Farewell to the poor man's computer paradise

[mgjackson69]

This article is somewhat absurd,

Thailand is no place to buy computer equipment - prices are universally outrageous.

Thailand is a dumping ground for disty's and mfr's trying to offload stuff that wouldn't sell elsewhere - Pantip was the place,

Pantip mostly carried unreliable, unwarranted junk.

Pantip was a haven for hustlers trying to sell porn on CD's

Parking?, who drives in BKK, who cares?

Coffee was good as was the food at the crazy food hall.

There were a few vendors with real knowledge, with OK kit but hard to find.

Still it was fun to see it all from the top of the rarely working escalator.

And , i will miss it, so Thai.

I hope the vendors find new ways to make a living, it is tough in the LoS,

Ssssssh. Don't tell the "digital nomads". They have no clue you can get better deals in America. They think they're geniuses because they live in BKK...

...and every plonker sitting in a beer bar in Chiang Mai with a laptop in front of him thinks he is a "digital nomad"

[thedemon]

Funny they didn't mention you can get what you need from the WWW so why go though the hassle of finding your way to Pantip.

It's an ugly mall, desperately in need of a face lift. I am sure that the prices will remain competitive nut the variety may change.

What's WWW?

It's the internets.

[h90]

Horrible place full of rip offs, idiotic 'service' centers and boys grabbing your arm to buy porn discs. Fortune was always better than this dump

And one of the few places that can detect a broken chip on the motherboard and be able to solder it out and a new one in, even it is one of these with the soldering point on the bottom. That isn't a job for an idiot...

[Bangkok Barry]

I went there several times to solve my laptop issues and always came away happy with both the service and cost. But the place was also invested with rip-off merchants, and much of the Mall's business, judging by the number of outlets, was pirated software, often of dubious quality and sometimes containing viruses. These days, with more and more people having broadband internet connections, everything can be downloaded, or so I'm told. And there are excellent free programmes for almost everything, such as Open Office instead of Word. No need to purchase from Pantip or anywhere else.

[Peterphuket]

it's now so much cheaper and easier to buy a new device than "chop and change"

The "computer mall" for shoppers of limited income

What absolute rubbish!!!

its far cheaper to fix a broken hard driver, or replace a keyboard or even replace a whole LCD screen, than to buy a new device!!!

who on earth came up with this rationale ?

also: since when is it the place for shoppers with 'limited income' ? or was it refering to people that dont want to pay 1,000 baht for a small Apple-Cable, when they can get a chinese copy one for 150 baht ?

because, to me, that is not 'limited income', but it is just people that know its not necessary to get ripped off by Brand Name Goods.

I lived in bangkok for years, and I use Panthip often for cables, hard drives, accessories and occasionally for its computer or electrical repair shops at the back.

i find it hard to believe that the NEW Panthiop will have no one there specializing in FIxing peoples machines. because I believe they will be hard-pressed to find enough Expensive retailers to fill all of their Retail Space.

companies like J.I.B and Hardware House and Banana IT have numerous branches in Panthip. (I think JIB has more than 9 branches in there)!!

they all sell Parts of COmputers. (Graphic Cards, Motherboards, hard Drives, Almost everything). - as far as Thai prices go, their prices are ok.

There is no way that the NEW Panthip wont have these stores.

i think this article is a "puff" Piece,, obviously written following a PR statment from Panthip. but in reality, i am positive its just a modern revamp with some added stores.

How can Panthip get more expensive than the REAL Samsung shop in Paragon or PowerBuy ??

the layout may change, but whats inside will be much the same (all-be-it with some nicer shop fronts).

perhaps Panthip Managment will increase rent,, so ok,, this may push up prices.

Does anyone know when this development will finish?

Yeh, you're 100% right, I totally agree with you. I don't understand the person who was writing this statement

[whiteman]

And the movie CDS are now mainly crap copies and hard to return to the seller some might be ale to buy most are crap

[TimmyT]

This happens over and over. Shopping mall - renovation - prices skyrocketing. i was always wondering - why I should pay double price for the same goods at the same mall but just after renovation? why should I finance the renovation? I didn't want it. I just want the same items for the same price as before.

same happens with restaurants.

but this is capitalism. you either accept it or go to find another place to buy (this is what I choose).

