Phuket malls

It all started five years ago, with the opening of Lotus (www.tescolotus.com), an offshoot of the British supermarket giant Tesco. Phuket had done super-markets - Robinson's had long been a stalwart of the local scene - but Lotus was a quantum leap into the retail future for an island that largely shopped in fetid outdoor markets or family run gun mai (Thai for 'see ya') stores. It wasn't so much the piles of fresh, frozen and tinned food on display, the racks of fashion or the riotous children's indoor playground that appealed, as the broad air-conditioned aisles where you could happily lose yourself for two or three hours.

It didn't take long for Carrefour, Tesco's most prominent global rival, to grab a green-field site up the road and pull in punters thrilled at the sheer novelty of choice. If Lotus was a supermarket with some extra shops attached, Big C (www.bigc.co.th) went one-and-a-half better. Amid the erupting price war, the new kid on the block dangled the temptations of computerised bowling, karaoke booths and myriad niche outlets. Tourists flocked - and still do - to the top-floor, bottom-dollar souvenir mart, which offers everything from teak desks to dinky chopsticks.

No sooner had the construction dust settled than Central Festival (www.centralgroup.com) broke ground next door. Here at last was a mall that gave the noun some resonance, with a design that went far beyond 'postmodern warehouse' and snappy security guards saluting arriving customers. Fan-shaped, multi-storied, dotted with palm and bamboo, topped with a six-screen cinema and augmented by an outdoor plaza, it was somewhere the island's cooler teenagers could consent to hang out. And there was a spa, themed restaurants rather than simply a food court, a jewellery centre and the first book store on the island that could measure up to international counterparts. Not to mention a department store, an electronics Valhalla and stalls selling such curios as handbags shaped like denim boots.

On the grounds that it's impossible to have too much of a good thing, a new shopping precinct was opening more or less every 18 months. Index Living Mall (www.indexlivingmall.com) was the next to appear, filling the gap on the other side of Big C. Home furnishings may not be everybody's idea of a holiday souvenir, but a tasteful, locally made, locally priced lampshade, cushion or set of glasses is not going to take up too much room in anyone's luggage. Hong Kong shoppers will find Phuket prices exceptionally reasonable to start with, and many shopkeepers are open to bargaining and bulk discounts.