"Where do Thai people go for shopping?" : Silom Soi 5 / Fashion Avenue

I would like to remind you that this soi or this walking street are one of the shopping paradise for office people who work around Silom area. You may be wonder how do they have time to go shopping since they only have one hour lunch break? The answer is I have no idea too. Somehow they manage to have lunch within very little time, and walk toward Sukhumvit Soi 5 or what Thai ladies like to call "Soi La Lai Thap", which mean "This road will melt the money out of your pocket!" So walk with cautious, and zip up your pocket money if you have a limited budget. And beware of all the pickpocketing people since there are so many people shopping from noon time on.

So what is this soi is all about? I think you will have quite an enjoying experience there really. Don't go there if you have a phobia of a crowded place. You might end up with panic attack or something like that. So, how to go there is pretty simple. You can go there by an underground train (MRT) and get off at Silom station. You can also take a sky train (make sure you get on Silom line) and get off at Sala Daeng station, or you can go there by taxi, which I don't really recommend since during noon time, the traffic's quite jam up around there. I mention traffic jam because people go to shop there like a merathon really. The market itself only opens on weekday from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm only. So, anybody wish to shop up there have to shop like "a speedy gonzales" really. Most of the items are for women; things like clothes, makeup, accessories, jewelly, watches, you name it! But some are catering things for men too. There are many food vendors on that street so you will never go hungry. If you want to sit down and eat properly, there is a open-air canteen inside where you can choose variety of food from different food vendors, and bring it back to eat at the table. However, since many people are going there for lunch, it would be difficult for you to find an empty seat. My advise is to eat somewhere else, and if you are hungry, you can eat some fresh fruit from the street vendors, and prolong your life for a little while longer until you go through the end of the market.

Words of advise : Just enjoy your shopping if you are not too worried about the budget. But if you have a tight budget, shop only things you really like here since I find out that many woman items especially, you will find it cheaper at Platinum Mall, Pratunam area, which sell clothes, and accessories at the wholesale prices. We will talk more about this place in the later post. As for now, have a good marathon shopping! (-;