What are the biggest English book stores in Bangkok?

[razorramone]

The largest selections I have found are:

Kinokuniya in Siam Paragon. It has a large selection of classic fiction, and business books. But the academic section is lame.

And an independent bookstore ran by an American in Thong Lo, the name I forget.

I'm trying to do the 52 books in a year challenge and I can see myself getting bored by the selection in each of these. Are there any bigger stores?

It seems inefficient to start ordering books off amazon, especially when I'll have to ship them all home eventually.

[Deserted]

They are the biggest but for diversity there are many second hand book shops on Sukhumvit. They aren't big but you might find something differerent. Surely though amazon is the way to go, you could always sell them onto the aforementioned places.

[pitrevie]

They are the biggest but for diversity there are many second hand book shops on Sukhumvit. They aren't big but you might find something differerent. Surely though amazon is the way to go, you could always sell them onto the aforementioned places.

I agree download them to a kindle or IPad etc. However having said that there are some books that I still prefer getting in hardcover or paperback especially if you constantly have to keep referring to some page or other or need to look at maps.

[expat_4_life]

Personally, I use Kinokuniya at the Emporium. If they don't have the book you're looking for

then head off to the service desk at the back of the store. They will check their computer

system and order books for you at no extra charge. The service is good too, did not

have to pay in advance and they call me when the books come in.

Edited January 28, 2015 by expat_4_life

[asanee]

Kinokuniya isa actually JPNese-which is also quite obvious in their selection, and yes, I guess too its the largest in nr of books in stock in BKK, and thus the whole of TH.

There is also an outlet on 6th floor of Isetan in WTC, and I think maybe in Emporium.

The AsiaBooks chain comes next, their oldest shop is now dwarfed at Sukhumvit (between soi 11 and Robinson) by all those skyscrapers, and they have many smaller shop-in-shops, but all tend to have the same not very exciting tourist and business aimed selection. They have a large dump/soiled shop in that Chamchuree centre=corner of Ram 4 and Phyathai, close by Suriwongse-try for cheaper +older leftover buys.

You can by now pretty much forget to load of ordered books at 2nd hd shops-most have simply stopped buying, as no sell. Many of them hv foled up too.

But as for that: dont know if still there, but for 2nd hand by far the largest was in ChiangMai-many Europ. languages too-just off Tapae gate.

[wileycoyote]

Asia Books get my Vote

[malathione]

You could also try Dasa books on Sukhumvit for used books. Google for their website. They have a listing of books they get that is (was) frequently updated.

[ThePlant]

Kino are very good for in stock books. Being an old fashioned chap who likes the feel of a real paper book in my hand, I got a shedload of hard back Wodehouse there before Christmas, now Asia Books have their act together when it comes to ordering books they rank highly.

[Rumblecat]

It's still updated. Dasa is good for a random rummage- Kinokuniya gets my vote though- especially with their computer terminals where you can search for books in the shop and print a map to it's location in the store (although frequently they seem to point you to the wrong shelf as I discovered with a half hour hunt yesterday...)

But it's fiction selection is still pretty small- probably the one thing I miss most about the west, big sprawling book stores.

What are the other good 2nd hand stores on Sukhumvit apart from Dasa..?

[carib102]

Kinokuniya in Siam Paragon is pretty much the top when it comes to overall selection. Yeah you might come across some gems when browsing the second hand shops, but I never come away from Kinokuniya without several books. I was especially impressed at my last vist when they gave me a small rucksack along with my books (I think I spent 2500 baht or so). The wife freaking loves it as it is the perfect size for her gym clothes and shoes LOL. If you don't have to have physical books though, them Amazon + Kindle is the way to go. Heck they even have a downloadable Kindle reader for your desktop, or you can read the Kindle books online. Personally I prefer having a physical book in my hands, but for titles I MUST have that aren't available in Bangkok I use Amazon + Kindle.

[Gentmartin]

you could easily do 52 childrens books in English by going to www.smilebookclubforkids.com They have a huge range of imported titles from UK :-)

OK, its my wifes shop, just getting her a free plug lol

[TheRascal]

I'd get a kindle. They sell them in B2S. Then you've got an absolutely huge selection on Amazon and you don't need to worry about shipping anything anywhere.

