Koh Samui Hypermarkets & Supermarkets

Koh Samui is a fascinating mixture of the rustic and the modern, with tin sheds and wooden shacks scattered cheerfully around, mixed in with McDonald's, Starbucks and Pizza Hut. There is a sprinkling of hypermarkets like Tesco-Lotus and Big C, making Koh Samui a tropical paradise, but with little touches of home!

Koh Samui Hypermarkets

Koh Samui has two Tesco Lotus hypermarkets one on the main ring road that skirts Chaweng and the other on the main ring road in Lamai. Tesco Lotus Chaweng was the first of Samui's hypermarkets, and has now expanded to include a giant home-improvement store at the rear by the name of Home Pro. The two are linked by a corridor lined with small shops, opening into a food court, cinema and bowling alley between the two. Tesco stocks all the items you'd usually expect, but with notable exceptions in the food area. Here the emphasis is very much towards the preferences of the Thai population, however there is some choice in the way of familiar tinned good. On the other hand, the variety of strange vegetables and fruits makes for interesting viewing!

On the same stretch of Chaweng ring road, but heading north, less than half a kilometre away, there's Big C. It's styles in the same way as Tesco, with a web of little shops and restaurants to go with it.

And, if you're on Koh Samui doing business, then Makro is close by, with its discounted range of catering, electrical and business goods.

One point to mention is that the big stores on Koh Samui's also have a lot of 'satellite stalls' that set up inside them selling discounted clothes, jewellery, and an assortment of electrical goods. You'll come across some hard-to-find items and some bargains if you take the time to comb through these stalls.

Koh Samui Supermarkets

Chaweng has one - Tops. This is not far from McDonald's and has some interesting imported foodstuffs tucked away.

Coco supermarket in Lamai, opposite Buddy Bar, stocks an rare range of frozen and canned goods, including frozen raspberries and blackberries, and a big range of Heinz and Campbells tinned items.

Other than that, there's just one other of note, and that's the small sister of Tesco, in Nathon. This is far smaller, though, and only really of interest if you live locally.

Along with these giants, Koh Samui also offers the other trappings of civilisation, in the form of McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, Svensons, Häagen-Dazs, Starbucks, Black Canyon, plus Watsons and Boots the Chemist - all in Chaweng.