THAI PRODUCTS-WHAT TO BUY
A wealth of shopping opportunities await visitors, and bargains abound throughout the country in traditional handicrafts, textiles, gems, jewellery and antiques, as well as more contemporary items. But it isn't only the variety of creatively designed and meticulously crafted products that so captivates the traveller.
The shopping experience itself is a pleasure in its own right as one explores from upscale shopping malls and department stores to high streets and back streets and bustling markets. What's more, frequent promotions involving definitively Thai variations on myriad product themes hold out the prospect of acquiring a better selection for a lower outlay. And to top it all, foreign visitors to Thailand can often look forward to receiving a further price reduction in the form of a healthy tax refund on departure; the perfect way to round off a memorable stay.
Shopping street
As part of the year-end shopping celebrations, TAT, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and members of the private sector representing hotels, department stores, shopping malls and other business interests around Bangkok’s famous Ratchaprasong Intersection have joined hands to make the area a colourful shopping street with bright, fresh and fun look decorations.
The harsh lines of the buildings are softened with trees, plants, landscaping, and a touch of Thai to make the area aesthetically appealing. All electrical wiring is buried underground. Street furniture and new lighting are installed and sidewalks smoothly paved with all the shopping malls in and around the intersection linked by covered elevated walkways.There are shopping discounts, special offers and festive celebrations as well as leisure and entertainment extravaganza held throughout the period. The highlight is the “Bangkok Countdown” held in front of the Central World Plaza on New Year’s Eve in which Thai and foreign visitors gather and join the rest of the world in welcoming the New Year.
SILK & COTTON
The gorgeous Thai silk favoured by many Thai and international designers originates from northeastern Thailand where cloth-weaving is a traditional folk craft. Northeastern silk is renowned for mudmee and khit silk varieties, usually made into tubular skirts or phasin. Phu Thai folk employ an elaborate weaving style called chok to create unique phrae wa and phrae mon silks. Hang kra yok silk is the speciality of Thais of Khmer origin, in which complicated weaving patterns create a harmonious, multi-coloured combination of threads.
Northern hand-woven fabrics include cottons with distinctive patterns, such as nam lai and tin chok. The North's most famous rustic cloth is the traditional dark blue mo hom denimlike cloth favoured by Thai farmers.
In southern Thailand, Phum Riang silk is produced by Thai-Muslim villagers who apply traditional weaving patterns to Japanese silk. The Yok Nakhon cotton of Nakhon Si Thammarat is equally distinctive, while batiks and patae skirts glow with the brilliant colours of Malay-influenced designs.
Northern hand-woven fabrics include cottons with distinctive patterns, such as nam lai and tin chok. The North's most famous rustic cloth is the traditional dark blue mo hom denimlike cloth favoured by Thai farmers.
In southern Thailand, Phum Riang silk is produced by Thai-Muslim villagers who apply traditional weaving patterns to Japanese silk. The Yok Nakhon cotton of Nakhon Si Thammarat is equally distinctive, while batiks and patae skirts glow with the brilliant colours of Malay-influenced designs.
GEMS & JEWELLERY
Thailand is rich in precious stones, with a natural abundance of rubies, sapphires, zircon, onyx, jade and opal. Local cutting, design and manufacturing skills ensure a fine range of quality items with a wide choice of prices. Thailand also has a long tradition of fine jewellery cutting and making. Design and cutting skills ensure a fine range of quality items, with a wide choice of prices.
Kanchanaburi and Chanthaburi are both well-known gemstone mining areas, while Bangkok is the major manufacturing centre, the venue where experts converge to judge, grade, buy and sell.
Kanchanaburi and Chanthaburi are both well-known gemstone mining areas, while Bangkok is the major manufacturing centre, the venue where experts converge to judge, grade, buy and sell.
SHADOW PLAY PUPPETS
The hand-made nang talung shadow play in southern Thailand features distinctive puppets with moving parts, while the classic nang yai shadow play associated with the royal courts of Ayutthaya and Bangkok features larger pieces which have no moving either principal characters or scenes from the Thai version of the classic Ramayana.
Shadow play puppets make unusual souvenirs and are manufactured principally in the south of Thailand.
The hand-made nang talung shadow play in southern Thailand features distinctive puppets with moving parts, while the classic nang yai shadow play associated with the royal courts of Ayutthaya and Bangkok features larger pieces which have no moving either principal characters or scenes from the Thai version of the classic Ramayana.
Shadow play puppets make unusual souvenirs and are manufactured principally in the south of Thailand.
LEATHER GOODS
A variety of leather goods are available with a wide range of designs meticulously. made with Thai craftsmanship. Thai leather goods are created in many beautiful designs with durable genuine leathers.
CLOTHES & ACCES SORIES
Clothing presents many excellent buys, both men and women's fashions off-the-peg and tailor made.
A whole range of accessories are also to be found, especially le.ather goods which offer particularly good value for money.
WICKERWORK
Folk wisdom and the countrywide distribution of bamboo combine to make basketweaving an important folk craft.
Rattan, sedge, kok, bullrush. or kra chud are also used to produce beautifullydesigned furniture and attractive souvenirs. These natural materials are widely used for woven mats and other woven handicrafts, while the popular and delicate li pao vine ladies' handbags were introduced by Her Majesty the Queen.
SHADOW PLAY PUPPETS
The hand-made nang talung shadow play in southern Thailand features distinctive puppets with moving parts, while the classic nang yai shadow play associated with the royal courts of Ayutthaya and Bangkok features larger pieces which have no moving parts and are vignettes depicting either principal characters or scenes from the Thai version of the classic Rarnayana. Shadow play puppets make unusual souvenirs and are manufactured principally in the south of Thailand.
