My favorite shopping in Bangkok

Bangkok is no doubt a shoppers paradise, shopping is a day- night activity and everyone who visits this place has their personal favorites. (Read more about Bangkok shopping)
I too have my personal favorite shopping places in this heaven for shopping.
Let me take you through my best and must shopping places to visit whenever in Bangkok.

Must:
Whenever shopping in markets or malls, do carry shopping trolleys, you will be thankful later on after having bought bags and bags of goodies.( it sure becomes difficult to carry all the bags around)
Shopping trolleys are easily available everywhere. One can get a good deal in the Pratunam market.
Most of these markets and malls have maps available free of charge for easy accessibility, do utilize them, It sure makes the experience comfortable.
Wear comfortable clothes and footwear, carry loads of change and stay hydrated.
HAGGLE - must

 

 

Pratunam  Market
Its a maze of small alleys criss crossed and jam packed with vendors selling different variety of goods, clothes, shoes, and fashion accessories at wholesale prices.  Prices are very cheap, and most shops offer retail prices for single pieces.

Pratunam city complex
AC version of Pratunam market, a respite from heat surely however do not expect same prices as that of the market out on the road. Plenty of fashionable clothing and shoes. There are a few jewelry and crafts shops, as well as cosmetic stores are located within.

Indra Square
you will get really good deals and a good variety. Only a few minutes walk from Pratunam Wholesale Market, the Indra Square consists of several floors with hundreds of small shops selling from children clothing, men and women fashion wear, to accessories.

Baiyoke Towers :
another good shopping mall in this area

Platinum Fashion Mall 
Platinum Fashion Mall - a AC version of the Chatuchak Weekend Market. I prefer this any day over Chatuchak market. really good quality products, the rates are higher than the markets but then you really get a very nice quality. However one does find a lot of sale deals and whole sale deals too. Do check the garments bought on sale for defects and holes.
Do visit both the buildings of Platinum mall.

 

 

All these shopping places are a walking distance from each other. (located very close by)
I prefer to shop at this one place rather than going to Chatuchak which is really far and I think over hyped. one does get some lucky deals at Chatuchak, but I find it expensive and more touristy and over priced. A must watch for first timers, being the biggest market and all. Other than that I would give it a miss.



MBK mall
A must visit for all the mobile and camera accessories, you do get lovely souveneirs, silk and some really good deals. Dvds, gadgets, accessories, food courts everything over here is really good. Also spas to relax the tired soul and it is connected to BTS directly.
It also houses Warehouse and Tokyo departmental store.

 

Warehouse:
Branded clothes at knock out prices. Do check for defects as many of them are factory rejects but you will surely get some good ones. Warehouse is there in most of the malls like MBK, Terminal 21, Big C etc.

Pink Pvssy
My one stop shop for all my accessories and likes. They have an amazing collection at really good prices. They have outlets all over Bangkok. Spotting Pink Pvssy wont be a difficult job at all. Must visit.



 just a small glimpse ;p

These are my favorite places to shop when in Bangkok.
What about yours?
Do share them with me, I would love to hear all about these shopping secrets of yours.

Happy shopping :)

xoxo
Bhakti









 

Thailand -- Bangkok Tales -- 1st day -- Terminal 21 mall

The joy on arriving at your holiday destination and knowing your vacation has just begun is amazing and full of enthusiasm and happiness.
We were too filled with all these feelings and more the moment our flight touched the Bangkok soil. Though really tired and sleepy, we arrived in Bangkok at 7 am travelling by Bangkok airways(tickets booked online by Yatra.com hassle free). We were trying to get the first glimpse of Thailand through the plane window and the happiness that seared in.
As soon as we landed we got our visa on arrival which is really convenient and easy. For more information regarding the same check here.
There is an express line as well for the visa, for some nominal amount per person, I suggest taking it on a crowded or a busy day. After that we were really hungry, not much variety to eat at arrivals though. We collected a free map of Bangkok from the tourist counter, took a dtac card for our mobile, I strongly suggest it, has really good deals with internet and all. Took a taxi to our desired location. After checking in we slept like logs as we really were sleep deprived.

