Convenience & Grocery Stores in SE Asia (Food & Drink)

In This Post

Convenience stores (aka mini marts) are ubiquitous throughout SE Asia – they are more or less the same everywhere. They are located, conveniently, almost everywhere within walking distance. To make things even more convenient, mom & pop shops are also everywhere, filling up the nooks & crannies where big name brand mini-marts are not.

A Seven Eleven convenience store in Thailand with food stalls outside the entrance. Food includes a few different grilled meats and a few Thai dishes packaged in plastic bags.

A Seven Eleven convenience store in Southeast Asia with motorbike (scooter) parking on the sidewalk outside the entrance. There is seating and tables on the patio outside the store for relaxing.

A local family-owned "mom and pop" convenience store in Cambodia. This is very common all throughout Cambodia and Southeast Asia, in general. Located on a street corner, the store has not walls on the two sides that face the street. Inside, the store has two refrigerators with drinks, a deep freezer with ice cream, and racks with various snack food on them. A corrugated sheet metal roof covers the store.

A local family-owned "mom and pop" convenience store in Cambodia extending over the entire sidewalk. This is very common all throughout Cambodia and Southeast Asia, in general. Located just right off the street, the store does not have a wall, making it is easy to stop and walk right into the store. Inside, the store has twenty liter water jugs, lots of snacks, a cooler with ice, a deep freezer with ice cream, and a cage with coconuts inside and ontop of it. A corrugated sheet metal roof covers the store. But since the store extends completely over the sidewalk, a canvas awning has been added to cover this extension.

A WinMart convenience store with Tet decorations outside the store front. The decordations are a red-carpeted platform with a mix of yellow and red flowers, red Chinese lanterns, and a sign display saying "Happy New Year" in Vietnamese. It is setup for people to take pictures of themselves at. Tet is a Chinese and Vietnames lunar New Year holiday. WinMart is formerly known as VinMart, where "Vin" was short for Viet or Vietnam.

A WinMart convenience store in Vietnam with motorbike (scooter) parking on the sidewalk outside the entrance. It is night time, and the store lighting and sign is bright red.

A Seven Eleven convenience store in Thailand with motorbike (scooter) parking on the sidewalk outside the entrance. This image captures the entire three-story building, which has the Seven Eleven on the ground floor, three small apartments on the second floor, and two small apartments on the third floor. A street food vendor is parked outside on the street selling food.

Grocery stores can be very modern with massive amounts of options, just exactly like those at home in the West.

A big plus of these stores is that they have transparent and labeled pricing. A big negative is that some things such as fruit can be much more expensive compared to a family-run shop specializing in selling only fruit.

Tip

When searching for a place to stay, do the “convenience store” test. On Google Maps, type in “convenience store” and make sure that one is within walking distance to where you will be staying.

You do not want to be stuck without access to drinks, food, and basic needs.

📌 FYI: Often times, there are many mom & pop places that are not on Google Maps – same goes for restaurants.

Local Markets

These can be an adventure. Wet markets, butchered meats, fruits, etc – it’s all here. Depending on the place, prices may or may not be listed.

Some people argue that food and ingredients sold here are more fresh and cheaper priced compared to a formal, modern, grocery store.

Keyword Searches

Here are some keywords to search for when looking on Google Maps for grocery stores and convenience stores:

Grocery stores:

Hypermarket
Supermarket
Grocery store

Convenience stores:

Convenience store
Mini-mart

Local-style

Food market
Wet market

Grocery Stores in SEA

Laos – grocery stores

Many fragmented store chains with few locations.

Thailand – grocery stores

Big C
Tesco Lotus
Villa Market

Cambodia – grocery stores

Lucky Supermarket
Angkor Market
Many fragmented store chains with few locations.

Malaysia – grocery stores

Tesco Lotus
Jaya Grocer
Many fragmented store chains with few locations.

Indonesia – grocery stores

Transmart
LOTTE Mart
Hypermart
Hyfresh

Vietnam – grocery stores

Co.opmart
LOTTE MART
GO!

Convenience Stores in SEA

Vietnam – convenience stores / mini-marts

WinMart (previously VinMart)
Circle K
7-Eleven (not as common as Thailand)
GS25
FamilyMart
hundreds of small mom & pop shops

Malaysia – convenience stores / mini-marts

KK Super Mart
99 Speedmart
MyNEWS
7-Eleven

Indonesia – convenience stores / mini-marts

Indomaret
Alfamart
Lawson
hundreds of small mom & pop shops

Laos – convenience stores / mini-marts

Mini Big C
7-Eleven
hundreds of family-owned stores
hundreds of small mom & pop shops

Thailand – convenience stores / mini-marts

7-Eleven
Mini Big C
Lotus’s and Lotus Go Fresh
hundreds of small mom & pop shops

Cambodia – convenience stores / mini-marts

7-Eleven
hundreds of small mom & pop shops