The new TOPS store duly opened last Saturday (14 March), with plenty of people chasing the opening bargains.

I left my first visit till the following day, when I was able to buy some cartons of large Leo bottles – which have been absent from the shelves of both local Tescos, and a number of other outlets, since the fiasco with the excise-based price rises at the beginning of the month.

My impressions were a bit each way:

PROS – large Leo bottles; credit card facilities; typical Thai mini-mart stock; plenty of staff on hand.

CONS – no farang-specific food; very narrow aisles; trollies difficult to use outside the store due to uneven, sloping and irregular floor and pavement levels.