Refreshed and rejuvenated in the evening we decided to head to terminal 21 mall. We made a quick stop at Subway replenished ourselves and continued.

Terminal 21 is a relatively new mall on the Bangkok shopping scene. It has been popular in making its mark due to the uniqueness of this mall. How? Well to begin with it gets the whole world packed in this mall. Every floor is designed on a theme to be one of the world's famous city. Rome, Paris, London, Tokyo, Istanbul, San Francisco  take your pick.This is a mid range mall with boutiques of Thai designers.



After seeing the Bangkok traffic we decided to take BTS to the Asok station (direct access via skywalk) for Terminal mall. It is connected to Asok station.

Our litttle Adventure from Siam to Platinum mall Bangkok !!!

It was a bright and sunny day calling us to explore Bangkok.(oh boy and did we explore in the truest sense)
We decided to go to Siam and check out Siam center, Paragon and Discovery. We took the BTS our daily, friendly, fast, easy and cheap mode of transport. The BTS takes you to Siam and is directly connected to the Siam center. So here we were in the Siam center, enroute we had gorged on street side fruits, which are truly yummy and delicious, the best of them being the guava and then Mango.
Well this was our daily breakfast and oh did we enjoy it.

our breakfast - bags of fresh fruit.. I dint like this fruit much though

 We explored Siam Paragon which is a luxury shopping mall took a look at the Siam underwater ocean world.

Holiday hangover - Thailand tales -- Pattaya it is.

As most of you know that I have been ranting about my holiday. Well to tell you honestly I still have a massive holiday hangover which refuses to go.
So here I thought why not blog about the same as I can't keep the thoughts to myself alone ( so typical me hehe)
Bangkok being one of the popular destination of the world. As you all know I being a OCD victim have a habit of doing in depth planning and research of most of the things (eyes rolling) so I was all prepared and well versed with Thailand. Thanks to bangkok.com which is an amazing website which allows you to download a free pdf guide as well as has detailed iteneries, maps, convenient travel, packages, food, shopping and any other think you can think of listed.

Tourism Thailand site which has detailed information about Thailand, everything you need to know and much more.

But Thailand has its own way. It springs surprises at you no matter how well you are prepared.
Thailand especially Bangkok and Pattaya are so similar to Mumbai yet so distant and mystique I felt. Every lane (soi as they call it) had a surprise to offer, something new to discover.

We were there for 9 days in Thailand but every day was a new experience. There is so much to explore, so much to experience and at the end of it all Thailand binds you in the magic unknown, and all you can do is keep reminiscing your experience until you create another new one with Thailand.

Don't worry as you very well know me, I am going to provide you with all the details of my Thailand trip with its beauty, markets, shopping, tips and tricks.

However today I feel like beginning with the last leg and day of our holiday, that was in Pattaya.
As you very well know that I am driven by my whims, so here it goes.

Pattaya- (we were here for 3 nights)

Completely took us by surprise, after much insistence of our peers and family not to take Pattaya and instead go to the pristine Phuket, stubborn that I am, thus here we were in Pattaya and were we glad about it.
Pattaya has its own charm. Active by night more than day, though plenty of things to do during the day as well.
We use to sleep till late, have a huge lunch, take a stroll or swim on the beach, go for a massage, do some shopping, get ready and have a relaxed dinner after which we used to go for a walk at the walking street followed by long hours of shisha till the wee hours of morning.... ahhhh Bliss indeed!!


Have a look yourself---

Lunch at the pizza company, we  had ordered extra large bbq chicken, the quantity was huge, but I found the pizza slightly on the sweeter side, though cheesy. The cheese garlic bread was yum.

 the remains--

 Pattaya beach - the beach is a thin strip in the common area filled to brim with loungers, one can hire a lounger for a small fee and sip beer for hours looking at the sea. Tip - buy a beer from the 7/11 stores located widely all over at short distances, you will find everything that you need in these stores, right from mobile recharge to ice creams, snacks, and everything. the price of everything you buy here is very economical.

 well I wont suggest to take a dip in the sea on this common beach as the water is dirty and polluted, one can swim in the private beach adjoining their hotel, or go to the nearby jomtien beach.

