From the glittering high end department stores such as Emporium or Siam Paragon where the beautiful people get a fix of genuine Gucci and Armani to the bustling crowds of Pratunam where traders from all over the world jostle to buy in bulk and pile it high.

For those staying in the tourist areas of Silom or Sukhumvit the place to start is just a short walk from your hotel. At night the lower end of Sukhumvit is lined with stalls selling clothing, DVDs, handicrafts, bags, furnishings, watches and jewelry. Bargain hard because the vendors will often test your knowledge by asking an absurdly high price at first. The night market around Silom and Patpong is even more hard headed. The traders here only get about four hours of selling time each evening and the rents are high so they will try hard to get overly high prices from those who, maybe, have just arrived. It is worth taking your time to look and ask before you start bargaining. Don’t be afraid to set your starting price at a third or a quarter of the asking price as long as you do it with a smile. There are some excellent goods to be found however. Household furnishing in traditional styles and clothing can be some of the best deals.

Up Surawong or Silom towards the river near the Oriental hotel is the place to buy antiques and it is also a jewelry making area. Ask for the River City Complex which puts you at the heart of the district.

The bustling area of Pratunam on Petcheburi is the place to buy really cheap clothing. It’s an ant heap of activity with traders falling over each other often carrying impossibly large bags of textiles and loading them on to waiting tuk tuks. Opposite Pratunam market is Panthip Plaza which is devoted to all manor of electronic and computer related goods.

If you want higher end shopping the place to start is Sukhumvit and Ploenchit. This is effectively one road starting with the high end Emporium where the well heeled parade in Prada. It stretches to Siam Square and just beyond. On the way is Robinsons, Gaysorn Plaza, Central, Siam Discovery and World Central Plaza. Siam Paragon is the new rival to Emporium for high end shopping. Beyond Siam Square BTS is Mahboonkrong or MBK. This is a great place for cheaper goods and is usually packed with young Thais for whom it is a place to see and be seen.

The backpacker area of Banglamphu centered on Khao San Road is a Mecca for those who yearn for bright tie-dye, beaded jewelry, baggy fishermen’s trousers and ethnic nik naks. It is also a very good place to buy silver and costume jewelry if you know what you are doing.

Perhaps the king of all markets in Bangkok is the Chatuchak weekend market in the north of the city. This place is vast where you can find anything from heavy furniture to exotic wildlife to second hand clothing. It is also open during the week and is a little less hectic if claustrophobia (or heat stroke!) present a problem. Each area of merchandise is in a zoned area and color and letter coded. No matter. Entering Chatuchak for the first time is like entering a separate city state of frantic commerce and actually finding what you want can take a long time and involve a complicated journey around the labyrinth. This is fun in itself though if you like browsing. Around the perimeter are shipping companies where you can send home anything, however vast, or simply sit on the terrace of a café and contemplate either your shopping spoils or just relax in the triumph of actually having made your way out of the vast labyrinth at all.

Alex Smith maintains and manages the Cheap Thailand Travel website at http://www.cheapthaitravel.com