Edited July 4, 2015 by TimmyT

[Broeno]

Panthip in CNX has a new manager. No masterplan. The old shops go bankrupt. Now they need some new rentals to be also go bankrupt. It's nothing else than a computer graveyard.

[TechnikaIII]

Porn sellers, scammers, drug pushers in the streets .. of whatever city, recognize their target from a distance. Only once did a guy at Pantip come anywhere near me, then smiled as I somehow indicated by way of demeanor, or whatever, was not interested. I wasn't rude to him. He just knew I wasn't on his wavelength and smiled.

Sex tourists come on TV and love to pontificate, with great authority it seems, with enough opinions to fill a Satan's bible. .. ranting on about this, that and the other girl, what should happen to them etc.I am neither customer nor voyeur, so on the rare occasion I need to navigate through a 'hot' district, nothing even rocks my boat.

My point being: If you're 'in the market' for something, you'll see it.

I have had good service from the repair people at Pantip, having gone back to them often. They will surely have a place at the new Pantip. If not, it will be the management's folly. Because they will go elsewhere, and like others, I will find them. I have kept their contact numbers..

Pantip reflected Thai society, from the high end Apple store on the top floor, to the market-style kiosks on the ground floor. It was all there, something for everyone.

Edited July 4, 2015 by TechnikaIII

[MockingJay]

To me, Panthip was a part of the real Wild West Thailand it was two centuries ago. Sad to see it go for sentimental reasons...

[gandalf12]

Funny they didn't mention you can get what you need from the WWW so why go though the hassle of finding your way to Pantip.

It's an ugly mall, desperately in need of a face lift. I am sure that the prices will remain competitive nut the variety may change.

What's WWW?

And they let him out by himself?

[craigt3365]

I did find it a useful place for repairs, the rare time I needed one. For everything else, the place is a dive and a jumbled mess of stores. I hated going from shop to shop trying to find what I needed. I buy online here now.

I miss Fry's!

[HerbalEd]

The OP makes a lot of assumptions that he doesn't actually know will be true of the new Pantip.

[penco]

Pantip Plaza was one of my must-visit places in BKK wherever I'm there. But now Amazon/EBay are as cheap. The pirate software/movie DVDs are defunct as PirateBay & bittorrent provides access to the same stuff.

Repairs I do myself and to be honest maybe I've been lucky but all my tech kit has been totally reliable. Though I do treat it all carefully.

[NoshowJones]

Funny they didn't mention you can get what you need from the WWW so why go though the hassle of finding your way to Pantip.

It's an ugly mall, desperately in need of a face lift. I am sure that the prices will remain competitive nut the variety may change.

What's WWW?

And they let him out by himself?

Would you mind saying what you mean by that?

[Thian]

A bit sad but inevitable. The Nation makes no mention of what made Pantip world famous during it's heyday - Pirated software.

I think it is the internet that put Pantip into commercial decline.

.

Yup, they also can't sell sexy dvd's anymore these days so this mall is doomed.

But last years they ask too much for any copy dvd/cd and those vendors are annoying every farang customer who enters the mall.

Also the panthip was not cheaper then other malls who sell the same products. I would never buy my next notebook there, and for repairing my current pc i also won't trust them.

[Guest]

This article is somewhat absurd,

Thailand is no place to buy computer equipment - prices are universally outrageous.

Thailand is a dumping ground for disty's and mfr's trying to offload stuff that wouldn't sell elsewhere - Pantip was the place,

Pantip mostly carried unreliable, unwarranted junk.

Pantip was a haven for hustlers trying to sell porn on CD's

Parking?, who drives in BKK, who cares?

Coffee was good as was the food at the crazy food hall.

There were a few vendors with real knowledge, with OK kit but hard to find.

Still it was fun to see it all from the top of the rarely working escalator.

And , i will miss it, so Thai.

I hope the vendors find new ways to make a living, it is tough in the LoS,

Ssssssh. Don't tell the "digital nomads". They have no clue you can get better deals in America. They think they're geniuses because they live in BKK...

Ummm .. how exactly can i "get a better deal in America?"

The day my power supply to my laptop blew .. and I had a new one in hand for cheap money within two hours? .. I could do that in America how exactly?

