Bangkok ~ Wholesale Markets (Part 1 – Pratunam Market)

Bangkok is a well known "shopping wonderland" for both men and women and its fashion industry plays a crucial role towards the country's economy.  

You will find all designs of apparels from head to toe, formal to casual, modern to traditional at reasonable prices. 

In some places like Platinum Fashion Mall and night markets, you will find most of the stalls selling their products in 2-tier pricing, i.e. at the normal retail price (if you are buying 1-2 pieces) and the wholesale price (usually minimum 3 pieces). If you know how to bargain, you may get a wholesale price even if you buy only one or two items.

In this post, we will talk about wholesale markets.

Top 2 wholesale markets in Bangkok are:

         1) Pratunam market

         2) Chatuchak weekend market

Pratunam market will be covered in Part 1 and Chatuchak weekend market in Part 2.

Part 1: Pratunam Market

Pratunam market is the hub for wholesale clothing in Bangkok. It consists of both open air stalls and indoor shops and operates daily from 4am until 11am. You may use up half day or even the whole day to discover the Pratunam market because the traders will move and interchange places time by time.

The operating time is split into 3 slots:

        1) 4am to 9am

        2)  9am to 5pm

        3) 5pm to 11am

A new batch of traders will replace the earlier batch once time's up. The old batch quickly clear their stocks and the stall when approaching 9am. So it is advisable for you to settle payment before 9am if you fancy to purchase a particular stuff at the stall of the first slot. They will rather not to do your business if you are still deciding whether to purchase the stuff when 9am is nearer.

Best time to go

It is super peak hour starting from 7am where the roads are fulled with stalls, traders, locals, tourists and trolleys. So the best time to reach Pratunam market is around 6.30am.

How much?

Most of the clothes’ price range from THB50 to THB250, and you may get some accessories such as belts and earnings from as low as THB100 for 3. To get a wholesale price you must purchase at least 3 pieces of the items, so you may combine all your friends or family’s clothes – the more you buy, the lower the price.

How to get here: 

Pratunam market is located between Baiyoke Sky and Platinum Fashion Mall. It is easily accessed through Airport Link Ratchaprapop station. If you are coming from Sukhumvit or Siam, you may stop by at BTS Chit Lom and walk around 15 minutes toward Platinum Fashion Mall.

Note:

1) You must be carefully choose the clothes as some of the clothes’ material quality and cutting may not be as good as those in high-end shopping malls.

2) Since you may have impulse purchases at Pratunam market, you are advised to bring a large luggage when you travel to Bangkok.

3) You may purchase a big trolley shopping bag at the market at around 100 Baht to reduce your burden after purchasing bags of stuff.

4) You may speak simple English to the traders such “Okay”, “200 Baht”, etc because they used to deal with tourists, since Pratunam market is a tourist-centered location.

5) Depend on everyone’s purchasing power, you can easily spend more than 3,000 Baht at Pratunam market, thus you are advised to set your budget in advance or exchange more currency notes.

Where to stay?

For those who like shopping, you first choice of hotel must be at Pratunam area.

You may refer to my previous about “Pratunam Budget Hotels” (http://asiatravelgo.blogspot.com/2014/05/top-5-pratunam-bangkok-budget-hotels.html)

or the hotel list below:

Recommended hotels:

1) Budacco Hotel

       ~ Price: min. USD42 or THB1,360
       ~ Check the latest hotel rate here!

2) GLOW Hotel

       ~ Price: min. USD64 or THB2,110
       ~ Check the latest hotel rate here!

3) Centara Watergate Pavillion Hotel

       ~ Price: min. USD68 or THB2,400
       ~ Check the latest hotel rate here!

4) Lemontea Hotel

       ~ Price: min. USD40 or THB1,350
       ~ Check the latest hotel rate here!

5) Boxpackers Hostel

       ~ Price: min. USD14 or THB460
       ~ Check the latest hotel rate here!

6) Amari Watergate Hotel

       ~ Price: min. USD76 or THB2,500
       ~ Check the latest hotel rate here!