CBST Bulletin: Shopping for IT stuff

Panthip Plaza

Computers, TV's, cameras and similar items can be good value in Thailand, but you'll be hard pushed to find one with high quality components selling for significantly less than in the US / Europe. Overall, you're probably better off buying at home than in Thailand, as although you may spend slightly more, you are much more likely to get decent after sales or a refund in case of problems in Europe/US than in Thailand. On the other hand, if you're looking to buy computer peripherals then you can get some good deals in Bangkok, and repairs can be done similarly cheaply.

The best place to go for any type of computer shopping is the multistory Panthip Plaza on Phetburi / Petchburi Rd in Pratunam district (not far from the Amari Watergate hotel). Prices are very cheap and the range extensive, but not all the vendors speak a lot of English.
Though there are a wide range of computer related products on sale, Panthip is most (in)famous for the huge amount of pirated software available. There are literally dozens of different vendors selling hacked versions of software programs, and even the most up-to-date software is available amazingly quickly. Microsoft Windows XP, for instance, had been available in Panthip some weeks prior even to it's official launch in the USA, let alone in Thailand.
As well as software, pirated versions of all of the top Hollywood movies are also available on DVD or VCD, as are compilation MP3 CD's with around 12 albums on each (right). Each CD/VCD/CDROM costs only around 100-150B, as the intense competition helps to keep the prices low. The DVDs cost around 300B or so, and may or may not have had the regional coding removed.

The Thai government, under pressure from the USA, has periodic crackdowns on Panthip Plaza, but they never seem to last very long. The only lasting effect of the crackdowns seems to be that all the pirated material is no longer kept with the vendor, but is instead in a building down the street and is retrieved when someone makes a purchase.
With a bit of searching, it is possible to also find software originals on sale but prices are no bargain compared to the USA/Europe.

Panthip Plaza is very popular and, particularly on weekends, it can get very crowded. There are few other malls throughout Bangkok with a similar, but smaller, range of products on sale:
Hollywood IT, which is located only 100m or so away from Panthip and is very close to the Ratchathewi skytrain station.


Seri Center, near Seacon Square.

IT Mall, in the Fortune Tower on the intersection of Ratchadapiskek road and Asok-Din Daeng road, is another option.

Ordinary buses 2 and 11 and air-con buses 5, 11 and 12 all pass outside of Panthip Plaza, or any taxi driver will know it (it's pronounced as pan-tip). You may also find Panthip written in English as 'Pantip' (including on the building itself), but 'Panthip' is the more common elsewhere and, according to the official way of romanising Thai, the correct spelling.


Posted by,
Same Old
* Note: Doesn't this sound very familiar to somewhere near home???