Shopping in Thailand
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Nickermann's
Corporate ladies rave about Nickermann’s tailor-made power suits. Formal ball gowns are another area of expertise.
reviewed
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Mahboonkrong (Mbk)
This unbelievably immense shopping mall is quickly becoming one of Bangkok’s top attractions. Half of the city filters through the glass doors on weekends, stutter-stepping on the escalators, stuffing themselves with junk food or making stabs at individualism by accessorising their mundane school uniforms with high slits or torturous heels. You can buy everything you need here: mobile phones, accessories, shoes, name brands, wallets, handbags, T-shirts. The middle-class Tokyu department store also sells good-quality kitchenware.
The 4th floor resembles something of a digital produce market. A confusing maze of stalls sell all the components to send you into the land of…
reviewed
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Baru
OK, imagine that (fashion) disaster has struck. More specifically, that the ‘bozos’ at the airlines have misplaced your bags. Which means that you have arrived on Phuket with only the clothes on your back – ie sweaty leather shoes, a ‘comfortable’ (read: unsexy) ankle-length skirt and a long-sleeve knit sweater (relax, we know, you were dressed for the plane). But now the sun is shining, the beach boys are beckoning and you need a shot of beach sexy (think skimpy bikinis, beach wraps and candy-coloured flip-flops), and fast. Welcome to your Eden.
reviewed
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Siam Paragon
Paragon epitomises the city’s fanaticism for the new, the excessive, and absurd slogans. The ‘peerless’ venue is the second-largest mall in Southeast Asia, sprawling over 500,000 sq metres, and is a showcase for luxury retailers, like Van Cleef & Arpels and Mikimoto, who had not previously had a pedestal in the country. There’s a Lamborghini dealer on the 2nd floor should you need a ride home, and one floor up a True Urban Park ‘lifestyle centre’ featuring a cafe, internet access and a shop selling books, music and camera equipment. Bookworms will fancy Kinokuniya (3rd floor), the largest bookstore in Thailand, as well as an expansive branch of Asia Books (2nd…
reviewed
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Central World Plaza
Spanning eight storeys of more than 500 shops and 100 restaurants, Central World is one of Southeast Asia’s largest shopping centres. But it suffered a huge setback in May 2010 when its centrepiece Zen department store was torched by fleeing protesters. Other parts of the complex were largely unaffected, and in 2012, the Zen department store was finally reopened.
reviewed
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Central Airport Plaza
Anchored by a Robinson department store and, compared to Kad Suan Kaew, this mall is more upmarket with more international brands and a more affluent clientele. The Northern Village complex on the 2nd floor sells high-quality souvenirs with set prices. Silks and ready-made clothes are good buys.
reviewed
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Chiang Mai Night Bazaar
Chiang Mai Night Bazaar is one of the city’s main night-time attractions, especially for families, and is the modern legacy of the original Yunnanese trading caravans that stopped here along the ancient trade route between Simao (in China) and Mawlamyaing (on Myanmar’s Gulf of Martaban coast). Today the night bazaar sells the usual tourist souvenirs, like what you’ll find at Bangkok’s street markets. In true market fashion, vendors form a gauntlet along the footpath of Th Chang Khlan from Th Tha Phae to Th Loi Kroh. In between are dedicated shopping buildings: the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar Building is filled mainly with antique and handicraft stores. Across the street is…
reviewed
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Gaysorn Plaza
A haute couture catwalk, Gaysorn has spiralling staircases, all-white halls and mouthfuls of top-name designers. The 2nd-floor ‘Thai Fashion Chic’ zone is a crash course in Bangkok's local fashion industry. Relatively well-established Thai labels including Kai, GGUB and Stretsis are represented, or you could head over to Myth, an umbrella store for emerging domestic brands.
Stores on the 3rd floor offer the same level of sophistication for your home. Thann Native sells locally inspired soaps and shampoos fragrant enough to eat. Lamont carries elegant ceramics, and Almeta, Thai silk. The open-air D&O Shop is the first retail venture of an organisation created to…
reviewed
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Pratunam Market
The emphasis here is on cheap clothes, and you could spend hours flipping through the T-shirts at the seemingly endless Baiyoke Garment Center.
The greater market area occupies the neighbourhood behind the shopfronts on the corner of Th Phetchaburi and Th Ratchaprarop, but it doesn’t end here: across the street is the five-storey Platinum Fashion Mall, which sports the latest in no-brand couture.
reviewed
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Op (Oriental Plaza) Place
A visit to the Silom area's antique shops and galleries is a poor person's alternative to a trip to a museum. Beginning at River City, accessible via a free boat from Tha Sathon pier, head directly to the antique shops on the 3rd and 4th floors, bearing in mind that in this ‘museum’ if you break it, you buy it. Exiting along Soi 30, stop by the various antique shops, keeping your eye open for things you’ll buy when you win the lottery. Upon reaching Th Charoen Krung, continue until Soi 38 and stop by OP (Oriental Plaza) Place, an upmarket antique mall.
