Order new books written in English

[connda]

Are there any book sellers in Chiang Mai where you can special order new books that are written in English? Yeah, I could order from Amazon, but then you pay the shipping costs too, which can get pricey for thick books such as computer manuals and hardbacks. I'd rather order locally if possible.

[JaseTheBass]

Asia Books in most shopping malls will do it.

[Chicog]

Kindle cuts shipping costs

[connda]

Kindle cuts shipping costs

Kindle's good for most light reading, and I do buy Kindle books, but I prefer old-fashioned paper books for my 'go to' resource library. Easier on the eyes and easier to peruse in my own humble opinion. "Old school?" Yep!

[brommers]

As the kind of books that you mention are highly unlikely to be published or printed in Thailand. Local ordering will in fact result in an imported book being supplied to you, so why not get it faster and cheaper from Amazon.

[anonymouse]

I use https://thailand.kinokuniya.com/t/books/english-books

They have a huge range of titles and the books arrive by courier usually within a week of ordering, Occasionally they have deals on free shipping but currently you only get the free shipping option on orders over 3,000 baht so it might be worth doing a bulk order if you want to save some money. I have found their customer service and delivery exceptionally good.

The search function is a bit rubbish on their site so if you are looking for a specific book use the advanced search and grab the isbn from Amazon to find it.

Edited May 7, 2016 by anonymouse

[Ron19]

Is the Book Depository still operating ?

[northernjohn]

Kindle cuts shipping costs

Kindle's good for most light reading, and I do buy Kindle books, but I prefer old-fashioned paper books for my 'go to' resource library. Easier on the eyes and easier to peruse in my own humble opinion. "Old school?" Yep!

I hear you. I have a Kindle and have had it for two years. I still find myself occasionally trying to turn a page. Old habits die hard. As you say thwere are some books I will never get rid of.

Edited May 7, 2016 by northernjohn

[Suradit69]

I use https://thailand.kinokuniya.com/t/books/english-books

They have a huge range of titles and the books arrive by courier usually within a week of ordering, Occasionally they have deals on free shipping but currently you only get the free shipping option on orders over 3,000 baht so it might be worth doing a bulk order if you want to save some money. I have found their customer service and delivery exceptionally good.

The search function is a bit rubbish on their site so if you are looking for a specific book use the advanced search and grab the isbn from Amazon to find it.

And/or if you're ever in Bangkok you could visit one of Kinokuniya shops, including the one at Siam Paragon. They have (or had ... I haven't been there in quite awhile) a broad selection of books and if you can't find a specific title or equivalent, they'll order it for you.

Siam Paragon store

3rd Level Siam Paragon,

991 Rama I Road,

Pathumwan

Bangkok 10330

Tel: +662 610 9500

Fax: +662 610 9510

Edited May 7, 2016 by Suradit69

[connda]

I use https://thailand.kinokuniya.com/t/books/english-books

They have a huge range of titles and the books arrive by courier usually within a week of ordering, Occasionally they have deals on free shipping but currently you only get the free shipping option on orders over 3,000 baht so it might be worth doing a bulk order if you want to save some money. I have found their customer service and delivery exceptionally good.

The search function is a bit rubbish on their site so if you are looking for a specific book use the advanced search and grab the isbn from Amazon to find it.

On the bright side - they have the book I'm looking for!

On the down side - it's out of stock...

If they ever get it back in, it's cheaper than Amazon and the shipping is free! Thanks for this link. Good stuff.

[northernjohn]

I use https://thailand.kinokuniya.com/t/books/english-books

They have a huge range of titles and the books arrive by courier usually within a week of ordering, Occasionally they have deals on free shipping but currently you only get the free shipping option on orders over 3,000 baht so it might be worth doing a bulk order if you want to save some money. I have found their customer service and delivery exceptionally good.

The search function is a bit rubbish on their site so if you are looking for a specific book use the advanced search and grab the isbn from Amazon to find it.

On the bright side - they have the book I'm looking for!

On the down side - it's out of stock...

If they ever get it back in, it's cheaper than Amazon and the shipping is free! Thanks for this link. Good stuff.

I had heard Amazon will not ship to Thailand now. Another was that they would using the site in England. Like I said a rumor.

[Ron19]

That would be The Book Depository then which has been owned by Amazon for sometime.

