Student uniforms 'among pricier goods'
A Commerce Ministry survey has found a number of products pushing up the cost of living, notably student uniforms, one of the 42 products on the government's price-control list. The survey found that the average retail price of a student uniform was up b
The price of a pair of student sneakers had risen from Bt210 to Bt213 compared with the same period last year.
A trader in Bangkok’s Banglamphu area where many student-uniform outlets are located said they had to increase retail prices as the cost of production had increased, in particular for labour, electricity and textiles.
The source said the rise in the minimum wage to Bt300 a day had created an impact throughout the supply chain for student-uniform production.
Other products for which the ministry’s investigators found higher prices were fresh and condensed milk, drinking water, canned fish, paper tissues, soap and detergent, fast food, and seasonings.
The average price of fried rice was up by Bt3.33 per dish to Bt33.89, noodles increased by Bt2.17 to Bt30, and the average price of cooked food rose by Bt1.50 to Bt28.75 per dish. The retail price of fish sauce rose by Bt1.17 per bottle to Bt22.57, soybean sauce was up by Bt60 satang to Bt39.73, and the price of a six-carton pack of UHT (ultra-high-temperature treated) milk was up by Bt2.74 to Bt56.56.
However, the survey also found products whose prices had dropped, including packed rice, which went down by Bt5 per 5-kilogram bag to Bt205, while sticky rice dropped by Bt2 a kilo to Bt28. Cooking oil dropped from Bt1.76 a litre bottle to Bt49.36; however, that was higher than the control price of Bt42 a bottle.
Somkiat Makcayathorn, president of the Thai Rice Packers Association, said rice packers had increased retail prices by Bt3-Bt5 per pack because of higher costs of production and labour, as well as higher operation fees. For instance, he said Tesco would mark up the fee for product distribution by 10-15 per cent on May 15, citing higher wages.
He said the operational costs for rice packers had increased by Bt10 a pack, but traders would not mark up prices by another Bt10, striving to lessen the impact on consumers.
Meanwhile, the ministry reported that 11,437 modern-trade outlets were operating in the Kingdom, because of the lack of a law to regulate the fast expansion of enterprises such as hypermarkets.
