Shopping & Markets in Bangkok
 |
The largest
lifestyle shopping complex. |
This area is one of the two biggest shopping centers in
Bangkok, with large big department stores filled with the
latest fashions.
 Formely World Trade Center, it's located on
the corner of Rama I and Rajdamri road. The Isetan and Zen
department stores anchor this huge complex, although there
are hundreds of quality smaller shops. The 6th floor is the
entertainment area and includes a skating rink, bowling
lanes, and cinemas. King Power duty free shop is on the 7th
floor. A short walk from the BTS Chidlom Station.
Situated at Rajprasong intersection and
next to the BTS Chidlom Station. There are so many shops in
the 30.000sqm space, so that you can find all the latest new
fashions.
Central is the preeminent
and most complete chain of department stores in Thailand.
The Chidlom branch is the biggest, with 7 floors of shopping
and a great International Food Court on the 7th floor.
Conveniently connected by a walkway to BTS Chidlom Station.
Located on the corner of Ploenchit road
opposite Central World Plaza. This is the most luxurious
complex in Bangkok, and features, many luxury brand products
such as Fendi. Dior, Louis Vuitton. Gucci, Prada etc. A
direct skybridge entrance from BTS Chidlom Station.
Narayana
Phand (Narai Phand)
 Located opposite Central World
Plaza, this is the place to buy Thai products. The top floor
is like a department store, the bottom floor is like a
market / bazaar, where you can negotiate your best deal.
Great deals on souvenirs in an air-conditioned environment.
A short walk from BTS Chidlom Station.
The top boutique plaza in Bangkok, it
rivals Gaysom Plaza for the upscale shoppers. Top quality
name brand designer clothing, jewelry, and accessories. Also
home to the main offices for many of the international
airline companies. A five-minute walk from Rajadamri BTS,
next to the Four Seasons Hotel.
Located in the central business
district of Bangkok. A large, modern 46,000sqm shopping
complex with over 100 retail shops, and a large Villa Market
supermarket. Located near the JW Marriot Hotel. BTS
Ploenchit Station.
Although not as upscale as the Chidlom/Ploenchit area, there
are probably more shops, boutiques, kiosks, cinemas, and
restaurants in this compact area than anywhere else in the
city.
One of the teenager havens in Siam
Square. Specializing in clothes, cosmetics and accessories.
Located across the street from Mah Boon Krong (MBK), and
connected by a skybridge on the 2nd floor. BTS National
Stadium.
Located on the corner of
Phayathai and Rama I road. Mah Boon Krong (MBK) is like a
giant indoor market and has it all. There are more stores,
shops, booths, and kiosks than you can count. Fast food on
the first floor and restaurants on six. The 6th floor also
has cinemas and bowling. The third floor has hundreds of
counters with electronic and mobile phone accessories.
Elsewhere you will find any clothing accessory you could
imagine. Connected to National Stadium BTS by a walkway
through Tokyu Department Store.
 The hotspot for Thai teenagers to shop. A grid of
streets lined with shops, restaurants, internet cafes,
bookstores, language schools, the Hard Rock Cafe', three
cinemas that play foreign and art house films, and of course
- lots of clothing. BTS Siam Station.
Another downtown mega-mall with
more than 200 shops offering clothing, home furnishings,
electronics, toys and games, music, and more. The Grand EGV
theatre is on the sixth floor. There are probably more
dining choices here than any other mall in Bangkok. BTS Siam
Square Station.
Like Silom road, Sukhumvit is one of Bangkok's major
thoroughfares, with shops, boutiques, stalls and modern
shopping plazas, not to mention hotels, bars and restaurants
along both sides. Sukhumvit is known for its abundance of
tailor-made garment shops, which offer custom tailoring as
affordable and as easy as buying off the peg. Antique
cognoscenti flock to the section of Sukhumvit which houses a
number of antique shops specialising in Thai period
furniture's, genuinely old or reproduction, and exquisite
wood-carvings.
 The Emporium Shopping Center is Sukhumvit's upscale
offering. Many designer name shops and boutiques sell the
latest fashions from Armani, Guess, Chanel and Versace and
others. There are also some trendy cafes and eateries on the
second floor as well as a food court on the 6th. SFX Cinema
is on the seventh floor. Connected by a walkway to BTS Phrom
Pong Station.
Sukhumvit's answer to Patpong, the
merchants set up on the sidewalk from Soi 4 up to Soi 19
every night. Knock-off designer clothing, music, movies, and
just about any souvenir you could imagine. BTS Nana and Asok.
A long stretch of road with many hotels, the main shopping
areas are near the intersection of Rajadamri Road, a ten
minute walk from Central World Plaza.
