Fortune Tower

[The Coder]

Ever since I tried Fortune Tower, Pantip is a fading memory. The reasons:

1. After extensive comparisons on hardware components and laptops over a long period of time I concluded Fortune Tower tends to have slightly better prices than Pantip. Not to say prices are any good because on my latest trip I had tol pay twice as much for RAM as I would have in the USA but I was in a pinch, forking out the extra $100, ouch. Pantip was several hundred baht more.

2. Fortune Tower has better stock of items; Pantip is frequently out of higher end stuff for some reason. Sure every shop in Pantip advertises prices for stuff, but I can't tell you how many times I have heard them say come back in 2 weeks when trying to make a purchase.

3. Fortune Tower is right on the subway (Rama 9 station). Pantip is in the most traffic congested spot in the city; many cabs refuse to go there. Pantip is an extremely long, but barely possible walk to reach a train station which isn't very comfortable if carrying a lot of stuff or on a hot day.

4. Fortune Tower is open in software with walls of titles rather than guys in dark corners of Pantip with conspicuous books.

5. Fortune Tower is clean, compact, and somewhat calm making it a more relaxed experience. Pantip is chaos similar to the size and foot traffic of MBK.

Just my 2 baht on the subject.

[Florin]

I agree that especially for mobility-related stuff Fortune has an excellent selection, and it is indeed much more pleasant to shop in the surroundings they offer, but for PC hardware components, there is more variety in Pantip and prices are about the same or better.

[poorfarang]

Ive only been there once. And I never made it all the way up because I found what I needed on the 3rd floor and left. I want to go back and have a better look though.

[Firefoxx]

Pantip has slightly better selection, but Fortune has better parking (by far), is less crowded (by far), is more acessible (subway, less traffic), and actually has things other than IT (Lotus, bookstores, restaraunts, hifi, electrical). Pantip has outgrown itself, that's why there are so many other IT centers available. Most of the major stores in Pantip have brances in Fortune, so there is really no need to go to Pantip unless you're really going "exotic" or have some nostalgia for it.

I just bought an Acer laptop yesterday from Fortune... the price was pretty good, only 1,000 over the sticker price *after* VAT. I was also able to get add 2 sticks of 1GB DDR2 ram for only 7,400, which is great (the notebook store quoted 5,500 per stick).

[sbk]

Where is it exactly? It doesn't really ring any bells, what section of town is it in?

[stumonster]

down asoke just past the rama 9 intersection - rama 9 subway station or tell the taxi driver fortune ratchada.

I have found some stuff at fortune when I was unable to source it at pantip - my bluetooth mouse - but I noticed some in pantip last week when I was there. Pantip is definately bigger , but fortune being on the subway is more accessable. ( more PDA accessories also )

I also went and checked out the new IT square ( old lak si plaza to taxi drivers ) - not a huge amount there , but all the major laptop manufacturer were represented.

[tavarich]

I have been going there since the MRT got going. It is so convenient, just an escalator ride up and there it is

[Florin]

Pantip is pretty convenient too, for anyone on the San Saeb khlong boat route...and while Fortune may have other stuff like Tesco next door, Pantip has several huge shopping malls within a very small distance. When I go to Fortune there's nothing else to do unless I take the MRT to Sukhumvit or Silom, whereas the Pratunam area has enough stuff to keep one busy for quite a while.

[Crushdepth]

And hardly any 'sexy movie' salesmen. I really can't stand Pantip.

[The Coder]

I just bought an Acer laptop yesterday from Fortune... the price was pretty good, only 1,000 over the sticker price *after* VAT. I was also able to get add 2 sticks of 1GB DDR2 ram for only 7,400, which is great (the notebook store quoted 5,500 per stick).

That's interesting. A year or so ago I found an Acer notebook that cost only 10,000 baht more at Fortune than the same one bought in USA and thought that was really an exceptional deal. Now your notebook had less markup than just one stick of RAM you bought! Makes me wonder why RAM and other stuff is marked up so dramatically.

[Firefoxx]

The ram I bought at Hardware House. The thing is, nearly all the notebook stores charge an arm and a leg for ram, and they only sell kingston brand. Hardware House had the same Kingstons for about 1000 baht less, and Apacer ram for nearly 2000 baht less. It was a no-brainer. The sales guy at Hardware House kept saying that the Apacers weren't reliable, but I've used them quite a few times so far with no problems. Since I had just bought the notebook, I was able to install the ram try it out immediately at the store, and they worked fine.

[Abandon]

I go to IT Bang Kae ... easy to get to from the Thonburi side, or via the Rama III bridge (sapaan KrungThep).

It is quiet and small. And sllightly more pricey. And you won't get unnusual stuff. Bot for 90% of the things I want it serves fine. Space to breathe and swing a CAT.

[udon]

And hardly any 'sexy movie' salesmen. I really can't stand Pantip.

Agreed, I hate being pestered by those porno plonkers.

"Cat" shop will check the software for you if you ask them, before paying.

A much more pleasurable way to shop and very convenient as said by many others.

[GoodHeart]

And hardly any 'sexy movie' salesmen. I really can't stand Pantip.

Agreed, I hate being pestered by those porno plonkers.

Same here. Ugh! I almost gave up going there for that reason alone, but then I had a gem of an idea. And now, I start from the top now and shop my way downstairs

The worst of the touts seem to be on the lower floors [iMHO], so I dodge the front door entirely and make a B-line for the elevators on the right front corner instead. Straight up to fifth and down from there it is, nowadays.... And usually, by the time I've reached the 3rd, I've gotten what ever it was I came for. Then I either exit the way I came, or grab a drink at the back (on floor one) and then exit.

But the really funny thing is, I swear they hassle you less when you're walking out than when you're walking in.

Edited January 20, 2006 by GoodHeart

[Florin]

It's hilarious when I go into Pantip purposely listening to music on my mp3 player so that I can't hear anything, they take out signs advertising "sexy movie" and "game"...I wonder, do they have Braille versions, too?

[Silurian]

I went to Fortune today for the first time. It has more of a mall feel to it since it has more variety of stores in the basement and 1st level. My girlfriend and I traversed all levels. I was looking for a USB phone and she was looking for a headset. I found three types of USB phones. She had a hard time finding a good headset. She wanted an over the head (or around the back of the head) headset with two earphones that would work with her cordless phone and cell phone (same plug). She ended up getting just the one earphone with the microphone in the cord.

We will probably end up back at Pantip looking for the headset. I didn't buy the USB phone since I'm not sure if I really liked the ones they had. I found on the internet they have a USB to RJ11 phone adapter. I think I will go hunt for that so then I can use any phone with that USB adapter.

I would say that Pantip has more IT type stores overall but Fortune has a better variety of other stores. I guess it depends on your mood. I think Fortune would appeal more to the female taste.

[Oishi]

Ever since I tried Fortune Tower, Pantip is a fading memory.

You have a good point or in this case several.

Only one thing is that the shops in Fortune are the same as in Pantip. Names like Hardwarehouse and so on.

From experience I can tell you the problem with Fortune is that if you buy for example a HD and it dies within the warrantee period and you take it back to the shop in Fortune they will ask you to bring it to the shop in Pantip instead or the will go there themselves. And then you know the drill, coming back after a week to claim your new HD they will tell you they don’t have it, but you can get it in Pantip or they will call the people in Pantip and the cant remember anything about any HD.

But luckily hardware failure is not too much common…55555.

But other than that I agree, Fortune is…well..easier.