Electronic Goods In Thailand

[logbags]

Here is my two bobs worth after living and shopping in Thailand and Ausralia over the last 22 years.

Laptops like Acer are similar in price. Toshiba and other brands more expensive in Thailand than Oz

Digital cameras and video cameras are cheaper in Thailand. Canon always seemed to be more expensive in Thailand in the past. Dunno why. This has improved in recent years however.

Forget JVC, you cannot get any spares or batteries. Sony has a mafia like stranglehold in most areas. Especially outside of Bangkok.

Mobiles are cheaper in Thailand and no bullshit locking of the phone or contracts either.

When I first went to Thailand in 1984 I found electrical goods to be quite expensive. That maybe was due to lack of competition and no large chains.

Now with Tesco and Big C along with all the other shops you have a fair degree of price cutting and the specials can be very good. Also second hand mobiles are in abundance in Thailand at very good prices. I bought a second hand motorola V620 for 4200 baht which was about $140 thereabouts.

T.Vs are very cheap now with a brand name 68cm flat screen going for 9000 baht. I found the expensive digital cameras to be much cheaper in Thailand and that excludes the 7% you can get back at the airport.

At present the Aust. dollar has dropped to 27 baht so 10% has been lost on last years high of 30-31.

Overall if you are in Bangkok you can deal a lot better. In the provinces dealers rarely discount as they have little competition to worry about.

I never ever accept a given price here in Australia, even in a department store. I recently bought a Toshiba laptop for my Thai nephew in Australia. It was retailing for $1999. I got it for $1600 cash with a free 20 gig MP3 player and bag. Less 10% duty free it was well under $1500 dollars.

That was at a major department store. In Thailand most department store staff are underpaid and get no commission so just quote you the recommended retail price.

I also think it is a cultural thing in Thailand as the rich are usually very rich and don't give a hoot about saving a little cash. They prefer things to be expensive and exclusive.

[Crushdepth]

I just checked the prices for a Nikon D70S plus Nikor 18-70 AF-S lens.

The Thai price quoted on the link provided is 41,900 baht. (This converts to about AUS $1466.00)

The average Aussie price for the same package is about $1813.90.

In this example Thailand is much cheaper. I'm impressed.

Don't be impressed. Thailand's electronics prices are kind of average (they aren't *bad*). Just to be very clear, Australian prices totally suck for nearly everything - you can pay 30% more for a PDA and double for a mobile phone than you would in Thailand. (Perhaps this explains why Oz people still carry mobiles with BLACK AND WHITE SCREENS while no self-respecting Asian would be seen dead with one).

The cheapest prices - by far - are in the US.

The Nikon D70 is made in Thailand by the way, but you can still get it cheaper in the US than you can in Thailand. Don't ask me why.