Shopping in Pattaya

Pattaya is probably only second to Bangkok when it comes to shopping in Thailand.

Mike's Shopping Mall in Pattaya
Mike's Shopping Mall, Pattaya

Mike’s Shopping Mall, located between Beach Road and Second Road is huge and sells just about everything you can imagine. On the upper floors you’ll find the real designer clothes, fractionally cheaper than what you’d find them in the west. On the ground floor by the Beach Road entrance is the fake designer clothes. Timberland, Nike, Von Dutch shirts can be bought here for as little as £5 each, if you have the patience to haggle.

Foodland in Pattaya
Foodland, Pattaya

On Second Road is Friendship Supermarket, a good place for groceries and office equipment. Carrefour, Lotus and Big C are the other major shopping outlets. Big C tends to be slightly lower in prices than Lotus, and Carrefour has a great foodcourt. Foodland on Central Pattaya Road specialises in Western food, and is quite cheap compared to the larger superstores.

Carrefour in Pattaya
Carrefour, Pattaya

The real bargains to be had are at the daytime markets, where you’ll see mainly locals doing their shopping and not too many farang. These are not so easy to find, as they’re not situated in the tourist areas. Try this: take a girl from the bar and tell her you want to take her shopping. Watch her face light up, then tell her you’re not interested in Mike’s Mall and the like, say you want to go to, “Talard took took.” This is not the reason she wanted to meet a farang - so she can go to a “Cheap market.” Just watch her face drop.

Street-sellers.
Sitting in a bar anywhere in Pattaya the night will not go by without you being offered something by a street-seller. Zippo lighters, designer clothes, sunglasses, Buddha statues, amulets will all be pushed under your nose. Always a favourite present to take home, the fake Rolex never usually last more than a week or two before the hands stop and the gold begins to flake. The pirated DVDs can vary in quality, from an almost perfect copy, to a hand-held camcorder in a cinema version; complete with Japanese subtitles and people’s heads as they go to the bathroom. Not sure why anybody would want to buy a tazer-gun. You can just imagine the bedlam these things would cause on an average Saturday night at closing time in most English towns.

Shops in Pattaya

Don’t be afraid to check and double-check the quality of something you’re buying from a street-seller. Quite often they’ll show you a lighter that’s full of gas and has no scratches, then once you’ve agreed a price they’ll hand you one in a cellophane wrapper. This one will barely have any gas and most likely have scratches. These guys buy most of their items for no more than 80baht each, so when their asking price is 700baht, remember to haggle them down. Right down.

Submitted by : Paul Robinson
27-Mar-06

The famous Royal Garden Plaza which has great foodcourt and fast food like Pizza Hut, Burger King, etc. Ripley's Adventure and various clothes shops at Royal Garden on Beach road is not to be missed.

Shopping in Bangkok

Have something to share with other readers about Pattaya?

Join Pattaya Forum and talk about it.

Reader's comments:

Prices in Pataya and bangkok are almost similar. Pataya offers a better and latest quality as it is tourist place. In Bangkok the prices are high in malls. It is better to ship from street side vendors. In night market the quality of goods is inferior and in dim light you will not know about what you have bought till you reach home.

Added by: arun Report abuse

who gives a f#@* about shopping only come for supping and f***ing

Added by: here2f*** Report abuse

I bought some new DVD last time I was there,good quality and cheap.

Added by: lillybee Report abuse

I think that depends where you go to shop in Pattaya, we have been there for the last 4 years and found some places cheaper than Bangkok also the sellers aremore friendly and have the time to spend with you.

Added by: yorkiesgal Report abuse

Prices of stuff in Pattaya are expensive when compared to Bangkok. I would rather shop in Bangkok because of this reason.

Added by: Pattaya Farang Report abuse