Ahead of Lunar New Year, Thailand’s poor feel sting of inflation | Business and Economy News

Bangkok, Thailand – Instead of raising the cost of a dish, noodle seller Yajai is putting less pork in her bowls – a cutback forced by the surging price of Thai pigs following an outbreak of African swine flu.

In a nearby alley, a fruit seller cuts smaller pieces of papaya, guava and pineapple to avoid passing on rising prices to her regulars.

The cost of eggs, cooking oil, gas and chicken have also shot up, baffling small business owners across Pratunam, a working-class, Thai-Chinese neighborhood in downtown Bangkok.

“My costs are up by 20 percent since the start of the year,” Yajai told Al Jazeera. “Coconut milk, cooking oil, even the wonton wrappers … I’ve never seen anything like this where everything goes up at once,” she said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

As the Lunar New Year festival looms – a time when families normally spend liberally and small…