A Phenomenology of Thailand

Your jail-cell window to Bangkok.

Monday, November 01, 2004

pratunam marathon

Realizing that I only had a few weekends left, I went on a marathon shopping trail yesterday at the Pratunam area. After our usual Sunday brunch, R & I went to Pratunam to scout for funky bargain finds. Ironically, I've lived in Bangkok for 2+ years but have only shopped in Pratunam once.

Psyched as we were, it took another full hour before either of us bought anything - we were both reaching the boredom point because nothing was appealing. But true to shopping form, after I purchased something, I was on a roll. Before we knew it, we had walked around for 2 hours (no drink, food, or bathroom breaks!) and literally walked around the whole Pratunam area.

Our next stop was a sidewalk vendor near the boat station, a stone's throw away from Pratunam. I always pass this lady on my way to yoga class, and her knit tops are the best - and her prices are pretty unbeatable. R and I virtually wiped out the woman's merchandise for the day since we were both buying in bulk (a.k.a. hoarding). One customer was even waiting for us to return a few pieces we were holding because they wanted them if we were not going to buy them!

Our last stop was a few meters down the road - Big C's underwear section and Fashion Outlet. After depositing our bags, we were off to the lingerie section. For some strange reason, Big C always has a good selection of Wacol bras, even better than most malls. I guess it's because the display is more organized and staff are more friendly here. Best of all, we didn't have to line up to pay for our purchases because the salesgirl took care of it!

Last on the list was Fashion Outlet (inside Big C) where the cheapest and best thermal underwear can be found. (Since Bangkok is a popular tourist destination, there are a lot of stores that carry winter apparel overruns.) After another hour of browsing thru the merchandise, I declared our marathon was over - my legs were killing me and my pockets were definitely lighter than 5 hours before... plus, R & I realized we were both hungry as it was already 8:30. WIth shopping bags that made us look like tourists, we went home and called it a day. Any more shopping and I'll really need a 10-ft. container to ship my things back home!