Sawadee Ka Bangkok! : Shop Till You Drop

I have only one word to describe shopping in Bangkok. It's C.R.A.Z.Y !!! This city is really a shopaholic's paradise. From the modern, air-conditioned malls to the buzzing street markets, it has whatever you're looking for. 

I especially love Chatuchak Weekend Market and Platinum Mall! Literally can shop till I drop there. hehehe..

The Chatuchak Market only opens on weekend so I made sure to allocate a day to go there. 

The sea of people heading to Chatuchak Market. Crazy ain't it?  

The market is hugeeee. There are more than 8,000 stalls here and you can get anything from clothes, bags, shoes, to handicrafts, furniture and home deco, food and beverage, and even animals! I went in one of the alleyways and saw this one pretty jumpsuit at this one stall. But after looking for a while, I decided to walk away. I mean, this is only the first alleyway. There are more in front. There are more nicer clothes out there. But after walking and walking, I couldn't forget that pretty jumpsuit. 

So after lunch, I decided to go back to that stall. But mission failed!! Cos I didn't remember which sections and soi the stall was located. We turned here and there but to no avail. Determined to find the stall, we went out from the market, and entered it again from the exact door we first arrived to trackback our steps. After a few wrong turns we finally managed to find the stall! Yeay! And thank God the jumpsuit was still there. hahaha... 

So morale of the story here, if you like something, don't think twice, just buy it!! 

For your information, the market is actually grouped into sections. In those sections, there are alleyways called Soi 1, Soi 2, Soi 3 and so on. Here's the map of Chatuchak for your reference. 

 Chatuchak Weekend Market is open only on weekend (duhh..)

Shopping hours are from 9 am to 6 pm

Direction: Take the BTS Skytrain and stop at Mo Chit, take exit no. 1 

Then, there's the Chinatown. Packed with endless rows of market stalls, you definitely want to come back for a second round of shopping. haha.. 



I was in Bangkok last February so the area was beautifully decorated with lanterns for Chinese New Year. Not sure if the lanterns are there all year long though. 

The market stalls here sell just about everything too. From textiles, hair accessories, bags, to silver wares, handicrafts and household items, all can be bought here.

The easiest way to reach Chinatown is by boat. Get on the Chao Phraya River Express and stop at Ratchawong Pier (N5). 

OK, now as for the malls, my favorite of the lot is Platinum Mall. It's like an indoor version of Chatuchak Market sans the weird stuff you find at Chatuchak. hehe.. Basically here are only clothes, handbags, shoes, cosmetics etc. What's important is that everything here is dirt cheap ok. Definitely went nuts here. How could I not when I saw pretty tops and skirts cost only 200 Baht? The price can be lower if you buy in large quantities cos it's a wholesale shopping mall, just like our Kenanga Wholesale City I guess. 

~ no pictures here cos I went crazy.. hahaha ~

Just in front of the mall is another shopping haven, the Pratunam Market. Just look at the following pictures and see for yourself.  

 And not to forget, the night market! Seriously, I can go crazy shopping in Bangkok. 

Of course if you want to shop for reputable brands, you can always head to the lavish shopping malls. Siam Paragon, Siam Center, Siam Discovery, MBK Center... man, the list are endless.