Shopping in Bangkok is not limited to one or two major streets. There are many areas throughout Bangkok affording ample choices and easy access. The following is just a selection of some of the principal shopping areas.

Ploenchit-Ratchaprasong Top department stores and luxury shopping malls are concentrated in the area, namely Central, Sogo, Gaysorn Plaza, Isetan, Zen, Amarin Plaza, Peninsula Plaza, all of which together make the largest shopping promenade in Bangkok. Furthermore, the World Trade Centre and Narayana Phand Pavilion, host the official handicraft centre selling items from all parts of the country. Ratchaprasong intersection is the gateway to several shopping areas such as Phloenchit-Sukhumvit, Siam Square - Mah Boon Krong (MBK), Silom and Pratunam-Phetchaburi.
Silom-Surawong-Patpong Silom Road is the main artery of Bangkoks commercial heart and is paralleled by Surawong Road, while Patpong runs crosswise between the two. In addition to housing dozens of specialist shops and boutiques representing all the major buys, this area also boasts many branches of well-known retailers and several shopping plazas. Street stalls also abound, most notably at Patpongs famous night market.

Silom-Mahesak-Charoenkrung Road Silom leads into Charoenkrung Road which parallels the Chao Phraya River, and notable shopping opportunities include gems and jewellery stores (Mahesak Road is a gem trading centre), Oriental Plaza and River City shopping complex.
Sukhumvit, like Silom, is one of Bangkoks main thoroughfares, and the long road is lined with shops, boutiques and modern shopping plazas ranging from Soi 3 (Nana Nua) up to Soi 63 (Ekkamai). Most shops and restaurants are concentrated between Soi 3 and soi 21 (Asok) and along shortcuts between Asok and Ekkamai.

Pratunam-Phetchaburi A highlight in the district is Pratunam market, one of Bangkoks biggest centres for ready-to-wear clothing.
Baiyoke Tower Located next to Bangkoks tallest hotel building, Baiyoke tower is one of the citys renowned garment centres.

Nai Lert Plaza Situated close to Pratunam Market, Nai Lert Market is one of many shopping areas in Bangkok where you can buy just about everything from clothing to handicrafts.
Bang Lamphu Situated close to the Grand Palace, Bang Lamphu has a lively market where clothing is a popular buy.

Chinatown Centre on Yaowarat Road and Sampheng Lane, Bangkoks Chinatown offers a profusion of gold shops as well as several nearby traditional shopping places such as Ban Mo Jewellery Street, Phahurat Cloth Market and the Old Siam Plaza.
Bo-be Market Situated close to Bangkok Railway Station, Bo-be is one of the citys renowned ready-to-wear clothing centres, both wholesale and retail.
Jatujak or Chatuchak Weekend Market Located adjacent to Chatuchak Park, the weekend market, open on Saturday and Sunday, is a Bangkok landmark where you can buy just about everything from clothing to potted plants and everything in between a paradise for browsers and bargain-hunters alike. The market also offers items of furniture and home decor. It is also where professional and amateur art-lovers and artists meet.

Pak Khlong Talat This is a wholesale market for all kinds of cut flowers and vegetables. It is located on Maharat Road near the Memorial Bridge. The market is crowded in the early morning and in the evening.

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market This popular attraction is some 80 kilometres west of Bangkok, accessible by regular bus from the Southern Bus Terminal. Everyday, hundreds of vendor boats crowd the market area in the early morning till noon.

Bangkok is full of shopping malls and street markets of all types, especially in the Sukhumvit area; see the section for details. Prices can be cheap by Western standards, especially for locally produced items such as clothes, although bargaining is expected and required. Dump a teenager in MBK or Emporium with a few thousand baht and they'll stay occupied for the rest of the week! Most malls tend to have excellent food courts.

Weekend Market: A major attraction on weekends is the gigantic Chatuchak Weekend Market, in northern Bangkok but easily accessible by Skytrain and Metro. Takes around an hour on the bus from Koh San Road area and has 20,000 stalls selling everything from counterfeit goods, animals, art, furniture and probably anything else you can think of. Definately worth a visit for the sheer size of it.

Night Market: Hugely popular with tourists & locals alike is the open air Suan Lum Night Bazaar. This is a large and colourful market offering bargains on everything from clothes, bags, crockery to organic foods. There is a large food court with a live band every night. Covered in more detail in the Silom section.

Computer Mall: Pantip Plaza is a multi level computer mall selling everything from branded laptops to cheap VOIP phones and pirated DVDs. A must for any computer & electronics buff.
Thailand is a good place to buy fairly cheap (although not high quality) electronics, music, video and software. Locally manufactured music, movies and software are cheap to match the Thai income, as are some (generally low-tech) local and imported electronics.

