Tesco Coming To Aranyaprathet

[Sakeopete]

I know it seems silly to be happy over a Tesco but if it means not shopping at the Chinese store all is good. I have been a regular customer at that store for years and not once have the owners who man the till ever smiled or said thank you. I'm sure anyone who lives in Aran knows what shop I'm talking about.

Anyways the protests have started as the small shop keepers see the end of days for them, I do feel for them but honestly, most are lazy, unfriendly, never remove out of date products and have no idea what it means to clean. I will still go to the shops and vegetable sellers who have been giving me good service for years but not the Chinese shop :-).

[retiredusn]

Have no idea who you are and do not want too know, but I think your completely wrong! I have and do buy from several of the stores in Aran and all have been more than friendly with a ready smile and a thank you, the market you are referring to is probably one of the best, and at several diff. times they have special ordered items for me...........Try using a smile yourself

[lucky2103]

Well, I lived in Mahasarakham for more than 7 years and rilly got fed off by the unfriendly chinese shop owners.

At some point, U vitually got pushed around the shop, they behaved like gods proxy.

As of today, theres still no Tesco or Big C around, so ppl will hv to wait.

Nevertheless, I strongly believe that Tesco is killing the local livehood around the country.

Taking over the retail market is not enough, Tesco is introducing its own makes (coffee, rice, sugar, palm oil) and this is surely not good for the economy.

BTW, who said Tesco is cheap? Here in bkk, they sell red grapes at a price of 160 THB/ kilo...in Mae Sai/ Chiang Rai the price is 60 THB...

[Sakeopete]

Have no idea who you are and do not want too know, but I think your completely wrong! I have and do buy from several of the stores in Aran and all have been more than friendly with a ready smile and a thank you, the market you are referring to is probably one of the best, and at several diff. times they have special ordered items for me...........Try using a smile yourself

"Have no idea who you are and do not want too know" a bit harsh don't you think over a discussion of grocery stores. As a Canadian I am naturally friendly and have for years smiled and said thank you to the ungrateful Chinese corpses at the tills. If you read my post carefully I too have shops I go to that are friendly and give good service and I will continue to buy from them. I was referring to the other shops who don't, unless you can honestly say you have been to every shop in Aran and had smiley great service with clean products that are not out of date but I don't think anyone would believe you.

Anyways competition is the only way to get improvements in the local retail industry. Sure many of the poorly run shops will be out of business but the ones who have loyal customers will survive just fine.

[jlaw666]

Do you know if it's going to be a hypermarket or something smaller and where they are building it ?

More choice can't be a bad thing for the general public.

[jgarty38]

I know the shop in Aran, yes it is hard to get a smile from the people there. I kept greeting them with a smile each time I enterd the store and of the 3 men working there, 1 of them smiles back. We would be sorry if the store was not there though would we not?

Tesco in Aran? I sure hope so, and soon please. Its a 7ok trip to Makro and Big C now, I will welcome Tescos, is it true or just someones dream?

[dee123]

Wouldn't it be nice to have the proffesionalism of Tesco (Hygiene and availability) but instead of the profits going upwards to shareholders and The Tesco Board of Directors, giving it instead to small farmers and their workers,We say that competition is good,but it has been proven many times in the UK that the giant retailers buy the land anywhere around their Supermarket so to stop their competitors.......Perhaps a Goverment should consider actually how many small business's would eventually get wound up due to the nature and infrastructure of a sizeable Supermarket. i.e. they sell just about everthing you need in one place.So if an enlightened goverment could provide those very same facility's but let the public retail from there.

[bojo]

I know it seems silly to be happy over a Tesco but if it means not shopping at the Chinese store all is good. I have been a regular customer at that store for years and not once have the owners who man the till ever smiled or said thank you. I'm sure anyone who lives in Aran knows what shop I'm talking about.