When the bulb on my Toshiba laptop finally burned out, and i had it replaced at pantip, in 30 minutes, good as new, for 300 baht. .. I could do that in America how exactly?

When my hard-drive went on the fritz, and they pulled it our of my laptop, put al the daya on a new drive, and put in in place, for 500 baht. .. I could do that in America how exactly?

When I got my awesome new Asus LOADED with maximum memory, and more software than I knew what to do with. for LESS than on the internet / USA. .. I could do that in America how exactly?

I spend about 10 hours, Monday - Friday on a pretty elaborate twin screen office space. I think many would describe me as a "power user."

I am mystified by your smug, uniformed and near meaningless posting.

We LIVE in bangkok? How can we .. do that in America how exactly?

BTW ... where do YOU live?

Edited July 4, 2015 by Guest

[elgordo38]

Quote This is hardly a matter of nostalgia: If that reputation is lost forever, no amount of effort in rebranding will succeed, and the mall will face very tough times ahead. I hope the "build it and they will come" approach works. We have a Pantip Plaza here in Chiang Mai and I was not impressed. My HP laptop blew the motherboard and I paid taxi fare and time to go there because they had a HP service centre. I was told to leave it there and come back the next day. More taxi fares and time wasted. I was promptly told to junk it and buy a new one. As the computer was only 2 years old I refused this and went to Computerland and they quoted me 5000 bahts. 3 years have passed and its still chugging along. Its funny how fast new malls are cropping up in the most hard to get places and some are dying. My favorite plaza close to home and the fact that I can walk there is Kad Suan Kaew central. She is a little worn around the edges and approaching 20 years or a bit more in age but she is always bustling with people. She has been scorned here on TV by many people that say she should be torn down but replaced with what? Is that the norm where after 20 to 30 years a building should be torn down and replaced? I guess all the buildings in the world will be replaced twice in an average lifetime. I never see much refurbishment here of old buildings just rip them down.

[ukrules]

The Thai techies go to Fortune Town, not Panthip.

Exactly, it's right next to the MRT. I abandoned Pan Tip many years ago. It's a dump.

[sammygood]

i loved to upgradde my computer when i was in my home country

bought an x-box here and now all i play is on x-box anyway

[bendejo]

Panthip is not the easiest place to get to. A long walk from Skytrain, no where near MRT, plenty of bus lines but the westbound traffic on the street in front of it is at a standstill every business day 5-7 pm. I enjoy seeing these guys and how they do these low-level hardware hacks. And as for that A&W, an icy root beer really hits the spot after the long hike!

But Fortune is easier to get to, and no touts pushing dirty movies. Also has a Tesco in the basement.

[sprq]

But will they actually put in decent vertical access? Only three tiny lifts in obscure corners of the building, ditto stairways, and tiresome time-wasting escalators going one way on one side and one way on the other -- you get exhausted simply going from one floor to the next.

It would vastly improve the place, for whatever purpose it may have, if you could quickly get from one floor to the next instead of having to spend so much time trekking from one end of the place to the other just to change floors. That means more lifts in more places, more escalators in more places.

[saab]

Even Lo So 14 years ago gave up with Pantip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g68ozpzYkJg

[ploughman8]

Pantip had its day in the sun in the late 90s and early aughts as far as the software and porn went. Most people didn't have fast connections at home, and DVDs were newer and the burning technology not as widespread or fast. If memory serves, software DVDs were around B500 then and factory-made (Generation X, Quick PC, First PC, etc.). Of course, Windows ME was such a turkey that about the only consolation was having gotten it at Pantip! Would have to reboot 6 times a day with that.

Things are much different now...more broadband deployment and torrents, Usenet and even the Web for a lot of the content. I stopped going to Pantip during a bad era of cat-and-mouse games with police (saw a couple of shops clear the tables of software "books" and get out in under 30 seconds) and 10-15 minute waits to get your items while their person retrieved it from a car in the parking lot. At Seacon Square it was always less crowded and they had much of the stock on hand.

Malaysia also undercut Thailand on price for software DVDs for a while (some places in KL), and the Philippines got into it in places like Harrison Plaza and Hidalgo Street. The last of those occasionally saw some really nasty porn discs made in from China that'd get someone in lots of trouble with customs in a lot of countries. All have had waves of crackdowns in the years since and are past their prime, but the real story is the changing technology.