Electronics

Cheap Asian copies of big name brand hardware are commonplace, and it can be a good way to pick up functional machines for a low price. Though they may lack the full range of features and build quality (and warranty) of their real brand counterparts, they make up for it in price. These items can be found in high street shops, supermarkets, and specialist market areas in the major cities (such as MBK in Bangkok). DVD players (genuine brand or imitation) sold in Thailand are usually region free.

Shops

• CD Warehouse is the largest and most common (at least in Bangkok), with a large variety of music available. They carry a large selection of audio DVDs and a fair selection of movies.
• Mangpong (Scorpion) are virtually everywhere and have a large selection of movies, but only a small selection of western music. Stock varies between shops so check around if there's something in particular you're looking for.
• Big C and most other large supermarket chains have cheap VCD/DVDs and electronics available.
Music

CD Warehouse and Mangpong are the major chains that sell western music. Most major label releases are available for about 400-500 baht, roughly 40% less than they would be in England for example. The selections are not great for the more obscure items, but most chart pop/rock is available. Jazz also has quite a large following, with a reasonable selection. Imports (e.g. from Japan) are also reasonably priced.

Video Video is where Thailand really shines for western visitors. DVDs and VCDs are extremely common in Thai shops (VHS are fairly hard to come by however), and are often exceptionally cheap. NB: most DVD players intended for the North America, Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan or Philippines markets will NOT play the PAL format used in Thailand. A few players such as those made JVC, Philips/Magnavox and CyberHome may have a conversion to NTSC. Otherwise, you will have to use a computer to view foreign DVDs.

VCDs VCDs (the are the precursor to DVDs) are usually 2 CDs and have just slightly better than VHS quality audio/video (but suffer no wear through repeat playings). Almost every DVD player can also play VCDs, so can be a quick (and cheap) way to pick up that film you've fancied seeing, but can't justify the price of the DVD.
Price is where VCDs really stand out. They can be had for as little as 50 baht, though range up to 400 baht (although at this price DVDs may be a better buy). The price is normally determined by who manufactured it and how old it is. There are a few major producers (and hundreds of smaller ones!).

The VCD (and DVD) rental chain store Tsutaya (found in many malls) sells its used VCDs very cheaply (usually between 10 and 79 baht), and the selection is eclectic but good.
APS are the cheapest and can often be found in the "bargain bins" for about 50 baht.
Mangpong are good for recent blockbusters and horror films. They range for 59 to about 200 baht for the latest releases and offer a good selection. Generally you will only find them in Mangpong shops, but since these are so common (in most shopping centres) they are very easy to come by.

CVD are the most expensive but also the most comprehensive of the producers. They make all the other major movies that Mangpong do not cover, and have a very large selection. Prices range from 100 to 450 (!) baht.
Pacific - more blockbusters. Prices around 150 baht.

• One important thing to watch out for is the language - you don't want to pick up a movie dubbed in Thai by mistake. Mangpong and CVD are quite good at making this clear with "Thai Subtitle" clearly labeled on the front.

DVDs
Prices range from 100 - 1000 baht. Thailand is in region 3, though region 1 & 2 imports can also be found in the larger stores.
Like VCDs, DVDs can be primarily distinguished by who manufacturers them. Again CVD and Mangpong are the major producers, and again the prices for Mangpong are cheapest and CVD more expensive.

Mangpong is especially good for cheap DVDs, often the counterpart to the VCD can be had for about 100 baht more (for example, the Lord of the Rings 2 DVD set can be had for 200 baht). CVD are the more expensive, generally between 500 and 1000 baht.
Subtitles are not an issue with DVDs as they have multiple soundtracks.
Movie Seer and Amorn Movie are good sites for seeing upcoming and current DVD releases and prices.

Software

To meet the demands of the Thai market, software is very reasonably priced. Official versions are surprisingly cheap, probably to compete with widespread piracy sales at around 100-150 baht/disc. Most recent PC games can be found for around 500-1000 baht, a good deal cheaper than they are in the West.

Bangkok's pharmacies (drugstores) tend to offer a very wide range of (wholly legal and legitimate) medicines and herbal remedies at a fraction of Western prices, including many drugs that would require a doctor's prescription in other countries. Thai pharmacists tend to be exceptionally helpful, and most speak excellent English. There are small, independent pharmacists on almost every corner, and you'll find bigger (and more expensive) chains on the major streets and in shopping centers. Boots is probably the most ubiquitous chain; they're also a reliable source for traveler's toiletries.

Books: B2S on the the 3rd floor of the Central World Plaza is Bangkok's largest bookstore, holding around 30,000 titles (many in English) and large selection of magazines. Japanese chain Kinokuniya also has a large outlet in Siam Paragon (Level 3 South), with a good selection of guidebooks and comics in English.

Clothing: Bangkok is well-known for it's plethora of tailors and high-quality fabric available locally. As a rule of thumb, avoid ANY tailor that you're taken to since many are frequent bribers of tuktuk drivers and others. Generally Sukhumvit-area tailors are western-oriented.