Travel | Thailand - Shopping

So we dedicated one full day for shopping.

Because why not!  

Bangkok is like Manila, it has numerous malls you can go to.

Here I am at Platinum Fashion Mall - One of the best place for cheap affordable clothing and souvenirs. This is where we stayed and shop the most. It is near MRT Siam Station.

Be ready though, Platinum is not a shopping haven for no reason, It's a huge mall divided into three zones with 5 floors. 

Travel tip: Buy in bulk for discounts! Don't be shy to haggle.

Walking around the mall can be tiring, don't worry if you get hungry Platinum has a food court area.

Mango Sticky Rice!

When we got out the mall it was already dark. 

Heavy traffic exists everywhere. huhu

Tuk-tuks are a fun way to go around but I don't recommend riding one if you're on a budget. They have fixed rates on certain places so getting a metered cab is much wiser. Ride only for experience.

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Another place to go to are night markets. We were lucky to find out that there is one near our hotel.

It is near MRT Saladeng Station.

Our place is actually a tourist area because we are near the red light district HAHA shhhhh

Other malls are more catered to high end customers like the ones near MRT Siam Station.

These malls have luxury brands, fine dining restaurants and cafes.

The only place where I saw a queue outside brands like Hermes. Wow.

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Travel Tip: if you're not well versed in Thai or actually know your way around. Better stay away from local buses. Most conductors don't communicate well in English so telling where you're headed to is hard and like what happened to us... you can get lost.

We were supposed to go to a famous shopping area called "Khao San Road" but we failed miserably on finding it. We were able to reach a tiny quiet residential district with no signs that we're near Khao San at all. Speaking of signs, some areas have no English signs or whatsoever so going around and finding a certain place will be hard.

Travel Tip: If there are no tourists around, you might be at the wrong place.

Luckily during our desperate attempt at asking random people where the hell Khao San is. A young man who can undertsand English well overheard us and helped us. He helped us hail a cab and he was the one to instructed the driver to take us to Khao San road, Because people can't understand us when we say it.

/random funny moment: We entered a 7-11 store hoping that the cashier can help us. When we asked where "khao san" is. She pointed us to a sack of rice. Apparently with the wrong intonation, Khao san means rice orz

Hello Khao San road! (finally)

 Khao San road and it's adjacent streets have stores everywhere from clothing and souvenirs to massage parlors and restaurants.

We had lunch at this open restaurant wth interesting sculptures and art pieces.

Shopping around Bangkok is easy (and tiring) as long as you know what you want to buy and where to go, then you're good! Haggling is advisable esp if you think you're getting ripped off because you are a foreigner. I haggled a wallet worth 150baht to 100baht. It sounds not that much but you can already buy lunch with that 50baht.

photography (c) ian cartalaba