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Pratunam Area |
 One of Bangkok's most colourful areas, well known for its street markets,
bazaar and local vendors. Pratunam and the small Nai Lert markets offer
bargain prices for T shirts, jeans, fashion clothing, shoes, calculators,
watches, jewelry and all sorts of souvenirs. You'll need to look for the
entrances to the inside of the market, hidden between stalls and shops.
Cluttered, noisy and hot, but packed with great deals if you have the
stamina.
Panthip Plaza on Petchburi Road is Bangkok's foremost computer shopping mall. If it's electronic or digital you'll find it here. A large selection of printers, computers, the latest electronic gadgets, and software under one roof. Airconditioned shopping can be found just north of Pratunam market on Rajadamri. Central World Plaza (formerly World Trade Centre), is a huge shopping complex which, apart from hundreds of shops, also contains cinemas, restaurants and even an ice skating rink! |
| Although not on the BTS or Skytrain route, there are lots of taxis giving easy access to other areas. It's an area with some good value first class hotels so if you're looking for a central location with good, well priced accommodation, bargain shopping and transport, this is it! click here for a selection of Pratunam hotels |
| Panthip Plaza This is the place to
find anything to do with computers, hardware or software. It's a great place
to violate copyright laws and get bootleg versions of software for PC and
Macintosh, games for consoles, MP3's, VCD's, and DVD's. It is a large
building in the Pratunam area of the city. You can find other gadgets
(cameras and electronic doo-dads) and food too (S&P, KFC, and a small food
court). It can get crowded and beware of the guys approaching you saying
"sexy movie" and motion you to follow them. Could be a sting operation.
Software CD's go for around 100-200 baht per disc. Some of these discs are crammed with thousands of dollars of software. There's no guarantee they will work, but most usually do (I've heard). Also, be careful about the movie DVD's. Some recent releases are actually videotaped in movie theaters and recorded on disc as a VCD (some customers report), so if it has not yet been officially released on DVD, beware. There was a crackdown on pirated media, so Panthip, for a while, was not what it used to be. It is reverting back to normal now. The police make occasional busts on a vendor once in a while to show that they are working. Therefore, the software vendors do not keep their stock in the stores. Customers must wait 10-15 minutes after they pay, so that a runner can go down to a van or other secret storage area to retrieve the discs (so they say). The Fortune Town IT Mall near the corner of Ratchadaphisek Road and Rama IX is a newer center for computer-related goods. There is a subway station nearby (Phra Ram IX). Service seems to be nicer here, it is not as crowded as Panthip, and it is cleaner too. MBK Center also has a few software and game shops. It is also cell-phone heaven. Check out the informative website below. Note the different types of movie-DVD's. Don't hate me for not sending you to this site in the first place. 100 or 200 baht per software CD. It is near the intersection of Ratchaprarop Road and Petchburi Road. From this intersection, walk west for a quarter mile or so. Panthip Plaza is on the south side of the street and has a large, arched facade. The closest Skytrain Station is Rajchathewi. |
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