Any Tops / Gourmet Market nearby Buriram?

[muratremix]

Big C and Makro in Buriram is heavily Thai oriented (as expected) and I'm missing some food items that are available in Tops / Gourmet market in Bangkok. Anybody have luck with nearby cities / shopping malls? I'm thinking to visit The Mall in Nakhon Ratchasima but I doubt the supermarket inside the mall is any better.

[Prakhonchai Nick]

The Mall supermarket does have more to offer than Lotus and Big C. But don't expect to find what Tops has to offer.

Makro can sometimes surprise

[Vombatus]

The Mall is pretty good in my view.

Certainly, one has to manage ones expectations if you want to live in boonies.

It may be better/more cost-effective to get a chum to pack a 20kg poly-box and send it on the bus (about 85 Baht for the box and 200 Baht for the bus).

Otherwise, Staffords, Ryan's Resort, Nookie, Buriram Pieman and Coffee Corner can supply certain items.

What are you missing in particular

[Prakhonchai Nick]

If it's  decent bread you are after, join us on one of our Siem Reap/Angkor wat trips, where we visit a bakery and buy excellent bread at an excellent price. Freezes well!.

Beer and all drinks are available at less than half Thai prices

[ted]

Gary at Stafford's Food [Prasat, Surin] might be helpful.

[Prakhonchai Nick]

Gary at Stafford's Food [Prasat, Surin] might be helpful.

This has aleady been mentioned above - amongst other local suppliers of farang food.

[muratremix]

I finally visited Nakon Ratchasima yesterday and had chance to go to Tesco Lotus and The Mall. I found out Tesco Lotus quite good, compared to Tescos in Bangkok. The Mall was bigger than I imagined, you can find almost everyting. After seeing The Mall, I figured out that we are living in rural in Buriram (and I live even more rural in Ban Kruat). Home Fresh Mart is very similar to Gourmet Market in Siam Paragon, unlike in other The Mall in Bangkok which was very thai like. If you need good sea food, beef products and selection of TGM and Thai French beef, the mall is the place you need to drive.

Road to Korat is very good starting from Nang Rong, it too 2 hours 20 minutes for me to go from Ban Kruat to Korat city center. However our return was not satisfying, traffic jams similar to Bangkok!

[Prakhonchai Nick]

The Mall Khorat is certainly the best place for us out her in Isaan, short of going to Bangkok or Pattaya

There is a new Tesco Lotus hypermarket recently opened on the Chok Chai/Dan Kwian side of Khorat, which is well laid out. Makes a good addition to an immigration visit

[muratremix]

I wonder how good / bad Tesco Lotus in Surin? Generally speaking, tesco lotus in Bangkok is awful. However, Tesco near The Mall in Korat was awesome (compared to Big C of anywhere in Thailand). Since Surin and Buriram city center is about same distance to me, I plan to go Surin tesco sometime (waiting for sugar cane transport trucks to diminish).

[Prakhonchai Nick]

The main Tesco in Surin (opposite Makro) is awful. Cannot understand why it is not closed down. The smaller Tesco Lotus in Surin Plaza has a good stock of foodstuffs.

Not sure when the sugar cane trucks will be gone

[gotlost]

FWIW. Big C in Surin is good. Makro is OK and the Tesco is crap. All 3 are within a rock throw of each other. The Tesco Expres in Surin and Prasat are great. IMHO