Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
NEED TO KNOW
Opening Hours
Most family-run shops are open from 10am to 7pm daily. Malls are open from approximately 10am to 10pm.
Street markets are either daytime (from 9am to 5pm) or night-time (from 7pm to midnight). Note that city ordin-
ance forbids street-side vendors from cluttering the pavements on Mondays, but they are present every other day.
Scams
Thais are generally so friendly and laid-back that some visitors are lulled into a false sense of security, forgetting
that Bangkok is a big city with the usual untrustworthy characters. While your personal safety is rarely at risk in
Thailand, you may be unwittingly charmed out of the contents of your wallet or fall prey to a scam.
Bargaining
At Bangkok's markets and at a handful of its malls, you'll have to bargain for most, if not all, items. In general, if
you see a price tag, it means that the price is fixed and bargaining isn't an option.
Counterfeits
Bangkok is ground-zero for the production and sale of counterfeit goods. Although they may seem cheap, keep in
mind that counterfeit goods are almost always shoddy.
Shopping Guide
Bangkok's intense urban tangle sometimes makes orientation a challenge, and it can be difficult to find out-of-
the-way shops and markets. Like having your own personal guide,
Nancy Chandler's Map of Bangkok
(
www.nancychandler.net
) tracks all sorts of small, out-of-the-way shopping venues and markets, as well as dis-
sects the innards of the Chatuchak Weekend Market (
Click here
). The colourful map is sold in bookstores
throughout the city.
Counterfeits
One of the most ubiquitous aspects of shopping in Bangkok, and a drawcard for many vis-
itors, is fake merchandise. Counterfeit clothes, watches and bags line sections of Th
Sukhumvit and Th Silom, while there are entire malls dedicated to copied DVDs, music
CDs and software. Fake IDs are available up and down Th Khao San, and there are even
fake Lonely Planet guides, old editions of which are made over with a new cover and
'publication date' to be resold (often before the new editions have even been written!).
Fakes are so prominent in Bangkok that there's even a
Museum of Counterfeit Goods
(
0 2653
5546;
www.tillekeandgibbins.com/museum/museum.htm
; Tilleke & Gibbins, 26th fl, Supalai Grand Tower, 1011 Th
Phra Ram III; admission free; by appointment only; Khlong Toei exit 1 & taxi)
where all the counter-
feit booty that has been collected by the law firm Tilleke and Gibbins over the years is on
display.
