Where to buy groceries in Nakhon Ratchasima

In Nakhon Ratchasima, you don't buy groceries in one place: hypermarkets for weekly bulk shopping, supermarkets in shopping malls for imports and ready-made food, markets for fresh vegetables, meat and fish at local prices. Home shops (7-Eleven, FamilyMart) are within reach on almost every corner — there's no point listing them, just open the map and find the nearest one.

How we selected them

We divided them by purpose, not distance: where you stock up for the week ahead, where you find things unavailable in a typical Thai supermarket, and where you buy cooking ingredients at local prices every day.

What suits whom

For bulk shopping — Big C on Mittrapap-Nongkhai (south of center) and Big C 2 at Sam-Ek-Pak (north, by Chang Phueak): two chain hypermarkets with a complete range of household goods and food, the only difference being which part of town you live in. Lotus on Mittrapap — a hypermarket of the same category, if Big C is too far. Lotus Go Fresh on Det-Udom — smaller format, for shopping without a car.

For imports and ready-made food — Tops Superstore in Central Korat and Gourmet Market in The Mall Korat: supermarkets in shopping malls with a wider selection of foreign products and ready-made food than a typical Thai supermarket. Foodland in Terminal 21 Korat — a supermarket at the same level in the city's third major mall.

For fresh ingredients at local prices — Talad Lotus Market on Suebsiri, south side of town: vegetables, meat and fish cheaper than chain stores, but without English price tags.

What to keep in mind

Hypermarkets and supermarkets in shopping malls accept card and QR payment. At the market — usually cash only, and haggling isn't practiced the way it is at tourist markets: food prices are fixed.