MBK Center (มาบุญครอง) also known as Mahboonkrong is an large shopping mall situated in the capital city of Thailand, Bangkok, located on Phayathai Road in the Patum Wan district nearby the more luxurious shopping malls Siam Center, Siam Discovery Center, CentralWorld, Gaysorn and of course Siam Paragon. You can easily access the MBK center by the BTS skytrain junction and terminal nearby.

The MBK Center is different from the other shopping malls in the Patum Wan district, most of them are luxurious, with high-end brands only while the shops at MBK offer copies of high-end brands for low-end prices. And because of this very reason, it can get quite crowded in MBK, with an average of 100 thousand shoppers a day 7 days per week.

The shopping mall MBK has an total of 8 floors, with about 2000 stores, restaurants and entertainment including a 4 floors Tokyu department store. As every other large mall in South East Asia, the MBK center also has an food court, supermarket, fast-food joints, an entertainment plaza and cinema to watch movies. Shops include just about anything imaginable from clothes, bags to accessories for computers till hair, electronics, barber shops, ice cream vendors to high end restaurants. There’s several floors dedicated to electronic devices as cellphones, PDA’s and computers.

One of the unique factors about this mall is that you can actually discount your products on the higher levels/floors. It seems that the prices get cheaper as you go up. This is because most of the vendors sell similar goods as on the street markets where the price is also negotiable, but most important because regular Thai people shop here mainly.

Opening Hours Mon- Sun 10 am – 9 pm

MBK Center
444 Phayathai Road
Patum Wan 10330
Bangkok, Thailand
+66 0 2620 9000
www.mbk-center.co.th

Siam Paragon (สยามพารากอน) sometimes also spelled as Syam Paragon is one of the biggest luxurious shopping malls in Asia situated in the capital city of Thailand, Bangkok, located on Rama I Road in the Pathum Wan district, next door to Siam Center, Siam Discovery Center and opposite Siam Square nearby MBK Center. The elevated walkway beneath the BTS Skytrain SIAM Station links Siam Paragon to the Ratchaprasong intersection where the malls, CentralWorld, Gaysorn are located.

Despite the fact Siam Paragon can be crowded at times the mall remains fantastic high-end shopping mall located in the heart of Bangkok surrounded by many sightseeing attractions. The spacious stores and walkways make it comfortable walking around even during peak times. Siam Paragon offers anything imaginable for sale spread over 6 floors, besides regular department stores, shopping facilities, a grocery store and restaurants it also offers entertainment at many levels, such as the multiplex movie theater (average price per ticket 140 baht, about $4,25us) consisting of 15 large size theaters, which of the main theater has largest screen and biggest seating capacity in Asia. As well the Siam Ocean World (underwater world) located beneath the Siam Paragon shopping mall which holds the largest aquarium in South East Asia, the mall even has its own exhibition hall and a Thai Art Gallery, as well an opera concert hall. On the top floors, there’s several entertainment centers where you can play games and win toys, a large bowling alley and karaoke center named Blu-O Rhythm & Bow.

When going to Siam Paragon for grocery shopping, or a quite bite enter upon street level for the food court and the huge gourmet supermarket. There’s not many supermarkets in Bangkok that compete in size. For a more convenient way of entering the mall, walk the spacious elevated walkways of the BTS Skytrain, for easy access to the Siam Paragon elevators. Be prepared to walk through metal detectors prior to entering the mall with security checking bags.

A few of the exclusive products sold in the Siam Paragon mall are expensive jewelry, watches, clothing and even cars from high end international brands such as Gucci, Hugo Boss, Burberry and Ferrari just to name several. As earlier mentioned the mall has a total of 6 floors, here’s a complete breakdown (in the back of the building there’s the Siam Paragon Department Store, covering all floors).

