Zeer Rangsit - Is it just me ...

[Crossy]

... or has the place gone downhill over the last year or two?

 

Zeer was always my go-to place for IT stuff but I've not been there for some time, not needed to and I tend to get bigger stuff on-line (no need to trek round looking for stuff).

 

Anyway, today I needed some bits in a hurry. My UNraid NAS main board died the death last week (old age mostly). In my assorted bits box I found an i7 mainboard with 4G of RAM but none of the graphics cards in the same box functioned. I was also 99% sure the 4 port PCI SATA board was dead too.

 

So I needed a cheap PCI-e graphics card and a 4-port SATA card (PCI or PCI-e, the board has both available).

 

I recalled that there were a number of small stalls selling all manner of expansion cards and felt confident that I would score. But. Zip ????

 

I found a used graphics card at one of the second-hand PC places for 300 Baht but the SATA card was proving more difficult. 

 

After being frustrated at a dozen or so likely looking places I was pointed at J-Box on the 3rd floor, I admit I wasn't confident but asked anyway. After some rummaging he came up with a PCI 3-port SATA with a PATA port too (3 ports would do as the main board has 7 SATA ports, the old board had only 6), another 300 Baht.

 

So it's all back together and working so I'm a happy bear, but I must admit that Zeer just doesn't seem the same as it was. It may be Asia's (or even the world's) largest IT mall but it seems to be loads of places selling CCTV and standard PCs and components, the niche places seem to have gone (or are better hidden than my old brain could find).

 

Like I said, is it just me?

 

And I've ordered an 8-port PCI-e SATA card from AliExpress, I intend expanding the NAS to whatever will fit in the box (a dozen 3.5" drive bays plus space for a few 2.5"drives).

 

 

[johng]

Same thing has happened to "Tukcom" here in Pattaya  there used to be many shops with 2nd hand stuff , selling low priced 2nd hand pc systems and doing repairs ..mostly all gone now ☹️

[kkerry]

A while back a bunch of the repair and second hand shops at the back of Zeer on one of the top floors relocated to a newly renovated section near the centre of Zeer. They probably offloaded a lot of the really old stock that hardly anyone buys anymore when they shifted. People now buy online or use phones instead of computers. A number of shops I used to buy from closed or downsized. There are plenty of food options that ensure Zeer as a shopping centre remains fairly busy. 

 

The top floor of Zeer was renovated recently but it remains unused, probably no demand for retail space with plenty of space vacant already. The management make an effort with the Monday night market popular and they're always renovating somewhere. The Hub next door has never really taken off. Again, more empty shops (clothing mostly) and it's quiet most of the time.

 

 

Pantip has plenty of empty shops after their renovation, Palladium is a ghost town, with only Fortune seeing lots of foot traffic due to its location but Fortune never had the variety of repair and used shops Pantip and even Zeer had imo.

 

Same thing is happening in other places. In KL, Plaza Low Yat was bustling when I went there in July but Imbi Plaza is barely hanging on. Even the famous Sim Lim Square in Singapore has lots of empty units in the back corners. With Funan not due to reopen until mid 2019 you'd think SLS would have gained a few tenants but no. SLS never really recovered from the rogue phone sellers scandal a few years ago. Some days it is really dead and is now on the market... for a billion dollars. Clearly most of the landlords don't see much of a future for retail tech and so are hoping for one last big payday.

[Crossy]

@kkerry there's a few names from the past in there.

 

I remember enjoying a Saturday wander around Imbi Plaza in the late 90s (was it really 20 years ago) and Low Yat opening as a more up-market version, at the time mostly games.

 

I can't remember last time I was in Sim Lim Square, it certainly would have been before the Down Town Line opened (I was working for Thales doing some of the systems design).

 

I think you're right and tech retail, other than for devices, is dying, get anything slightly out of the ordinary on-line. I will say that two items I bought recently at Zeer (27" Samsung monitor and Coolermaster fans) were both rather cheaper than a major online seller (and of course I didn't have to wait).   

 

[WorriedNoodle]

The reception area in the condo I use now resembles a post office package storage area. Everyone buying online these days and courier just drops it off at reception. I miss the walks around malls, but much better value and less hassle buying online now.

[Pepper9187]

Same in Bangkok,

 

Look at Pantip plaza ! it's dead now, 50% of the shops are closed, also where i live there was a small shopping center with 2-3 floors of I.T shops, 2/3 closed down (Pata pinklao)

 

Most of the people are ordering online now, physical stores are going down.

[Pib]

The age of online buying and electronics that can not be economically repaired has forced many brick-and-mortar IT stores and repair shops out of business. 

 

Like a large mall close to me in western Bangkok use to have around 40 IT-type stores/repair shops occupying a major part of the 3rd floor, but over the last 5 years or so over half of the stores/shops just closed.  And a few months ago the remaining ones were moved to the other end of the 3rd floor as the mall does some renovation.  However, quite of few of the IT stores/shops decided not to relocate to the other end of the mall and just closed or moved out of the mall to some little hole in the wall on a dark soi. 

 

Yeap, IT stores and repair shops have taken a big hit over the last 5 to 10 years.