Duty Free Shops

[oldsailor35]

Just came back from Vietnam. Did not want to cart my df bottles around, so decided to wait until i arrived back in Suvarnabumi. Big mistake, i came through immigration & customs, no DF shop in sight. OK says i, there is sure to be one somewhere. Kept asking shops etc., on L2 L3 L4 i was sent to all corners ( no one had any idea whatsoever) eventually i was told to go back 'inside'................what ! without a bloody boarding pass. Usually there is a DF shop outside, all one needs is a boarding pass, but as far as i can see nothing at Swampy. There should be one at level 3. Provided i have relevant docs i can always get DF when flying into Samui or Brisbane. But Swampy...................... sweet FA

[PattayaParent]

There's duty free shops in the concourses on the way from your gate to immigration.

There's also duty free shops in the baggage claim area.

[rak sa_ngop]

Very simple solution. Buy your incoming duty frees as you do the long walk to immigration,

[saengsureeya]

Is it possible to buy duty-free at a duty-free-shop if you can't show an outbound-boarding-pass?

Or will they add 7% VAT?

[PattayaParent]

Is it possible to buy duty-free at a duty-free-shop if you can't show an outbound-boarding-pass?

Or will they add 7% VAT?

They probably just won't sell it to you.

[rfukata]

its called the DF arrival store (versus) the departure stores.

upon arrival, depending which side east or west wing, there is a little DF arrival store as you turn into immigration que.

its dominated with cosmetics visuals therefore easily missed and the selection is minimal versus departure.

[nontabury]

I have a friend coming from Paris next week and he mentioned that he intended to purchase a new computer from

Suvarnabhumi duty free, I,ve told him it will be no cheaper, am i correct?

[aussiep]

Have not seen any computers to buy on arrival at BKK.

All duty Free at Bangkok Airport is way overprised. (King Power rip off)

Liquor is cheaper at the 7/11 in town

Go to Pantip Plazer in Bangkok.

Buy from a big store there so the gurantee will be OK.

Good Luck...............aussiep..........

[oldsailor35]

There's duty free shops in the concourses on the way from your gate to immigration.

There's also duty free shops in the baggage claim area.

Thanks for that, i looked everywhere without success. Next time i will check it out first.

[PattayaParent]

Have not seen any computers to buy on arrival at BKK.

All duty Free at Bangkok Airport is way overprised. (King Power rip off)

Liquor is cheaper at the 7/11 in town

Go to Pantip Plazer in Bangkok.

Buy from a big store there so the gurantee will be OK.

Good Luck...............aussiep..........

Only if you're buying Lao Khao or Mekong.

Brand named booze is cheaper in the DF by 30%.

[rak sa_ngop]

Christian Dior Fahrenheit:100ml:

UK Duty Free 44 GBP

UK High Street 55 GBP

King Power DF 2,800 baht

Now go figure!

[oldsailor35]

I have a friend coming from Paris next week and he mentioned that he intended to purchase a new computer from

Suvarnabhumi duty free, I,ve told him it will be no cheaper, am i correct?

Yes, take him to Pantip Plaza for a good deal, with plenty of variety.

[bubba]

Contrary to what aussiep states above, duty-free spirits at the airport are substantially cheaper than at 7-11.

If you want to by duty-free on arrival, the easiest thing is to but it in the luggage area after you arrive, while you inevitably wait for your bags to come out. There are a couple of kiosks in the middle of the luggage area, and also on the exit wall, parallel with the customs exit lanes.

[thinnawut]

The better way go to Pantip, you will get the same price but get more offer assesories... there

[WarpSpeed]

I have a friend coming from Paris next week and he mentioned that he intended to purchase a new computer from

Suvarnabhumi duty free, I,ve told him it will be no cheaper, am i correct?

Yes, take him to Pantip Plaza for a good deal, with plenty of variety.

What about when he returns??

[oldsailor35]

Can't he then take his receipts to the airport VAT booth for refunds ?

[PattayaParent]

Can't he then take his receipts to the airport VAT booth for refunds ?

Yes but he'll need to have the shop fill in the proper form as well.

[lomatopo]

http://www.suvarnabhumiairport.com/king_power_shop_en.php

Upon arrival you should pass some duty-free stands selling alcohol in the concourse, especially near the turn up the ramp to one of the Immigration Halls. and in the Baggage Claim area there are two duty free stands with alcohol (between belts 11 & 12, and 20 & 21), and at least one on the far wall near belt 15.

