Bangkok is a shoppers paradise, there are so many shopping areas, from the markets to the street traders you see on most corners in Bangkok, the stalls and shops around Chinatown, not forgetting the luxury shopping mails and air-conditioned shopping marts like the Mahboonkrong Center (MBK) which has hundreds of air-conditioned shops, close to Siam Square, conveniently located at the National Stadium Sky Train station.
If your planning a day out Shopping, it’s a good idea to make a plan over breakfast where possible try to stick to locations close to the the BTS Sky Train stations,and don’t forget to take a map with you, a short taxi ride from the sky train, is the large Pantip Plaza an IT Center, on Phetburi Road a computer heaven, consisting of hundreds of shops on every floor selling hardware and software, both originals and pirated, many people go there to buy computer hardware and copy software.
Depending where you hotel is located in Bangkok you need to find the BTS Sky train station that is closest to your hotel as it’s the easiest way to travel around Bangkok, located at Central Station on the BTS Sky Train route, is Siam Square a good place to start, there’s hundreds of small shops at street level scattered around a maze of lanes, when you want to cool down walk into the air-conditioned Siam Center from the main concourse, next door to the center and connected by an enclosed walkway is Siam Discovery Center, the two shopping centers have many up-market brand label shops, and the large Tower Records, on the top floor of Siam Discovery Center there’s a cinema complex.
Mahboonkrong (MBK) shopping center about a 10 minute from Siam Square, conveniently located on the BTS Sky train route, the center is a favourite with the Bangkok locals you will find literally hundreds of smaller shops and stalls, selling many goods at bargain prices, from clothes to electronics, from the heart of MBK you can walk straight into the Tokyu department store without going down to street level.
Many people head for Chatuchak Weekend Market, it’s conveniently located at Mo Chit BTS Sky Train station, a massive outdoor market selling practically everything you can think of, there are over 8000 vendors and up to 200,000 people visit a day, it can be hot and tiring but very interesting, like so often in Thailand you can tend to lose track of time, so if your planning to visit allow your self plenty of time, your hotel can provide you with a map of the area, if not they can be purchased from local book shops.
The stalls and shops around Bangkok’s Chinatown is where you will find many bargains, be prepared to bargain for the best price, shopping here can be fun and enjoyable as well as time consuming hot and tiring so like always in Thailand allow yourself plenty of time as well as the numerous shopping districts around Bangkok, there are also many superstores like Casino Big C France, Tesco Lotus UK, Makro Netherlands, Carrefour France, all having something different to offer, are all worth a visit, not forgetting the 7/11 convenience stores, with a shop on every corner to keep you toped up with water.
