The complete shopping guide

Shopping in Thailand is an activity in its own right, and for some travellers it is the reason for half the days of the trip. The problem is that it is very easy to waste whole days on it and come back with a bag of things you do not need.

There are no prices here: they change from stall to stall and from season to season. What is here is what stays fixed: where you buy what, and how.

Three channels, three purposes

Market: a wide range, an open price to haggle over, an experience. Mall: a fixed price, air conditioning, returns. Duty free: the last moment.

Most people use all three on the same trip, but it is worth knowing in advance what to buy where rather than deciding at the stall.

Markets: how not to drown in them

A big market is not a place you scan in full. You do one first pass without buying, to understand what is there and what the price range is, and then you go back to two or three stalls.

Night markets are a category of their own, and almost every destination has one: in Phuket, in Koh Samui and in Krabi. They are usually more pleasant than a day market, because it is less hot.

The floating market is an entirely different experience: you buy from a boat, and the atmosphere is worth more than the stock. We have a page on the floating market in Pattaya.

Haggling without being unpleasant

In a market you haggle: it is part of the game and not a lack of respect. You smile, offer a lower price, get a counter-offer, and settle in the middle.

Two rules: you do not haggle over something you do not intend to buy, and you do not fight over a tiny sum. In a mall, by contrast, the price is fixed and there is nothing to haggle over.

What is worth buying

Our detailed list — spices and tea, spa products, clothes and silver jewellery, handicrafts — is in our gifts guide, together with the tips for each category.

The difference between a good souvenir and something that just takes up space in the suitcase usually comes down to one question: would you have bought it at home too?

What to watch out for

Electronics, precious stones and "special offers" someone made you in the street are the categories in which travellers fall the most.

The rule: if someone approaches you in the street with a deal, it is not a deal. A genuine bargain does not need persuading.

Before you close the suitcase

Check customs limits on food items, keep receipts, and remember that liquids and spa products must go in the checked suitcase and not in hand luggage.

And if the route ends in Bangkok: that is also where the range is widest, and it is the natural place to leave most of the shopping rather than carrying it through the whole trip.

Want us to put it together for you?

Tell us when you plan to fly, with whom, and how much time you have, and we will come back with an itinerary, hotels and attractions that fit exactly that — in Hebrew.