Anyways the protests have started as the small shop keepers see the end of days for them, I do feel for them but honestly, most are lazy, unfriendly, never remove out of date products and have no idea what it means to clean. I will still go to the shops and vegetable sellers who have been giving me good service for years but not the Chinese shop :-).

For years in Koh Samui prior to Tescos opening up residents and foreigners had to endure extortionate prices in poorly run dirty shops with often out of date products and most definitely the most unfriendly shopkeepers. These owners we're mostly Thai and not of Chinese descent.

A Thai/ Chinese friend of mine once said to me that we(meaning Chinese) don't mean to be rude, it's just our way and that foreigners shouldn't expect the Chinese to be the same as them as cultures are different. When you look at it like that, I'd say he has a very valid point. However understanding and hungrier merchants have in some cases adapted and corner most of the local Thai and foreign business.

We Westerners are naturally more polite anyway ( from our oint of view)and especially as most of us are very happy to be living here.

When Tescos opened in Samui about 8 years or so ago, all the Thais flocked to the store and hardly ever visit a local store anymore. All the small supermarkets have disappeared and 7/11's have replaced them.

The super/hypermarkets are clean, open all hours, convenient, provide guarantees on a huge range of products, help you carry big items to your car, have a food centre, banks and ATMs, kids play areas, sometimes cinemas and most of all give a welcome reprieve from the relenting heat and humidity and when it's monsoon time, life carries on as normal without having to change out of wet clothes with dirty splashes up the back legs on return from the local markets.

I'm a great believer in free market enterprise and can see how the retail giants have been successful worldwide over the past 3 decades. However I'm very aware and am not at all happy that they(the hypermarkets) charge the earth for many products and have buying monopolies with supplier squeezing policies, but I also believe that it's the publics lazy ways which have lead to their success. We can vote with our feet and hopefully with a recession in full swing, people will go back to the old ways of shopping and shop locally, walk or cycle to the shops maybe, especially as we are more environment aware nowadays. we have lived in a throw-away and wasteful age for too long and can save a fortune by shopping at markets and local shops. Obesity in many countries is a direct result of modern lifestyle and it's most definitely not healthy.

So I have highlighted some general points but in no way is the debate cut and dry however, hpefully some food for thought.

regards Bojo

[Sakeopete]

I know the shop in Aran, yes it is hard to get a smile from the people there. I kept greeting them with a smile each time I enterd the store and of the 3 men working there, 1 of them smiles back. We would be sorry if the store was not there though would we not?

Tesco in Aran? I sure hope so, and soon please. Its a 7ok trip to Makro and Big C now, I will welcome Tescos, is it true or just someones dream?

I believe its true my wife says they have the land cleared and there are signs up by the local shop keepers protesting it. I know there has been protest for some time now but my guess is a heavy brown envelope will take care of the local administration. I'm at work overseas until next week but will update the progress once I'm home.

[samgrowth]

Well, I lived in Mahasarakham for more than 7 years and rilly got fed off by the unfriendly chinese shop owners.

At some point, U vitually got pushed around the shop, they behaved like gods proxy.

As of today, theres still no Tesco or Big C around, so ppl will hv to wait.

Nevertheless, I strongly believe that Tesco is killing the local livehood around the country.

Taking over the retail market is not enough, Tesco is introducing its own makes (coffee, rice, sugar, palm oil) and this is surely not good for the economy.

BTW, who said Tesco is cheap? Here in bkk, they sell red grapes at a price of 160 THB/ kilo...in Mae Sai/ Chiang Rai the price is 60 THB...

Why are the Thai complaining when Hypermarket comes. All they do is "kill off unfriendly chinese shop owners" (I am just quoting above). Thai people must say a big Thank You to hypermarkets.

Secondly, how could Hypermarket introducing its own makes (coffee, rice, sugar, palm oil) is NOT good for the economy? Do that import them (coffee, rice, sugar, palm oil) from UK, France, Netherland, etc? Or do they source them (coffee, rice, sugar, palm oil) from Thailand anyway?

