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Article / Life / Wild Wild Shopping! |
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Article by: Somkid ( 02-02-2008 ) |
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For a wild and crazy shopping experience you’ve gotta go to Sumpeng, a wholesales district located right in the heart of Yaowarat (AKA Chinatown). This place is just plain nuts! It’s basically a stretch of road that’s about 2-3 meters in width (narrower in certain spots) and is lined with shops on both sides. Merchants from all over Thailand and the world jammed up this area daily to buy anything from bags, shoes, jewelries, hats, clothes, stationeries, etc. On weekends the place is even more packed with the addition of local bargain hunters and adventurous tourists. If you are claustrophobic, this is definitely not a place for you! You’ll have to basically inch your way along the sea of people and to top it off, you also have to make ways for motorcycles, tuk-tuk, food carts, and people pulling hand-trucks stacked with good about 10 feet high!
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This place may seem wild and backward, but the volume of trades there is enormous, or at least it used to be before “Made in China” came along (not to blame China or anything). In fact, my family had a shoes store right there in the middle of Sumpeng from the mid 1980s to late 90s. Times have changed, but Sumpeng is still pretty much the way I remembered it from back in the days. I still go there from time to time to get socks, stationeries, and underwear (boxer if you’re curious) by the dozens. I can still get iced coffee for 10 Baht and the myriad of snacks there are still cheap and tasty as ever.
I say go there for the experience and go there to get souvenirs for friends and family. Most shops sell by the dozen, so you can get hats, shoes, key chains, and other knickknacks at wholesales prices.
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Thai Spelling:
ÊÓà¾ç§
How to get there:
- Tuk-Tuk: Same thing as Taxi, but I only recommend it if you’re in Yaowarat area or the Hua lumpong MRT station.
- Taxi: Tell them “Sum-Peng” and/or show them the Thai spelling.
- MRT: Take the MRT to the last stop, Hua Lumphong. It’s about a 15 minutes walk from there, just ask any non-scammer looking Thai person to point your way along (showing them the Thai spelling if needed).
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