Bangkok City Guide - Shopping

Bangkok is arguably the best place in Asia for shopping and visitors will be spoilt for choice with the extensive shopping malls, department stores, small shops and markets. The city is also a bargain hunter's paradise and haggling with street vendors is to be expected and all part of the fun enjoyed by both buyer and seller.

The Silom Road area is one of the main shopping centres, which boasts numerous specialist shops and department stores, including Robinsons, several shopping plazas and a wide range of silk and antique shops, as well as many tailors. The River City Shopping Complex, adjacent to the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel, has two floors devoted to antiques. Prices are fixed in most department stores but they do frequently offer discounts to interested buyers. The ultimate shopping experience is to be had at The Emporium on Sukhumvit Road with brand-name clothing and accessories, as well as cinemas, supermarkets and restaurants.

However, most visitors will head to the many street markets for their colourful atmosphere and lower prices. The Sukhumvit Road area has a street market that runs most of the day but is busiest at night. Dozens of stalls sell clothes, bags, silk items and gifts. Apart from the colourful nightlife in Patpong, the area also has a bustling night market where clothes and souvenirs are a real bargain.

The weekend market at Chatuchak Park, on Phaholyothin Road, sells virtually everything that Thailand makes or grows, such as furniture, carpets, ceramics, watches, clothes, food and flowers. The Suan Lum night bazaar at the intersection of Rama IV and Wireless Roads is very popular with thousands of stalls selling gifts, clothes, handicrafts and jewellery. However, the market is rumoured to be closing so the site can be redeveloped and at the moment there are no plans to move the bazaar elsewhere.

Chinatown is full of gold shops and the nearby cloth market at Phahurat has a huge range of superb fabrics. Woeng Nakhon Kasem, better known as the ‘Thieves' Market', located between Yaowarat Road and New Road, sells antique porcelain, copperware and furniture. Good buys to be found throughout the city include silk items, silver and gold, gems (rubies and sapphires are indigenous to Thailand), pearls, painted umbrellas and fans, ceramics, wickerwork, woodcarvings and leather goods. It is also an ideal place to have clothes made and the quality is of a high standard.
 
Many stores are open 12 hours a day, seven days a week and the street markets have even longer hours, although some are busier in the mornings and others in the evenings.

A Thailand Duty-Free Shop is located in the Downtown Duty Free Mall, King Power Complex, Rangnam Road. Tourists can pay for their purchases here and collect them at the airport immediately prior to departure from the country. Value Added Tax (7%) can be refunded on goods bought in shops labelled ‘VAT refund for tourists', where there is a minimum transaction of ฿2,000 including VAT. VAT Refund Application for Tourists forms are completed at the time of purchase and it is necessary to show one's passport. Cash refunds (minimum ฿5,000) can be obtained in the airport departure hall and often the goods purchased must also be shown.