In Thailand, tourists are surprised that they can buy the same things here as in their country and also we have really big shopping malls around Bangkok. People don't have to go to the local market, they can buy everything they want in the supermarkets or hypermarkets. I have two hypermarkets within ten minutes of my house (Lotus Tesco and Big C) and two more next to each other about 15 minutes away (Makro and Carrefour).

Examples from some of the prices in December 2000, compare with your country:

Snickers 27 baht Mars 27 baht Coke (can) 13 baht Singh Beer 28 baht Heineken Beer 36 baht Carlsberg Beer 36 baht Bottle of water 7 baht Pot noodle 13 baht Lay's crisps 25 baht (100 grams) Colgate toothpaste 51 baht (200 grams) Kleenex tissue 38 baht toilet roll 10 baht Breeze detergent 38 baht (700 grams) Nescafe coffee 112 baht (200 grams) Ovaltine 108 baht (325 grams) Wrigley's chewing gum 5 baht Walls cornetto 50 baht Camel Cigarettes 50 baht Kodak Gold 36 exp 140 baht Duracell battery AA 49 baht

Sharp 21 inches TV 11,990 baht Sony stereo mini compo MHC-VX55 14,990 baht Wilson basketball 390 baht Snooker table 4 X 8 feet 22,000 baht 18 speed Bicycle 4,500 baht etc.

THAILAND Convenience stores 7-Eleven 1,520 Central Minimart 22 Am/pm 130 Family Mart 100 V-shop 70 Tiger Mart 300 Jiffy Jet 100 Star Mart 200 PTT 120 Q8 95 Lemon Green 90 Select 100 TOTAL: 2,847 Supermarkets Tops 41 Food Lion 19 Villa 7 Jusco 10 Foodland 7 TOTAL: 84 Hypermarkets Tesco - Lotus 24 Big C 23 Makro 19 Carrefour 11 Auchan 1 TOTAL: 78