WOOD CRAFTS
Chiang Mai has been the commercial centre of wood crafting in northern Thailand for decades.
Wooden elephants were popular souvenir items at first, while today craftsmen have enhanced wood carving by featuring mythical angels, dancing figures, animals and the reproduction of ornamental fragments from old palaces and temples.
CERAMICS & POTTERY
Thai kilns have a long, primarily Chinese-influenced tradition of pottery making. Of the various styles, handpainted 14th century Sangkhalok, produced in Sukhothai, and 19th century Bencharong with decorative porcelain bowls, jars and spittoons are the most popular. Bencharong has proved the most desirable among Thai and foreign collectors due to the rarity and rich surface decorations. The northeastern community of Dan Kwian produces a distinctive range of rust-red objects including vases, flower pots and tiny ornamental accessories. In northern Thailand, high-fired seagreen celadon produces an effect similar to venerable Sangkhalok ceramics.
Chiang Mai has been the commercial centre of wood crafting in northern Thailand for decades.
Wooden elephants were popular souvenir items at first, while today craftsmen have enhanced wood carving by featuring mythical angels, dancing figures, animals and the reproduction of ornamental fragments from old palaces and temples.
CERAMICS & POTTERY
Thai kilns have a long, primarily Chinese-influenced tradition of pottery making. Of the various styles, handpainted 14th century Sangkhalok, produced in Sukhothai, and 19th century Bencharong with decorative porcelain bowls, jars and spittoons are the most popular. Bencharong has proved the most desirable among Thai and foreign collectors due to the rarity and rich surface decorations. The northeastern community of Dan Kwian produces a distinctive range of rust-red objects including vases, flower pots and tiny ornamental accessories. In northern Thailand, high-fired seagreen celadon produces an effect similar to venerable Sangkhalok ceramics.
PEARLS
Cultured pearl production mimics the natural process to produce pearls of guaranteed quality.
Cultured pearl farms are found principally in southern Thailand, particularly in Ranong, Phang-nga and Phuket provinces.
GOLD
Gold has been used primarily in temples and palaces, as golden Buddha images, jewellery and royal insignia and decorations.
Buddha images are decorated with gold leaf and gold is used to enhance modern jewellery.
LACQUERWARE, SILVERWARE, NIELLOWARE, PEWTERWARE
Lacquerware is an ancient oriental craft, and entails a repeated process of coating structural bamboo or wood with lacquer before hand-painting it with elaborate designs. Generally, objects are produced either in gold and black, or yellow and green on a red-brown background. Chiang Mai is the major centre of lacquerware. Products include boxes, trays and dolls.
Silver beating is another traditional northern craft. Bowls, boxes, cigarette cases, vases are fashioned in a craft which has been practised in southern Thailand for hundreds of years.
Nielloware, or khrueang thorn, is the craft of decorating objects with delicately etched designs which are filled with a metal alloy to produce a smooth patterned surface in black and gold. The art is widely practised in Nakhon Si Tharnmarat.
Pewterware, essentially an alloy of lead and tin which produces a metal with a smooth and silky feel, comes mainly in the form of beakers, goblets, tankards and decorative figurines
Cultured pearl production mimics the natural process to produce pearls of guaranteed quality.
Cultured pearl farms are found principally in southern Thailand, particularly in Ranong, Phang-nga and Phuket provinces.
GOLD
Gold has been used primarily in temples and palaces, as golden Buddha images, jewellery and royal insignia and decorations.
Buddha images are decorated with gold leaf and gold is used to enhance modern jewellery.
LACQUERWARE, SILVERWARE, NIELLOWARE, PEWTERWARE
Lacquerware is an ancient oriental craft, and entails a repeated process of coating structural bamboo or wood with lacquer before hand-painting it with elaborate designs. Generally, objects are produced either in gold and black, or yellow and green on a red-brown background. Chiang Mai is the major centre of lacquerware. Products include boxes, trays and dolls.
Silver beating is another traditional northern craft. Bowls, boxes, cigarette cases, vases are fashioned in a craft which has been practised in southern Thailand for hundreds of years.
Nielloware, or khrueang thorn, is the craft of decorating objects with delicately etched designs which are filled with a metal alloy to produce a smooth patterned surface in black and gold. The art is widely practised in Nakhon Si Tharnmarat.
Pewterware, essentially an alloy of lead and tin which produces a metal with a smooth and silky feel, comes mainly in the form of beakers, goblets, tankards and decorative figurines
READY- TO-WEAR
Thailand is known as Southeast Asia and the world's leading manufacturer of ready-to-wear clothing, producing a wide range of garments for the local market and export. Upmarket fashion boutiques are located in modern shopping malls, while bargain clothing is to be found at bazaar stalls or make-shift stalls on the streets.
Thailand is known as Southeast Asia and the world's leading manufacturer of ready-to-wear clothing, producing a wide range of garments for the local market and export. Upmarket fashion boutiques are located in modern shopping malls, while bargain clothing is to be found at bazaar stalls or make-shift stalls on the streets.
CUSTOM TAILORING
There are literally hundreds of establishments small and large producing all kinds of clothing orders in a variety of styles in just a few days. You may choose a style from recent fashion magazines and select the cloth from a wide display of materials, both locally made and imported.
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- In general, jewellery items cannot be returned. If refunds are allowed, then often 25-30% of the selling price will be deducted as “costs of damages”. More reputable companies may offer a full refund although usually only within a certain time limit, such as 30 days. Do not believe any claims by shop owners that purchases can be refunded at Thai embassies, consulates or other government offices overseas. 