I will be spending a month in Thailand later this year (from the US). The one thing I miss while traveling is listening to music in my hotel room, and I don't like to walk around the room with earphones on. Is it possible to buy some inexpensive portable speakers (maybe around $30US or less) in Bangkok that will work with a laptop or MP3 player or (ideally) both? Then I will just leave them there when I come back home.

Thanks.

Take a look at one of those computer malls and you will probably find something.I bought some at JIB for my boys computer at 180 Baht.Not sure if the quality meets your requirements but to me they sound good enough.

If you are staying in one place and have good sound proofing, you can pick up a decent 2.1 Home Cinema system. I think mine is around 30 watts RMS including the sub woofer. Cost around 800 baht. Brand names vary, but one of mine is TIGER. Good enough for house parties.

If you are looking for portable, then you have to choose between battery and mains. Mains, you can get a decent sounding set for around 250-300. The ones for 180 are probably a little tinny. Battery powered, you might struggle to find similar quality to mains powered for anywhere near the same price.

There's a shop 4th fl Pantip (forget name but towards entrance side of building) with a selection of cheap and reasonable speakers on show (such as Altec Lansing, Edifier), you can plug them in on the fly and do direct sound comparison. Not always easy to hear with the surrounding mall noise but cannot ask for more when paying 30$ or so. I bought some very portable Edifier speakers (mains,batt or USB powered) there (2+subwoofer) than fitted your bill.

http://jib.co.th/TH/category.asp?Lang=TH&ID_Category=61

This should give you an idea of whats available.

http://jib.co.th/TH/category.asp?Lang=TH&ID_Category=61

This should give you an idea of whats available.

These are the ones I described as being around 250 to 300 baht. Fine for watching films and listening to music. Anything less won't do justice.

Ignore the silly wattage figures. Divide by ten to get a more accurate figure.

They don't have the 2.1 system that I can recommend. The closest they have to the design is this one with a decently sized subwoofer to resolve that oft needed bass.

Thanks for the info - very helpful. Nice to know there are good options there. Cheers.