[jlaw666]

Anybody heard any more details about if Tesco are building a store in Aranyaprathet ?

[Sakeopete]

I see the 13 rai building site and they are doing work there atm, no signs up yet though. It is very close to my home so will be very convenient.

[machlad]

were having a tesco built in mach too if anyone is interested but I doubt it 555

[Sakeopete]

Update: The ground is cleared and the barriers are up construction has started, Tesco in Aran wooohoo!

[jlaw666]

I keep telling my girlfriend Aran is getting a Tesco.

Where about are they building it ?

She went into town yesterday but didn't notice any building sites.

[sorensen]

Whare is Aranyaprathet?

It sound like the name of some jumping poisonous spider.

[BigSnake]

I know it seems silly to be happy over a Tesco but if it means not shopping at the Chinese store all is good. I have been a regular customer at that store for years and not once have the owners who man the till ever smiled or said thank you. I'm sure anyone who lives in Aran knows what shop I'm talking about.

Anyways the protests have started as the small shop keepers see the end of days for them, I do feel for them but honestly, most are lazy, unfriendly, never remove out of date products and have no idea what it means to clean. I will still go to the shops and vegetable sellers who have been giving me good service for years but not the Chinese shop :-).

Yes, the protests will roll along, because the protestors fear a loss of revenue by Tesco moving in, I they will be the same people shopping a Tesco once it is open to buy good to sell in their mom and pop shops, as a hold Tesco is good for most of the people, it provide a nice cool place for family shopping, great parking, fresh produce/products, unlike some mom and pop stores that just don't have the space for a lot of product. Need I say on a few occassion I have found expire product(milk, snicker bar and even a bottle of Singh Water). Mom and Pop store are good and by no mean a put down here and I feel many will continue to shop mom&pop once in awhile, but Tesco offer a more stabe shopping time(posted open hours)

[Sakeopete]

I keep telling my girlfriend Aran is getting a Tesco.

Where about are they building it ?

She went into town yesterday but didn't notice any building sites.

It about 5 kms past the bus station on highway 33 going towards Sakeo on the right hand side. The entire building site is fences with sheet metal can't miss it. We live about 2 kms past it in the new gated community Aran Nakorn 3.

[Sakeopete]

Update: The roof is up and the building is huge. My wife spoke with a cosmetics seller at Big C in Sakeaw and she will be transferring to Tesco around December for the planned opening.

[jlaw666]

My girlfriend was in Aran and said some of the

locals have put signs up not wanting the new Tesco.

I think it's a bit late now if the roof on.

[kmufti]

Another Tesco store is about to open in Nongkhae, (some 35 Km away from there fairly large Tesco of saraburi city)

[Sakeopete]

Update Tesco is open in Aranayaprathet

[NADTATIDA1]

Update Tesco is open in Aranayaprathet

Well i used to live in Aran for 3/4 years and used to frequent the chinese supermarket you was talking about,i am so happy for all the farang in the area as it really was a bind having to schlep all the way to sa kaeo for decent farang provisions.

Good old tesco"s!

And Pete you are 100% correct about that shop in Aran...very ignorant and rude! do they still have 2 televisions at the checkout? they never moved from them.... you could barely get them to take your money!!

The only down side is now you will spend more on your weekly shop

[Sakeopete]

Update Tesco is open in Aranayaprathet

Well i used to live in Aran for 3/4 years and used to frequent the chinese supermarket you was talking about,i am so happy for all the farang in the area as it really was a bind having to schlep all the way to sa kaeo for decent farang provisions.

Good old tesco"s!

And Pete you are 100% correct about that shop in Aran...very ignorant and rude! do they still have 2 televisions at the checkout? they never moved from them.... you could barely get them to take your money!!

The only down side is now you will spend more on your weekly shop

Yeah the same two zombies at the till, been shopping there for years and never seen them smile or even make eye contact. They just punch in the prices into the till then turn their head back to the television.