Here is a list of areas to shop in for;
Pretunam
This is an area. Here you will find Platinum (when said Thai style Pla-ti-num its gets confusing as it sounds like Pre-tu-nam) This air conditioned centre has floors of clothes, some whole sale and some will let you try before you buy. Haggling is not easy here and many places have set or fixed prices. Good for children's, men's and women's clothes and accessories. Getting away is more difficult as soon as you leave you are accosted by marauding Tuk Tuk drivers and Taxi cabs......Theses drivers rarely use the meter or charge a fair price, I suggest walking away a few hundred metres and stopping a taxi.
MBK(Siam Square)
another of Bangkok's mega malls, A/C and food court (food court is getting smaller all the time). Here you can find clothes by the million, entire floors dedicated to mobile phones and jewellery, cameras, nick knacks like money clips, pocket knifes, knuckle dusters and torches and on the top floor a bowling alley and cinema.
Siam Parragon(Siam Square)
This is no bargain mall. great food court and grocery/supermarket. All the fashion names at the usual prices.... actually I found London to be cheaper a lot of the time.
Central World- Siam Square
Pretty much the same as Parragon only bigger.This place was partially burnt during the 2010 protests.
Chutuchak weekend market (a.k.a JJ and various spelling like jatujak)
Huge single floored undercover and outdoor market, more than 15,000 stall here. Bargains to be found here in clothing, fashion accessories and housewares and endless trinkets. Some great rattan handbags, incense burners, ganja mills, hill tribe jewelery. One of my favorite things about this market is the huge range of food and drinks. You can find iced tea and coffee Thais really great. Sit down meals of noodles rice (some of the best Pad Thai I have had) there are some places with a/c usually packed with Thai families who don't handle the heat as well as the tourists. walking around you will see all manner of Thai snacks, I love this here Thais just love to snack all day long jump in and try it all. You'll find Tod man Pla (Thai fish cakes) served in 2 plastic bags with fried bails and a sweet chili dipping sauce, Kanaom krok little semi round coconut custards sometimes garnished with spring onion or sweet corn, fantastic coconut ice cream served in a half coconut with the flesh scraped out so you can eat it with the ice cream.
Sampeng Lane (China town)
This an outdoor and open shop market, this place really bustles. Sampeng Lane runs parallel to yarrawat road and was known in the past to be a place of prostitution, drug gangs and vicious murders............none of that can be found today. Pretty much everything that can be sold is being sold here although the quality is sometimes lacking and clothing sizes are small by western Standards. To me this is a market to explore even if you do not want to buy anything. Many shops do wholesale only, bargaining is a must and an art form here. You can expect to find footwear like fake crocs and flip flops, watches, jewelry, stationary, cooking/kitchen ware, tazers, car stereos, etc. etc. Once again there is a huge array of great foods to be found here fresh fruits cut up and ready to eat, Bettel leaf and nut wrapped around small(hot) chilies with fried ants, fried chicken and on the list goes.
