Tesco Thai the knot abroad

It could be any Tesco in any part of the country. Families emerge from the sliding doors pushing trolleys and rounding up the children before loading their saloons and hatchbacks. You could be back in Enfield, Ilford or Chiswick - except this scene is in the less familiar surroundings of Highway 108, Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, with its searing heat and brilliant sunshine.

Once inside you begin to grasp that the supermarket experience has truly reached global proportions. You may be thousands of miles from home and know a total of 10 Thai phrases, but after a few minutes walking the isles you half expect to run into your flatmate eyeing the wine of the month.

All food labels and signs carry English translations - only the Thai clientele and wallpaper music reminds you this isn't suburban Tesco on a Saturday afternoon.

The rest is as you'd expect. Bored children and babies hang off the trolleys while frantic parents load up on special-offer toilet roll and nappies picturing European-looking babies on the packaging.

It is pretty clear that Tesco has its eye on the expat market. Apart from the English translation, you can pick up most of the stuff that fills the cupboards back home. Whether it's Philadelphia cheese, a box of Frosties or a crate of Heineken you want, there are plenty of familiar brands stacked high.

Samantha Burman, an expat living in Chiang Mai,says: "It's like a home from home coming here once a fortnight. Everything's in English and the layout is so similar to my local Tesco in England. The only difference is that everything is half the price."

Of course, there are a few local twists and departures. Whole ducks are sold with their heads still attached, while imported fruit such as Granny Smith apples are considered a luxury purchase by Thais. Conversely, coconuts, Japanese pumpkins and Chinese bitter gourd are very much run-of-the-mill purchases in these parts.

Then there are the beckoning free-trial stands staffed by young women wearing badges stamped "Demo Power". You could probably scrounge a free lunch by visiting each stand in sequence. Signs for "Western Pasta" remind you of your tourist status but at least there are no surly sixth-form-ers pretending to stack shelves, ready to misdirect you at the slightest opportunity.

If anything, the Chiang Mai Tesco has a far more regimented feel about it, although the size is certainly not standard - it spreads out to cover the equivalent of three "normal" UK stores. Hours mirror their British counterparts, opening between 10am and 10.30pm.

The shoppers look as busy as the staff, and to top it all, even the cashiers smile - and that's enough to make you think you're on Mars, let alone in Thailand.