Shopping in Bangkok Bangkok Shopping Areas Bangkok Shopping Areas - Part 2 Bargaining for shopping Risks of shopping in Bangkok Pantip Plaza in Bangkok Bangkok Market Chatuchak Market in Bangkok Other markets in Bangkok

• Sukhumvit Road Area

Though the western end of Sukhumvit road (between soi 1 and 33) has a lot of foreigners, both tourists and residents, it is not an especially great place for shopping. There are quite a few tourist shops (cheap tailors, camera shops etc...) and up to around soi 11 there are street stalls selling fake clothes, handicrafts and other similar merchandise. On soi 5 is a popular branch of the Foodland supemarkets, a branch of the Robinson’s Department Store chain is attached to the Delta Grand Pacific hotel (between soi 17 and 19), and Times Square shopping plaza is just opposite it across the street. There is also the Ploenchit center, near soi 2, and the Ambassador and Landmark hotels shopping arcades, but none are particulary inspiring compared to elsewhere in the city. The new and very upmarket Emporium shopping center (right) on soi 24 has many quality designer labels, but it's not a cheap place to shop by any means. Further along Sukhumvit road, in the Phrakhanong district around soi 71, is a better shopping area but it's not much visited by tourists. There are a few shopping centers and a market, and prices are cheap. The Bangna branch of the Central department stores is located all the way down near soi 103.

• Chinatown (Yaowarat road / Charoen Krung road area)

Chinatown is best visited for it's huge number of gold and jewelry shops, identifable by the gold and red that they all seem to be adorned with. Other than this, the best reason to visit is to wander round some of the markets here, such as the one on Sampeng lane, Pahurat cloth market, Nakhon Kasem/Thieves market etc...There's a branch of Central on Pahurat road, just south of Charoen Krung road.

• Ratchadaphisek Road

This is quite a large commercial district, with many shops including branches of Robinsons department store, Tokyu, Jusco, Yaohan and others. It also has the showroom of the Department of Export Promotion for business interested in exporting Thai products.

Seacon Square

At 500 000 sq km, the Seacon Square shopping center claims to be the biggest in Asia and the fifth biggest anywhere in the world. There are hundreds of shops and just about every type of good is available here including clothes, furniture, stereos and TV's, computers, cars, jewelry, food etc...Also on the premises are 14 THX cinemas, a bowling alley, ice skating rink, many restaurants, a huge football-field-sized branch of DK Books with close to 1 million books (not that many English language though), a special 'simulator' virtual reality cinema, mini-golf course, Lotus Supercenter (a supermarket), Robinson's department store, "Yoyo Land" a massive indoor theme park with rollercoasters, ferris wheel, boat rides, flumes and many more. Nearby is the Seri Center, a good place for buying anything computer related.

The biggest disadvantage with this area for most people is it's remote location, way out on Srinakharin road. It will take at least a couple of hours to get here from, say, Ko Rattanakosin, though less from Sukhumvit. It's not even shown on most maps of Bangkok as it's too far out the way, located a long way south-east of Sukhumvit road. Truth be told, there's not that really that much reason to make the long journey as the malls around Siam Square and Silom sell pretty much the same things and, for most people, are much more convenient.

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