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Most people shopping in Patong for the first time buy the same thing twice. A t-shirt from a stall on the first night, then a better one two days later, once they have worked out what things actually cost here.
Patong sells more or less the same categories in four completely different ways, and all four are within a ten-minute walk of each other. Knowing which is which before you start is the whole trick.
Four kinds of shopping, all within a walking distance
- Air-conditioned, fixed-price retail Jungceylon, the mall directly opposite Bangla Road and about five minutes’ walk from the beach.
- Open-air stalls, the night market stalls and the strip of shops along Thaweewong Road, which everyone calls Beach Road.
- A fresh market, the Banzaan market located on Sai Kor Road, a short walk from the back of the mall.
- Made-to-measure the tailor shops along Rat-U-Thit Road.
None of these is the best one. They are good at different things.
Fixed prices and air conditioning
The mall is the suitable place when you want a recognized brand, a real warranty, and a price you do not have to argue about. It is also the only one of the four you can spend two hours in during a 34-degree afternoon without wanting to lie down.
Jungceylon is divided into four themed zones: The Jungle Zone, The Bay Zone, The Garden Zone and The Botanica Zone. For shopping, the stores are located mostly in The Jungle Zone and The Botanica Zone.
The Jungle Zone covers everyday clothing and Thai brands on the ground floor. Naraya is the one to know if you are buying gifts Thai-made fabric bags, purses and pouches, cheap enough to buy six of and nice enough that nobody can tell you bought them all in one shop. Uniqlo is a few doors along for the linen shirt you did not pack. Up on the second floor, The Maple Gallery sells framed art and prints, and in the basement, Thai Souvenir and the small independent stalls around it are the fixed-price version of what the beach stalls sell.
The Botanica Zone is where the international and Thai fashion labels are, on the ground floor Jaspal for clothing, Mt. Sapola for Thai soaps, candles and home fragrance that travel better than most souvenirs. Tara Leather on the second floor and Bangkok Bootery in the basement of The Jungle Zone are the two leather shops, and both are worth a look before you commit to a market bag.
The mall is open from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM every day.
Open-air, and open to an offer
The stalls are for volume: beachwear, sunglasses, phone cases, fridge magnets, elephant-print trousers, football shirts. Quality varies enormously, and there is no returning anything, so buy things you would not mind replacing.
The first price at a tourist stall is an opening position, not a price expected to settle somewhere well below it, and walking away is a normal part of the conversation rather than an insult. And cash goes much further than a card here; many stalls take cards now, but the discount is easier to get when you are holding notes.
The fresh market
Banzaan is the local one. The ground level is produce, fish and meat; upstairs is cooked food. Prices are marked or asked for in Thai, and this is not really a bargaining market.
Thai fresh markets are an early-morning place. The produce is best not long after sunrise and the selection thins by the middle of the day.
If you only need supermarket things like water, sunscreen, snacks, a bottle of something Big C in The Botanica Zone is the easier option, and it is open from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM, which is earlier and later than the mall around it.
Made to measure
This is the one the mall does not do. Patong’s tailoring trade is on Rat-U-Thit Road and the side streets, not inside any shopping center. If you want a suit, a shirt or a dress cut to your measurements before you fly home, that is where you go.
A few things will tell you quickly whether a tailor is any good:
- Ask how many fittings. A proper job is three. A shop promising a finished suit by tomorrow morning is promising one fitting, and it will look like it.
- Ask to see the cloth. You want to be shown the bolt the garment will be cut from, not a swatch card.
- Get the price in writing before anything is cut, including the lining and any extra trousers.
- Leave enough days. Please prepare a custom-made item, it might take longer than you planned.
Nobody should buy a tailored suit on their last afternoon. If it is on your list, go in the first two days and have the fittings first before wandering in Patong.
source: Verdandi