I love the feel and smell of real books but with the amount I read it's just not feasible. I read around 55 books last year. Kindle can hold over 1000 books at a time and is smaller and lighter than a paperback.

[CajunCruiser]

I'd get a kindle. They sell them in B2S. Then you've got an absolutely huge selection on Amazon and you don't need to worry about shipping anything anywhere.

I love the feel and smell of real books but with the amount I read it's just not feasible. I read around 55 books last year. Kindle can hold over 1000 books at a time and is smaller and lighter than a paperback.

With a Kindle you are really not limited to 1,000 books or whatever your RAM can handle, because Amazon will store them for you in the cloud, and you can download to your device or remove from your device any time.

I bought my GF and her 3 daughters the 6" Kindle Fire HDX as early Christmas presents the day after US Thanksgiving when the usual $99 price was marked down to $79. Basic Kindle readers are still available for $79, but for 20 bucks more the little Fire is amazing.

I read at least one novel a week, sometimes 3 or 4. I have several hundred books in the Amazon cloud, maybe even 1,000 -- the web page doesn't show a count. Sometimes when recall an old favorite author (many of whose books I bought at the old Asia Books building), I binge buy all the author's work on Amazon. Sometimes I browse the pages of free books, including classics I haven't thought of reading since school days.

And my old 7" Kindle Fire HD fits in my cargo pants pocket, handles all my email accounts, surfs the web via Wi-Fi, takes photos, and can Skype. I don't use it for video as I am not much of a movie fan, but the Kindle will output HDMI to a big TV. I do have several hundred mp3 albums stored there as well, and the speakers are decent for their size, although I prefer the Bose earphones or little Bluetooth speaker.

[rabid old goat]

i'd say the torrents sites would be bigger.

[Slickrick]

I liked Asia Books because they always really try to help you.

[monk213]

I buy all my books on Ebay, sometimes new but sometimes you can get steals on used ones, and what does it matter if it is a little used? In fact, I prefer the smell of a well read and aged book as apposed to a new one.

[Northwindhermit]

For paper books I like Kinokuniya in either Siam Paragon or Emporium, or Asia Books. But I am acquiring more and more eBooks on my Kindle Paperwhite these days. For one, I can shop easily at home (I live outside the city). Two, I can read Kindle eBooks while working out on my home treadmill (although I had to use a bit of imagination to rig up a simple contraption to hold the Kindle in front of me). I have trouble reading paper books on the treadmill and especially turning the pages. But using the Kindle, all I have to do is have a towel nearby to dry off the sweat whenever I need to tap the right-hand side to turn the page. The pages fly by like the kilometers.

[LarryLEB]

Kindle is the best idea, in my opinion. Not only is the selection of ebooks enormous, BUT you will generally pay much less for the ebook version than you would pay for hard copy from a bookstore in Thailand.

[DogNo1]

I have a Kindle Paperwhite but now have moved on to the six-inch Fire HD which is probably the best quality tablet for the price around. See CNet or ZDNet for reviews. I paid $120 for my 16 GB version in California and really love it. If you're going to read outside or in bright light, the Paperwhite might offer the best clarity but the IPS screen on the Fire HD is awsome.

[rijit]

Anyone checked out a/ the.cost in thailand of kindle unlimited.and b whats the selection like ?

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[razorramone]

Wow so the bookstore in paragon really is the biggest? In the entire country? Thats disappointing. Its big for bangkok... but compared to the UK i've seen mcdonalds with bigger floor space.

Thanks for the tips about a kindle, I do have one already but i just dont enjoy using it as much. Dasa books in Thong Lo is really cool, I agree.

I guess i will go with amazon. Does anyone know if i will be hit by import fees? Or if I can get them sent through regular thai post?

[Rumblecat]

The times I've used amazon I've not been hit by import fees- although maybe I've been lucky. Although I wouldn't discount just ordering the book through Kinokuniya at Paragon either- their website has a comprehensive search which will show if you a title is in stock or if it's available to order (as most in print are) and how long the wait will be.

It's surprisingly quick for a lot of titles.

https://thailand.kinokuniya.com