[TheSiemReaper]

The best Kinokuniya is in the twin towers of Kuala Lumpur; the Petronas Towers. That may be the best bookshop in the world and I'm comparing it to classic era London bookshops which were claimed to be the best bookshops in the world. Good thread OP - now I know they have a mail order service thanks to anonymouse.

[elektrified]

I just saw on one of the C.M. facebook groups about a week ago, people posting the links to several websites of companies in U.K. and USA offering free shipping on books. There were quite a few. I was surprised. Do a search on those C.M. groups and you should find it.

[connda]

I use https://thailand.kinokuniya.com/t/books/english-books

They have a huge range of titles and the books arrive by courier usually within a week of ordering, Occasionally they have deals on free shipping but currently you only get the free shipping option on orders over 3,000 baht so it might be worth doing a bulk order if you want to save some money. I have found their customer service and delivery exceptionally good.

The search function is a bit rubbish on their site so if you are looking for a specific book use the advanced search and grab the isbn from Amazon to find it.

On the bright side - they have the book I'm looking for!

On the down side - it's out of stock...

If they ever get it back in, it's cheaper than Amazon and the shipping is free! Thanks for this link. Good stuff.

I had heard Amazon will not ship to Thailand now. Another was that they would using the site in England. Like I said a rumor.

They will not ship certain items. Books? I ordered two recently without problems. Digital orders? Different animal. They are worried about software piracy, so they toss the baby out with the bathwater and banned all shipments to Thailand .

Use a VPN and have a US (or Western) billing address and you shouldn't have a problem with digital downloads. I don't pirate my digital media, it for my personal use. But if you are sending items like software or ripable CD/DVDs or other digital media to a Thai mailing address, you'll find that most items are not allowed. I have items like that sent to my US address and have folks there forward them to me via snail mail. If all else fails, I make my purchase from a company with a friendlier end-user shipping policy. Amazon is convenient, but they are not the only game in town, which is exactly why I'm looking for books locally; I prefer to support the local economy, get better shipping rates, and not run into Machiavellian shipping policies. If the prices are similar, I'll order locally every time.

[TheSiemReaper]

I use https://thailand.kinokuniya.com/t/books/english-books

They have a huge range of titles and the books arrive by courier usually within a week of ordering, Occasionally they have deals on free shipping but currently you only get the free shipping option on orders over 3,000 baht so it might be worth doing a bulk order if you want to save some money. I have found their customer service and delivery exceptionally good.

The search function is a bit rubbish on their site so if you are looking for a specific book use the advanced search and grab the isbn from Amazon to find it.

On the bright side - they have the book I'm looking for!

On the down side - it's out of stock...

If they ever get it back in, it's cheaper than Amazon and the shipping is free! Thanks for this link. Good stuff.

I had heard Amazon will not ship to Thailand now. Another was that they would using the site in England. Like I said a rumor.

They will not ship certain items. Books? I ordered two recently without problems. Digital orders? Different animal. They are worried about software piracy, so they toss the baby out with the bathwater and banned all shipments to Thailand .

Use a VPN and have a US (or Western) billing address and you shouldn't have a problem with digital downloads. I don't pirate my digital media, it for my personal use. But if you are sending items like software or ripable CD/DVDs or other digital media to a Thai mailing address, you'll find that most items are not allowed. I have items like that sent to my US address and have folks there forward them to me via snail mail. If all else fails, I make my purchase from a company with a friendlier end-user shipping policy. Amazon is convenient, but they are not the only game in town, which is exactly why I'm looking for books locally; I prefer to support the local economy, get better shipping rates, and not run into Machiavellian shipping policies. If the prices are similar, I'll order locally every time.

I've been using Aramex as a re-mailer for stuff bought all over the world; it often works out cheaper than using Amazon's postal service too. They set up PO Boxes for you and you have stuff delivered there (using Amazon's free delivery) - then they freight it to you here.

But it's still likely to be cheaper to get a local bookshop to supply it if you can.

[connda]

I had heard Amazon will not ship to Thailand now. Another was that they would using the site in England. Like I said a rumor.

They will not ship certain items. Books? I ordered two recently without problems. Digital orders? Different animal. They are worried about software piracy, so they toss the baby out with the bathwater and banned all shipments to Thailand .

