Super Cheap in Phuket

Covering around 12,000 sq m of space, the building looks exactly like any standard supermarket – Big C, Tesco Lotus, and the like – when viewed from the outside. The only difference is its rather impressive height.

Basically, you can find almost anything at Super Cheap: clothing, packed and fresh food, car and motorcycle accessories, furniture, aquarium fish, tools, Buddhist accessories, cosmetics, construction materials, clocks, fishing rods, mobile phones, cigarettes, coffee percolators – you name it.

Backpacks and large bags are not allowed inside Super Cheap, so customers must leave them at the entrance where an employee gives you a ticket to take it back later. Inside, the size of the supermarket is even more impressive. The ceiling is about 15 metres above your head and the back of the building is 120 metres away.

Built upon a metallic structure painted in white with a corrugated galvanised iron roof, Super Cheap is like a labyrinth; its aisles, marked out by orange-painted metal shelves and the cement flooring give a neat and clean impression. Super Cheap’s floorplan is on display next to the front door to help customers to find what they are looking for through the alleyways (there’s an English version of the plan available). Some departments – electronics, pharmacy, liquors and wines, frozen goods – are set in air-conditioned stores accessible through fully automated doors.