Basement floor: Siam Ocean World
Ground floor: Food Court, Gourmet Supermarket.
M floor: Beauty Hall, The Luxary
First floor: Fashion Venue, The Lingerie Salon.
Second floor: Paragon Men, Sports Mall Global (as well public showrooms Maserati, Lamborghini and Ferrari cars).
Third floor: Read and Write, Paragon Kids.
Fourth floor: Paragon Mall Ultra, Paragon Living, A passage to Asian Arts and Crafts, IT City.
Fifth floor: Multiplex Movie Theater, Paragon CinePlex, KrungSri IMAX, Blu-O Rhythm & Bow, Edutainment Center.
Sixth floor: Siam Opera, Edutainment Center.

Spread out over the five actual floors (the Siam Opera isn’t part of the actual mall) with Siam Paragon, in-between and next to luxury shops you will find literally hundreds of restaurants, from fast-food joints, ice cream vendors to high-end restaurants with about any international cuisine you can think of.

Opening Hours Mon- Sun 10 am – 10 pm

Siam Paragon
991/1 Rama 1 Rd, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
Tel: (+66) 0 2690 1000
www.siamparagon.co.th

Thailand’s capital Bangkok City is full of luxury shopping malls offering anything from clothes, entertainment to even cars for sale. But if you’re looking specifically for technology and computer items there’s only one place to go: the IT mall Pantip Plaza. Situated nearby the Platinum Mall BTS opposite the Amari Watergate Hotel on Petchaburi Road.

The 6 floors shopping center offers a wide selection of stores, selling about any electronic or computer related accessories including printers, digital cameras, MP3 players, cellphones and TVs. What Pantip Plaza is (in)famous for, is it’s piracy of DVDs, games and software being offered for 100-150 Thai Baht (about $3.00 to $4.50us) per CD, starting the moment you walk into the mall.

When looking for a specific item such as an wireless mouse, webcam or USB stick it’s advised to take a stroll and compare prices from the many vendors within the mall, allowing yourself to find the best deal. It’s also an handy stop when your having issues with electronic devices while on travel, as most of the shops offer instant repair service on no cure no pay basis. Spread within the mall, next to and in-between the many hardware shops are the restaurants of Pantip Plaza. Just as in every Bangkok mall there’s literally tens of restaurants from fast-food, food-court, ice cream vendors to complete restaurants offering À la carte menus.

Pantip Plaza is an great place for buying electronic devices, although as an traveler you need to be aware that products such as new laptops, phones and cameras will only be a fraction of the costs less than elsewhere in Asia, Europe or North America. Think ahead of time when buying electronic devices on your holiday as you will most likely inquire problems when required after sales assistance back home.

Store, vendor and restaurant owners in Pantip Plaza are free to operate own hours within the Pantip Plaza opening time, therefore most of the stores close down by 7:30 PM to 8:00 PM. Although you might not be a techno-freak, it’s defiantly worth visiting for it’s high fascinating value.

Opening Hours Mon- Sun 10 am – 9 pm

Pantip Plaza
604/3 Petchaburi Rd. Petchaburi Ratchathewee
Bangkok, Krung Thep Mahanakhon 10400, Thailand
www.pantipplaza.com

In the narrow streets of Bangkok, Chinatown right across the corner of Wanit 1 Road shines a bright pink light in the darkness. Happy Gift. While some may say it’s location is hidden or not findable, surely no one especially tourist and Thai teens can resists having a peak in this odd placed 5 floors department store filled with just about anything that’s considered cute.

Shopping at Happy Gift is truly a kids and adults fantasy, if you are looking for something specific may that be mouse pads, clothing, jewelry, pillows or chocolate paper clips from Hello Kitty to Disneyland. You will find it all, if you can’t find, get lost or in need of any help or information inquire one of the at least 50 employees they have throughout the store. At the 1th floor next to the cashier there’s an information counter where you can contact Mr. Wassamol Naktham the area manager.

The brilliance of this store and they way to display their merchandise, also due to the fact it has five floors makes you feel guilty not buying anything from the store which is like most shops in Chinatown opened from 9 AM in the morning till 6 PM evening.

