Pattaya Shopping

Shop till you drop!

This may well seem to be a tired old cliche. Here it is common. Prices and variety of goods change even the most conservative of us into a 'shopaholic'. All tastes are catered for in luxury malls or market stalls.

Pattaya is a real shoppers town. All the main brands are represented in the malls. Take care not to be fooled by sales of counterfeit goods. These run from DVDs to T shirts. Football shirts may be made from exactly the same material , and perfect down to the tiniest detail (They may even be made in the same factory as the real thing). Expect real goods to be a few percent cheaper than at home. If the factor runs into 100's of percent you are certainly buying a fake.

Once you have learned a few words of Thai (start with the numbers) then you can start having fun bargaining for that special price. Note that most department and foreign brand stores are fixed price, and bargaining won't work. However in street shops, and definitely at markets negotiating for a good deal is acceptable and expected. If they say 250 Baht you reply, loi harsip dai mai?(150 , OK?), then the fun begins.