reviewed
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Thai Home Industries
A visit to this templelike building and former monks’ quarters is like discovering an abandoned attic of Asian booty. On our most recent visit, the display cases held an eclectic collection of cotton farmer shirts, handsome stainless-steel flatware and delicate mother-of-pearl spoons. Despite the odd assortment of items and lack of order (not to mention the dust), it’s heaps more fun than the typically faceless Bangkok handicraft shop.
reviewed
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Phahurat Market
If it sparkles, then this market has it. Phahurat proffers boisterous Bollywood-coloured textiles, traditional Thai dance costumes, tiaras, sequins, wigs and other accessories to make you look like a cross-dresser, a mŏr lam (Thai country music) performer, or both. This is cloth city, and amid the colour spectacle are also good deals on machine-made Thai textiles and children’s clothes.
reviewed
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Classic Model
Bold geometric patterns define this clothing brand from fashion designer Sumate Phunkaew, a native of Nan Province. Certainly, the boy-from-the-province success story is heartwarming, but the clothes have a high frump factor. If you flip through the racks with enough concentration though you might find some suitable ‘teacher’ wear.
reviewed
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Night Bazaar
Most of the vendors next to Sai Ngam are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and serve Thai and Isan basics, including pàt phimai, which is basically similar to pàt mèe koh râht but always uses handmade noodles. Phimai also has a small night bazaar.
reviewed
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Uthai's Gems
Uthai’s Gems' showroom is in quiet Soi Ruam Rudi serving the discriminating embassy community. Nonhagglers appreciate his fixed prices and good service. Appointments recommended.
reviewed
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Chandra
Ethno-chic has come a long way since those embroidered hem sacks of yore. Chandra scours Asia, but mainly Bali, for wispy dresses that show off newly acquired suntans.
reviewed
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Studio Naenna
If you liked what you saw at Adorn with Studio Naenna, then head out of town to the main gallery of this textile cooperative. It's about 1km northwest of the intersection of Th Huay Kaew and Th Khlorng Chonprathan, along Soi Chang Khian.
reviewed
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Angel
Original and modern silver designs decorate this shop further bolstering Thailand’s reputation for fine silver jewellery.
reviewed
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Raja’s Fashions
With his photographic memory for names, Bobby will make you feel as important as the long list of ambassadors, foreign politicians and officers he’s fitted over his family’s decades in the business.
reviewed
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Backstreet Books
In a rambling shop next to Gecko Books, Backstreet has a good selection of crime and thriller novels. Also a reasonable map section, although some are waaaaay out of date.
reviewed
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Pantip Plaza
Near the night bazaar, this shiny shopping centre is a more legitimate version than its grey-market counterpart in Bangkok. Mainly licensed suppliers of electronic hardware, such as computers and cameras, fill the space without a single bootleg software vendor in sight.
reviewed
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Siam Center & Siam Discovery Center
These linked sister centres feel almost monastic in their hushed hallways compared to frenetic MBK, just across the street. Siam Discovery Center excels in home decor, with the whole 3rd floor devoted to Asian-minimalist styles and jewel-toned fabrics; we love the earthy, Thai-influenced designs at Doi Tung. The attached Siam Center, Thailand's first shopping centre built in 1976, has recently gone under the redesign knife for a younger, hipper look. Youth fashion is its new focus, and several local labels, ranging from anr to senada*, can be found on the 2nd floor.
reviewed
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Amulet Market
Catholics with their parade of saints and protective medals will recognise a great kinship with this streetside amulet market. Ranging from pendant-sized to medallion-sized, prá krêu·ang (amulets) come in various classes, from rare objects or relics (like tusks, antlers or the dentures of abbots) to images of Buddha or famous monks embossed in bronze, wood or clay. Itinerant dealers spread their wares on blankets along the broken pavement across from the temple, and more-permanent shops proliferate in the sunless alleyways along the river. Taxi drivers, monks and average folk squat alongside the displays inspecting novel pieces like practised jewellers. Mixed in with…
reviewed
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King Power
Towering over leafy Soi Rang Nam, this ‘sensory extravaganza’ has taken duty-free shopping from the airport to the streets of suburban Bangkok. The selection and prices are the same as that of the airport, but occasional discounts and promotions can make it worth the trek. Featuring the largest watch centre in Southeast Asia, the ultramodern complex also includes a hotel, buffet restaurant and, at the King Power Theater, a branch of the Traditional Thai Puppet Theatre. To make duty-free purchases here, bring your passport and flight information and register at the lobby. Purchases of domestic goods can be taken away the same day, while imported goods are picked up at…
reviewed
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Damnoen Saduak
The most heavily promoted floating market is Damnoen Saduak, 104km southwest of Bangkok between Nakhon Pathom and Samut Songkhram. Though little more than a souvenir market catering to tourists, it is one of the most accessible markets from Bangkok and is ideal for those who haven’t yet filled their suitcases with touristy gifts. Air-con buses 78 and 996 go direct from the Southern bus terminal in Thonburi to Damnoen Saduak (80B, two hours, every 20 minutes from 6am to 9pm). Most buses will drop tourists off directly at the piers that line Th Sukhaphiban 1, which is the land route to the floating market area. The going rate for boat hire is about 300B per person per hour.…
reviewed