V

Victory Monument.  There is a nice link to an enlargeable (commercial) photograph of this famous monument here.

Villa Supermarket.  This is one of Bangkok's premier supermarkets, with a number of branches (6 at last count) around the city.  The flagship store is on the corner of Sukhumvit Road and Sukhumvit Soi 33/1, very near the UBC Building, The Emporium Shopping Center, Washington Square, Queen's Park Hotel, Sukhumvit Soi 33, Soi Cowboy, etc.

Although lacking the vast array and range of goods one can find in a large North American supermarket, Villa does a good job of providing a very good selection of both local and imported foods.  Naturally, imported foods are more expensive in Thailand than in the countries from which they come, but generally, considering transportation costs, etc., the prices are reasonable.

We aren't personally familiar with any of the branches -- we use the flagship store -- but there at least the word "supermarket" is too limited to describe the full range of offerings.  For example, one can buy some dishes, cooking utensils, toiletries, hand tools, etc.  There also is a fair selection of alcoholic beverages.  The [flagship] store has a tiny pharmacy on premises with a surprisingly good range of medicines.  There is even a selection of English-language books, newspapers, and magazines.

One of our favorite of Villa's food selection is their already-cooked and hot items such as barbecue chicken and roast pork.  Another is the limited but decent variety of cheeses.

We know the flagship store offers delivery within a limited service area, free of charge.

Finally, for a very modest fee one can post announcements (for sale, domestic staff needed, that sort of thing) by the store's front door -- and it is a very popular service.

For anyone within reasonable travel distance of any Villa, it's well worth it to drop in and see what the store has.

Flagship Store:

Soi 33/1, Sukhumvit Road
Bangkok 10110
+66 2 662 0372

Branches:

Soi 49, Sukhumvit Road
Tel: +66 2 662 5882

Basement Ploenchit Center,
Soi 2, Sukhumvit Road
Tel: +66 2 656 9071

Soi Nichada Thani, Soi Samakee
Tel: +66 2 584 5444

Corner Soi 8, Pahonyothin Road
Tel: +66 2 619 1001

Sukhumvit 11
Tel: +66 2 253 5528

Sirom Road
Tel: +66 2 636 6857