Bargains galore in Bangkok! (Shopping in Bangkok)

Member Name: Holidaying

Product:	Shopping in Bangkok
Date:	23/12/08 (70 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great choice, great fun!

Disadvantages: A bit of Thai will go a long way; electonics are expensive.

Shopping in Bangkok is easy and fun, and if you know what you are doing, you can get some great deals!

Firstly, the main shopping centres in Bangkok are close to Skytrain stations. This means that it is easy and cheap to reach the shopping centres (you can buy a Skytrain pass for a whole day for less than two pounds fifty).

The main centres for shopping are served by two main Skytrain stations- Siam and National Stadium. From Siam, you can access the Siam Paragon, and another shopping centre whose name I'm afraid I cannot remember, but it is also served by the Siam Skytrain station.

The Siam Paragon has about seven floors. On the bottom floor there is an aquarium; the next floor up houses the resturants, and the top floor is home to the cinema. The other floors all contain shops (and one fo them has a gym). These shops include bookshops, a department store, homewares shops, and designer shops. I don't think that you are supposed to haggle here because this is where the 'posher' shops are located!

However, over at MBK (served by the Skytrain National Stadium) it is a different story. Another multi-level shopping centre, also with a cinema, restuarants and bowling, MBK is home to shops where you can haggle and also to many smaller stalls, where I think that they would be shocked if you didn't haggle!

There are other shopping centres in Bangkok (such as the ones accessed from the SKytrain Stations at Chitlom and Chong Nonsi) but these are the main two.

So, we've looked at where to go and how to get there; now, let's look at what to buy!

I think that you can find just about anything in these two huge shopping centres! I have mentioned things like homewares and books, but the real delights are to be found in the small shops and stalls in MBK, where you can pick up some wonderful gifts, covered in Thai designs and symbols. There are some great, cheap clothes to be had too.

I think that a lot of people go to Bangkok to buy designer rip-offs. I think that most designers can be found, but Gucci seemed to be the most common one while I was there. There are clothes and purses available for as little as two pounds!

MBK also houses an electronics centre, but I think that the things there- mobile phones and laptops, are probably the same price as they are at home.

One extra thing that I would like to mention: if you know some Thai, even just basic phrases, that will help a lot, because the people don't really speak English (although they know the numbers so you can haggle away!).

I hope you have fun shopping in Bangkok!

Summary: The main shopping centres and bargains to be had in Bangkok.