There is lot of street shopping in front of the beach. One can get good deals, I got myself a huge haul of swim wear. Do take souvenir Thailand magnets across the street- cheaper than Bangkok. Vast variety of pubs, restaurants with different cuisines, fast food joints, street Thai food available across the street.

dress- westside

footwear- footins

we- happy happy !

Massages are available in plenty- but do check their license as many times they fool you into illegal activities and take money- the massages start from 120 to 200 baht for feet massage (1 hour)

The walking street is closed for vehicles at night, the action starts after 8-9 pm. exotix shows, beer bars, shopping, street shows,fish market, you name and you have it. One needs to experience the pulse of this street to understand it. Must do ! (obviously not for children)

Shisha places dotting the streets near the walking street. have a beer and shisha and sit for hours watching life go by. All the shisha places are facing the road with chairs and tables put up on street. This was our favorite part.

Till my next Thailand post .

take care and plan up your vacation

xoxo

Bhakti

Shoppers paradise - Thailand Bangkok Part 1

Whenever we visit new places we always go in with a mindset of the destinations as to what are the places for sightseeing, which are the beautiful places to see.

For me it is always, what all i can shop and where?But due to incomplete or lack of knowledge or research we many a times miss the beautiful markets and buys and repent later. Sounds familiar? your story too?

So i was going through one such research of mine and just decided to make a post about it.

Lets start with Thailand , Bangkok--

Thailand is known for its fabulous finds at throw away prices but when many first timers visit or for that matter many get fooled by going to the big malls and not getting their size(Thais are petite)

Everything and anything you want in fashion is available here.
So do carry a lot of money to shop over here or else you will really repent later on.











Shopping markets-

Chatuchak Market/J.J. Market- Bangkok's local weekend market. A huge market with thousands of stalls selling a large variety of cheap clothes with good quality !!!
Shops of budding thai designers pricing their products at $5-$12 per item.
works on Friday evenings and all day Saturday and Sunday (until about 6 p.m.).

MBK Mall - one of the best places to buy cheap clothes in Bangkok. Little boutiques, branded shops as well as inexpensive tailors that can make you anything you want very cheaply.

Siam Square - Market for the university students at any time of the day and night. so has to be latest fashion garments at really inexpensive prices. 
As i said for university students (Localites being petite) you wont get clothes to fit the the average people ( above US 8 -10 size)

Bobae Market - Shoppers paradise. Very cheap but you have to buy three or four pieces at each stall. Prices are $1.50 per t shirt.

Baiyoke Markets - Cheap but have to buy at least two pieces (any design, not nocecessarily same design.)
Pricea-$1.50 per t shirt, sometimes even $1 per shirt and the quality is beautiful. You get large as well as small sizes.

Patpong's Night Market-   Must night shopping destinations

Central world and Siam Paragon Malls for all the big brands and Glamour ..


Deciding what to buy, and comparing prices around, is a good start. Things start to get really cheap when you're buying bulk. And don't worry about carrying everything around with you; most places will package and deliver straight to your hotel, and there are also several shipping agents around. The golden rule for bargaining is to do so with a smile - your most important negotiating tool!

For more shopping venues, head towards the Ratchaprasong and Chidlom-Ploenchit areas, here you'll find CentralWorld, and other options like the posh Gaysorn, a Big C Superstore (department store), as well as upmarket Amarin Plaza and Peninsula Plaza. A skywalk also connects from here all the way to that other of holy shopping grounds, Siam.

Then there are the local departmental stores which offer you great buys.

Dont forget to Bargain...




did i forget anything, please share your Thailand shopping destinations.
which destination should i cover next in the shoppers paradise?
waiting to read your  precious comments.

xoxo
bhakti