🛒 Shopping

The island's big wholesaler — the widest range of meat, sausages and fish

When you switch to cooking at home on the island, this is where the shop starts — one big run that covers most of the kitchen, including plenty you will not find elsewhere. Tucked along the shelves are Mutti tomatoes, almond flour beside the nuts, even frozen peeled pomegranate. You may still end up topping up at another supermarket, but the base gets done here.

The supermarket that fills the gaps: fresh meat, cheeses, hard-to-find imports

The big branch opposite the food court is the one you come to with a list: real maple syrup, dark Lindt chocolate, even coconut macaroons of the Passover kind, and the Greek yoghurt hiding in the furthest fridge at the back. The clean three- or four-ingredient crisps are at Tops Daily instead, and anyone here for the fried chicken will find it has its own counter at the Hin Kong branch.

ℹ Pricey — import prices

Online orders for what's hard to find on the island — tahini, olive oil, dried fruit

The site that closes the gaps the island leaves open — pantry staples through to kitchen kit like an air fryer, a Bialetti moka pot or a coffee grinder. Frozen survives the journey: butcher's steaks arrive still frozen within a few days, and % Arabica coffee lands in a day or two. Worth reading the small print, though — with coconut oil, look for unrefined rather than refined.

The island supermarket — juicy rotisserie chicken, dried goods and coconut oil

Chaloklum's big supermarket, and the place to stock up on things you won't find just anywhere — from flours to animal-shaped butter biscuits. In the fridge to the left of the entrance hides 72% chocolate that costs less than Lindt, and on some days of the week a small food market opens outside from the afternoon — a good reason to time your shop for the end of the day.

ℹ There's a spicy version of the chicken too — worth checking which one you take

An Italian deli — cheeses, cured meats, olive oil by the tin and pizza flour

The island address for ingredients the supermarkets simply do not carry — durum semolina, pine nuts, anchovies and properly good crushed tomatoes. The smart buy is the five-litre tin of olive oil, at a price nothing else here comes close to. Beyond the big shop in Thong Sala there is a smaller branch in Srithanu, and a gelato counter has been added for the end of the shopping run — 80 baht a scoop.

ℹ Worth checking the cheeses before you buy

A supermarket for the whole list — a full Japanese shelf, meat, chicken, baking

You drive here when one specific thing is missing — sesame oil, vanilla extract, brown rice, unsweetened almond milk. The produce holds surprises too: the tomatoes are usually the kind that actually taste of something. And if the drive is the problem, their website delivers on Koh Phangan.

ℹ Stock changes from day to day

Good flours, spices and gluten-free pasta — for the hard-to-find kitchen items

When a specific ingredient vanishes from the shelves across the island — cumin, pine nuts, kimchi, red rice — this is the first place to check. The flours are the strength: rye, almond, chickpea and coarse wholemeal, alongside lentil and rice pastas. The name has since been shortened to Lim, and the shop sits in Thong Sala right next to the food court; there's kitchen equipment too, tins and pots, just not at cheap prices.

Refill shops for grains, pulses and spices — plus the hard-to-find things

A pair of shops in Srithanu that answer the question of where on earth you get that — most items come pre-packed in small bags, from pulses and spices to raw buckwheat and gluten-free pasta. This is also where the genuinely rare things turn up: real maple syrup in a glass bottle, frozen açaí, cacao nibs, even beef stock. Stock isn't fixed, so if you're making the trip specially, call ahead to check.

ℹ Prices are on the high side

A bulk store in Srithanu — fresh spices, nuts, nut butters, dried fruit

The store that closes almost any grocery hunt on the island — apple cider vinegar, almond flour, fennel seeds, raw tahini and cacao, all sold by weight. A big bottle of date syrup waits by the register with a sign in Hebrew, and the dried mangosteen is the surprise worth taking home. A fixed stop on the restocking round for anyone who cooks at home.

The convenience chain doubling as a dessert counter — cheesecake, lava cake, ice cream

A lot of island hunts end right here — cream, citric acid, roasted nuts with no sugar. Beyond that, the fridges hide a Dubai-style pistachio-knafeh chocolate, 30g for 105 baht, and the chain's coffee is a genuine surprise, even if the standard is debatable. An available fix when the craving for something sweet arrives without a plan.

Organic boutique with coconut yoghurt, gluten-free bread and raw local honey

A small organic shop in Panthip Market that puts an end to a lot of long searches: real maple syrup finally turns up here, alongside tofu, dried fruit, organic eggs and even fresh bone broth. The owner makes the coconut yoghurt herself and also serves it in a few variations as dishes. This is the address for anyone cooking at home and hunting ingredients that are hard to find anywhere else.

