As if the upcoming Vegetarian Festival wasn’t enough of an excuse to raise prices, floods in the north are making healthy vegetables scarcer. Vendors are also grumbling that there are too many vegetable sellers, and that hotels are buying less due to a slow economy.
Put all this together and vegetable sellers are asking the government to set, or allow them to set, higher prices to prop up the industry.
Thanee Sansuk, a 20-year veteran veggie seller at Chaimongkol Market in South Pattaya, said that due to the floods, about 20% of the produce arriving at the market is bruised or spoiled. She said the hardest hit are root lettuce, coriander, and spring onion.
She admitted, however, that wholesalers do give them a price break when unsalable produce is found.
Thanee predicted sales would be brisk during the September 28 – October 8 Vegetarian Festival, but that the increase would be temporary.
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