Guide To Shopping In Pattaya

Second next to Bangkok, Pattaya is probably Thailand's prime destination for shopping fanatics. As Thailand-experienced tourists know, it's possible to board a plane to Bangkok without literally any luggage except for your passport, some cash or a credit-card. They know that whatever item they fancy or expect to be in need of during their stay, can be found anywhere around Pattaya at a much cheaper price than in their home countries.
From contact lenses and cheap glasses to a set of shining new teeth, from precious gemstones to fake Rolex watches or plastic Ray Ban sunglasses, from counterfeit designer or football shirts to tailor-made cashmere suits, beautiful handicraft and original brand-name clothing at wholesale prices - Pattaya's simply got it all.
Except for traditional Thai-style markets and large shopping centres, best
shopping opportunities can be found on South Pattaya Beach Road and Pattaya Second Road. These areas are literally packed with hundreds of small tourism-oriented shops and street-side stalls offering such various items as traditional handicrafts and souvenirs, counterfeit CDs or DVDs, fashion jewellery, cheap clothing "made in China", and all sorts of counterfeit goods. To satisfy the needs of more quality-
conscious buyers, Pattaya has an ever-growing number of opticians, drugstores, pharmacies and dentists, art galleries, Thai jewellery shops and tailor shops, ususally run by immigrants from the Indian subcontinent.
Being used to foreign travellers, most vendors in Pattaya speak some basic English, or at least a few business-typical English phrases, and are equipped with calculators - the perfect medium for negotiations. Except for when shopping in non-private run department stores (that have price tags attached to their articles), it should always be possible to
bargain.
Shopping is a favourite pastime for tourists, expats and locals alike, and whereas it's easy to go on a Pattaya vacation without literally any luggage except for one's air ticket, passport and some cash, it's nearly impossible to depart from here without some extra luggage. Don't worry, though, if your suitcase should not be big enough to contain your complete collection of newly purchased souvenirs - just add one or two extra suitcases to your shopping list!

Be warned, however. Even when sunbathing and snoozing on the beach or when slurping a bottle of liquid amber in one of Pattaya's open-air beer bars, you aren't protected from
beach and street vendors who will basically try to sell you anything: from copy watches, flowers "for lady" and porn DVDs, to culinary delicacies such as deep-fried crunchy grasshoppers!
While the opportunity to buy a brand-new pair of high-heels and a fake D&G handbag (paid for by their temporary farang 'boyfriends') may be handy for the local bar girls, the street street vendors' constant "Hello my friend, only looking, Sir!" and the penetrant to aggressive behaviour displayed by some vendors, can easily become a bit annoying on the long run - especially when you're just out for a quiet afternoon on the beach or a relaxed drinking session.
I recall one evening at a bar on Soi 8, when I equipped myself with a pen and paper and made a classified list of all the street vendors, who were marching up and down this narrow soi with their hawker's trays full of crap. I persevered my experiment for 10 bloody minutes and, while chasing each vendor away, started working on my check-list. Now I can't remember the exact figures for copy watches, flowers-for-lady, crocodile leather belts, or whatsoever was thrust upon me within the 10 minutes of my field research, but the total number of vendors I counted ("Hello my friend, only looking!") was already exceeding 20 when I finally gave up and paid my drink ...
"Mai ao krab" (speak "my-ow-cup") for "No, thanks" is quite a useful Thai phrase that you should quickly learn and remember in order to repress such 'street vendor terror' before it gets totally out of hand. Two other useful phrases are "paeng" (expensive) and "lot dai mai (krab)?" (Can you give me a discount?) For more useful Thai prases please click here.
Of course, all these (illegal) beach and street vendors have come to Pattaya to make a living and they're all struggling to survive; in addition, selling low-quality (and often overpriced) products that no-one really wants, is still better than robbing foreign tourists during the night in order to finance one's drug addiction! So be fair with them; as penetrant as some street vendors may be, at least they're making an effort to make a living by working.
On the other hand - no tourist can buy everything! So you should point out clearly (yet in a polite manner) when you're really not interested in yet another bunch of roses for "your lady". As much as you might enjoy your Pattaya shopping experience - don't start wasting your money away on useless items that you won't even take back home just because you've been talked into it. Have another beer instead. Cheers!

