An Expat Grocery Shopping in Thailand

 April 23, 2025

Good evening Friends and Family, 

I have just over a week left in Chiang Mai.  While the first two weeks seemed to go by slowly, this week flew by so quickly- it was difficult to even breakdown the day into hours. 

This afternoon I went grocery shopping at Tops (think Winn Dixie) and to the large open air food market to get some things that should take me through until I leave- for the most part.  Thought I would share what it is like grocery shopping over here. 

First, I went to Tops, which is about 0.4 miles away, but walking along a busy 4-lane road with no sidewalk means that you have to keep your head on a swivel. Among the items I needed was some more laundry soap but I didn't wish to purchase a large quantity. It took me a bit of time to identify what was laundry soap versus stain removal/ color booster versus fabric softener as well as starch for ironing (It comes out of a squirt bag, not a can!). I thought this one was a bit funny as the smell is "Happy Sunshine".  Oh, in our apartment building we have a laundry room with BOTH washers and dryers. Having a dryer is a huge luxury. The washer costs $1.25/ load and the dryer costs right at $1/ load. Remember 32 Baht- $1.00

I think it is so neat the various international foods they carry.  There is always a British aisle or two.  Hobnobs and digestives tend to be two favorites.  You can get Oreos over here in small sleeves  that do not cost you an arm and a leg, but I've successfully stayed away from sweets while over here. So these did not make it into my shopping basket. Though I really like British ginger cookies.

 

While America potato chips, such as Lays, are about the price as at home, Pringles (including in Cambodia and Vietnam) are much, much less expensive and you can find them in a variety of flavors.  Anyone up for Grilled Squid flavored Pringles???? I managed to overcome my urge for squid and that too didn't wind up in my basket. 

 

In case I have not shown them before, grocery stores over here have some interesting signs describing the contents of the aisle (see below). On the right is the soup aisle and ultra-pasteruized milk.  And I wonder who at Heinz came up with this name for mayo!!

So, what exactly did I buy in addition to laundry soap? I decided to eat in tonight and wanted spaghetti.  I was able to find a 16 ounce jar of sauce imported from Italy for 160 Baht (Okay readers, how much in USD?  $4.97) and it was plenty enough for 2 meals. A bit pricey maybe for just 16 ounces, but it had good flavor. The kicker was the ground beef. I found a 6-ounce package for the bargain basement price (just kidding) of $8.50.  Yep, ground beef is truly a luxury.  However, after browning the beef along with a finely diced fresh tomato and parsely and then adding the jar sauce, I have enough for two pasta dinners, and a Sloppy Joe over the weekend.  The spaghetti noodles were fairly cheap at $2.00.

Also to get me through the next week, I purchased some American cheese, Greek yogurt, hot dogs (Thank goodness, I could not read the contents of the hotdogs on the package as it was in Thai! But I like hotdogs.) Coca-Lite (diet Coke)- just 3 cans [Remember, I am carrying the bags home!], granola, olives, salad dressing and vegetable oil, which in total came to.... $36.31. My next stop was the nearby local food/ farmers market.  Now, this place is huge.  I will add more pictures tomorrow but I was feeling more than a little weighed down with my two bags of groceries and I added more purchases from the "farmers market". This picture captures literally less than 1/4 of the market.  When I say "huge" think 2 city blocks- easily. 

Yep, chickens w/ the heads hanging.

There is everything you can imagine there.  I am cautious about purchasing meat from there but last week, I did buy some out of this world grilled pork belly. So, what did I add to my bags? Baby bananas.  The sweetest absolute bestest bananas you will ever eat.  The bunch in the picture was $0.75. I like them with granola, yogurt and a bit of honey as well as for healthy snacking. 

I also bought salad fixings: lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, green onions, a carrot (They are organic and will sprout "hairs" within 3 days if not eaten- so just one huge carrot sufficed.) as well as some fresh parsely for the spaghetti.  Everything in the "salad" picture you see, I purchased for.... drumroll.... $1.85! And it is organic.  Definitely enough for Thursday night- Saturday.

  

My final purchase of the day was a snack food.  I passed a booth that homemade chips made of all kinds of things- fruit, potatoes, corn and I saw this bag of what looked like tortilla chips, but it came with a small bag of sweet chili sauce, not salsa.  It was only $0.61 so I figured, let's give it a try. 

It was a busy day at the college, so while my spaghetti sauce was simmering, I enjoyed a frosty gin and tonic with a fresh lime and some homemade tortilla chips (the absolute BEST that I've ever, ever had) and the sweet chili sauce- well, WOW and WOW. Didn't eat them all but I don't know that I'll ever look at salsa the same way ever again.  Given I plan on going to the farmers market again in the AM before the heat, you can be rest assured another bag of these gems are coming home with me. 

 

While not the most exciting journal entry I could write. It gives you an idea of how I navigate daily life here including cooking on a 2- eye stove top with just one fry pan, one medium boiler, one cooking spoon and one turner!  Shows just how little we actually need to have a contented life. 

Until tomorrow.

Stepping Off the Sidewalk..... Into New Adventures

Karen

Disclaimer: The content of my writing strictly represents my personal views and not those of the University of Florida, the U.S. government, the Department of State, or partner organizations.