Bangkok's Pantip Plaza to undergo major facelift to draw customers

[techboy]

Bangkok has a surfeit of glossy, cookie cutter malls that all sell the same goods. What makes Pantip; Pantip are the individual little shops on the upper floors who sell unique lines of products and yes...a lot of older stock that can not be found anywhere else...the kind of stuff you don't ever think about until you need it. How many times on this forum have people asked where they can find a memory stick or power supply or mother board for a five year old computer? You won't find such things in Power Buy or IT City.

These shops survive because the rents are low and because there are so many under one roof, customers come to Pantip because they know they have a decent chance of finding what they need. Renovation means higher rents and many of those small shops will not be able to remain...that will be our loss.

"Creepy"?? A "slum"?? What are you on? If you only want to walk on polished marble floors then stick with Paragon, Gaysorn, Emporium and all the other temples to homogenized retail excess.

Pantip is like an old style market bazaar and of one thing we all can be sure...after it is gone, the lamentations for its loss will flow more loudly than the protest of it's imminent change.

Right-on dddave! That place is techie paradise. Never know what kind of neat stuff I will find rummaging around there. Pantip as it is has personality & charm- intrigue even. But creepy? Nah!

[rametindallas]

They are turning a well known computer/ tech hotspot into a suburban shopping mall. The tourists go there for the tech, the locals go there for the repairs facelift yes, but turning it into a strip Mall, and joining the ranks of the many (Discovery, Platinum, MBK et al) all within closer proximity to the CBD is going to be its downfall..... did you know there is a mall on the opposite side of the intersection before Pantip...... dead... cause its just the same as all the others...

Shame, people will now just move to Ban Moh for REAL tech/repair

Oz

Reducing from 90 to 70 percent the area for IT will not be damaging because of the huge redundancy of the same shops having multiple locations. If they lose the repair shops or the hard-to-find connector/parts shops or the service shops, then, it will have lost its character. More food venues would be nice, also. I am optimistic.

Ban Moh. Is that the shopping area near the river and near Phahurat Rd.?

Edited March 26, 2014 by rametindallas

[noitom]

Too bad the Thais are facelifting Panthip. It is great the way it is real Thai sleaze. Fakes, filthy dank smell, and nasty money grabbing sleazeballs. Facelifted, it will lose business. You can't put lipstick on a pig and expect it to perform.

[Runamile]

I expect that, somewhere in Bangkok, they are putting lipstick on pigs; and they do perform ......

Which is why I seriously don't get why the porn at Pantip? Am I missing something (no Johnson isn't missing, before someone makes that quip!)?

[PaullyW]

I long ago switched from Pantip to Fortune Town, Rama 9 metro. Smaller but no crowds, no porn, and no fahrang pricing. Tesco Lotus in the same building - I buy accessories there because they have a 7 day no quibble return policy (some staff cannot believe that is possible in Thailand, but you can insist).

As I have. Fortune town is far better. And the porn hawkers at the escalators in Pantip are just

frigging pathetic, but not to be seen in Fortune town...

The porn guys are interesting because just within 50 metres or so of pantip there are numerous "massage" parlors where blowjobs are apparently 1000 Baht only. Who in Thailand feels need to buy porn on media? ridiculous

[fire2rescue99]

Bangkok has a surfeit of glossy, cookie cutter malls that all sell the same goods. What makes Pantip; Pantip are the individual little shops on the upper floors who sell unique lines of products and yes...a lot of older stock that can not be found anywhere else...the kind of stuff you don't ever think about until you need it. How many times on this forum have people asked where they can find a memory stick or power supply or mother board for a five year old computer? You won't find such things in Power Buy or IT City.

These shops survive because the rents are low and because there are so many under one roof, customers come to Pantip because they know they have a decent chance of finding what they need. Renovation means higher rents and many of those small shops will not be able to remain...that will be our loss.

"Creepy"?? A "slum"?? What are you on? If you only want to walk on polished marble floors then stick with Paragon, Gaysorn, Emporium and all the other temples to homogenized retail excess.

Pantip is like an old style market bazaar and of one thing we all can be sure...after it is gone, the lamentations for its loss will flow more loudly than the protest of it's imminent change.

Well said. Above the second floor is where unusual hard to find items live. Above the third floor are the hacker fix it shops that can repair anything for a reasonable price.

There used to be a kiosk bar on ground level at the bottom of the down escalator. I miss that. There was also, for many years, a small beer garden on the flat top of the entrance steps, just in front of KFC. That was a wonderful people watching space. (Read into it what you like) sit there, having an extremely chilled beer, kids were happy with a battery operated train or other trinket, wife goes shopping and brings back street food for all. I miss that!

