Markets
Mae Kim Heng Market
One of the largest indoor markets in Korat, Mae Kim Heng sells food: both fresh produce and prepared dishes. Get there early 6AM-8AM and you can buy some typical Thai breakfast fare: satays, grilled chicken and warm soya milk with doughnuts for dipping. Viewed from the Pho Klang entrance, the market can be divided into three main sections: fresh meat and fish on the left-hand side, fruit & veg and pre-cooked food down the middle and small restaurants down the right-hand side. At the Suranaree Road end of the market there is a clothes section, and next to that, just where the market spills out onto the street, are two very popular 'OTOP' grilled chicken and sticky rice stalls. Stalls selling fruit, veg, fish and meat then continue down the pavement on Suranaree Road towards the junction with Ratchadamnoen Road. These stalls set up mid-morning, and here you can experience some of the hustle and bustle missing from the main market.
Night Bazaar 1
The Night Bazaar on Manat Road mainly sells clothes and accessories, and a little food. It's well known throughout the city but you may be left wondering why. There's nothing on sale here that can't be found at myriad markets and stalls all over the city and it's pretty small, too.
Wat Boon Night Bazaar
A bigger, more relaxed market than the crowded, narrow Night Bazaar 1. This one mainly sells food but has some clothing and other goods.
Department stores, shopping centres and supermarkets
The Mall
I.T Plaza
I.T Plaza sometimes mistakenly referred to as I.T City; I.T City is in fact a large shop within I.T Plaza is a technology-only department store in central Korat. The main entrance is on the first floor and is reached by a footbridge over Mittraphap. The ground floor is mainly taken up by mobile phone shops. The first and second floors are occupied by shops selling computers and related accessories. There is a Hot Pot restaurant in the basement/lower-ground floor. For a 21st century high-tech superstore, it's actually quite dated and tired inside with cracked and missing floor tiles; tatty, chipped walls and lots of vacant shops. In fact, the empty shops and completely unused third floor tell you that Koratians are doing their tech' shopping elsewhere these days. Indeed, everything that I.T sells can be found in much nicer surroundings at The Mall or Klang Plaza Chomsurang.
Tesco Lotus
The newest addition to the Korat retail landscape, Lotus is similar to Big C in that there are small shops on the ground floor and a huge 'Hypermarket' on the first floor. Songthaews 6 and 4129, among others, will get you there from the city centre. Beware! You have to cross the ten lanes of Highway 2 to get a songthaew back to the city centre. Tuk-tuks and motorcycle taxis also wait out the front, and it's also a good place to catch a bus to Pak Chong or Pak Thong Chai if you don't want to go to the old bus station.
Klang Plaza Chomsurangyat
Big C
This large superstore officially a 'Supercenter'! has restaurants, banks, clothes shops, jewellery shops and more on the ground floor and a supermarket on the first floor. As with most modern supermarkets, it sells a lot more than food and drink. Clothes, furniture, household appliances, even motorbikes can all be found on the first floor. Tuk-tuks and motorbike taxis wait outside and songthaews 7 and 15 will get you back to the city centre.
Klang Plaza Atsadang
This is the original Klang Plaza, built in 1976. It was one of the biggest department stores in the northeast when it opened but feels more like 'Grace Brothers' today. It has most of the same shops and departments that its younger brother has except for technology stores but on a much smaller scale. Walk down the soi behind the shop and onto Chomphon Road to catch songthaews 1,8 or 12 back to the centre/Yamo area.
Nakhon Ratchasima has the usual Thai mix of modern department stores, malls and supermarkets; large covered day markets; night markets and smaller street markets. The aforementioned dept stores, malls and supermarkets are all easily reached by public transport. Some of the markets may take a bit more finding but are always well worth the effort. The sights, sounds and smells in a Thai market can make your head spin but they are a 'must do' if you've never experienced them before. All the modern malls are open seven days a week. Most small, independent shops are open at least six days a week and often seven. Remember, this isn't Pattaya or Bangkok, though. Most small shops close at eight at the latest and roads which are busy, shopping thoroughfares by day can be almost deserted by 9pm. But don't despair; there are always the night markets!