Would you pay US$1,021 to see the Eagles in concert? Well, if you paid the Baht 8,000 (US$200) it cost to get into the stage-front section of last month’s Eagles Farewell I Tour (the Farewell II Tour to be announced if Tour I’s proceeds prove insufficient to buy each band member their own island in the South Pacific), then you shelled out a cool grand on a purchasing power basis. In non-“economist-geek”-speak, it means you got gouged.

With all my cantankerous raving as of late, why am I having a shit fit about something that happened over a month ago? Because Sting is coming to Bangkok in January, and I really want to go. And I really really don’t want to spend the Baht 4,500 (US$113, or US$575 on a PPP basis) that it would cost to get into a section close enough to make sure he ain’t pulling an Ashlee Simpson. After all, Baht 4,500 could pay for over 150 cheapo lunches at the street-side hawkers, or even 2 months of pricey work-week lunches at the FoodLoft.

Not to sound like the old fart lamenting the good ol’ days, but when I was a young man in college, not a weekend went by during summer break when I didn’t go to a concert or festival, and I sure as hell don’t remember tickets costing me the price of a textbook or two (back when they cost $40-50 a piece; did they jack up the prices on those too?!?). A day spent watching a 6-set Lollapalooza or Metallica’s 12-hour Day on the Green would set me back just 20 George Washingtons. Nowadays, you’re lucky if that covers the beer and parking. Why does quality entertainment cost the same (if not more) in Thailand as it does in United States, a country with five frickin’ times the purchasing power we do? It’s enough to give me a coronary.

Rubbing salt into the wound: Norah Jones will be playing at BEC Tero Hall on March 3rd. I love this woman! I just pray it doesn’t cost me my left nut to see her perform.