You can buy alcohol duty-free on arrival. Savings tend to be more significant as you move up to more expensive spirits. Additionally you get 1 L, while in town you might pay the same or more for 0.70 L.

[JBL]

So we are flying MEL-KUL-BKK-UBP

& want to buy duty free (mainly booze)

Where would be the best place to do it?

& what happens when we hit the domestic flight from BKK-UBP?

Ta

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I wonder if anyone can offer any specifics on the actual pricing range of any popular, name-brand spirits at Swampy's duty free shops....

The wife and I just came back from a trip to Phnom Penh...and WOW...what an eye opener... .70 and liter bottles of all kinds of different U.S./Mexico spirits (Jose Cuervo Especial and Smirnoff vodkas) and popular liqueurs (like Southern Comfort, Bailey's and Kahlua, etc) for $10 to $15 per bottle at places like the Lucky's Supermarkets around PP.

I'm not a big spirits drinker, but comparing those prices with the ones in regular BKK stores, I had to bring back a couple of bottles. When I went looking for the exact same bottles in my local Villa, Tops and Big C in the past few days, all of those same products tended to cluster right around the 700 to 1000 baht per bottle pricing depending on the name brand and size -- generally more than double that in PP.

How do the DF shops at Swampy compare on that pricing spectrum... I was standing there right next to the duty free shops in the international arrival luggage carousel area for a half hour waiting for our bags, and didn't even think to price shop and compare.

I guess I was pretty certain that Swampy's DF would come nowhere close to the retail pricing in PP. But I'm wondering likewise how the DF shops there compare with the regular retail outlet pricing in BKK for spirits and such?

Edited April 4, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BTW, in a similar vein, in reading a different travel related thread here, one member suggested taking a day's bus trip to either the Lao or Cambodian borders and shopping for liquor there. Anyone have any experience about that?

I have no idea about the extent of popular/common spirits that would be available by the bottle there... But what was on offer in some of the larger supermarkets in PP was certainly comparable in breadth of selection to what you'd find in a typical U.S. market...

I had really wanted to pick up a litre of Bailey's...and the supermarket in PP had 5 or so different varieties on offer with different flavors... But as I checked the back of the boxes for the ones I was interested in, someone had carefully placed a heavy kind of tape strip over what clearly was the stamped expiration date on the products. I found one or two varieties that weren't taped over, but those expiration dates were just a couple months off...so I passed on that much to my chagrin. But Bailey's isn't something where you'd normally kill the bottle in quick fashion.

[PattayaParent]

I wonder if anyone can offer any specifics on the actual pricing range of any popular, name-brand spirits at Swampy's duty free shops....

The wife and I just came back from a trip to Phnom Penh...and WOW...what an eye opener... .70 and liter bottles of all kinds of different U.S./Mexico spirits (Jose Cuervo Especial and Smirnoff vodkas) and popular liqueurs (like Southern Comfort, Bailey's and Kahlua, etc) for $10 to $15 per bottle at places like the Lucky's Supermarkets around PP.

<snip>.

I guess I was pretty certain that Swampy's DF would come nowhere close to the retail pricing in PP. But I'm wondering likewise how the DF shops there compare with the regular retail outlet pricing in BKK for spirits and such?

At Swampy departures

Pepe Lopez - 700 Baht a litre

Jose Cueva - 800 baht a litre

Chivas 12 - 1,070 Baht a litre

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

dup deleted

Edited April 4, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Thanks PP... That seems pretty much in line with the average BKK supermarket pricing on those kinds of items....

At those rates, I'm not sensing any DF pricing advantage there over just heading to the local supermarket around town.

In fact, I priced bottles of Cuervo Especial at a couple of markets just the other day...usually right around 711 baht or so... But now I need to doublecheck the sizing on those, whether they were 750ml or one liter...

I double checked my Cambodia purchases from the new Bayon Market in PP:

The Cuervo Especial was 750ml for $10 U.S. even.

The Smirnoff Cranberry flavored vodka also was 750ml for $9.40.

ABC (Achipelago Brewing Co.) dark beer can $1.40

Kingdom Dark Lager bottles $1.10

Angkor Beer Extra Stout (dark) cans 95 cents.

