Mah Boon Krong(MBK), Bangkok

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The multi-storey MBK is Bangkok's most legendary shopping mall, popular with both tourists and locals. Eight floors packed with 2,000 shops that sell everything from clothing, apparels, luggage to furniture, mobile phones, electric appliances, cameras, stationery and DVDs.

There is an enormous food court with lots of affordable and yummy Thai and International food to choose from. The top floor comprises of an entertainment complex boasting plush cinemas & game zone.

It's a place of bargain galore, the prices of the merchandise often raise eyebrows on their authenticity specially for the famous brands. But if you can ignore that then head straight to MBK. You can get every fashion items from jeans, shoes, handbags, accessories, jewelery. Also this is the heaven for Electronic Goods and Mobile Phones (4th Floor)

We bought mobile phones, garments, pashminas and toiletries from MBK and for each item we bargained hard.

It's cheap and fake and shop-keepers are rude.

What to buy: AVOID MBK unless you are a discerning buyer. Also if you are prepared to face rude and indifferent shop-keepers. I am not saying they are rude when you bargain. I am saying they are rude even if you enter their shop and touch anything. They will not allow you to sit down on their stools either, not even for a minute.

What to pay: Don't spend any money in MBK. There are better places to go to, like Indra Square.

While MBK is indeed huge it's mostly full of touristy tat at inflated prices, especially when you compare it to shopping in the outer suburbs of BKK. The 16yrs of it's operation has taught the stall holders that fools and their money are soon parted. After a day of shopping in the predominantly Thai areas of BKK I went to MBK with a thai friend. The stall holders were mostly disinterested, I couldn't even get one to allow me try a shoe on in my size. He insisted I could try the shelf model which was 3 sizes too big! As if I am going to purchase a very overpriced shoe ($3,000 baht) without actually trying one on in my size. A browse of the other stalls particularly the famed leather goods, revealed extremely poor copies of brand names at ridiculous prices. For what they charge you for a copy you could buy the real thing, secondhand in excellent condition in your own country. You can pick up convincing and high quality copies in the outer areas for a lot less, if that is your thing. It isn't my thing and consequently I purchased a very high quality local brand handbag for an absolute song in a department store with a returns policy and no fear that my credit card is about to be duped.

Don't waste your time at MBK, too many tourists with more money than sense have turned the area into a ripoff merchants paradise.

What to buy: In my experience the best Shopping in Thailand is the local brand products sold in the high end department stores. They are priced about the same as cheaper products in the west but the quality of workmanship and design is very high. All the local brand pieces I have bought, people have commented on as being especially nice and they wanted to know where I got them from. These products are quite expensive for Thai people so they are high end. The bonus is they are often on sale and its quite easy to score 20-30% off in the department stores.

Go to level 6, go directly to level 6, do not stop at the food hall on level 5. Open your wallet and go for it. Level 6 is home of the Thai Handicrafts - every souvenir you could think off. Some prices are set, but most are barter worthy.

Open daily from 10am to 10pm.

What to buy: DVD's, jewellery, clothing, toys, hair accesseries, bags, lighters, watches, shoes. You name it, it's here at MBK.

What to pay: Whatever you can barter.

MBK Center , an enormous 8-storey marble mall opened in 1985, is one of the biggest shopping malls in Asia . The center provides over 2,000 stores and services, over 150 eating establishments and a large cinema city. Shopping here, you'll find a variety of negotiable products including clothes, cosmetics, leathered items, jewelry, electronics, information technology products, furniture, restaurants, supermarket, theaters, karaoke and 4-storey department store (Tokyu).

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If you've come to Bangkok looking for some great shopping, but can't stand the heat of the outdoor markets, then come to MBK to shop in the comfort of air-conditioning. This is a huge shopping mall with plenty of independent retailers selling allsorts of goods. It's so big and vast, that I overheard a pair of lady shoppers express tiredness from shopping - can you imagine ladies complaining about shopping tiredness!?!

You can pick up a tourists' discount card at the information kiosks on the 1st and 2nd floors (show your passport), giving you 5 - 30% on selected merchandise and at some restaurants.

If you haven't seen one of the huge Asian shopping malls then you should go here. MBK Center, an enormous 8-storey marble mall that opened in 1985, is one of the biggest shopping malls in Asia . The center provides over 2,000 stores and services, over 150 eating establishments and a large cinema city. Shopping here, you'll find a variety of negotiable products including clothes, cosmetics, leathered items, jewelry, electronics, information technology products, furniture, restaurants, supermarket, theaters, karaoke and 4-storey department store (Tokyu). Go up to the floor with the cel phones and check it out. I don't think I've seen so many phones in one place before.

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This is the other shopping heaven - mercifully with air-conditioning! I enjoyed this better than Chatuchak, though only marginally as the sheer amount of human (shopper) traffic here is mind-boggingly choking.

8 floors worth of shopping trail (including a cinema), each floor decked to the full with items needed and unneeded for you. Shop, stop, look, buy, shop. That's the sequence I believed.

Interspaced in between every small and big boutiques and stalls on every floor (as well as the big Tokyo Departmental Store and Tops Supermarket), you will get restaurants & eateries squeezed in for sustenance, and if you feel economical as you are fast running out of money after a hard day of spending money, there are 2 food courts: An upmarket one on the 5th and a more economical one on the 6th.

What to buy: There are many shops selling 2nd hand genuine (as well as fake) jeans and bags of all kinds and designs in the basement, the 3rd (The Image Shopping Center) and the 6th floors.

There is also an entire floor (the 4th) dedicated to electronic gadgetry for folks trying to get the latest handphones, web-cams and spy cameras.

If you are not into fake couture, there are plenty of boutiques selling local branded apparels. Cheap, good and real. AIIZ is one such boutique and it can found in the basement.

It is also a place where many folks (well, at least folks from my country) come to grab packets of the ever popular local snacks such as pork floss rice crackers, durian chips, durian candies, spicy shrimp paste etc to drag home for family, friends and colleagues.

What to pay: You can certainly bargain in some stores, but quite a number are fixed-price outlets.