Central Chidlom
Central Department Store is the oldest Department Store in Thailand, with 15 branches nationwide including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Had Yai and Phuket. Among all branches of Central Department Store, Central Department Store at Chidlom branch is the most glamorous store in Bangkok. The seven-floor department store has served the rich and famous of Bangkok since 1973.
Located on Bangkok’s shopping street of Sukhumvit, it is easily accessible by sky train (Chidlom Station) or a short walk east from Gaysorn Plaza. Shoppers can find a wide range of exclusive products from all over the world in its various departments such as Thai designer fashions, best collection of Thai Souvenirs and Handicrafts from Nationwide, designer fashion, home wares, children's wear, cosmetics, watches and pens, electronic equipment, household appliances, jewelry and gems and leather accessories and the large books store. It also houses a number of eateries, ranging from popular fast-food outlets to fine restaurants. Its FoodLoft on the top floor is known as a trendsetter of modern eating joints in Bangkok while its ground floor supermarket carry all food and gourmet products from all over the world.
Foreign shoppers can get 5% discount when they present their passports to the store’s information/customer service center. Shoppers can also make a request for international freight delivery service to bring your shopping items to their destinations or take a luxury limousine back, with their shopping bags, to the hotel. If you speak English, Mandarin or Japanese, the store is ready to provide translation service to you upon request.
This is definitely worth a visit especially being so close to the Central World Plaza, which is another large department store in the same area. Nowadays, Central Chidlom is considered a shopping landmark of old high society members of the Bangkok.
Open: everyday
Operating hours: 10 am to 9 pm
Central World Plaza
This huge shopping plaza was once called World Trade Center until the name was changed in 2006 after an extensive renovation.
It is the largest shopping complex in Bangkok, containing a large shopping plaza and two major department stores. Covering more than 550,000 square meters, it is located at the Rachadamri intersection – Bangkok’s busiest shopping area - and surrounded by shopping malls and 5 star hotels. Touted as the largest lifestyle complex, it is considered the trendiest place for fashion since it boasts more than 70 flagship stores of designer brands - both local and international. It also houses over 50 restaurants and elegant food courts, 21 movie theaters, a big state-of-the-art bowling alley and a luminous stylish grocery store.
Its fifth floor is known as the most comprehensive place to find home furniture, electric cooking appliances, sanitary wears and office furniture. Architecturally, the shopping plaza is situated in the middle of building protected by the chic Zen Department Store and the impressive Japanese owned Isetan Department Store. The former is a mega department store presenting cutting edge selection of fashion and beauty products that aims to appeal to all types of modern life style. Exclusive clothing and accessory outlets like Mulberry, Chloe and Tod’s are some of fashion houses that are featured here. The latter, though mainly caters to Japanese tourists and expatriates, is neatly decorated and offering a wide range of well-selected quality products. Imported kitchen wear, imported grocery products and food are available here.
Moreover, the main ground in front of Central World Plaza is used as the site of Bangkok’s New Year Countdown Celebrations every year.
Emporium
Located on Sukhumvit Road off Phrom Phong Skytrain station, The Emporium has been known as one of most luxurious shopping mall in Bangkok. It is a place where you see expatriates strolling leisurely inside numerous shops in this six-storey department store. 
The store is divided into two big zones: the Emporium department store and the plaza. The latter houses a big collection of high fashion boutiques from around the world such as Versace and Louis Vuitton to Channel and Hermes. Christian Dior, Fendi, Celene, Kenzo, Cartier, DKNY, Guess, Morgan, Charles Jourdan, Jim Thomson Shop.
In addition to haute couture designer wears, The Emporium is also best known for a superb supermarket and eateries. Situated on the fifth floor, the store’s gourmet section is a medium size yet well laid-out supermarket with abundance of premium grocery products from both local producers and international brands. Next to the grocery section is various restaurants, an upscale food court, wine and cigar stores, bakery shops and ice cream parlors. All of them are well selected, representing many of the finest restaurants in the country.
Other trendy restaurants such as Grey Hound’s Café, the Oriental Food Corner, Fuji and Aoi Japanese restaurants are also available in the plaza. Big book stores with international bestsellers and rare Thai cotton & silk at arts & crafts products can be found here.
For movies lover, the store’s box office offers latest movies in their state-of-the-art theaters on the 5th Floor.
Gaysorn Plaza
Representing the excellence of shopping experience, Gaysorn Plaza is strategically located in a prime area of Bangkok’s shopping street of Rachadamri intersection It is known to house only world famous designer clothing brands.
Many leading cloth and accessory makers, both local and international brands, have their flagship stores here such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Burberry, Christian Lacroix, Emporio Armani, Hugo Boss, Omega, Dunhill, Daks and Bally. With its direct access to the Skytrain (off Chidlom Station), this shopping plaza is in the vicinity of 5 star hotels (Grand Hyatt Erawan, Four Seasons Hotel, Intercontinental Hotel, Crown Plaza and Arnoma Hotel) and huge shopping centers such as Central World Plaza, Sogo Department Store, Erawan Plaza, Central Chidlom Department Store and the Peninsula Plaza).