[chooka]

wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to just to collect all the grenades and disperse the protestors?

[chooka]

Bangkok has a surfeit of glossy, cookie cutter malls that all sell the same goods. What makes Pantip; Pantip are the individual little shops on the upper floors who sell unique lines of products and yes...a lot of older stock that can not be found anywhere else...the kind of stuff you don't ever think about until you need it. How many times on this forum have people asked where they can find a memory stick or power supply or mother board for a five year old computer? You won't find such things in Power Buy or IT City.

These shops survive because the rents are low and because there are so many under one roof, customers come to Pantip because they know they have a decent chance of finding what they need. Renovation means higher rents and many of those small shops will not be able to remain...that will be our loss.

"Creepy"?? A "slum"?? What are you on? If you only want to walk on polished marble floors then stick with Paragon, Gaysorn, Emporium and all the other temples to homogenized retail excess.

Pantip is like an old style market bazaar and of one thing we all can be sure...after it is gone, the lamentations for its loss will flow more loudly than the protest of it's imminent change.

Well said. Above the second floor is where unusual hard to find items live. Above the third floor are the hacker fix it shops that can repair anything for a reasonable price.

There used to be a kiosk bar on ground level at the bottom of the down escalator. I miss that. There was also, for many years, a small beer garden on the flat top of the entrance steps, just in front of KFC. That was a wonderful people watching space. (Read into it what you like) sit there, having an extremely chilled beer, kids were happy with a battery operated train or other trinket, wife goes shopping and brings back street food for all. I miss that!

Cheer son, you can get another wife.

[attento]

bicycles ?

[farang000999]

What are you people talking about "PC Repairs"... I mean, I know that Thai Visa is an older retired demographic who are not to computer savvy but the "computer repair" market is rapidly fading.

Let me explain:

-you back up your important files to cloud service. most new computers have features to do this automatically.

-most people take photos with their camera and send them to a cloud service or upload to facebook/instagram

-when something is not working with your computer, you can 9/10 just reinstall windows or replace whatever part is not working. computers are built like cars with every component individualized.

Pantip Plaza must have been an amazing place circa 1996-1998... but in 2014 it is as outdated as imaginable.

[ZigZagMan]

The place is a fire trap with the management leasing out the common area that should be open in case of emergency.

TUK COM in Pattaya is even worse.

About a 60 centimeter gap to squeeze thru at the entrance.

In an emergency there will be a crush at the exits, probably worse than the Santika Club negligence.

Edited March 27, 2014 by ZigZagMan

[ozyjon]

Interesting article. Pantip Plaza is like a giant thrift store in its current state. Most stores are selling products that are obsolete.

I have no idea why anybody would shop there for computer products unless a complete noob.

For over 7 years now i have bought every laptop / phone at Pnatip, i research the prices in as amny places as i can then i do a deal there, never had a problem, so am i a noob?

I'm on my way there now to get a new smartphone, i don't agree with you on your post.

[HerbalEd]

Regarding "Since its location is in a busy and convenient area with a variety of mass transport ..."

What? Not at all true. I hate going to Pantnip because it's far away from BTS & MRT stations and during rush hour it's a nightmare getting transport out of the area. Also, the place is dingy and very poorly laid out. Since discovering the IT section of Fortune Building ... with an MRT station right out front ... I've never been back to Pantip.

But, to give it it's due: If you are looking for an obscure and antiquated part, you may well find it at Pantip. Otherwise, why go there unless you're clinging to some romantic notion of years past.

Edited March 27, 2014 by HerbalEd

[FarangFB]

I stopped going there simply because most of the time I can't find something I want. Whenever I wanted some IT product that is not so popular I just wasted my time.

They have hundreds of shops, but almost all of them selling exactly the same products from the same brands.

I'd rather save the hassle of going to a crowded place that is not conveniently located near any BTS/MRT and shop at smaller shops that will have at least the same variety. The IT section of Fortune mall is 30x smaller than Pantip but is more likely to have the stuff I want.

Pantip doesn't need a facelift, it needs proper shops, not those generic IT shops with the same popular stuff (and no bargains) that you can easily find in any corner of Thailand.

Edited March 27, 2014 by FarangFB

[JSixpack]

The place is a fire trap with the management leasing out the common area that should be open in case of emergency.

TUK COM in Pattaya is even worse.

About a 60 centimeter gap to squeeze thru at the entrance.

In an emergency there will be a crush at the exits, probably worse than the Santika Club negligence.

Stay away.

