Why did cigarettes get 25% cheaper?

[cdnmatt]

Does anyone by chance have the answer to this little riddle? Confirmed with Leo, and I'm still getting the same type of cigs as I always get ("lm dang saawng lek").

For a long while they were 75 baht/pack. Then after that new alcohol tax took effect recently, they jumped up to 80 baht, as expected. However, for the last few days they for some reason have dropped to 60 baht.

Anyone know what happened? Is anyone experiencing the same? Or did all the shop owners in this local area maybe get their hands on some boxes of cigs that fell off a truck? Or???

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[joe552]

I give up Matt. Why did cigarettes get cheaper? What's dang saawng lek?

[cdnmatt]

I don't know, that's why I'm asking.

It's Thai, as I don't know the English. I guess English would be "LM Red Lights".

[sglad]

It's Thai, as I don't know the English. I guess English would be "LM Red Lights".

"lm dang saawng lek" - literally, L&M Red pack small

Saawng here is used as a classifier. In English, a small pack of L&M Reds.

[latintopxxx]

its a plot...a plot to get more thais smoking so the government doesnt have to pay out their pensions..

[sglad]

its a plot...a plot to get more thais smoking so the government doesnt have to pay out their pensions..

Most Thais don't have pensions. Civil servants do and some big companies might offer private pensions for high-ranking employees.

The Thai pension system is their family.

[cdnmatt]

"lm dang saawng lek" - literally, L&M Red pack small

Saawng here is used as a classifier. In English, a small pack of L&M Reds.

Right, but "saawng lek" and "saawng yai" are the exact same size, or at least I think they are. Maybe I'm wrong, and "yai" is a slightly bigger.

Nonetheless, in Canada you don't say "duMaurier Small", but instead say "duMaurier Light", hence why I translated it like that. It's more translatable for native English speakers that way.

[neddy3]

its a plot...a plot to get more thais smoking so the government doesnt have to pay out their pensions..

Hope not!
My preferred type of Thai boy is a non-smoker, amongst other attributes.

Let's not get into another smoking/no smoking argument.

Just stating my preference, but the right boy who smokes can get lucky.
(If you call spending time with me getting lucky!)

[christianpfc]

Did you count how many cigarettes are in a pack?

In Germany, we have cookies "Knoppers" which were 2.39 EUR for 250 g, but not they are 1.89 EUR for 200 g (a poor example as the price per gram is almost the same).

...the same type of cigs as I always get ("lm dang saawng lek").

A case where spelling, even upper and lower case, is important for understanding. I interpreted it as "I'm dang saawn lek" and couldn't make any sense of it, only later when you wrote "L&M". In the default font, "I" (upper case i) and "l" (lower case L) look the same, but when I write this post (in font Courier), different!

[cdnmatt]

No, wasn't asking the difference between "lek" and "yai" packs.

Was wondering why the price all of a sudden dropped by 25% in the past ~5 days? I've never heard of the price of alcohol or cigs dropping. It's always the other way, and they get more expensive.

Any other smokers in Thailand that can confirm? Or is just my local area?

Leo needs to run some errands today anyway, so I'll have him buy some cigs at a 7/11 or Tesco or something, and see how much they cost there.