The plaza’s overall atmosphere looks exclusive yet accessible. The interior is painted in white with high ceiling and good ventilation. At Gaysorn, you will find that you have entered a realm of unique luxury shopping like no other in Bangkok. It also boasts 4 chic restaurants and cafes, spas, home & Décor stores, jewelry shops and a bookshop.
Siam Paragon
Occupying more than 20 acres of land, Siam Paragon is one of the biggest and most elegant shopping centers in Asia. Dubbed as "the Pride of Bangkok", it is the largest upscale shopping mall in Thailand.
Historically, the shopping mall is located on the former site of the Siam Intercontinental Hotel whose lease ended in 2002. It is located at the very heart of Siam Square, Bangkok’s main shopping district. Open in late 2005, it features a vast range of retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters, luxury car showrooms, an opera house, a supermarket and an aquarium. 
Start from the basement, it houses Southeast Asia’s biggest aquarium named “Siam Ocean World”. The aquarium is divided into seven zones showing thousands of aquatic lives that range from deep reef dwellers to fresh water species. Various activities and shows are held regularly such as shark and penguin feed, diving with sharks and riding a glass bottom boat. On the ground floor is devoted to food and gourmet. It consists of dozens of high-end local and international restaurants and a spacious supermarket, offers a gastronomic adventure for food lovers.
The next three floors (Main, first and second floor) are the most glamorous with stores dedicated to high fashion, leisure and life style. Many designer cloth flagship stores and fancy car show rooms such as Hermes, Paul Smith, Coach, JC Versace, Maserati, Lamborghini and Ferrari can be found here. Electronic gadgets and home décor and furniture retailers are placed on the third and fourth floor respectively. It is worth going to Kinokuniya Book Store on the third floor since it has more titles in international languages than any bookstore in the country. The fifth and sixth level house 15 large size theaters (one of the them has the biggest screen and seating capacity in Asia), an exhibition hall, a chic bowling alley and a state-of-the-art karaoke parlor. In addition to all these, the place is also home to a massive department store named the Siam Paragon Department Store.
Siam Paragon is best accessed by the BTS Skytrain off Siam Square Station. All doors are open from 10 am to 10 pm every day. The mall also has its ground floor connected with its sister shopping plaza Siam Center and only 10 minute walk to Central World Plaza. This shopping complex offers an extravagant shopping experience for those who look for the most prestigious hi-end products.
Siam Discovery Center
Siam Discovery Center is arguably the fist exclusive lifestyle shopping center in Bangkok that offers the latest trend in fashion and modern living. Despite the advent of the Emporium, Central World Plaza and the Paragon, it maintains its image for high quality of local and international merchandise.
The typical visitors to the Siam Center are teenagers and young professionals.
Besides fashion boutiques, chic salons and small bistros, the six-storey shopping plaza features several selected home decor designer shops that are not available in other department stores such as Habitat, Mae Fah Luang Project (initiated the Late Princess Mother) and Anyroom. The top floor of the plaza houses multiple movie theaters.
Siam Discovery Center does not only cater to adults’ shopping but present a child friendly environment for children’s shopping. It's the best place to find best-in-town children wear, educational toys, kid bedroom decorative items.
Situated right at the Phayathai/ Ploenchit intersection, Siam Discovery has a bridge that connects with its sister shopping mall Siam Center and the skytrain station National Stadium. The shopping center is open everyday from 10 am to 10 pm.
Siam Square
Siam Square is not only the oldest shopping area in the city but also the hippest part of Bangkok. It is the fashion hub of Bangkok with countless small shops presenting an array of apparel shopping from high fashion knockoff to innovative local designer cloths. 
Numerous small shops can be found crammed along the alleys of the basement of three movie theaters, which are Scala, Lido and Siam. Here you will find small boutiques, bookstores, CD and game shops, accessory stalls, salons, ice cream parlors, fast food restaurants and eating joints. Other commercial places in the area include banks, money exchange booths, tutorial schools and hotels.
Siam Square apparently benefits from its strategic location. Its presence is in the vicinity of high schools, vocational collages and a university. Therefore it is no wonder why most of the patrons that roam this area are teenagers and young people. The area is surrounded by the city’s major shopping centers such as the Paragon, Siam Center, Siam Discovery Center and MBK. It is conveniently accessible by the sky train at the interchange Station of Siam. Shops are usually open around 11 am and close about 8 pm.
MBK (Mahboonkrong)
Perhaps the best shopping plaza in Thailand, MBK (or locally known as Mahboonkrong) is located at the heart of Bangkok’s shopping street of Siam Square. It has, if not everything, almost every thing you look for to satisfy your shopping whims - at bargain prices.
