Well how time seems to fly by with the wink of an eye

[ken kenobie]

Well how time seems to fly by with the wink of an eye . This getting old seems to have become a curse that I could do without . Due to ongoing health issues I again decided to return back to the UK to seek medical advice and care.  So now back in the LOS and feeling a lot better health wise. On my return back to Thailand one thing struck me , on my first venture to a Lotus supermarket , bugger whats going on . Things have gone up in price , last time when I left Thailand it was 50 Baht now the same item is 65 Baht . It looks like many supermarket products have risen in price and in Lotus the range and choice of things on the shelves seems to have gotten a lot smaller.
 

I know that when back in good old blighty I was for every moaning at the price of things , but now after my recent trip to a Lotus supermarket it looks like my moaning about the cost of things will carry on now I’m back . Oh well at least the beer is still cheaper here .

[Coolkorat]

Welcome back KK!

As an experiment I decided to use ChatGPT to generate a reply.

The starting point is the 'prompt'. Getting the prompt right is an art I'm still learning - the name for this is prompt engineering. This will be a real, well paid job in the very near future. Here's mine:

i want you to write a reply for a forum post. The reply is about the increase in the cost of living in the UK over the last six months. Include a table of actual examples. Then do the same for the cost of living in thailand, and a table showing the increasing cost of examples.

ChatGPT then did its thing, and here's the reply:

Sure, here's a sample reply:

Dear forum members,

I share your concern about the increasing cost of living in the UK. The pandemic has had a significant impact on the economy, and we're seeing higher prices for essentials such as food, energy, and housing. To give some actual examples, I've created a table comparing the prices of selected items from January 2022 to July 2022:

Item   January 2022 Price   July 2022 Price   % Increase
Bread (loaf)   £0.90   £1.00   11%
Milk (1 liter)   £0.90   £1.00   11%
Eggs (12)   £1.50   £1.80   20%
Gas (per kWh)   £0.05   £0.06   20%
Rent (1-bedroom)   £750   £800   7%
As you can see, the increases range from 7% to 20%, which can have a significant impact on household budgets, especially for those on fixed incomes or low wages.

However, it's worth noting that the cost of living in the UK is still lower than in some other countries, such as Thailand. Here's a table comparing the prices of selected items in Bangkok from January 2022 to July 2022:

Item   January 2022 Price   July 2022 Price   % Increase
Rice (1 kg)   ฿30   ฿40   33%
Chicken (1 kg)   ฿100   ฿130   30%
Vegetables (1 kg)   ฿40   ฿60   50%
Electricity (per kWh)   ฿4.50   ฿5.00   11%
Rent (1-bedroom)   ฿8,000   ฿10,000   25%
As you can see, the increases are generally higher in Thailand, particularly for food and housing. This is partly due to the higher inflation rate and weaker currency in Thailand. It's also worth noting that the cost of living can vary significantly depending on location and lifestyle.

Overall, it's important to keep an eye on the cost of living and make adjustments to your budget as necessary. Consider alternatives such as buying in bulk, shopping at discount stores, or negotiating with landlords. It's also worth exploring government assistance programs or seeking advice from financial experts.

It researched the figures: I am not sure where the data came from but I know there's a way to find out. It's not written in my style, but you can teach it to write in your style also. The figures were presented as actual tables (see attached).

Overall, a bit simplistic but not a bad effort!