Just read one of Danielles JBR's and discovered that most shops in Bangkok dont open until 10am!!!! WTF! Thats a pure waste of a few hours valuable retail therapy time in my view ... and can anyone tell me if this is the case in Patong??? I certainly hope not, as Im (pathetic) and an early to bed/early riser person usually. Like to have brekky, hit the shops for a few hours, then lunch and lounging around the pool, before an evening meal accompanied by more shopping!!!
Kitty

You will have to re adjust your clock as the only thing that you will find open before 10 will be the 7/11.
But on the other hand ifyou want to shop at 10 at night then no problem.

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Kiss
God laughs at people who make plans.

What about in Patong??? Surely the shops are open there before 10am?? But ... as you said, theres always shopping late at nite!

Kitty

You're on holiday. If you want to get up early go for a swim. Have a later breakfast then go shopping, come back and have a snack by the pool before a snooze then out for the evening to shop, drink and shop if you must.

What's this desperate need for retail therapy? IMHO once you've seen a couple of shops you've seen them all so buy what you want and then enjoy the rest of the holiday. You can do retail therapy at home!!

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Alison

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It's Better to Burn Out than just to Fade Away!

Whilst on holiday I do plan to chill and relax, but .... a vast majority of my time will be taken up "shopping", probably once twice or even 3 times a day!!! I certainly cant get bargains and variety like that here in Wollongong, now can I?? Plus, I will have my 12yo daughter with me, whose eyes are already poppin their sockets just thinking about all the stuff she wants to buy!
So ... yes ... I do express a desperate need for retail therapy, and I make no excuses for that - SHOPPING IS FUN!!! So will be - eating, drinking, chilling, seeing the sights and experiencing the culture.
Kitty

Hi Kitty,
You will find the majority of stallholders in Patong wont open until at least 10 but a few may open up earlier. It wont start getting busy around the shopping areas until mid afternoon so you can still get a leisurely 4 hour shop in before lunch. Once you are there and become accustomed to the pace of Thailand you will realise that 10 is early enough as even if you are an early riser and up at 6, you will need time for a morning swim/walk/run and then at least an hour if not 2 for the buffet breakfast which is a great spot to do some people watching whilst reflecting on the previous day and planning the day ahead. Only then will you sufficiently recovered from your hangover from the night before to successfully tackle the subtle art of bartering for a deal with the local street traders.
I would recommend that you have a look in the larger shops first like the Jung Ceylon centre to get a guage of pricing before making too many street purchases as they tend to prey on the uninitiated in Patong. And do save a large chunk of you shopping budget for Bangkok as it tends to be alot cheaper there. If you want a good deal in Patong be prepared to walk away before getting their best price and dont make an offer if you are not intending to buy as they will get upset with you. As a geral rule of thumb,my wife, if offered a price of 500baht on an item, will say that she saw the same thing for 150baht in Bangkok and after some good natured banter,will settle on about half the original quote. If you do this with a big smile on your face you will get the best results.

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I love Thailand this much

Also, what happened to the post you made about being elevated to "regular" status. I replied to that that I was unhappy to be still just a member after 3 years of posting on the previous forum and it has vanished off the site!!! Before you know it you will be a Travelforum "addict" and then have TRavelforum "on the brain" like Jax.

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I love Thailand this much

That post has gone to the chat forum further down I think. I don't think that a lot of people look at that forum but a great place to chat off subject.
Talking of records this thread is going for the longest record.
kitty Bangla road, open at 10 down there they are just going to bed from the night before.
There is a saying in Thailand "same, same but different" once you have been round the shops you will see that it is all the same. this comes from someone with a PHD in shopping - you think I can post - you want to see me shop !!!
I find that each time we go there is 1 new thing for example bout 18 months ago it was fake crocs. within 6 months you could get them in the UK at the same price.
barter with a smile. and remember its what it is worth to you. Also remember that the airlines have tightened right up on weights so try to avoid excess baggage.

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Kiss
God laughs at people who make plans.

Yes Shane ... I wondered where my post had disappeared too as well, but then I usually hit "todays posts" and up comes new posts from all different forums and I discovered that Mark had moved it to the asian chat room - I guess he figured it had nothing to do with Thailand! And then I had to work out how to actually get to the asian chat room, and worked out its easiest to get to it via the forum jump link at the bottom of the page. ANYWAY ... so thats where my post is now living!

Thankyou very much for your shopping/bargaining tips. Ive already been told to check out the dept. stores first, to get an idea of prices, so will be heading to Jungceylon and MBK before anywhere else. I kinda felt that Alison was yelling at me for wanting to shop whilst in Thailand and Im like "well yeh, course I want to shop!" That is a large reason Im going there, and I will make no excuses or apologies for that.

Anyway ... Jax ... what do you mean this thread is going for the longest record??? Do you mean from when I started it??? It would be nice to hold some sort of a record - thats never happened to me!!! Thanx to you too for shopping tips and also about excess luggage. Ill be able to take out 54 kilos of luggage, so I think that will be plenty to suffice this trip! When it comes to bartering, I often dont do it hard enough, cos (as you said) I think what it is worth to me, and if Im happy to pay that price (even if I could get it cheaper if I tried harder) then Im happy to settle on that cost. If I know its a good price to me, then Im more than happy to give the stallholder more than he is used to getting, cos I know he needs the money much more than I do!!!

Cheers for now ... only 13 more for me and 9 for you Jax!
Kitty

Oh and Shane ... yes your post on my "Im now a regular" thread is on there, so go to asian chat room to find it!
Kitty