Shopping in Thailand
As I mentioned in the previous post, shopping in Thailand is fantastic! The goods are cheap and you have a say in how much you want to pay for them. I spent most of my time in Bangkok and some of my time in Phuket shopping and here’s where I shopped:
Platinum Fashion Mall
This mall has over 2000 shops! When I first walked into this mall my eyes literally popped out of my head! I spotted so many things that I could not find in SA. Oh the joy! This mall is more like a market inside a building than a traditional mall so there is some wiggle room with the prices.
Thai women are small and a size medium in South Africa is a large in Thai sizes. I never found anything in size large. If you’re a medium or above then buy the clothing that is one size fit all or free-size as the Thais call it. Lots of the clothing is elasticated, so there is a better chance that it will fit you. The rules are strict in this mall, no fitting on (clothing) and no returns. So, you need the skill of looking at an item and knowing whether it will fit you.The biggest shoe size available in women’s shoes is a size 6 (UK) and size 40 in Thai size. Many shops don’t stock size 40, but most do and sometimes it’s a small fit!
This mall stocks the most fashionable clothing out of all the places I shopped, by far! Think stripes, high waisted shorts, play suits, florals, nautical inspired everything, novelty prints, trousers, maxis and the list goes on. There is a whole floor dedicated to bags and accessories and if you can’t find what you’re looking for on that floor then you’re bound to find it on the other floors. I basically spotted almost every trend that is current. So, this is definitely a fashionista’s paradise.
Pratunam Market and Centre
This encompasses the centre and a hundreds of stalls in the Pratunam area. I was not impressed with the merchandise on sale here. There are some gems, but mostly the goods looked like the kind of “Made in China” stuff I’ve seen here in Cape Town. You can get human hair at a very cheap price though! So, if you’re looking for extensions then it’s the perfect place to find it. Other things you can find is souvenirs, T-shirts, bags (copies and no name brands), earrings, food and cheap shoes. The list of course does go on. This market is known for it’s very cheap prices.
Suan Lum Night Market
This market is in progress of shutting down and is moving somewhere else, but there were many stalls open when I visited. If you didn’t get enough shopping during the day then the Suan Lum Night market is a very nice place to continue where you left off. They do sell a bit of everything and if you’re looking for good clothing you’ll definitely find it here. As usual, you can negotiate on the price. I think the only thing special about this market is that it is open at night and has a good atmosphere. There are also lovely restaurants all around the market.
The Phuket Town Weekend Market
This market has similar goods to those in Bangkok. They did have some lovely fashionable clothing and vintage for sale. The best thing about this market is that most things were already very cheap. So, in most cases we could negotiate for an even cheaper price or just buy the goods as they were already at an insanely cheap price. There are also lots of good and cheap food for sale. I think this is basically the only place really worth shopping in Phuket. There are shops all around but I didn’t find their stock very inspiring. There are lots of copy bags and sunglasses if that’s what you’re interested in. The prices are high though but you can’t bring the sellers down to as much as 25% of the asking price.
MBK Center
This is a very popular mall containing both traditional mall shops and market-type stalls. We found that lots of the goods were already very cheap even though we were told that things are cheaper at the Pratunam markets. I don’t think the clothing is very appealing in this mall. Nothing eye-catching or very trendy was for sale. They do have bags galore and a lot of those bags are designer copies which are both synthetic and leather. There is a floor dedicated to electronics and IT goods. The electronics costs about the same as they do here. I saw Blackberrys and IPhones for very cheap…Dodgy! This mall had some good T-shirt stalls with very cheap prices. The traditional shops which weren’t too expensive also had sizes that I considered more normal like the sizes I could find in SA.
Central World Mall
I didn’t spend too much time here because I already fell in love with the markets. But if you wanna pop into Zara, Miss Selfridge and Forever 21 then they’re all there.
If you’re going to shop in Thailand then negotiate, negotiate, negotiate! Nothing in the markets in Thailand has a set price. I quickly learnt how to bargain and cut the asking prices dramatically. If you’re weary, then walking around and getting a feel for the prices of goods can help you before you buy. I generally followed two rules: know what you want to pay and be willing to walk away.
The cheapest dress I bought was R25($3.67), the most expensive was R80($11.75) and the same goes for shoes although I did splurge a bit and spent R160($23.50) on a stunning pair of wedges. So yes, very cheap and I made sure that what I bought was of a reasonable quality.
You may have noticed that I have not mentioned Thailand’s best market. That’s because I felt it deserved it’s own post. So, next in the Thailand series is The Chatuchak Market…
I loved to see this blog because i have been in Thailand, nice !!!! Nice People!
Street Style by Stela
ahh soo wanna go to thailand !
wow so much shopping girl
thanks for sharing the pictures =)
-Bionica
Oh my! This looks soo amazing.
Oh, I miss Bangkok. Shopping there is amazing. My favourites are MBK and Central world. There is so much to choose from. And after all the shopping isn’t it nice to get a foot massage
Also love the food as well.
LOx
WOW! Looks like a shopper’s dream world.
Love the VW camper van stall. So cute
Can’t wait to see some of your purchases!
Stunning Ant,
Shoo….were u over weight at the airport???? And I think now u need to build urself a bigger wardrobe!!!lol!!
Now I feel for sushi!!!
Wens
http://www.wendyinthefashionlane.blogspot.com
Stunning pics! Sounds like you had such a amazing time! : ) x
OMW so I guess I need to go to Thailand!!I cannot wait to see all your purchases:)I cannot believe stuff is so cheap there:)
xx
Good grief! It’s seriously shop till you drop!
wow it looks amazing xxxxxxx
I LOVE shopping in Thailand, def one of the best place in Asia to shop
XOXO
J
Wow, it sounds completely exhausting but kind of fun! Did you get any custom made stuff? I hear they do lots of that in Thailand too. It must have been a crazy cheap overload after South Africa (I found SA pretty expensive, or else cheap but terrible quality, but I never went to Mr. Price it’s true!) ; )
WWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Oh my word, I want to go there and shop NOW! You got some great buys there Anthea. It was sounds frikken awesome.
Fantastic. I really want to go there some day.
these are like some of the most intense malls I have ever seen!! I think I would pass out from sensory overload
xx
MILK TEETHS
@Wendy B, I just made it!
@Emily, I didn’t get around to having something custom made, but my boyfriend did and the quality and workmanship was amazing! About shopping in SA, you need to find the good places
@Ashley, intense indeed. I learnt to just take it easy and skip a lot of it because there’s always something more around the corner.
Love their nightmarkets.I worked in Taiwan for a year and could spend hours at the markets just wandering around. Their Malls are also just fabulous, but yes sizes are a problem. I got boobs and hips so had to shop at their ‘Big Train’ label which is like our Donna Claire. Ha ha ha! The shame!
It seems like you definitely can find everything in those places. Great photos!!
xoxo
Wow… It must be gorgeous! I’d like so much to go to Thailand *_*an hug
ha ha Yes to more shopping!! Love it