Holiday Tours Blog

Unbelievable shopping experience at pattaya
By: Marc Jones
Pattaya, the fabulous city in Thailand, has a huge range of shops and markets that cater to all tastes. A great shopping experience is always round the corner in Pattaya.

Pattaya shopping ranges from malls to small shops on the streets. Though the city does not have huge malls and shopping complexes like Bangkok, its medium sized malls offer a great variety of products to choose from.  Mike, The Central Festival Centre, The Royal Garden Plaza, P.S. Plaza, Com City are the famous shopping malls in Pattaya. These malls are a great way to escape the scorching heat outside.

Mike, a multi- level shopping mall lies on the Beach Road and has another entrance on the Second Road. You can shop for clothes, souvenirs and other accessories on the ground level. It has a departmental store, a food court on level five and a swimming pool for visitors on level ten. Shop till you drop is the perfect statement for Mike as you can shop right from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The Central Festival Centre is situated opposite Soi (Lane) 2 on the Second Road. It has the Big C supermarket which has the latest electronics and reasonably priced designer clothes and the IT Corner which is famous for its cheap deals on mobile phones and accessories.

The Royal Garden Plaza is an upmarket air-conditioned mall on the Beach Road situated close to the Pattaya Marriot hotel. You can also enter this mall from the Second Road, near the Ripley’s Aeroplane.

P.S. Plaza, a double storied mall lies at the intersection of the Second Road and The Central Pattaya Road. The ground level comprises of a supermarket, the first level has billiards, books and massage centers along with a few other shops. There is a bowling centre on the second level.

Com City or Tuk. Com is yet another multi-level mall situated at South Pattaya Road. The basement of this mall has a Tops Supermarket, a food court, shops selling electronic goods and spare parts, stalls selling clothes and other stuff. The ground floor has many regular shops while the first floor consists of shops selling mobile phones. The second, third and fifth floors comprise of shops selling computers and handheld electronic goods. The fourth floor sells Video CDs, MP3s and computer games and software.

Shopping in Pattaya is boundless, you can find shops and stalls everywhere, on the way in and out, at the beaches, on the sidewalks, in the lanes, day in and day out. The shops on the streets offer a huge variety of products such as clothes, shoes, handbags,  sunglasses, artificial jewelry, Thai silk, leather goods, watches, handicrafts, antiques, souvenirs, pirated CDs, DVDs, MP3s, games and other pirated duplicate products. The beachfront stalls have fake football t-shirts, rude chest print t-shirts, souvenirs, bikinis, shorts, stun guns and porn DVDs.

The products range from expensive to very cheap ones, haggling is a must at these roadside stalls and shops. Good bargaining can get you still better prices. Shoppers need to beware of fake glitter and a close look is very important while buying jewelry and gemstones. Hand-woven Thai silk is a good bargain deal in these shops. While shopping on the streets of Pattaya, one can also stop over for some delicious Thai curry rice or a plate of Pad Thai.

There are many supermarkets and seven eleven shops (7-11) at the end of every Soi (lane). There are around 93 seven eleven shops (7-11) in Pattaya, a beer or a snack is just a hundred meters away. The main supermarkets are Big C, Foodland, Foodmart, Carrefour, Friendship supermarket, Tops, Villa market, Avenue shopping mall and Tesco-Lotus. The Villa market, The Avenue shopping mall, Foodmart and Foodland are 24 hour supermarkets whereas The Friendship Supermarket is open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. next day. The Friendship market located on South Pattaya Road has the biggest collection of bread, wine and cheese.

Pattaya is the best place for a decent business wardrobe, the city has some really good tailors and you can get a tailor-made suit stitched within 24 hours. A Pattaya holiday is incomplete without a visit to the bazaar markets of the city. You can get the best deals by just a bit of bargaining. Some famous bazaar markets in Pattaya are- The Soi Buakow Market, located opposite the Friendship supermarket is open on Tuesdays and Fridays in the daytime. This busy market can get really hot due to its canvas roofing.

The Thepprasit Market on Thepprasit road is a weekend market that opens on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the evenings. This market has nearly 500 shops selling various local or China made replica goods. Watches, accessories, wallets, clothes, shoes, belts, lingerie, pets, mobile phones and other electronics are the main goods found here. It’s very easy to lose oneself in the countless malls, markets and streets of the city. Pattaya shopping has become a major workout regime for vacationers. Pattaya is a shopper’s paradise and it’s really difficult to visit Pattaya and leave the city without a few extra bags.

About the Author

Marc Smith is the author of this article on pattaya shopping. Find more information relating to pattaya holiday here.

(ArticlesBase SC #1175405)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Unbelievable shopping experience at pattaya

Tags: Unbelievable shopping experience

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Pattaya_Part2. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.