I don't have personal experience with the repairs or hardware purchases, but one friend who did that early on with laptops had terrible experiences with Compaq and Toshiba (multiple visits to try to solve problems), while the other did OK with laptops but swears the hard-drive makers dump their bad product on Thailand.

Edited July 4, 2015 by ploughman8

[Shaunduhpostman]

I hope the author is wrong about this. Last time I was in Panthip, about two years ago, it seemed crowded and thriving as ever. Hard to imagine it has suddenly become a "ghost town" in that time.

What would Panthip do without all the independent vendors, have 6 floors of Mac shops and Banana IT? TIT, so you never know, maybe that will happen for a year before they all go bust and the shops becoming clothing outlets.

Even so, if the demand is still there as it seemed it was a few years ago and the will to carry on business is still there, eventually we may see a new Panthip techno mall. Fortune is kind of Panthip lite, mostly shops selling factory goods, not too many of those funky shops with old computers and components for up grading.

Yet another piece of the old Thailand disappearing, goodbye Panthip!

[Chicog]

No-one seems to mention that 90% of the crap in Panthip was three years out of date.

[rayw]

it's now so much cheaper and easier to buy a new device than "chop and change"

The "computer mall" for shoppers of limited income

What absolute rubbish!!!

its far cheaper to fix a broken hard driver, or replace a keyboard or even replace a whole LCD screen, than to buy a new device!!!

who on earth came up with this rationale ?

also: since when is it the place for shoppers with 'limited income' ? or was it refering to people that dont want to pay 1,000 baht for a small Apple-Cable, when they can get a chinese copy one for 150 baht ?

because, to me, that is not 'limited income', but it is just people that know its not necessary to get ripped off by Brand Name Goods.

I lived in bangkok for years, and I use Panthip often for cables, hard drives, accessories and occasionally for its computer or electrical repair shops at the back.

i find it hard to believe that the NEW Panthiop will have no one there specializing in FIxing peoples machines. because I believe they will be hard-pressed to find enough Expensive retailers to fill all of their Retail Space.

companies like J.I.B and Hardware House and Banana IT have numerous branches in Panthip. (I think JIB has more than 9 branches in there)!!

they all sell Parts of COmputers. (Graphic Cards, Motherboards, hard Drives, Almost everything). - as far as Thai prices go, their prices are ok.

There is no way that the NEW Panthip wont have these stores.

i think this article is a "puff" Piece,, obviously written following a PR statment from Panthip. but in reality, i am positive its just a modern revamp with some added stores.

How can Panthip get more expensive than the REAL Samsung shop in Paragon or PowerBuy ??

the layout may change, but whats inside will be much the same (all-be-it with some nicer shop fronts).

perhaps Panthip Managment will increase rent,, so ok,, this may push up prices.

Does anyone know when this development will finish?

Absolutely spot on. My original PC base unit is now over 8 years old. I have upgraded many components inside of course but still the same Socket 775 Motherboard with the fastest core2duo CPU available for it, an Intel E8400 (well there is an E8500/E8600 I believe too but they really are not a lot faster). This E8400 is nicely and safely optimised with over-clocking to the exactly right extent for performance and stability of the whole system including RAM. I have 8GB fast GSkill RAM also running as fast as it will safely go. Graphics card has had 3 upgrades over the years but recent cards are now a bit limited in performance with only PCI-E V1.1 on my old motherboard. Even so the whole system is fast and responsive and rocks for all I use it for including sim motor racing with iRacing too which is smooth at almost maximum graphics detail and processing RAW photographs for my main hobby. I run Windows 8.1 and will shortly upgrade to the free Windows 10

So yes of course I would have spent tens of thousands more Baht on just changing the PC every two or three years and totally unnecessary to do that for most folk. That is why I specified some details of my regularly updated old system so no not thread drift but to make the point of course.

So yes I will miss Panthip for nostalgic reasons as it was a paradise place for me to go way back in 2003 when I first moved to LoS, and even used it for my other big hobby pf photography too as some good priced camera shops in there for bodies and lenses too. The big trouble is I live down in Ban Chang, Rayong for the past 12 years, so was always the big chore of the awful bus trip to Bangkok to go up to visit Panthip, and I really detest Bangkok, even on its quietest days, as indeed I do all big bustling noisy and smelly cities everywhere including Pattaya and Rayong itself too.

