Reader question: Ratio of food costs in the Netherlands – Thailand?

The food here is relatively cheaper than in the Netherlands, except, as my predecessor wrote, you are looking for "typical" Dutch products.
Meat, fish and poultry are much cheaper here. Vegetables can also be much cheaper. All imported products or non-native products can be a lot more expensive. For example, paprika is very expensive here. Strawberries, apples, pears and cherries are also very expensive. On the other hand, the local fruits are much cheaper and if you have a papaya, banana and mango tree in your garden, you have more fruit than you can eat and almost for free.
Pasta types are more expensive. Bread is relatively expensive. Not the brown bread as we know it in the Netherlands… that is even cheaper. But German bread and rolls are expensive here.
For a liter of milk you pay 42 baht here and sometimes more. Fruit juices between 45 and 80 baht or more – sometimes over 100 baht per liter. It depends on the brand and also where you buy the juice.
Muesli is quite pricey. Tesco has its own brand that is cheaper and quite edible.
At Tesco you can buy packed salad for 39 baht. Too much to eat in one sitting. But also not tasty enough to buy every time. A salad bar is more expensive, but you can vary. Compared to the Netherlands, still a lot cheaper.
Shampoo and toothpaste is cheaper I think.

The proportions depend on who you are comparing it to. Here on Thailand blog almost always look at Thais who earn the minimum and the Dutch who earn a lot more. A bad comparison, because with 9000 baht per month, we are not even allowed to live here and you can also forget about shopping in supermarkets.
My girlfriend often buys at the market and we now have all our own vegetables from the garden (unsprayed)… in any case, it is much cheaper on the market for Thais than a Tesco, Big C or any supermarket. That's where the better-earning purchases usually go.

Drinks are again much more expensive here (as far as wine and stronger imported alcohol are concerned). I don't think beer is that expensive, but I hardly drink it. Occasionally I buy a Chinese plum wine in Tesco. I don't want to know what's in it, but it tastes good: not too sweet and not too heavy and that for 99 Baht!
Normally prices for wine start around 250 baht (cheap table wine)… I think you pay about twice what you pay for a wine here in the Netherlands.

All in all, still not an obstacle to not letting it go well for you here!

No one can answer that, as this is strictly personal what you need every day to live, if you live like the Thais then life is much cheaper, if you want to cook like in Belgium and the Netherlands, then decide for yourself, make list what you normally need every day, and compare the prices with Belgium or the Netherlands, I also did and came to the conclusion that life “for me” is more than 50% more expensive than Belgium or the Netherlands in terms of food. (obviously no Restaurants)

A year ago we started avoiding Tesco Lotus and Big C in a tourist town and have since gone to Tesco Lotus and Big C in an area with 95% Thai customers. The range is less extensive than in tourist places, but generally cheaper and, above all, cozier.
We buy almost exclusively Thai food. If we want to eat Western, we usually go to the Makro, but that rarely happens.

You really have to eat Thai food because the rest is much more expensive here than in the Netherlands. cheese, brown bread, peanut butter, bock sausages, beef, vegetables, pizzas, salmon, coffee, dishwasher tablets, chocolate, butter, olive oil. very expensive.

Very true men Thailand has become very expensive in recent years. But we have a Minister of Economic Affairs who stated that Thailand was 75% cheaper. let Henk Kamp come here then he can see that he is completely wrong. Which economists do they actually have there? Have therefore successfully challenged the 50% discount for AWW and AWN benefits at the European Court for persons living here in Thailand. Panic in the tent because I have received at least 50 requests for help for loans in recent weeks, because our old people can no longer cope and many are forced to return, with all the extra costs that entails.

I will open my response with the statement that food in Thailand, compared to Belgium and therefore also in the Netherlands, is relatively GOOD. It totally depends on what and where you buy certain things. I usually cook myself and that's not because I want to stick to Farang food or don't like Thai. I just like to cook, that's it. The only thing I never prepare myself is fish and seafood. Although they are dirt cheap here, I live close to the fishing port, Ao Pathiu, known for its excellent fish restaurants, I prefer to eat these at a resto, as no one can prepare this better than Thai.

In Belgium, just like here, I did ALL my shopping myself, because I am single. So I know the prices, both here and in Belgium. Comparing product by product is pointless, I look at it over the period of one month. In Belgium I went shopping 'weekly' in a supermarket, not the cheapest Aldi and not the most expensive Carrefour (here in Thailand now Big C). At that time I had an average of 120/125 Euro per week. In Thailand, because of the distance, I go shopping once a month, mainly in Makro and have an average of 7000/8000THB per MONTH. Converted, I therefore arrive at 1/4th of the price in Belgium and I think this gives a real picture of the cost of food in Thailand compared to Belgium. Monthly purchases in Makro mainly consist of food and beverages.
I buy fruit and vegetables at the local market where I have plenty of choice: carrots, Chinese cabbage (15THB/pc), Pak Hom/Bum (10THB/portion and comparable to spinach), onions, potatoes (not bintjes from the Netherlands but very good potatoes from the north of Thailand ) celery and you name it … ..
I also buy spreads (different types of ham, salami…), cheeses and T-Bone steack from a local company that specializes in processing and freezing these foodstuffs for restaurants in tourist centers and imports from Australia. TOP quality. The prices scare me, but in a favorable sense.
Yes, in Thailand you need to know where you buy and what you buy. Don't start buying Brussels sprouts, chicory and the like here, unless you really can't wait to put this on the daily menu until you go to your own country.
As far as wine is concerned, I read quite often: TERRIBLE expensive …. I drink wine every day with dinner and am satisfied with the South African wine which I buy in Makro for about 900THB/5l. It is of course no Chateau Petrus but good enough as a table wine. In Belgium I paid 21Euro/5l for an equivalent wine, where is that "terrible" difference ???

I also have the experience that quite a few Farangs are rolled by their “Tie Rakjes” which give them a monthly household budget. Often a part of this household budget goes to other purposes, (which reader fills in himself or writer gets back with loads of str….t) which then result in that life in Thailand is expensive.

Lung addie

Sjaak I thought the question was, are the foods more expensive or cheaper than in Belgium or the Netherlands, the answer is very simple, if you want to eat the same in the Netherlands or Belgium at least 50% more expensive!