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Shop till you drop Mk II
Entry 90 of 92 | show all | print this entry |
I wanted to go to the Pantip Plaza today. It's nowhere near our hotel, the Pantip Court, but it is the largest single shopping area for IT products in Thailand, probably the entire galaxy. Jess and the girls decided they would come along and shop in the nearby Pratunam Centre which specialises in fashion.
The hotel called a taxi and we were off. I feel very sorry for the taxi drivers in Bangkok. The starting fare is 35 baht and then as they drive the meter crawls along at a pace that would make you cry. On this trip we had been driving for about five minutes, some of it in traffic and the meter had gone up by just 2 baht. The whole ride took more than 20 minutes and the cost on the meter was 67 baht. That's a bit over $2.
We went our separate ways and I entered the Aladdin's cave of IT stuff. I mean everything you could possibly imagine. I wandered about in there for a couple of hours checking out all of the things I could buy. I had promised Jess I would buy myself something as a late birthday present so I decided upon a pair of foldable Sennheiser headphones and a Sony Playstation Portable (PSP). This was the kind of frivolous purchase that I would never normally make even though I had been interested in them since they were first released. There is a new 'slim' version which I just had to have.
Next came the negotiating. I tried about 4 different shops to get a feel for what I could get the PSP for, including cases, modifications and memory sticks. I told them I could get it much cheaper on eBay and this seemed to worry them a bit. After a while I figured out what their lowest price was going to be and then I negotiated the best 'package' I could. I think I ended up paying just on $200 for the PSP itself which I was very happy with.
Meanwhile Jess and the girls had been exploring the Pratunam market which is meant to be the best in Bangkok for clothes. What we didn't realise is that this is described as a 24 hour market which means, in effect, that it is very quiet in the mornings and is more like a night market with shops opening from late afternoon. Despite this they had fun looking at the shops that were open.
I joined them after my Pantip Plaza jaunt. I agreed that the centre was a bit dead so we went on to centre next door called 'City Central'. We would have stayed longer in here but there was no food available within the centre anywhere. We made a dash for it across the road to the very glossy looking Platinum Centre which had an excellent food court on the sixth floor. Not only that, but if you want to buy clothes in Bangkok, this is THE place to go. It's primarily aimed at the wholesale market so that means of you can buy three items or more you will get it up to half the price you will pay for just one item. And the price for one item is very cheap anyway. A modern t-shirt made with quality material would be maybe 150 baht ($5). Highly recommended particularly for women and girls.
We stayed until the shops were shutting. We found an exit and then tried to get a taxi. We found a tuk tuk and negotiated the price down to 100 baht. He agreed (eventually) and in we hopped, squashed in yet again.
Halfway home the tuk tuk driver turns around and says to me 'boss, you do favour for me?' 'What's that?' I asked. 'I give you cheap price so is it ok if you do me a favour by coming to a shop.' He went on to explain that if we agreed to go to this shop where a man was doing a 'big promotion' they would give him a fuel voucher for 50 baht. He told us it didn't matter if we didn't buy anything. Of course this deal smelt to high heaven but hey, nothing ventured nothing gained so off we went to check out this big promotion.
We groaned as we turned up outside... a tailor. Yes, that's right. First thing I said as the Indian man in the shop greeted us was that we were 'leaving tonight'. I figured that way they would have no timeframe at all to make us some clothes and so they wouldn't try to sell us anything. Wrong - they tried to sell us their fabric but to be honest their heart wasn't in it. We all played along appearing to be interested for the sake of the tuk tuk driver's voucher. We had a chat for a few minutes and then discreetly left.
The tuk tuk guy was very happy and took us the rest of the way home. When we arrived I suggested we take a quick look at the famous Patpong Night Market as it was our last night in Bangkok, the last night of our long adventure. We all agreed that we could put in the last of our energy to check this place out. We talked the driver into taking us for an additional 50 baht, but when we got there it was further than I thought so I paid him 100 extra baht (hey, last of the big spenders me!).
I was a bit worried about taking the girls to Patpong because of its reputation for sleaze. However, I was reassured by the guidebooks that advised that the markets are kept well away from the sleazier aspects.
What we found when we got there was a fairly typical Thai night market with much of the same goods we had already seen elsewhere, but at much higher prices. What we also found were plenty of girlie bars. We managed to move the girls into the middle of the markets where you couldn't see skimpily clad girls dancing around a pole. The markets stretched down the street for a long long way. We went as far as we could in one direction and then stopped for drinks and then went as far as we could in the other direction.
The clever tuk tuk drivers set up where the markets peter out. They know that you are tired and hot and ready for a speedy life home. We found one who wanted 300 baht, then 200 baht then eventually settled for 100 baht.
We arrived home tired and sore, but we still had enough energy left to look through our booty. You do actually feel like a pirate returning with treasure. I'm not normally a big fan of consumerism, but the Thai experience is centred on consumption. It's almost expected of you. I suspect that they tolerate us westerners on the basis that we spend enough to justify our presence here. Well, that's what I tell myself to justify all of the things that I have just bought...
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