Bangkok is one of the shopping capitals of the world. It’s a city where you can sniff out an antique treasure under the sweltering awnings of an outdoor market or pick up a Hermès handbag from a luxury marble-clad mall. If you know where to look for it, just about anything is available – from Siamese pottery and hand-woven silks to cutting-edge home furnishings and funky street wear. The city caters to both spendthrifts and penny pinchers, with shops open seven days a week. Bangkok’s Skytrain conveniently connects the best shopping areas and you can glide above the traffic in air-conditioned comfort from Emporium, a glitzy shopping mall offering brands like Prada, Versace and Chanel, to the rough and ready Chatuchak Weekend Market, where thousands of stalls sell everything from hill-tribe clothing to quirky home accessories.
Colourful string lights for sale at Chatuchak Weekend Market.
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Night markets are great places to pick up unusual and inexpensive souvenirs.
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The main shopping areas converge around Thanon Rama I and Thanon Ploenchit and are linked by the Skywalk – a covered walkway beneath the Skytrain tracks – which connects the Chidlom, Siam Square and National Stadium Skytrain stations. This means you can walk from mall to mall without ever touching terra firma. Just a stone’s throw from Siam Square, a warren of market stalls and shops catering to a trendy teenage clientele, is the high-end Siam Discovery Centre, as well as Mahboonkrong (MBK), a multi-storey bargain-hunter’s heaven. Nearby is the gargantuan Siam Paragon mall, are peppered with high-end boutiques, cafés, and even a giant aquarium and a Ferrari showroom. Further down the road is the even bigger Central World mall. At the other end of the Skywalk is luxury shopping at Gaysorn Plaza and Erawan Bangkok, where you can find the latest bags from Burberry, Coach and Mulberry.
The Art of Bargaining
First, don’t start bargaining unless you really want to buy. Stage One involves asking the price. At Stage Two you say it is too much, and they will (99 percent of the time) lower the original price, signalling they are open to offers. Then you offer your first price, which is always too low, and from there the volley of bargaining begins until the final price is agreed. It’s a good idea, if you can, to watch local shoppers to see what price they get. And walking away is a good tactic. You may be called back with a better price, and if not you’ve at least established some groundwork for trying at another stall (many stock the same items).
Other good areas for shopping are Chinatown, where the maze of crowded streets gives a taste of old Bangkok without the tacky tourist goods; Thanon Khao San, catering to its backpacker clientele, so shops there specialise in tattooing, hair-braiding, funky clothes, used books and silver jewellery; and Pratunam for its interesting market and also for Panthip Plaza, where various shops sell computers, software, games and DVDs.
Counterfeit City
Bangkok has long had an unwelcome reputation for its fakes, from Louis Vuitton handbags to pirated copies of the latest Hollywood movies. For a fraction of the price of the real thing you can buy reproductions of Rolex, Cartier or Tag Heuer watches. Bear in mind that some reproductions are better than others – a dud “Rolex” may stop running a few weeks after purchase. Clothes are a safer bet. Popular knock-offs include Nike, Hilfiger, Armani, DKNY and Ralph Lauren. The quality can vary tremendously, so inspect each garment carefully.
With increasing pressure from international companies, the Thai government musters half-hearted crackdowns on counterfeit goods from time to time, but the trade is fairly open. Sporadic government raids only mean that watches, DVDs or audio CDs are sometimes sold more surreptitiously. The covers of pirated DVDs, for instance, are displayed in albums at street-side stalls; once buyers have made their choices, vendors will disappear to a hidden stash nearby and minutes later return with the merchandise.
Fake goods can be found almost anywhere in Bangkok’s markets and shopping malls, but they proliferate mainly around the Thanon Silom and Patpong night markets, MBK Centre and the stalls that spring up along Thanon Sukhumvit (Soi 5 to Soi 11) each evening.
Lacquerware at Chatuchak market.
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The best times to shop
Shops in the main downtown and tourist areas open daily, usually from 10am to 10pm, but in the Old City and Chinatown they will normally close on Sundays. Bangkok hosts a number of seasonal sales that offer unique items, such as the twice-yearly prison sale of wooden furniture made by Thai prisoners. Check the local English-language newspaper listing sections for details. Also worth attending are the annual export sales events such as Made in Thailand, the Bangkok International Gift Fair (BIG) and the Bangkok International Houseware Fair (BIH). Every June–July and December–January, major department stores and malls take part in the Thailand Grand Sales, though many also offer a 5 percent tourist discount year-round – simply show your passport at the point of purchase. Additionally, you can claim the 7 percent VAT refund at the airport (for more information, click here).
Elaborate wood carving of a fiery dragon.
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Traditional Thai products
Thailand is famous the world over for the fine quality of its traditional handicrafts, and there is an extraordinary variety on offer.