Now I see from a post above there is at long last what looks like a decent Thai on-line PC parts store IvadeIT, which I did not know about. So that site is now firmly in my browser favourites and so so much nicer to be able to buy stuff on-line and quick delivery within Thailand, without all the hassle of travelling to horrid jammed up cities or long shipping delays from eBay purchases from China. Very happy with this Thai on-line shopping prospect, so will try them out to see how good they are next time I need a new Harddrive, NAS Drive, Graphics card etc etc or even maybe a new Motherboard/CPU/RAM before too long but no rush. Anyone here had first hand experience using InvateIT ??

To be honest if I had the money I would just get myself one of the nice big iMacs, and as I am getting an old git now I could then just give up the upgrading hassle. Maybe realistically I will see if I can buy a second hand not too old iMac cheap enough, as I do like the Apple OS I have to say especially for photography processing and music uses. But I have to be careful as I am a pensioner with enough pension income to legally live here long term and to be reasonably comfortable too, but not enough to throw money away on rip off new replacement computers/smart phones/iPads/TVs etc though I do like to have good quality capable gear if not the very latest. The second hand market if you buy carefully is a great way to get great gear cheaply and thanks to so many people regularly throwing away their money on new replacement gear. So keep it up you guys and lets have your not very old good nick stuff nice and cheap

[Mot Dang]

I disagree with the logic expressed in the article why Pantip is going "up-market". I have been there so many times to buy the odd electronic gadget, or sometimes even white goods. I went there because I knew I would find it there. Although I have purchased full systems there, never an upgrading part, although I know this was a large part of the business.

I believe the plaza update is just a grab for cash. The entrepreneurs are at it again. But I think they have left their run a bit late, my bet, it wont be there in 5 years. This country is on the economic razor's edge. You can smell it in the air like ozone.

[Mot Dang]

it's now so much cheaper and easier to buy a new device than "chop and change"

The "computer mall" for shoppers of limited income

What absolute rubbish!!!

its far cheaper to fix a broken hard driver, or replace a keyboard or even replace a whole LCD screen, than to buy a new device!!!

who on earth came up with this rationale ?

also: since when is it the place for shoppers with 'limited income' ? or was it refering to people that dont want to pay 1,000 baht for a small Apple-Cable, when they can get a chinese copy one for 150 baht ?

because, to me, that is not 'limited income', but it is just people that know its not necessary to get ripped off by Brand Name Goods.

I lived in bangkok for years, and I use Panthip often for cables, hard drives, accessories and occasionally for its computer or electrical repair shops at the back.

i find it hard to believe that the NEW Panthiop will have no one there specializing in FIxing peoples machines. because I believe they will be hard-pressed to find enough Expensive retailers to fill all of their Retail Space.

companies like J.I.B and Hardware House and Banana IT have numerous branches in Panthip. (I think JIB has more than 9 branches in there)!!

they all sell Parts of COmputers. (Graphic Cards, Motherboards, hard Drives, Almost everything). - as far as Thai prices go, their prices are ok.

There is no way that the NEW Panthip wont have these stores.

i think this article is a "puff" Piece,, obviously written following a PR statment from Panthip. but in reality, i am positive its just a modern revamp with some added stores.

How can Panthip get more expensive than the REAL Samsung shop in Paragon or PowerBuy ??

the layout may change, but whats inside will be much the same (all-be-it with some nicer shop fronts).

perhaps Panthip Managment will increase rent,, so ok,, this may push up prices.

Does anyone know when this development will finish?

Well done ! Good job !

[charmonman]

I used to buy pirated software at Pantip in the early nineties on floppy disks. I used to spend Saturday afternoons there just looking through the shops to see what was new. I haven't been there much in more recent years though.

In the late nineties (or very early oughts) once, during the era of police crackdowns, I was asked to follow a guy out of the shop to go get the disks I was buying. I followed him into the car park and into the public bathroom there, but when he asked me to follow him into one of the stalls I kind of balked for a second. "There must be some kind of misunderstanding here, I just wanted to buy some software!". Anyway, once inside, he pulled the disks out from under his shirt and handed them to me. I felt like I was buying drugs!

Anyway, I will miss it but mostly for reasons of nostalgia.