"This shop used to generate as much as Bt10,000 in sales per day. Now, the turnover is only Bt500 or so. The business has got worse and worse since the opening of the Tesco Lotus."

Jintana complained that her former customers, including those living in next-door shop houses, now walk past her corner store towards the sprawling Tesco Lotus. "That really hurts me. I know the world has changed. I think I'll just close my mini-mart," she said.

Meanwhile, Phornsak Phuangphornsri of Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Thong Chai district in the Northeast last week led a group of local residents to protest against another Tesco Lotus project.

"How can the small grocers, food shops or souvenir shops around here survive? We've sent a protest letter to the company that we don't want their superstore in our community," he said.

In nearby Sakon Nakhon province's Sawang Daen Din district, Charnchai Chuanthana-panya is also leading a protest against a superstore.

Besides local residents, big manufacturers such as consumer product giant Sahaphat Group have also lodged complaints against giant retailers.

"First, it's the Bt850,000 entrance fee for each product to be sold in a superstore. Second, another large amount is asked for when there is a redesign."

Activist Saree Ongsomwang said the public would be affected once the giant retail operators have monopolistic power.

"One of the most common complaints is misleading advertisements - such as a washing machine that is advertised to have a seven-kilogram capacity, but it does not," she said.

Kamol Sukin, Sumalee Phophayak

The Nation