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During daylight hours, the streets around Silom
Road are bustling with office workers on their way to a meeting
or grabbing a quick bite at one of the many fancy restaurants
or street-food vendors in the area.
This is Bangkok’s answer to
Wall Street.
However, at night the area comes alive with street stalls selling
well-worn brand names in clothing, wooden candle holders, satiny
silk pillow covers, twinkling fairy lights, beaded jewellery,
and all sorts of curios. This vibrant area is a haven for tourists
in the mood for conspicuous consumption whether of goods, drinks,
gourmet food, or all three.
There are also a couple of modern department stores in the area.
Robinson’s, located at the mouth of the street, is a breeze
to get to if you go via the Silom
MRT subway
station. It’s a fairly compact centre with jewellery
and a Starbucks coffee shop on the ground floor, men’s and
women’s clothing on the 2nd and 3rd floors, as well as sporting
goods and housewares up on the 4th and 5th floors.
Silom Complex is located
further down Silom and is accessible
by a walkway from the MRT
station and the Sala Daeng BTS stop. Here you’ll find the
large Central Department Store, which carries whole lines
of moderately priced, brand-name clothing, toys, appliances, and
footwear for the whole family. The complex also houses some mid-range
cafes and snacking places such as Black Canyon Coffee and Auntie
Anne’s Pretzels. And there’s a food
court on the top floor with some basic Thai and Japanese food.
On the ground floor, there are often sales of Thai crafts, along
with frequent“sidewalk sales” from the clothing outlets.
They’re always a hit with young Thai office workers browsing
for the latest bargain. As you go up the escalators you’ll
find Bookazine (with a wide range of English books, magazines and
newspapers), travel agents, hairdressers and a number of opticians,
where shoppers with an ‘eye’ for bargains can pick up
trendy frames and lenses for a fraction of the prices back home.
The Tops food market in the basement
is a veritable buffet of great tastes, with a wide selection of
cheeses, a zesty olive bar and freshly baked German breads.
Across the street from the Silom
Complex is the infamous Patpong Night Bazaar. While the area
is often referred to as Bangkok’s
“red-light district,” in many ways it’s more about
shopping than sleaze as vendors
compete with the music blasting from the many go-go bars along the
strip. Brand-name goods in Patpong are mostly knock-offs, even if
the quality is usually okay, and the asking prices are greatly inflated.
Again, bargaining is crucial - a good rule of thumb is to divide
the vendor’s asking price by half and go from there. The market
stays open until around midnight -the street stalls on Silom
several hours later - so if you can last that long, you might get
a good deal from someone wanting to make that last sale of the day.
On the strip, some of the most coveted items are designer handbags,
leather goods, silk dressing gowns, watches, luggage, cheap souvenir
T-shirts, bamboo lamps and Thai-style tapestries and religious statues.
A quick stroll from Patpong takes you to a Jim Thompson’s
factory sales outlet on Surawong Road (www.jimthompson.com). The
legendary manufacturer and promoter of Thai
silk has become an institution in Thailand
and abroad, with many sales outlets; just a look at the luxuriant
silks resplendent in bright colours and intricate patterns will
tell you why. Signature items include ties, handbags, scarves, children’s
clothing, T-shirts, cosmetic holders, cushion covers and fabrics
for the sofas, beds and curtains.
The silk may be exclusive, but the prices are anything but. Ties
range from 1,000 baht to 1,350 baht, while a small clutch purse
costs only 1,350 baht. T-shirts with colourful prints start at 580
baht. Because the Surawong shop is a factory outlet, prices are
lower on some goods. There are a total of 17 Jim Thompson shops
in Bangkok, with the most recent
branch located on the main floor of the Siam Paragon shopping
complex.
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