Cambodia Beer bottles 70 cents

Dr. Pepper cans 95 cents

Schweppes Cream Soda cans 70 cents

Edited April 4, 2012 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BTW, the size differential for the math challenged like myself between a 750ml bottle and a 1 liter bottle is about a 33% increase.... So translating my 750ml bottle for $10 U.S. in Cambodia into 1 liter size would equate to a pricing around $13.30 or less.... still way lower than PP's DF price above of 800 baht or so ($25-$26 U.S.) for a 1 liter Cuervo.

[lomatopo]

I wonder if anyone can offer any specifics on the actual pricing range of any popular, name-brand spirits at Swampy's duty free shops....

The wife and I just came back from a trip to Phnom Penh...and WOW...what an eye opener... .70 and liter bottles of all kinds of different U.S./Mexico spirits (Jose Cuervo Especial and Smirnoff vodkas) and popular liqueurs (like Southern Comfort, Bailey's and Kahlua, etc) for $10 to $15 per bottle at places like the Lucky's Supermarkets around PP.

I'm not a big spirits drinker, but comparing those prices with the ones in regular BKK stores, I had to bring back a couple of bottles. When I went looking for the exact same bottles in my local Villa, Tops and Big C in the past few days, all of those same products tended to cluster right around the 700 to 1000 baht per bottle pricing depending on the name brand and size -- generally more than double that in PP.

How do the DF shops at Swampy compare on that pricing spectrum... I was standing there right next to the duty free shops in the international arrival luggage carousel area for a half hour waiting for our bags, and didn't even think to price shop and compare.

I guess I was pretty certain that Swampy's DF would come nowhere close to the retail pricing in PP. But I'm wondering likewise how the DF shops there compare with the regular retail outlet pricing in BKK for spirits and such?

Pretty much all the spirits for sale in Cambodia which are priced below wholesale prices in the U.S. (for example) are fake. This is widely documented and hardly takes a genius to figure out. If you want highly discounted spirits, and "Jake Leg", go for it.

Prices on spirits I am familiar with, single malts, run at least 30% less at SBIA vs. shops in town. The price may be the same but you get 1 liter at SBIA and 0.70 liter (70 cl) in town. Or if comparing like volumes the price is at least 30% less at SBIA.

For standard fare savings are much reduced. They do have some bargains when buying two bottles but this requires two travelers and I am not sure if these are available upon arrival; maybe departure only?

[PattayaParent]

Thanks PP... That seems pretty much in line with the average BKK supermarket pricing on those kinds of items....

At those rates, I'm not sensing any DF pricing advantage there over just heading to the local supermarket around town.

In fact, I priced bottles of Cuervo Especial at a couple of markets just the other day...usually right around 711 baht or so... But now I need to doublecheck the sizing on those, whether they were 750ml or one liter...

I double checked my Cambodia purchases from the new Bayon Market in PP:

The Cuervo Especial was 750ml for $10 U.S. even.

The Smirnoff Cranberry flavored vodka also was 750ml for $9.40.

ABC (Achipelago Brewing Co.) dark beer can $1.40

Kingdom Dark Lager bottles $1.10

Angkor Beer Extra Stout (dark) cans 95 cents.

Cambodia Beer bottles 70 cents

Dr. Pepper cans 95 cents

Schweppes Cream Soda cans 70 cents

All the bottles I've seen in Pattaya have been 70cl so it's 30% cheaper in the Duty Free.

[PattayaParent]

For standard fare savings are much reduced. They do have some bargains when buying two bottles but this requires two travelers and I am not sure if these are available upon arrival; maybe departure only?

the twofors are only available at departures but some years ago the prices of single bottles at arrivals used to be around 20% less than at departures. Not so any more though.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Ahh...interesting.... so re the airport vs. in town... the prices might well be about the same...but the in town shops will tend to be selling 750ml bottles while the airport is doing 1 liters???

As for my Smirnoff and Cuervo from Cambodia, both bottles look absolutely authentic to my eyes and have the paper import stamp pasted over the bottle top. The Smirnoff also has one of those driver's license-type emblems attached.

In looking at some U.S. ads, I'm seeing 1.75L bottles of Sauza tequila retailing for $19 at CVS and 750ml bottles of regular Smirnoff vodka going for $10... So the Cambodia prices don't seem far off.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Yikes... I couldn't think of the correct name for the little round DL-style marker on my Smirnoff bottle from Cambodia/PP. The term I was blanking on was a hologram marker. Dunno exactly what it ought to connote...but it looks nice...