Northern silversmiths pound out bowls coated with an extract of tamarind to enhance their sheen. Teakwood is carved into practical items such as breadboards and salad bowls, as well as more decorative trivets and statues of mythical gods, angels and elephants. Bronze statues of classical drama figures like the recumbent deer from the Ramakien make elegant decorations. Brassware, like the large noodle cabinets which street vendors sling on bamboo poles, can double up as small side tables. Natural fibre woven into placemats, laundry baskets and handbags also make great buys.
Thai craftsmen excel at lacquerware, the art of overlaying wooden or bamboo items with glossy black lacquer, then painting scenes in gold leaf on this black “canvas”. Bowls and trays are the main items sold. One of Thailand’s lesser-known arts is nielloware, which involves applying an amalgam of black metal onto etched portions of silver or, to a lesser extent, gold. Thai craftsmen are also supremely skilled at setting oyster shells aglow in black lacquer backgrounds to create scenes of enchanting beauty.
Kitsch trinkets.
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Thais have been crafting pots for over 5,000 years with great skill. While original antiques are rarities, most ceramics are still thrown in the same shapes and designs as their age-old counterparts. Among the best-known are Sangkhaloke ceramic plates from ancient Sukhothai, with their distinctive twin-fish design. Celadon is a beautiful stoneware with a light jade green or dark-brown glaze, and is used to make dinnerware, lamps and statuary. Bencharong originated in China and was later developed by Thai artists. Its name describes its look: bencha is Sanskrit for five, and rong means colour. The five colours of bencharong – red, blue, yellow, green and white – appear on delicate porcelain bowls, containers, ashtrays and decorative items. Popular blue-and-white porcelain, which also originated in China, has been produced extensively in Thailand for centuries.
Ornate lacquer jewellery.
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Export Permits
The Thai Department of Fine Arts prohibits the export of all Thai Buddha images, images of other deities and fragments (hands or heads) of images dating before the 18th century. All antiques must be registered with them. The shop will usually do this for you, or you can take the piece yourself to the office at Thanon Na Prathat (tel: 0-2226 1661) together with two postcard-sized photos of it. The export fee ranges from B50 to B200 depending on the antiquity of the piece. Fake antiques do not require export permits, but airport customs officials are not art experts and may mistake these for genuine pieces. If it looks authentic, clear it at the Department of Fine Arts to avoid problems later.
Despite recent campaigns to make tourists aware of the laws regarding the purchase and export of Buddha images, these campaigns remain reasonably ineffective, with many market stall vendors ignoring the Thai government wishes.
Thai handicrafts are found in shops and markets all over the city, and some of the more specialist shops are worth seeking out. If pressed for time, head for Nayarana Phand in Thanon Ratchadamri, a one-stop shop for all things Thai.
Antiques
Thai and Burmese antiques are among the finest in Asia, although the real thing is hard to find these days. The tenacious and well-informed can still unearth treasures, but the rule of thumb is to take claims of antiquity with a pinch of salt unless you really know what you’re doing; things are not always what they seem. The centre of the city’s antiques trade is located on the upper floors of River City, an array of shops selling genuine antiques as well as lookalike objets d’art. Note: the Fine Arts Department maintains strict control over the export of religious antiques (see box); dealers are usually able to clear buyers’ purchases by obtaining export permits and shipping them abroad.
Toy cars made from recycled beer cans.
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Gems and jewellery
Thailand mines its own rubies and sapphires from the eastern coast city of Chantaburi, and also acts as a conduit for stones from Burma and Cambodia. Globally, Thailand is a major player in the international jewellery market, and Bangkok is home to the world’s leading cutters of coloured gems. Rubies range from pale to deep red (including the famous “pigeon’s blood” red); sapphires come in blue, green and yellow, as well as in the form most associated with Thailand – the star sapphire. Thai jewellers can turn gold, white-gold, silver and platinum into delicate jewellery settings and are able to produce both traditional and modern designs.
Thailand has one of the world’s leading markets in gemstones and jewellery products, with all aspects of the trade covered in the country, from mining to the finished product.
Be careful when shopping for gems and jewellery; on streets and in some small shops, the stones may not be of the quality and weight advertised. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has joined hands with gem-trading organisations to provide quality control through the Jewel Fest Club – look for the ruby-ring logo on shop fronts.
The place to go for a tailor-made silk suit.
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Textiles and tailoring
The potential glamour of Thai silk was recognised in the late 1940s by American entrepreneur Jim Thompson. He promoted it abroad where it quickly gained wide acceptance for its bumpy texture and shimmering iridescence. Today, silk has become a major Thai industry. While the Jim Thompson shop offers an excellent range of coloured silks and ready-made products, bargains can also be gleaned from the lesser-known Jim Thompson Factory Outlet.
