Bangkok is arguably the best place in Asia for shopping and visitors will be spoilt for choice with the extensive shopping malls, department stores, small shops and markets. The city is also great for bargain hunters and haggling with street vendors is to be expected.

Ploenchit and Rama I roads have several glitzy shopping malls along them with designer brands, restaurants and cinemas. The River City Shopping Complex, adjacent to the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel, has two floors devoted to antiques. Prices are fixed in most department stores but they do frequently offer discounts to interested buyers. Sukhumvit Road has a wide range of silk and gift shops, as well as many tailors.

Most visitors will head to the many street markets for their colourful atmosphere and lower prices. The Sukhumvit Road area has a street market that runs most of the day but is busiest at night. Dozens of stalls sell clothes, bags, silk items and gifts. Apart from the colourful nightlife in Patpong, the area also has a bustling night market where clothes and souvenirs are a real bargain.

The weekend market at Chatuchak Park, on Phaholyothin Road, sells virtually everything that Thailand makes or grows, such as furniture, carpets, ceramics, watches, clothes, food and flowers. The Suan Lum night bazaar at the intersection of Rama IV and Wireless Roads is very popular with thousands of stalls selling gifts, clothes, handicrafts and jewellery. However, attempts are being made to close the market and this could happen at any time.

Chinatown is full of gold shops and the nearby cloth market at Phahurat has a huge range of superb fabrics. Woeng Nakhon Kasem, better known as the ‘Thieves' Market', located between Yaowarat Road and New Road, sells antique porcelain, copperware and furniture. Good buys to be found throughout the city include silk items, silver and gold, gems (rubies and sapphires are indigenous to Thailand), pearls, painted umbrellas and fans, ceramics, wickerwork, woodcarvings and leather goods. It is also an ideal place to have clothes made and the quality is of a high standard.

Many stores are open 12 hours a day, seven days a week and the street markets have even longer hours, although some are busier in the mornings and others in the evenings.

A Thailand Duty-Free Shop is located in the Downtown Duty Free Mall, King Power Complex, Rangnam Road. Tourists can pay for their purchases here and collect them at the airport immediately prior to departure from the country. Value Added Tax (7%) can be refunded on goods bought in shops labelled ‘VAT refund for tourists', where there is a minimum transaction of ฿2,000 including VAT. VAT Refund Application for Tourists forms are completed at the time of purchase and it is necessary to show one's passport. Cash refunds (minimum ฿5,000) can be obtained in the airport departure hall and often the goods purchased must also be shown.