The exact address and contact details you can find below.

Happy Gift, IT Works CO LTD.
303 Wanit 1 Road.
Chakkawat Samphanthawong
Bangkok 10100

T: 02-2226-0299
C: 08-9110-8778

The capital city of Bangkok, Thailand has many diversities. There’s a whole area called Bangkok, Chinatown and even an area called Bangkok, Little India. In the area of Little India which is located at Jakkraplach Road there’s a shopping mall called India Emporium (อินเดีย เอ็มโพเรี่ยม) right next to the Sikh Temple. The mall lives up to its name very well.

Right when entering the India Emporium Mall you’ll find yourself in Indian atmospheres, little vendors in the middle of the main hallway as far the eye can reach. The mall itself isn’t very large and has a total of 4 floors. The ground floor had diverse merchandise and just 4 restaurants which included Black Canyon Coffee, Dunkin’ Donuts and Oishi Delivery and the smallest MK Restaurant in Bangkok. Funny enough there were no Indian restaurants present. The second floor was more specific and sold Indian furniture cotton, bed sheets, curtains and rugs.

The ATM’s were spread out over the entire mall, at least every floor has one. If you are looking for Indian wedding dresses, traditional Indian shoes, Indian Buddha souvenirs or a Indian fortune teller the third floor is your final destination. The mall does have a tiny small entertainment center with just 5 PlayStation games, ping pong tables and two basketball hoops. There’s no other facilities present such as free WIFI or a cinema. The toilets are free of charge but for the use of toilet paper there’s a vending machine costing you 2.00 TH ($0.05) per package of napkins.

On the fourth and last floor the India Emporium Mall has a food court called “Food Paradise” which has a great mixture of Indian, Thai and International foods as well as deserts, drinks and anything food related you may think of. Food Paradise has the whole floor covered.

The India Emporium Mall can be visited every day from 10 AM till 10 PM, the restaurants on the ground floor are opened till 11 PM. When stopping by in Bangkok, the India Emporium Mall would be nice if you happen to be in Chinatown or Little India. Other central city malls include Union Mall Ladprao and Central Ladprao if you don’t want to be stuck in Bangkok traffic.

These pictures date Saturday 24th of October 2009 India Emporium, Bangkok.

The Central Ladprao Department Store (ห้างสรรพสินค้าเซ็นทรัล) opened its doors in 1982 and therefore is one of the oldest department stores in Bangkok, Thailand. Its the favorite mall for locals that don’t live near Bangkok downtown and has a total of 7 floors including a basement where’s a food court and a TOPS supermarket.

This mall is actually more trendy than the Union Mall Ladprao across from the street and does have an information center on the ground floor. The problem with the Central Ladprao shopping mall is that’s its so famous its get packed in there really quickly. The escalators to switch floors aren’t spread out well as the downtown shopping malls like Siam Paragon or Central World, it’s also one of the few malls that actually uses actual stairs to switch floors.

One thing this the Central Ladprao mall is good for is shopping for clothes, a lot of fancy and fashion designer stores and non branded stores with fashion clothes for decent prices according to mall standards so whether you are looking for trendy clothing, shoes, bags or a outfit you should be able to fit you needs just fine male or female. Small ice cream shops like Diary Queen and coffee stands as Star Bucks fill up the scene in between the shops.

There’s also a food court located on the top floor with popular Thai and International dishes which also include Japanese and Chinese. The usual restaurants can be found spread across the mall, from junk food to popular restaurants such as MK Restaurant and BBQ Plaza. On the same floor is also a SFX Cinema with 9 cinema screens of course its complete with VIP seating and bowling alleys for enjoyment after or before your movie. Adjoining the mall is the Sofitel Central Plaza Hotel, which houses Bangkok’s first convention center.