Also worth buying is mudmee, a northeastern silk characterised by subtle zigzagging lines and in more sombre hues such as dark blue, maroon and deep yellow. Dazzling embroidery can be found in the modern-day versions of teen chok – a method with which women of the ancient Lanna kingdom in the north of Thailand symbolically wove their family histories into their sarongs. The country’s northern hill-tribes each have their own distinctive patchwork and embroidery designs, mainly in bright blues, magentas and yellows. At the Siam Centre’s Mae Fah Luang shop – a royal initiative to promote the livelihood of Thai villagers through traditional means – you can purchase hand-woven silks and cottons in lengths, or ready-made into cushion covers and clothes.
Designer kitchen utensils.
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Using local and imported fabrics, Bangkok’s excellent tailors can whip up perfectly fitted three-piece suits for men as well as elegant dresses with appliqué and beadwork for women. Choose designs from catalogues, conjure up your own creations or have your old favourites copied. If using your own material, rummage at Bangkok’s famous fabric market on Sampeng Lane in Chinatown. Though some shops offer a 24-hour service, it’s always best to return for at least one fitting to ensure the best results.
Cutting-edge Thai
Thai craftsmanship and creativity extends far beyond the realm of the traditional, and Bangkok is fast becoming a hub for cutting-edge design. Keep an eye out for some of Thailand’s up-and-coming homegrown fashion labels such as the flamboyant offerings from Fly Now and Jaspal, or the more understated designs from Greyhound. Thai designers are also making waves in the area of home decor. Propaganda (at Siam Discovery Centre and Emporium) produces innovative accessories, while Ayodhya (at Gaysorn Plaza) offers a line of chi-chi throws and water hyacinth furniture. Thai cosmetics companies, such as Harnn, are also reinventing natural Thai beauty products like jasmine rice soap and tamarind facial scrubs, and packaging them in elegant rattan baskets.
Thai designer Chamnan Pakdeesuk shows off his creations at Bangkok International Fashion Week.
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Even the shopping experience is being repackaged; if you get bored with the city’s seemingly limitless supply of department stores and malls, you can sample more eclectic boutique shops like It’s Happened to Be a Closet (Emporium mall), where customers are encouraged to mix-and-match vintage dress designs with homeware products and accessories, before dining in their coffee shop or popping into their hair stylist.
Bangkok Bazaar
Markets are an essential Bangkok experience. In fact, they’re hard to avoid: shops spill onto every street, and vendors hawk goods off metal carts and tarpaulin sheets.
The colours, noise and pungent aromas of Bangkok’s markets (talad) are a tantalising assault on the senses. And Bangkok has a market for just about every neighbourhood, and every hour of the day or night.
The ultimate bazaar is Chatuchak Weekend Market affectionately dubbed “JJ” due to the alternative Thai spelling, Jatujak. Some 15,000 stalls offer a mind-boggling variety of goods. From pedigree pooches to hill-tribe fabrics, old Thai movie posters and hand-made paper… you name it, it’s here.
There are numerous markets tucked around the shopping malls and department stores of central Bangkok. Pratunam Market rivals Chatuchak for its selection of clothing. At midday the stalls at Soi La Lai Sap (literally “lane which melts your money away”) sell shoes, handbags and myriad accessories. Thanon Khao San is lined with stalls offering backpacker requisites such as silver jewellery, hand-painted cards and second-hand books.
For a real flavour of Chinatown wander the length of Soi Itsaranuphap, passing spice shops, a fish market and stores selling religious paraphernalia. At its river end, Talad Kao sells fresh produce. Also in Chinatown, at the so-called “Thieves Market”, where in the past residents would look for items burgled from their homes, you find musical instrument shops and antiques. Retaining more of its traditional atmosphere is Faichai, or Flashlight Market, held on Saturday evenings along the labyrinth of streets around Central Hospital near Chinatown. It sells a variety of goods and bric-a-brac. Pahurat Market has all things Indian, from saris to henna dyes, and don’t miss the 24-hour Flower Market, which spills into the clothes and accessories stalls of Saphan Phut Market come nightfall.
For more night time shopping, head to Ractchada Train Market behind Esplinade Mall on Ratchada Road. With stalls selling handicrafts, clothes and furniture, it’s a smaller version of Chatuchak without the midday heat and crowds. Other evening markets, like those along Thanon Silom and in Patpong, as well as the stalls along Thanon Sukhumvit (roughly Soi 5 to Soi 11), are a treasure-trove of counterfeit goods and souvenirs, and are open until midnight. Damnoen Saduak, the most famous floating market, selling vegetables and fruit on the outskirts of Bangkok, is now mainly a tourist attraction, but still worth a visit.
Sukhumvit night market.
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