Second Hand Bookshops...

[jezchesters]

Hi!

Does anyone have any advice on where to find good second-hand English bookshops based on price and range?

Thanks!

Jez

[leisurely]

DASA near Emporium is good, pricey though. The stock is displayed on the website if you google the name. Alternatively chatuchak although this is much more disorganised.

[Blake7]

Khao San Road is also good though you have to wade through all the hippy nonsense to find anything good.

[Ulysses G.]

Alternatively chatuchak although this is much more disorganised.

I find Chatuchak to be pretty much a waste of time unless all you want in cheap garbage like beat up, old Robert Ludlum.

There is one guy who usually has a few good books, but he asks the same prices as Dasa.

[jezchesters]

Cheers for all of the advice guys!

Is there anywhere that you could recommend that isn't packed full of holiday novels? I tend to get through books at a fair rate of knots, and to buy all my books new may end up being more expensive than a drug habit

Edited March 10, 2007 by jezchesters

[bangsue]

this is dasa website mentioned above dasa book cafe

Edited March 10, 2007 by bangsue

[popshirt]

Cheers for all of the advice guys!

Is there anywhere that you could recommend that isn't packed full of holiday novels? I tend to get through books at a fair rate of knots, and to buy all my books new may end up being more expensive than a drug habit

Dasa does buy used books including those originally purchased from them. I usually go in with 4 or 5 when I am shopping for more. It takes the edge off the "pricyness" mentioned above.

[bkkmei]

There's also Elite Bookstores which I thought was better than Dasa. It's between Villa and Phrom Phong station on Sukhumvit, near Soi 33.

But honestly, still pricey. I end up just going to Kinokuniya.

[t.s]

There's also Elite Bookstores which I thought was better than Dasa. It's between Villa and Phrom Phong station on Sukhumvit, near Soi 33.

But honestly, still pricey. I end up just going to Kinokuniya.

elite is good, but books are expensive everywhere

[Oneman]

There's also Elite Bookstores which I thought was better than Dasa. It's between Villa and Phrom Phong station on Sukhumvit, near Soi 33.

But honestly, still pricey. I end up just going to Kinokuniya.

I'll second that recommendation for Elite near Villa and Phrom Phong. I was in there just today. A huge selection, mostly popular fiction and some travel books, but a small assortment of everything else, too. Be warned, though, Elite is not for fat people -- the shelves are spaced for Asian body size.

Both Elite and DASA will trade books: bring in your old ones and pick out new ones. Depending on if they want your old books, the going rate at Elite is 3:1. Elite accepts in trade almost anything I bring in. DASA is far more limited in the books they will accept in trade.

Edited March 10, 2007 by Oneman

[Richb2004v2]

There is one particular second hand book shop on Koh San Road that is particularly good. It is just of the main street and easy to find. It is very small, but very, very good. They have a much better selection that the usual holiday novel. It seemed to me they had selected a batch of fantastic book and crammed them into a tiny space. i could have gone mad in there. All shelves well labeled and books seemed to be in excellent condition. The prices were a little more than I normally pay for second hand books, but I considered it worth it.

[the gent]

Elite has choice but finding a really good read among the american potboilers can be a bit of a challenge and when one finally unearths something of interest it's usually stupidly expensive for second hand goods.

Frankly, Kinokuniya across the road offers far better value and occasionally a bargain too, all without the unpleasantness of encountering dubious stains one inevitably seems to find in second hand books. Choosing one's selections there is generally a pleasure although I do find the security omnipresence to be a little creepy and on several visits I have had to shoo them away.

[Ulysses G.]

There's also Elite Bookstores which I thought was better than Dasa. It's between Villa and Phrom Phong station on Sukhumvit, near Soi 33.

I like Elite Bookshop better as well.

I think that that Amporia Books is the best one on Koh San Road. The owner is very nice too.

[Ulysses G.]

There's also Elite Bookstores which I thought was better than Dasa. It's between Villa and Phrom Phong station on Sukhumvit, near Soi 33.

But honestly, still pricey. I end up just going to Kinokuniya.

elite is good, but books are expensive everywhere

What people don't understand is that most 2nd-hand book shops here get very few decent books from customers - sellers want to keep the special titles and get rid of old John Grisham and Tom Clancy novels and that type of trash - and most customers demand a high price for premium books when they are willing to sell them at all.

This is a country full of THAI people, who read THAI books and quality English books are very difficult to find.

Most of the better shops import most of their good books from other countries and someone has to fly there - pay for an air ticket - and run around collecting them for a few months - gasoline, hotels, expensive food - and then pay for them to be sent here. On top of that, customs charges are VERY high and one often has to pay for transport inside Thailand to whatever city they are going to.

To be honest, both Elite and Dasa don't have to import books because they are some of the few shops that get enough from customers, but their rents are astronomical because they need to be in a convenient location or no one will shop there or sell them the books they need to survive.

[bkkmei]

as an aside, and probably of no use to the OP, on the 1st floor of the Bull's Head, they sell paperbacks for 50 baht each... but they're definitely of the Barbara Taylor Bradford / Sidney Sheldon genre...

[jezchesters]

Thanks for all the good advice guys!