Sunday, May 18, 2008

Price Comparison

In my bag everyday, I carry a cheap watch. I say cheap because it is cheap by American standards; $25 is not much to pay for a watch. It does what I want it to, in that in keeps the time accurately and has a stopwatch so I can time myself when I go running. In America, as we all know, the currency is the dollar; in China, it's the RMB; in Thailand it's the baht; in Cambodia (where I am right now) it's the riel. There are approximately 7 RMB to the dollar, 30 baht to the dollar, and 4000 riel to the same dollar. Now consider the price of a bottle of water. In China, the average cost of a bottle of water is 1.5 RMB. In Thailand, it's 6 baht. In Cambodia, they use the dollar anyway (since their own currency is so unsteady), so it costs $.25, or 1000 riel. In America, to be optimistic, I could theoretically spend $1 and get a bottle of water. However, I have been told that prices have sky-rocketed while I've been away, so I cannot claim that my information is current. Here is what I have concluded. In Thailand, my watch can buy me 125 bottles of water. In China, my watch can buy me 116 bottles of water. In Cambodia, my watch can buy me 100 bottles of water. In America, my watch can buy me absolutely no more than 25 bottles of water. On a good day.

3 comments:

Sam G said...

Weighing the factors of water quality, filtration, packaging costs, blah blah blah, that's still a pretty serious statistic. I assume safety concerns with bottled water are negligible?

Rebekah said...

Safety concerns are indeed negligible. Bottled water is bottled water regardless of the country -- safe to drink in any case. Which is important, since water that isn't bottled, in any of the countries I've visited so far, is not safe to drink. Truth be told, that may have much to do with the price of bottled water.

Unknown said...

When I was in Gambia the bottled water was safe to drink because the local water was safe to drink. The bottled water was bottled from the tap. I hope that isn't the case everywhere else, too.