⚠ Prices run high, and the yoghurt won't be for everyone

A Srithanu deli: cheeses, sourdough and ingredients the island rarely has

Shelves that rescue recipes: semolina, kimchi, vanilla pods, spelt flour, crushed tomatoes and even Omni Meat. The bread comes from a local sourdough bakery, so you can collect a fresh loaf along with the rest of the shopping. It hides on Srithanu's back street — anyone who cooks at home ends up coming back.

Srithanu's big grocery — the produce, and everything else that's hard to find here

The huge grocery next to the market — the one that also carries whatever has disappeared from the rest of the island: baking paper, pears, green lentils, even a barbecue tool set. The tofu, incidentally, sits in the fridges by the registers. When something runs out everywhere else, this is the first place to check.

ℹ The name misleads — nothing there costs 20 baht

Sesame ground on site — the wholegrain tahini is the reason to come

Opposite HomePro in Srithanu, right next to the yellow bank, sits the shop that closes the gaps in a Mediterranean kitchen out here — rose water, sumac, even sesame oil. The halva made here is a sugar bomb, in the good way. If you're stocking up for a long stay on the island, this is the first stop.

⚠ Opinions on the white tahini are divided

A 24/7 supermarket with real range — rice paper, basmati, charcoal, cones

When an ingredient has vanished from the rest of the island, this is the place to check — nigella seeds, vacuum-packed chestnuts, white beans, even a honey with the character of a proper wildflower one. It's open round the clock, which also makes it the stop when something runs out in the middle of the night.

ℹ Check the dry goods — they aren't always free of insects

The freshest vegetables and greens around, and fresh tofu that beats any packet

A neighbourhood greengrocer worth scanning shelf by shelf, because every visit turns up different goods. Among the surprises that appear there: Italian basil, flat peaches and nectarines, pomegranates, even fennel. The tofu, apparently made on site, is worth taking even if you came only for vegetables — and if you cook at home this becomes a standing stop on the way.

ℹ Stock changes from day to day

Thick coconut yoghurt, ferments and pickles — a small health shop

The address for things an ordinary supermarket won't have: psyllium, water kefir, date syrup, sauerkraut and lacto-fermented pickles. The house-made coconut yoghurt is the real reason to come — tangy, creamy, and the kind that never turns runny. There are two branches, one in Srithanu and one close to immigration.

A Russian deli of handmade sausages, with borscht and pelmeni alongside

A deli that is also a small restaurant, and the sausages are the story: made on site from natural ingredients only — good news if you are eating keto. The shelves also hold 100% wholewheat sourdough and pitas that are still good the next day, while the restaurant side has buckwheat with meatballs that kids polish off — an easy stop for families too.

Thong Sala's big bottle shop, with imported cheese and cured meats too

On paper a bottle shop, in practice a small and surprising deli as well: gluten-free pasta, sesame oil, Beyond burgers — and frozen bone marrow that turns up in the freezer now and then. The ouzo is priced outrageously here, so it's better to know in advance. Even if you're only in for a bottle, it's worth scanning the shelves.

ℹ There are two shops with similar names — this is the bottle shop

An old-school grocery selling soft, fresh rolls that lift any sandwich

A small corner on the way out of the market — it sells drinks in cartons, and it has one shelf that justifies a special stop. The rolls, plain white flour with no health message attached, are exactly right with sausages and come out better than the ones from Makro. Worth remembering on the day there is no fresh bread anywhere else.

ℹ Easy to miss — a small grocery on the corner

A Thai cooking class with a local who has been at it for years

Not another meal but an experience: a class where you cook traditional Thai food with your own hands, and what comes out of it ranks with the best Thai you will eat on the island. Find it on Facebook under Muai Cooking.

Fruit and veg shop with ready-made fruit platters and a selection that's hard to find

A greengrocer with two addresses — on the Middle Road and in Wok Tum — that has become the stop for the things that run out everywhere else: bell peppers, small cucumbers for pickling, spices. When the hunt across the island stalls, it's worth pulling in here before giving up. And an unexpected bonus — the pad krapow is good too.

Chocolate neither too sweet nor too buttery, a wide range, and proper hot chocolate

A boutique chocolate and cacao shop, the kind that even people who don't count themselves sweet-toothed leave with a package in hand. Beyond the bars, this is the island's address for quality cacao and cacao nibs. A natural stocking-up stop for anyone who makes their own cacao at home.

Homemade pickles and labneh that upgrade any sandwich — nothing like them on the island

Genuinely homemade, sold until it runs out, and it runs out fast. The vinegar-pickled cucumbers win over even people who don't like pickles at all; when there's a fresh batch in, that's the moment to stock up.

ℹ Sold directly, in limited quantities