The mall is located on Phahon Yothin on the opposite Chatuchak Park in the Lad Prao area and is opened every day from 10 AM till 9:30 PM, on Saturdays its open until 10:00 PM. The mall has an easy access point from Phahon Yothin station (BTS Mo Chit station). If you want to try a mall with a complete different atmosphere, you might enjoy shopping at the India Emporium in Little India near Bangkok, Chinatown.

The capital city of Thailand, Bangkok has a lot of large shopping malls. Of course there are the main ones like Siam Paragon, MBK, Platinum Fashion Mall, Siam Discovery but also a “smaller and Thai” ones like Union Mall (ยูเนี่ยน มอลล์). Its exact location Lad Prao Soi 1 is strategically placed on the opposite of the always busy Central Ladprao, the union mall has an easy access point from the MRT Phahon Yothin station.

The union mall houses a 150,000 square meters and 8 floors which of 3 floors are actually used for the shopping mall itself. Its a good location for those who find Central Ladprao or Chatuchak Weekend Market too hot and packed. The mall is filled with over a thousand market style vendors and here and there you find a few regular shops and restaurants.

There’s no facilities such as an cinema and/or a “real” entertainment center, just a small “entertainment” center which houses a couple of games for the youth. Mainly this mall is only good if you are looking for clothing items, shoes, fashion accessories for affordable prices. Many of the other big malls have much more facilities to offer, the mall is mainly for Thai youth to go and buy their clothes. Especially when outside the mall there’s a connected street market open everyday from 5 PM onwards.

In the basement floor there’s a food court and a TOPS supermarket for your grocery needs. The union mall is open everyday from 10 AM till 10 PM, as of latest visit we couldn’t find any information center or brochure to add. If the Union Mall doesn’t sound like your type of mall we would suggest you to tryout something with a complete different atmosphere, for example the India Emporium in Little India.

Shopping in Thailand can easily turn into a addiction since it’s capital Bangkok is the shopping destination that passed by shopaholics paradise Hong Kong years ago. Ten’s of giant luxurious shopping along with 24 hours markets for bargaining turned Bangkok to be the leading shopping destination in South East Asia. Another upcoming shopping destination within Thailand is Chiang Mai which night market attracts thousands of tourists a day.

Shops are open late, and each Thai city has at least one to several night market. It’s endless offers and incredibly low prices seduce visitors to buy clothing, jewelry and house decorations. Most of the prices are negotiable with the salesman, negotiation is expected from tourists at all times. There’s no set rules for negotiation yet it’s important to remain friendly and polite at all times. Even at shopping malls such as Pantip Plaza, MBK Center and Union Mall Ladprao you can discount your products, although the luxurious and giant malls like Platinum Mall, Emporium, Siam Discovery, Siam Paragon (Upscale, high class), CentralWorld (largest mall in South East Asia), Siam Center (one of the oldest malls in Bangkok), Amarin Plaza, Gaysorn, Erawan, Platinum Fashion, Central Ladprao, Esplanade have set prices.

Thai silk and cotton are known to be the best in the world, it is top priority on most of visitor shopping lists. The specialty of Thai silk and cotton which are handmade in north eastern Thailand is that the yarn is painted before being weaved which creates the wished patterns. Thai silk and cotton are available in several sizes or as handmade clothing.

Bangkok has become the international city of jewels. From all over the world jewelery is transported to this city for polishing and processing, since there are no taxes on import and export. Thailand has many places where polished jewels can be bought against appealing prices and quality. It is always important to buy jewelery from so-called ‘Jewel Fest Clubs’.

The antique shops have flourished in Thailand, but not everything is really antique. Astronomical prices are being asked, so negotiation is very important for getting an acceptable price. Thailand has also very strict rules for export of antique. The prices in Chiang Mai are lower than what is being offered in Bangkok.

In the north of Thailand and especially in Chiang Mai wood cut is an essential part of tradition. Furniture, domestic articles, decorations and souvenirs are being made of wood. Most of the shops will take care of the complete formalities to transport the wood items abroad; package, custom office, insurance and shipping.