Use a VPN and have a US (or Western) billing address and you shouldn't have a problem with digital downloads. I don't pirate my digital media, it for my personal use. But if you are sending items like software or ripable CD/DVDs or other digital media to a Thai mailing address, you'll find that most items are not allowed. I have items like that sent to my US address and have folks there forward them to me via snail mail. If all else fails, I make my purchase from a company with a friendlier end-user shipping policy. Amazon is convenient, but they are not the only game in town, which is exactly why I'm looking for books locally; I prefer to support the local economy, get better shipping rates, and not run into Machiavellian shipping policies. If the prices are similar, I'll order locally every time.

I've been using Aramex as a re-mailer for stuff bought all over the world; it often works out cheaper than using Amazon's postal service too. They set up PO Boxes for you and you have stuff delivered there (using Amazon's free delivery) - then they freight it to you here.

But it's still likely to be cheaper to get a local bookshop to supply it if you can.

Gotta be careful with remailing as I just found out. I have a business that resends me mail from the US. Recently received a box in excess of 4lbs with a $73 shipping tag attached. I just about gagged. USPS First Class International Package has a 4lb limit which makes it pretty much useless if you're shipping more than a couple of books. Needless to say I've instructed the folks resending my mail to never send anything USPS with the exception of letters. I'll only get burnt once. Hence, trying to find an inexpensive, reliable method to get books here in the Land of Smiles.

I did write to Kinokuniya Thailand, and as I've experienced with so many other business in Thailand, customer service is not their strong point. They have never replied which is not unusual here, in fact, it tend to be the rule and not the exception.

Edited May 18, 2016 by connda

[Bill97]

The best Kinokuniya is in the twin towers of Kuala Lumpur; the Petronas Towers. That may be the best bookshop in the world and I'm comparing it to classic era London bookshops which were claimed to be the best bookshops in the world. Good thread OP - now I know they have a mail order service thanks to anonymouse.

They had a branch in BKK, not sure it is still there.

[Suradit69]

I use https://thailand.kinokuniya.com/t/books/english-books

They have a huge range of titles and the books arrive by courier usually within a week of ordering, Occasionally they have deals on free shipping but currently you only get the free shipping option on orders over 3,000 baht so it might be worth doing a bulk order if you want to save some money. I have found their customer service and delivery exceptionally good.

The search function is a bit rubbish on their site so if you are looking for a specific book use the advanced search and grab the isbn from Amazon to find it.

On the bright side - they have the book I'm looking for!

On the down side - it's out of stock...

If they ever get it back in, it's cheaper than Amazon and the shipping is free! Thanks for this link. Good stuff.

I had heard Amazon will not ship to Thailand now. Another was that they would using the site in England. Like I said a rumor.

I have recently ordered and received books, a power cable for my iPad, something for my fish tank and a toe nail clipper, all from Amazon. I usually use Amazon UK simply because shipping charges are lower than from the US.

Some of the things they sell are actually ordered from and sent from different sellers and some of them may not send things to various countries or there may be customs restrictions at either end.

When it comes to Kindle books, occasionally there is a copyright restriction on where it can be sold. Easy enough to circumvent by changing your account registration/location to a different place. Sometimes if you run up against that problem they'll even ask you if you want to change your location. Same applies for downloads from iTunes.

Buying things on eBay from sellers in the US has become a nightmare since so many of them now use eBay's bloody Global Shipping Service, which is a major rip-off since they pre-charge you for customs duty even though if it were sent through the post office you would often pay no customs duty.

[Merylhighground]

While I agree with, and sympathise with the ease of doing research with a shelf full of books at your fingertips it does seem that in Thailand if you require bulky tomes, the electronic route may be the best way to go.

In the course of my work I too need to refer to many large tomes (Historical, Linguistic etc). The advantage of paper for me is that I can accurately 'bookmark' my last point of reference should I need to review it, something I can't do too well in electronic books.

Last year I got frustrated using electronica for certain books, so on our trip back to the UK last year we all came back carrying books aplenty which now line up in my office at home at my fingertips.

I'll ship them home when we call time here...Air costs were dashed expensive but surface costs not too bad.

I'll second Suradit's shout for Kino which has a highly efficient ordering system as do (some branches of, possibly all branches of) Asia Books