I had my film photos developed abroad and was surprised at how cheap it was – it can be like a free holiday!

Had I known how cheap it was to develop film in South East Asia, I would have used my Nikon FM2 much more often. At just 100 baht ($3/£2/AU$4) or 65,000 dong ($2/£2/AU$4) for 36 exposures, scans sent within an hour and negatives ready for collection, it was a stark contrast to what analogue photographers have to pay in the UK – where I was from.

I might have been annoyed that I didn’t take full advantage of the low development costs, but I knew it was only cheap compared to my salary. In countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, the average wage is significantly lower than in the US or European countries. These lower labor costs directly translate into lower running costs for film labs – which benefits tourists.

Urban centres in Europe are known for their high property prices and rents, making it particularly difficult for independent development labs to keep their costs down. In the UK alone, many labs have had to move further away from cities or close completely due to rising running costs. South East Asian cities offer much cheaper commercial real estate and, combined with lower energy bills, costs can be kept down.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the average annual wage of a full-time worker in the UK in 2023 was £42,000 (US$53,000/AU$80,000), while in the US it is $59,000 (£46,000/AU$87,000). At the same time, the average salary in Thailand is $32,000, which is a significant difference from the average salary in Vietnam, which is only $8,100 (£6,300/AU$12,000). Suddenly, paying $2 to develop a film doesn’t seem like a bargain to people living there.

I was a little skeptical about getting my photos developed somewhere so cheap, fearing the quality wouldn’t be up to my usual standards, but that was unfounded. The scans were crisp, clean and clear. They were sent via an app that you downloaded and even on a larger screen the quality looked high quality.