Worth buying stuff on Khao San Road

[finy]

I was going to buy a couple of cheap t-shirts, etc, to bring down to Koh Samui with me.

Just wondering if the same kinds of things will be available at market stalls in Chaweng, Lamui etc?

No point making my bags heavier if I can just pick up when needed at future date.

[Rooo]

Plenty of T shirts etc here, best buy middle road Nathon.

[khunPer]

Khao San area may be a bit tourist up-price, but if you buy from cloth market in BKK (for example in the Baiyoke-area) T-shirts and other dress items are normally about half price of Samui in general; however you can find plenty of cheap cloth, and T-shirts, at the travelling markets often staying at the roadside or inside temple grounds.

[DogNo1]

Try the shopping mall on the first floor of Big C across from Central World. I got some nice polos there with a pocket on the left front for 2/350. The brand is Gecko. Quite nice quality. They've held up nicely through about 8 washings. Alternatively, you could look around the shopping mall connected to the Indra Regent Hotel. It's always filled with Indian shoppers but you can find some bargains. The GuyStoryShop beside the escalator sells good quality polos. I've bought from them for years. If you are only going to buy a few shirts, it might be easier to wait until you get to your destination. The 300-400 you might save by buying in Bangkok might not be worth the trouble.

[Andre0720]

The only things worth buying are beer and women.

Anything else is wasted money...

(But I do waste money from time to time)

[Amusements]

If your looking down the main road in Nathon, you might as well pop in to Tesco, and check out the small cloths shop they have behind the checkouts.They usually have some nice tshirts for about 129 Baht, and some are good quality too.

[janpharma]

Try Pratunam...very interesting

[Pia]

Yes as previously mentioned Nathon the middle road, some good prices & if you are buying quantity, they usually do a good price.

[Birdman]

if you buy quantity, buy in Pratunam Bangkok and maybe leave the bag at left luggage counter at the railway station or airport. If you just want to buy a few, it does not matter where, a bit better in BKK ,if convenient, if not, better buy on Samui. We are speaking about saving how much? Maybe less than the hassle is worth.

[techboy]

Khao San is expensive. Lots of srteet markets in Bangkok and more friendly.

[Virt]

I buy both places.

On Khao san road there is not so many specific Samui themed T-shirts so those i buy on Samui,

while in Bangkok i buy some Bangkok themed t-shirts and the price is normally lower on Samui and the quality seems good enough.

Some of the t'shirts i buy on Samui lies in the 3-500 baht range, so it's not like they are dirt cheap and can get them a lot cheaper here in DK, but i like the theme t-shirts.

Hardest part is to find a t-shirt that will fit after washing it a few times. Washing at 60 with no tumble.

Most are getting to short even if i try to buy them xl or xxl from start and the larger t-shirts are more expensive compared to larger or medium.

Never noticed that a t-shirt in Europe cost more if it's XXL compared to medium

[Birdman]

Khao San is expensive. Lots of srteet markets in Bangkok and more friendly.

again, if you stay one or two nights in Khao San and if you want to spend the time in BKK for sightseeing at palaces, temples and Klongs, better don't waste time and hurry to shop at the most cheapest markets possible, but buy at Khao San or/and later at Pai, Koh Phangan, Koh Chang or wherever you go.

On the other hand, there are really people, who spent/waste a half day to go from side of the metropolis to the other to look for that markets, to save 200 Baht and enjoy that more than a boat trip on Chao Phaya.

[khunPer]

Yes as previously mentioned Nathon the middle road, some good prices & if you are buying quantity, they usually do a good price.

Nathon have realized tourism has established at Koh Samui - some tourists however may think Nathon is cheap compared to home - but it's years ago that place was cheap and the locals seems to shop somewhere else today, like the various markets

Edit: Replying to #8, but something seems to go wrong at TV-server, so incomplete quote...

Edited June 25, 2014 by khunPer

[CaptainS]

If you don´t want some shirts which you can only wear in Samui (prints of beer brands or Coconut trees) I would recommend Bangkok, much better choice there. I almost never found anything decent in Samui.