Covering seven floors in a large building, it boasts one Japanese Department store (Tokyu) and a massive shopping plaza with hundreds of shops selling virtually everything from gold chains to computer software. Its interior is not as upscale and stylish as its neighboring department stores like the Siam Paragon and Siam Discovery but it is also hectic all day. For those who use the skytrain, you will get off at the National Stadium station. Walking through a skytrain bridge, your first entry is the second floor of Tokyu department store. The four-storey Japanese chain department store maybe small comparing to other rival stores but it offers enough goods that are of good quality and reasonably priced. Obviously, the store also benefits from people who go to MBK using the skytrain bridge - it is connected to MBK plaza at every level.
The first three floors of MBK are devoted to fashion, accessories, travel gears and beauty products while the fourth floor is one of the biggest mobile phone centers in Thailand. The atmosphere gets a little more peaceful on the fifth level, which belongs to shops and companies selling trendy furniture and home decorative items. The shopping center on the sixth floor sells Thai handicraft products and souvenirs at bargain prices.
Besides being a shopping paradise, MBK is also a gourmet haven. Local and international fast food restaurants can be found on the first three floors and the seven floors. It has two big food courts on the fifth and the sixth floor offering various types of cuisine.
Banks and currency exchange booths are available on every floor. It is open every day from 10 am to 10 pm.
Pantip Plaza
Pantip Plaza is all about software, hardware and computer games. The largest IT store in Bangkok, it carries everything about computers. All equipment and accessories you might possibly need for your computer. 
The 5-storey computer mall seems to enjoy the best of both worlds as it offers both legitimate licensed software and counterfeit products of the same software. There are hundreds of small shops selling computer hardware, software, MP3 players, and accessories, including parts, repair, modifications, networking, laptops, and peripherals. Other stores offer a set of assembled computer customized to customers’ orders. However, what makes Pantip (in)famous is the abundance of pirated software CDs, movie DVDs and software games. All are available for sales at very cheap prices, albeit no guarantee of their quality. Just bear in mind that the warranty is only valid in Thailand. Second hand computers and software are for sale here too.
Pantip is located on Phetburi Road in walking distance from Central World Plaza and Platinum Shopper Center in Pratunam. A food court and fast food restaurants on the ground floor and mezzanine level offers a variety of Thai food, desserts and drinks.
The Platinum, Pratunam
Thinking about cheap shopping center in Bangkok, Pratunam surely comes in one of the top three places in the list. It is one of Bangkok’s most bustling areas with scores of shops lying along the road or within the buildings. It is famous for cheap apparel sold in bulk at wholesale prices. However, its latest addition of the Platinum shopping center set Pratunam at the next level.
Located in the heart of Bangkok’s shopping zone and surrounded by hordes of upscale department stores, The Platinum puts fashion wholesaling in a more sophisticated atmosphere. The shopping plaza, which was open last year, has four floors of specialized shops selling women’s shoes, bags, accessories and leather products – at bargain prices especially when they are bought in bulk. The price is generally 30% lower than other stores but the quality might be compromised.
The Platinum is located opposite Amari Watergate hotel, next to Pantip Plaza and in walking distance from Central world Plaza. Like normal department store, it is open around 10 am and closes at 10 pm.
River City Shopping Complex
Built in 1984 on the bank of the Chao Phraya River, The River City Shopping Complex is the best place to find superb quality of Thai handicraft products and antique items. 
The white 5-storey shopping plaza features 192 shops, presenting an array of beautiful silk shops, boutiques, quality tailors, jewelers, art galleries, leather product stores and gift shops. For art and craft lovers, they can enjoy shopping for high-end quality of delicate hand-woven Thai silk and cotton, gems and jewelry, decorative objects, leather goods, handicrafts and other souvenirs. However, what sets this place apart from the rest of shopping centers is its numerous antique shops, mainly on the third and fourth floor. Each shop has a wide collection of authentic ancient artifacts from Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Artistic items sold here include Buddha images, large blue and white vases, porcelains, silver boxes and betel nut sets, gold ornaments, art deco clocks, furniture and sculptures and intricate wood carvings. Since most of the products are rare to find and belong to exclusive collection, price is rather high.
In the afternoon of the first Saturday of every month, the Riverside Auction House Ltd organizes an auction of antiques and other art objects on the fourth floor at the River City Auditorium. The auction provides a platform for collectors and dealers to meet and appraise Object d’Art. The place is also known as the first legal antique auction house in Thailand.
There are four Thai and international restaurants, a salon, tailor shops and a massage parlor located in the building.
Situated next to the Marriott Riverside Resort and Spa, River City can be reached by car and boat at the River City Pier. There is a free shuttle service runs to and from nearby major hotels such as the Oriental, the Shangri-La, the Peninsula and the Marriott Riverside.