Pattaya Shopping Directory A-O  Pattaya Shopping Directory P-Z
  Art Galleries
Avenue Shopping Mall
Bali Hai Plaza
Big C Supercenter
Bookshops
Carrefour
Central Festival Center
Department Stores
Foodland Supermarket
Friendship Supermarket
Lukdod Shop
Made In Thailand Market
Mike's Shopping Mall
Naklua Sunday Market
Outlet Mall
Pattaya Floating Market
P.S Plaza/ Top's
Royal Garden Plaza
Soi Buakhao Market
South Pattaya Market
Supermarkets
Tailor Shops
Tesco Lotus
Thai Gold & Jewellery
Thepprasit Nightmarket
Traditional Thai Markets
Tukcom
Art Galleries

Many art galleries can be found along Pratamnak Road in South Pattaya or in other major tourist areas. Typically, they don't offer only original paintings, but also reproduce famous masterpieces, or turn your favourite photograph or personal portrait into a notable original piece of art. Most Thai artists provide good quality paintings at very moderate prices. Nice personal souvenir!

The Avenue Shopping Mall


Pattaya Second Road, opp. Royal Garden Plaza, South Pattaya
This spacious shopping center with 22,000m² of retail space features high-end fashion boutiques, 8 cinemas, 24 bowling alleys, international restaurants, outlets of world-famous fast-food chains, a Karaoke room and a three-storey fitness centre, Shenanigans Irish Pub and "Villa Market", the newest addition to Pattaya's international supermarkets with quality imported food and wines.
"Friday Fight Night" @ The Avenue Mall: Every Friday, 7pm
On May 1st, 2009, The Avenue shopping mall also kicked off a series of exiting (and profesional)
Muay Thai fight nights, called 'Friday Fight Night', and was for the first time ever transformed into a real boxing arena. Since then, visitors can enjoy free Muay Thai Boxing every Friday night. The fights kick of at 7pm and go on until 11pm.

Bali Hai Plaza

This new shopping mall at the Bali Hai Pier (southern end of Walking Street), features a "Fashion Factory Outlet" and shops with brand-name clothing at "special prices".

Bookshops

In comparison with Bangkok, Pattaya doesn't have a large choice of quality bookshops. Most will cater for your average tourist needs, however, and provide you with travel guides, maps, Thailand-
themed books, foreign magazines, or English-language bestsellers. For an extensive selection of foreign-language books published in Thailand, please visit the DCO Thailand Online Bookshop.
Bookazine
Central Festival Center, Carrefour Shopping Mall, Royal Garden Plaza, Dongtan Beach/ Jomtien, Bangkok Pattaya Hospital
D.K. (Duang Kamol) Book Store
Pattaya Soi 13/2 (Soi Post Office)
Central Pattaya Road (Pattaya Klang)
Pattaya Beach Books
P.S. Plaza (Tops), Central Pattaya Road (Pattaya Klang, junction with Pattaya 2nd Road)
Se-Ed Book Center
Carrefour, Tesco Lotus (South Pattaya), Tukcom

Carrefour


Central Pattaya Road (Pattaya Klang, opp. Soi Arunothai)
Opened in 2004, Carrefour is well established as one of Pattaya's best department stores now, with a variety of imported high-quality products in their supermarket section, lots of reasonably priced Carrefour own-brand items, and a highly recommended butcher department.
Apart from the department store, Carrefour complex features a "Home Pro" home improvement store, an inexpensive food court, plenty of restaurants, retail shops and stalls.

Central Festival Center/ Big C Supercenter

Central Festival Center
Located on Pattaya 2nd Road, across from the Soi 2 beer bar complex, the "old" Central Festival Center is one of Pattaya's most popular and best established shopping malls. It features the two-
storey "Big C Supercenter" department store, a movie theatre, boutiques, retail shops and stalls, restaurants, banks/currency exchange, a video games area, and an IT corner with mobile phones and accessories. Large open area for concerts, public shows and special events.
Central Festival Pattaya Beach
Pattaya Beach Road (near Soi 9 and Pattaya Police Station)
This new 7-storey shopping mall, according to media reports, Asia's largest beachfront shopping complex, opened only in January 2009. Built on a beachfront land plot of 22 rai (35,200mē) with a 220,000mē shopping area, this 7-billion-Baht megaproject features more than 200 fashion outlets and boutiques, countless restaurants, food courts, an international supermarket, a fitness centre and spa, a large SFX cinema (with 10 theaters) on its top floor, 16 bowling lanes etc.
The complex has two 29-storey towers, one of which will be the new Hilton Pattaya hotel, due to open in 2010.