Six floors of electronics at the lowest
price. Computers, hardware, software, digital cameras and
every other type of electronic gadgets are all available.
There are perhaps as many as 500 shops, kiosks, and
counters, so you can compare the same product at different
venders for the best price. Also pirated (as well as
licensed) DVDs MP3s and computer software. Located on
Petchburi road, near the Amari Watergate Hotel.
Pratunam Shopping Complex
This 24 hour market is
frequented by wholesalers and exporters (although consumers
can certainly shop here) for the cheap clothing, textiles,
and fabrics available for sale. The market is just off the
main road, look for the entrances that lead to it behind the
roadside shops. Located near the intersection of
Rajchaprarop and Petchburi road, near Panthip Plaza.
Also in the Pratunam area, near the
Baiyoke Hotel, it sells the same sort of thing; clothing and
accessories. As well as the market, there are many clothing
and textile shops in this area.
The main artery of Bangkok's financial district, Silom Road
also presents great shopping opportunities. At its lower
end, close to the Chao Phraya River, dozens of gem and
jewellery stores line the footpaths while temporary stalls
offer an array of souvenirs from T-shirts to handicrafts.
Major department stores led by Central and Robinson dominate
the upper section. The colourful night market of Patpong,
which links Silom and Surawongse roads, is thronged with
avid bargain-hunters until late into the night.
Located on Silom road and connected to
BTS Saladaeng Station on 2nd floor. This is the modern
shopping complex which offering a wide range of goods.
Central's first store is still here occupying five floors.
Many different types of markets rotate through the lobby
area. Many different restaurants and a Top supermarket in
the basement also.
 Located on Thaniya road (between Silom Soi 2-4),
and also known as the "Japanese street." The forte here is
the dozens of golf shops selling equipment and clothing.
There are also many book stored, and Thai crafts such as,
lacquerware, basketry, and antique items.
This street is outside the downtown area, running from
Ramkamhaeng Road to Bang Na-Trat Highway. It is worth a trip
by taxi to visit the two main shopping areas, Seri Center
and especially Seacon Square.
A huge complex of 500.000 sq. km, Seacon Square is the largest shopping center in Asia and the
5th largest in the world. It is no exaggeration to say that
the 400 or so stores have nearly anything you might want to
buy. Some of the bigger stores are a huge
football-field-sized branch of DK Books with close to 1
million books (not that many English language though). Lotus
Supercenter (a supermarket), Robinson's department store. In
addition to stores are 14 THX cinemas (including one that
simulates a drive-in cinema, with the patrons sitting in
model cars), a bowling alley, ice skating rink, a special
simulator' virtual reality cinema, a mini-golf course. For
the kids there is "Yoyo Land" a massive indoor theme park
with rollercoasters. ferris wheel, boat rides, flumes, and
many more. Next door is the Seri Center, a good place for
buying anything computer related.
 This street is outside the downtown area, running from
Ramkamhaeng Road to Bang Na-Trat Highway. It is worth a trip
by taxi to visit the two main shopping areas, Seri Center
and especially Seacon Square.
A huge complex of 500.000 sq. km,
Seacon Square is the largest shopping center in Asia and the
5th largest in the world. It is no exaggeration to say that
the 400 or so stores have nearly anything you might want to
buy. Some of the bigger stores are a huge
football-field-sized branch of DK Books with close to 1
million books (not that many English language though). Lotus
Supercenter (a supermarket), Robinson's department store. In
addition to stores are 14 THX cinemas (including one that
simulates a drive-in cinema, with the patrons sitting in
model cars), a bowling alley, ice skating rink, a special
simulator' virtual reality cinema, a mini-golf course. For
the kids there is "Yoyo Land" a massive indoor theme park
with rollercoasters. ferris wheel, boat rides, flumes, and
many more. Next door is the Seri Center, a good place for
buying anything computer related.
This area is associated with royalty, history, old Thailand,
and the birthplace of Thai trade and commerce.
The "Asian Heritage Shopping Center", next
to the Oriental Hotel. The place to buy antique, historical,
and ornate Thai arts and crafts. Tailors and fine Thai silk
products, carpets, leather goods, paintings, decorations,
ceramics, and jewelry.
River City Shopping Complex
Next to the Royal Orchid
Sheraton Hotel, this four-story complex is best known for
art and antiques stores. Home to many handicrafts, unique
gifts, and many fine restaurants. There is an art exhibition
auction once a month. This is also the launching point for
many river cruises and canal tours.
Markets and Weekend Markets
This is the real way to shop in Bangkok. Thousands of people
buying tens of thousands of products. Nothing has a price on
it and everything is negotiable - so bring your bargaining
skills. You could buy nothing and still have a great
experience.
