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Last year, about a month after the fruit was first released to markets, sellers offered 6 kilograms for Bt100. But now, 7 kilos of mangosteen sell for the same amount. Taking into account inflation of 5 per cent, this means growers are receiving less and less for their output. I feel sorry for them as the growers, like others, are suffering from the higher cost of living while fertiliser prices are escalating.

If anything becomes cheaper at a time of soaring oil prices, it's tropical fruits like mangosteen and rambutan.

Soon we should expect the growers to camp out on the main roads, demanding government help.

They would be in the same league as contractors, who are shouldering higher building costs but cannot demand higher fees from project owners, particularly government agencies.

 Yesterday, members of Thai Contractors Association gathered to voice their resentment over the government's agreement to adjust construction value by only 4 per cent against an average 20-per-cent increase in building costs. The majority agreed to give the government 30 days to amend the figures, before sounding out members on what action they would stage. (Luckily, they did not agree to abandon all government projects - or else we'd have to live with so many unfinished roads.)

They deserve sympathy. So, it was surprising when a contractor who owns a small construction company stood up and voiced his opinion that the association should not give the ultimatum.

But his next sentence explained everything.

"Why should we bother to wait 30 days to plan the next action when by that time all of us would disappear from this world due to the hefty costs?" he said. "Rather, we should tell the government to book us a funeral venue. Let them cremate us all."

Another contractor said he did not know what to expect from the government, as no minister has shown serious interest in tackling the problem.

Hmm, this must be the government's ploy to keep things cheap, both for individual consumers and for itself.