[JSixpack]

I long ago switched from Pantip to Fortune Town, Rama 9 metro. Smaller but no crowds, no porn, and no fahrang pricing. Tesco Lotus in the same building - I buy accessories there because they have a 7 day no quibble return policy (some staff cannot believe that is possible in Thailand, but you can insist).

As I have. Fortune town is far better. And the porn hawkers at the escalators in Pantip are just

frigging pathetic, but not to be seen in Fortune town...

The porn guys are interesting because just within 50 metres or so of pantip there are numerous "massage" parlors where blowjobs are apparently 1000 Baht only.

GPS coordinates, please.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Pantip Plaza is so late 1990's...haven't been in over a decade. It was useful in its day but that day is so over now.

[speedtripler]

I long ago switched from Pantip to Fortune Town, Rama 9 metro. Smaller but no crowds, no porn, and no fahrang pricing. Tesco Lotus in the same building - I buy accessories there because they have a 7 day no quibble return policy (some staff cannot believe that is possible in Thailand, but you can insist).

As I have. Fortune town is far better. And the porn hawkers at the escalators in Pantip are just

frigging pathetic, but not to be seen in Fortune town...

The porn guys are interesting because just within 50 metres or so of pantip there are numerous "massage" parlors where blowjobs are apparently 1000 Baht only.

GPS coordinates, please.

if you need gps coordinates in bkk to get a blowjob your doing something wrong .........

[dddave]

For the love of god, please put the pornos on the ground floor. (And get rid of the A&W)

Now just a gol durn minute fella!!! You can pick on the porno guys all you want but leave A&W alone!!!...Take the only decent root-beer float in Bangkok away???

How could you ever suggest such a thing?

Sacrilege!

[jim cortesos]

Back in the 80's Pantip was called something else.'.Merry King' ish shopping mall.I used to shop there for music cassettes.Though the years I have been back shopping for small tech stuff. Pantip is not the same. Sorry.

[paddyjenkins]

Isn't Pantip still the best place to buy cheap software, i.e., copies?

[HooHaa]

They are turning a well known computer/ tech hotspot into a suburban shopping mall. The tourists go there for the tech, the locals go there for the repairs facelift yes, but turning it into a strip Mall, and joining the ranks of the many (Discovery, Platinum, MBK et al) all within closer proximity to the CBD is going to be its downfall..... did you know there is a mall on the opposite side of the intersection before Pantip...... dead... cause its just the same as all the others...

Shame, people will now just move to Ban Moh for REAL tech/repair

Oz

Where is Ban Moh ?

Lat Long ?

no, thats on the other side of the river

[bangkokfanatic]

10 years ago Pantip was great. But now anywhere else is better.

You can make the place pretty but the simple fact is that almost none of the salespeople are from Thailand anymore. Why the Police don't walk in and cart the majority of the salespeople away for working without a visa is beyond me. They are obviously earning some "tea money".

My usual response to those introduced touts who virtually yell at you as you walk past is to ignore them - occasionally they get a "[edited] off back to [edited]" out of the corner of my mouth... If I wanted to go to Mumbai to buy computer parts I would get on a plane - I don't expect this in Bangkok. No more Pantip for me...

[Cara Cicatriz]

I read somewhere that Pantip will be closed until December for these renovations but wasn't able to verify - does anyone have boots on the ground, is it operating? Is it closed down or parts of it? Thanks!

[thailandforumaddict]

Hello, so now most shops are closed at Pantip ?

[mcfish]

I had my gaming PC built there while I had lunch, just handed them a list. Its great for that sort of thing.

[samtam]

Is Pantip still being "renovated"?

[steffi]

I was there yesterday and they don't seem to be making much progress as far as I could tell.

[Seismic]

I long ago switched from Pantip to Fortune Town, Rama 9 metro. Smaller but no crowds, no porn, and no fahrang pricing. Tesco Lotus in the same building - I buy accessories there because they have a 7 day no quibble return policy (some staff cannot believe that is possible in Thailand, but you can insist).

I have to agree, Fortune has some excellent stores and the "rip off" factor doesnt seem to be there. The only reason to go to Panthip is the very few High end speciality computer stores like Busitek who sell parts to PC enthusiasts and overclockers / Modders. I havnt seen these shops in Fortune yet.

[Thian]

I had my gaming PC built there while I had lunch, just handed them a list. Its great for that sort of thing.

When it was finished did you check if you really got inside what you ordered? I wouldn't trust them for that personally.

The last dvd's i've bought there (some years ago) didn't work so i stopped going to phantip. Also the pornvendors were getting very annoying.