[finy]

Yeah I might pick up a few t-shirts on KSR because they are going for 180bht before bulk discount, but things like shorts I'd rather buy from a real shop so will just wait.

Some cheap things are nice because you can throw them away when needed, but you want other things to last a while.

[finy]

I've bought decent stuff on Koh Tao before, so I'd imagine it's the same on Samui?

Not that I'd wear them out back home, but they should be fine on a tropical island.

[Virt]

If you don´t want some shirts which you can only wear in Samui (prints of beer brands or Coconut trees) I would recommend Bangkok, much better choice there. I almost never found anything decent in Samui.

Have to disagree on that one.

Off course ones personal taste is always different, but i have bought quite a lot of T-shirts on Samui during the 5 times i have been there on vacation so far, and i wear them when i get home.

It's not all beer and cononut trees.

Got some nice Samui themed t-shirts with fish, elephants, angling and other stuff which all are somewhat discrete and not just a huge advertisment for Samui.

Need to get some more this summer, because some of them are getting pretty "washed out" over the last couple of years.

What is pretty funny is that most of my t-shirts bought on Samui are pretty thick fabric, so they are perfectly suited for my homecountry, but they are actually a bit hot when wearing them on Samui.

What i do miss on Samui is the very thin thaistyle shirts with a few buttons sold on Khao san road for 100 baht.

Need to get some of those when i get to Bangkok in July.

They look like they are nice and compfy in the heat.

[finy]

If you don´t want some shirts which you can only wear in Samui (prints of beer brands or Coconut trees) I would recommend Bangkok, much better choice there. I almost never found anything decent in Samui.

What is pretty funny is that most of my t-shirts bought on Samui are pretty thick fabric, so they are perfectly suited for my homecountry, but they are actually a bit hot when wearing them on Samui.

Think this might be a new craze because I noticed it on KSR yesterday and I've not seen them as often in the past.

Maybe a new style that is becoming popular?

They do look nice, but I agree not idea for hot weather.

[attento]

Most of the clothes shops in Koh Samui and KS Road , buy their stock from the wholesale market in BKK called BoBae. There are more than 1000 sellers on 7 floors. It is open to all. Many BoBae sellers will also sell you retail. Offering all styles and qualities.

[oldsailor35]

Try the shopping mall on the first floor of Big C across from Central World. I got some nice polos there with a pocket on the left front for 2/350. The brand is Gecko. Quite nice quality. They've held up nicely through about 8 washings. Alternatively, you could look around the shopping mall connected to the Indra Regent Hotel. It's always filled with Indian shoppers but you can find some bargains. The GuyStoryShop beside the escalator sells good quality polos. I've bought from them for years. If you are only going to buy a few shirts, it might be easier to wait until you get to your destination. The 300-400 you might save by buying in Bangkok might not be worth the trouble.

For goodness sake !! he wants to make his baggage lighter and wants to know if he can get everything on Koh Samui.

The real answer is YES! cheapest area is main street. Naton. why don't people read before posting stupid replies.

[khunPer]

Try the shopping mall on the first floor of Big C across from Central World. I got some nice polos there with a pocket on the left front for 2/350. The brand is Gecko. Quite nice quality. They've held up nicely through about 8 washings. Alternatively, you could look around the shopping mall connected to the Indra Regent Hotel. It's always filled with Indian shoppers but you can find some bargains. The GuyStoryShop beside the escalator sells good quality polos. I've bought from them for years. If you are only going to buy a few shirts, it might be easier to wait until you get to your destination. The 300-400 you might save by buying in Bangkok might not be worth the trouble.

For goodness sake !! he wants to make his baggage lighter and wants to know if he can get everything on Koh Samui.

The real answer is YES! cheapest area is main street. Naton. why don't people read before posting stupid replies.

»…cheapest area is main street. Naton. why don't people read before posting stupid replies.…«

Not really, if you read the posts…

Cheapest area is cloth market in BKK, at Samui the local markets – Nathon is tourist prices today, but cheaper than Chaweng…

[yannyoun]

the best place to buy clothes in bangkok is chatutchak market but just open the week-end .

its the biggest of bangkok and you can buy éverything: clothes ,phone ,computer ,glasses ,