Also known as "Wholesale Market", it is
a center for wholesale clothes and textiles, but they also
sell to the public. 700 stores with all types of garments
and prices. Located on Krung Kasem road near Klong San Sab.
Bangkok's oldest one-stop shopping
market, Bang Lamphu is like a huge single-storey department
store. From basic necessities to exotic extravagance, you
can find it all here.
 The granddaddy of them all. Also known as
"Jatujak" or "JJ Market" or "Weekend Market", this is
Thailand's biggest Weekend Market, selling everything under
the sun; food, trendy fashions, antiques, intricate wooden
carvings, masks from far-off lands, adorable fluffy dogs,
colorful fish of every hue, birds, art, collectibles,
t-shirts, music and movies, and plants. You can find all
this and more at amazing Chatuchak Market.
There are between 12-15,000 individual booths (nobody really
knows!) overflowing with every imaginable type of wares to
catch your fancy. Once inside the market, you will be catch
up in a world of bursting crowds and stalls streching as far
as the eye can see.
They say that if you can't find it at
Chatuchak, you won't find it anywhere in Thailand. The
published opening hours for the market are from 9.00am to
6.00pm on Saturday and Sunday, though many of the stalls
actually open sometime between 9.00am and 10.00am and close
around sunset.
Chatchak is also open on Friday as a market
for wholesalers, but there is no problem doing normal
shopping on this day either (same opening times). The Garden
Plants section is also open on Wednesdays and Thursday from
7.00am to 6.00pm. Watch out for pickpockets, as even though
they're not a particularly big problem the crowded
conditions make it easy for them to operate successfully.
 Chinatown
and Ban Mor
All that glitters is real gold at Yaowarat,
Bangkok's Chinatown, which accommodates the largest
concentration of gold shops in Thailand. Traditional stores
in the area will also excite the imagination of intrepid
browsers. A few blocks away, you'll find the equally
sparkling strip of Ban Mor. where quality jewellery stores
abound on the footpaths.
One of the most famous places in
Bangkok, and one that is undergoing changes. "Old" Khao Sarn
has budget accommodations, many travel agents, cheap
clothing, tattoos, hair braiding, CDs. and unbelievably
cheap roadside food stalls (Phat Thai for 10 bant). "New"
Khao Sarn has trendy cafes, coffee shops, nightclubs, and is
now the place in Bangkok to buy silver. An interesting
experience and must visit for any tourist in Bangkok.
This is Bangkok's "second hand"
market, sold in a crowded, exciting flea market atmosphere.
You can bring any used goods here for an assessment of
value, and a chance to sell to one of the dealers. Hardware
and electrical appliances, new or used, are some of the more
popular items.
 Is a very large and busy wholesale market
for fresh flowers and vegetables. Many flower vendors
throughout the city buy their stock here at night and sell
it on the following morning. It's best to go between 02:00
am and 04:00 am when boats on the Chao Phraya River and
trucks from nearby provinces arrive with large quantities of
flowers, vegetables, spices, and fruits. These all are piled
high inside
the market and along nearby streets, making the market very
photogenic, though the smell given off by some off the
produce can be quite overpowering. Very close to here is the
Memorial Bridge Night Market, a large all-purpose market
night market with very cheap prices if you bargain.
Maybe the most famous market in
Thailand, this is very popular with tourists. On a street
lined with go-go bars, there are many stalls selling fake
brand name items of clothes, sunglasses, watches, CDs, silk,
souvenirs, and more. It's interesting to watch the vendors
set-up at dusk, and then break down the stalls at the end of
the night.
In order to get a good deal, you need to bargain
hard, and the rule of thumb is you should pay around 50% of
the original asking price (movies and music maybe a little
higher). Also, the quality of some things (watches,
sunglasses, silk) is questionable, so caveat emptor!). If
you need a break during shopping, stop in the Radio City Bar
and watch the entertaining Elvis and Tom Jones
impersonators.
Patpong is between Silom and Surawong roads,
and well known to all taxi drivers. You can also to the sky
train to Sala Daeng Station.
 A wholesale and retail market for textiles, fabrics,
clothing, sarongs, etc, some from Thailand, others from
around Asia. Located in "Little India" next to Chinatown.
This cramped and chaotic lane (also
known as Soi Wanit) in Chinatown is an interesting place to
stroll down, for the experience as much as for the shopping.
On sale are the usual fabrics and textiles, but also
household and kitchen accessories, spices, and preserved
food. A nice place to check out Chines culture, and much of
the food and articles for sale are some kind of Chinese
specialty.
 
|
.gif){kind=small}
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter now and start receive the Hot Deals on Thailand Hotels and World travel news alert.
