to chang. 430%??? You sure that's right? Foodland sell bottles of Jacobs Creek in the 800-1000 baht range....so they are less than 250 baht before they get here? That can't be right surely..... Yes, right on both counts. A couple of years ago, I looked into the viability of shipping wine in bulk from Europe to Thailand, and the combination of import duties, local taxes, VAT etc ran to over 400%. And Jacobs Creek, although a very drinkable wine, is produced in massive, industrial quantities, and would come in at well below 250 baht per bottle at point of production. As a wine drinker, it's the thing that most upsets me about Thailand, the price of a drinkable wine. I like a cold beer, but don't like more than one, really - bloats me out, but I can drink red wine all evening - in fact, I normally do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred2007 Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 I do really love a bottle of good red wine, back home I used to make my own wine red and white I also had my own grape vines in my garden. I must admid the first few brews were horrible just tasted like vinigar but after a while with a lot of experimenting and trying all sorts of recipies my wine tasted quiet well. I guess the same thing happen in Thailand they are a new country in wine making and it will take many years for them to learn how to make a good wine. I have tried many times wines made in Thailand but I admid they taste like the first ones I made. Actually they make some good grape juice in Thailand but it is just not wine. The climate over here and the soil is a great advantage to make a good wine. ( apart from ice wine which needs a cool climate,maybe up north?) So guys hang in there for another 20 years and you might be able to drink a good Thai wine. And please this is not Thai knocking ok? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertson468 Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Maybe it is becasue they want us to start drinking, and enjoying the good local produced stuff. Understand where you are coming from, but unfortunately Thai wine is just as expensive as the imported stuff, which is rather a shame really because Thai wine is just as good as the imported vino and is on the up and up. It is rather sad that Government is intimidated by others into leaving the tax so high thereby not really encouraging this new business, which could have good potential, particularly for those in the North, where they could do with as much business as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Issangeorge Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I am always searching for Thai wine, a few years ago my wife bought me a bottle of Chateu Loie and it was very good, but I have not been able to find any since. Issangeorge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinique Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 Why is wine that expensive in Thailand, is it a combination of import taxes and demand ? At home (not in France), supermarkets offer a huge selection of perfect drinkable wines in the 300 Baht range. And seems to have become much more expensive recently as well. You used to be able to get some fairly decent offers in Villa and the like (buy one, get one, buy two get one) which meant the price per bottle was reasonable. My last trip there did not see even one offer, and individual bottles mostly up above 500 baht per. Even the local Lotus has little below 450 per bottle. And Thai "wine" -not the fruit stuff, just the stuff they sell as "wine" - undrinkable. i just had a glass of wine with the head of the largest wine importer in thailand, he told me the import duty for wines was 430% i'll stick to chang. 430%??? You sure that's right? Foodland sell bottles of Jacobs Creek in the 800-1000 baht range....so they are less than 250 baht before they get here? That can't be right surely..... could be, saw on the news not so long ago that Aus was swimming in wine becasue the Europeans had gone off importing Oz wine.. and wine prices had suffered, some producers were (reportedly) giving it away or throwing it away... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lite Beer Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Post removed while under Moderation revue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plato2 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Why is wine that expensive in Thailand, is it a combination of import taxes and demand ? At home (not in France), supermarkets offer a huge selection of perfect drinkable wines in the 300 Baht range. And seems to have become much more expensive recently as well. You used to be able to get some fairly decent offers in Villa and the like (buy one, get one, buy two get one) which meant the price per bottle was reasonable. My last trip there did not see even one offer, and individual bottles mostly up above 500 baht per. Even the local Lotus has little below 450 per bottle. And Thai "wine" -not the fruit stuff, just the stuff they sell as "wine" - undrinkable. i just had a glass of wine with the head of the largest wine importer in thailand, he told me the import duty for wines was 430% i'll stick to chang. 430%??? You sure that's right? Foodland sell bottles of Jacobs Creek in the 800-1000 baht range....so they are less than 250 baht before they get here? That can't be right surely..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plato2 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I got some wine in but now the authorities are giving us a lot of grief dont do it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB1 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 (edited) When the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2005, Thai tariffs on Australian wine were gradually reduced from 54 per cent to the current 28 per cent, giving Australian wine an immediate competitive advantage over wine producers from other countries which attract a tariff of 51 per cent. The import duty will phase down by four per cent each year to reach zero per cent by 2015. There are relatively high tariffs on imported wines. In addition to import tariffs, imported wines are subject to four different tax systems: Excise tax – value-based rate at 60 per cent Municipal tax – 10 per cent of excise tax Value added tax (VAT) – 7 per cent Health support project – 2 per cent Excise tax can be calculated by on the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value or by volume basis (per litre). The higher excise tax calculation is used as a base for applying the municipal tax and VAT. From the same website checker ? http://www.austrade.gov.au/Wine-to-Thailand/default.aspx Same article also says that... "Only a Thai company can register a wine and apply for an import permit. Therefore you must appoint a local importer/distributor to handle the importing and government formalities." Which also might explain why prices are kept high, wonder if Thailand has a monopolies commision... Maybe Tesco can continue bringing the price of wine down and other distributors will act more competitively in the near future. Edited October 8, 2009 by MB1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wino47 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 When the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2005, Thai tariffs on Australian wine were gradually reduced from 54 per cent to the current 28 per cent, giving Australian wine an immediate competitive advantage over wine producers from other countries which attract a tariff of 51 per cent. The import duty will phase down by four per cent each year to reach zero per cent by 2015. There are relatively high tariffs on imported wines. In addition to import tariffs, imported wines are subject to four different tax systems: Excise tax – value-based rate at 60 per cent Municipal tax – 10 per cent of excise tax Value added tax (VAT) – 7 per cent Health support project – 2 per cent Excise tax can be calculated by on the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value or by volume basis (per litre). The higher excise tax calculation is used as a base for applying the municipal tax and VAT. From the same website checker ? Same article also says that... "Only a Thai company can register a wine and apply for an import permit. Therefore you must appoint a local importer/distributor to handle the importing and government formalities." Which also might explain why prices are kept high, wonder if Thailand will ever have a monopolies commision... Sure - but as with other items - you are able to obtain a import licence from the ministry of commerce - also for a price?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wino47 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I got some wine in but now the authorities are giving us a lot of grief dont do it Care to expand on how you managed such a dasterdly deed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wino47 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I got some wine in but now the authorities are giving us a lot of grief dont do it Care to expand on how you managed such a dasterdly deed? And wat Kind of grief?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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