Department Stores

Big C Supercenter
- Central Festival Center, Pattaya Second Road
- Sukhumvit Road, around the corner from South Pattaya Road (Pattaya Tai)
Carrefour
Central Pattaya Road (Pattaya Klang, opp. Soi Arunothai)
Modern City Department Store
Next to Mike's Shopping Mall between Pattaya Beach and Second Road
Tesco Lotus
- North Pattaya Road (Pattaya Nua)
- Sukhumvit Road, around the corner from Thepprasit Road, Jomtien

Lukdod Shop

Lukdod Shop on Soi Yume in North Pattaya (209/10 Moo 6, near the junction with North Pattaya Road and not far from Pattaya's bus terminal) advertises as Pattaya's largest "souvenir" shop.
Lukdod Shop, though, is more than just your average Thai souvenir stall as you find it on Pattaya Beach road. Except from Thai-style souvenirs, this wholesaler offers an extensive range of locally made products like wooden Thai handicrafts, home decoration items, antique-style furniture, Thai silk articles, and basically anything that street vendors will offer you at much higher prices.
Many products can also be ordered online via their website. On request, Lukdod Shop will export all purchased articles to any country worldwide.

Made In Thailand Market

This roof-covered permanent tourist market on the eastern side of Pattaya Second Road, roughly between the junctions with Soi Honey Inn and Soi 9, is a conglomerate of independent shopping stalls along two steaming narrow passageways and specializes in cheap clothing, souvenir-style and household items. Despite its name, it would be more adequately named "Made in China".
Apart from a few tailor shops, "Made In Thailand" is the place to go when you're looking for shirts with Thailand-related logos ("Good guys go to heaven, bad guys go to Pattaya") or fake designer clothing in sizes that suit "bigger" Farangs as well.
Bargaining is a must here, and vendors will readily produce their calculators.

Markets: Traditional Thai Markets

Apart from the larger and most popular Thai-style markets listed on this page, there are several smaller (night)markets all over Pattaya and Jomtien that offer both food and non-food items. They are usually not as 'tourist-oriented' as Pattaya's upscale shopping malls and cater predominantly to Thais.
The typical
Pattaya-style market is an open-air conglomerate of small stalls that feature a variety of domestically produced inexpensive products such as household items, clothing, CD's, DVD's, or mobile phone accessories. When shopping for non-food items, bargaining is definitely a must, especially when purchasing a larger quantity of goods at the same stall.
Some basic knowledge of Thai language or shopping-related phrases (e.g. "paeng" = expensive, "Lot dai mai?" = Can you give me a discount?) can be helpful when trying to beat down the price. By the way: "talaat" is Thai for "market".
Naklua Sunday Market  Soi Buakhao Market  South Pattaya Market  Thepprasit Nightmarket

Mike's Shopping Mall

This older five-storey shopping mall and department store, with a food court on the top floor and a public swimming pool on the rooftop, is located between South Pattaya Beach Road and Second Road and is opened daily from 11h to 23h.
Apart from the department store, Mike features mainly small retail shops and "bazaar stalls" that offer souvenir-style items, fabrics and clothing. To quote literally from Mike's own website: "There are over 200 brand name shop with the best price".
Well, bargaining is definitely recommended at Mike's, and 500 Baht or so for a "Diesel" Jeans is really extremely cheap, isn't it?! But you better find out for yourself what the brand name owners might think about these offers!
Next to Mike's Shopping Mall you can find
Modern City department store.

Naklua Sunday Market

Along with the popular nightmarket on Thepprasit Road, this is Pattaya's largest and oldest Thai-
style open-air market and held every Sunday. Both food and non-food items are available here.
Located on Sawang Fa Road in Naklua, between Pattaya-Naklua Road and Sukhumvit highway, this market is extremely popular especially with foreign residents of North Pattaya.

Outlet Mall

Located next to Tesco Lotus on Sukhumvit Road (just around the corner from Thepprasit Road at Jomtien), Outlet Mall features original brand-name clothing at discount prices.


Pattaya Shopping Directory P-Z


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