Phuket Shopping

We bought a few things from this shop, mainly 2 pairs of real converse shoes and a heap of diadora soccer shorts for the boys, in fact shorts to outfit a whole indoor soccer team!!!!

The price of the real converse shoes here was amazingly cheap we thought, so Frank got himself a pair of black low-tops and I got Georgia a pair of black hi-tops. Shoes came in about 10 different colours as well. Price for low-tops was 890bt and price for hi-tops was 950bt, PLUS you will get a 5% discount on anything you buy from this store that is full priced, so that made them even cheaper. Around $30AUD for a pair of real converse shoes is indeed a fantastic bargain!!!

I was told before I first went to Phuket in 2008 that Kittys was the best place to buy dvd's and cd's from. I bought all mine from there and the quality was pretty good, plus the guys there will tell you if they have a title that is a bad copy, it is then your choice if you wish to buy it or not. This time I went to Kittys first and got about 85% of the titles I wanted. The rest were either not out yet or they had them and they were bad copies. Then a few days later we decided to try and get the other ones from a different shop on Beach Road, they told us they were good copies! Went back to the room, played them in the pc and they were all crap, so took them back and exchanged them.

So, what I am trying to tell you is that the best place to buy your dvd's is definitely from Kittys, as they will NOT lie to you about the quality of them, their range is extensive and price is good at 60bt each. Kittys has 2 locations - outside Otop Markets which is the one I go to, and they have another store on Beach Road, but I think it is a smaller store. The shopfront is full of the pink merchandise from "Hello Kitty" which is why the shop is called Kittys and you then go through a "secret door" to the air conditioned dvd room out the back!!!

What to pay: 60bt per disc.

This is just a quick pricing guide on things that we bought in September 2010 so you will get an idea of prices to pay, all in Australian Dollars.

Bottle Smirnoff Vodka $20
Small bottle Jim Beam Whisky $10
DVD's from Kittys 60bt/$2
Soccer shirts 400bt/$14
Set of 6 placemats and coasters 350bt/$12
Calvin Klein boxer undies 100-150bt/$3-$4
Singha singlets 150bt/$5
Cushion covers 100bt/$3
Sunglasses 199-250bt/$6-$7
Caps 200bt/$7
Socks 3 for 100bt/$1
Board shorts 350bt/$12
T-shirts 200bt/$7
Real converse shoes 890-950bt/$30-$32
1kg of laundry done 50bt/$2
45 minute facial 299bt/$10
One hour foot massage 250-400bt/$8-$14
One hour oil massage 300-500bt/$10-$17
30 minute hire jetski 1500bt/$52
Day trip to Phi Phi Island 1100bt/$39
Day trip to James Bond Island 1000bt/$35
VIP tickets and transfer to Simon Cabaret 650bt/'$23
One hour trek at Kok Chang Elephant Safari 1200bt/$42
Trip to Fantasea with transfer 1700bt/$60

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Literally everywhere you walk in Patong you will have dozens of people asking you if want to buy dvd's, sunglasses, or the most frequently asked one is "you want a suit?" You do get kind of sick of saying "no thankyou" but you just have to accept that this is their way of life and what they need to do to survive.

Anyway, Frank was at Otop Markets one day and was asked "you want a suit?" He went into this guys shop, called Top Tony Tailor and after lengthy discussion, he had ordered himself a Black Tuxedo Jacket!!! Frank was very happy with the price, I think he got Top Tony down from about $170 to about $92 and so .... with only one fitting, the jacket was ready to be picked up in 2 days time. The jacket was very well made and Frank is now happy with his Tuxedo. This was though just the jacket, so no pants or shirt, but he did throw in a bow tie!!!

Where would Phuket be without the chain of 7-Eleven shops??? They are absolutely everywhere and are indeed a blessing as they seem to sell almost anything you would need to buy there! We were very lucky at the Burasari as there was a 7-Eleven shop right outside the main entrance!!! You can even buy alcohol there, and at great prices. I think a 700ml bottle of Smirnoff vodka was only 599bt which is about $20AUD!

When I say that there is a 7-Eleven shop on every street corner, I am literally not exagerrating as Im sure there are dozens of them just in central Patong alone!

Robinsons Department Store is in the same building as Carrefours and I would say it is close to an equivalent to our Myer or David Jones Stores. With more up market shopping, but still at pretty good prices. I actually bought 2 pairs of shoes in here, one for me and one for Georgia for only 790bt each and Georgia was rather impressed with her shoes, a black pair of high heeled lace up low boots! I also bought some boxer undies for the boys in here. Also there is NO bargaining in this store.

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Carrefours is in the Jungceylon Mall in Patong and is a 2 storey bargain department store, that I would say is close to our Woolworths or Big W in Australia. Many great bargains to be had here, plus what I discovered will certainly make me want to go back there again! They have this fresh fruit section where you can buy any kind of Thai/Asian fruit, already peeled, cut and packaged!!! I found my favourite fruit, the Pomelo, there and quickly bought a tray of that! Pomelo is hard to get in Australia and if you do find it, it certainly doesnt taste as nice as it does here! Its kind of a cross between a lemon, an orange and a grapefruit. Also, its is rather difficult to peel and section, so its a great thing to be able to buy it already done! A large tray of Pomelo ready to eat cost only 49bt which is about $2AUD!!! PLUS .... they have a pretty cheap grog shop in there, we bought some vodka and Jim Beam I think for very cheap prices, also with a large selection of wines.

Also, something else rather amazing we found in Carrefours were demo ladies! That is my job in Australia - a supermarket demonstrator so I was rather amazed to find ladies doing my job in Phuket!!! So, if I ever want to permanently move to Phuket ...... I will have a job!!!! hehehe

We only went here once on the day Peter took us for a drive, and really only ate lunch here at Fuji, which is his favourite restaurant! Central Festival is I think the largest shopping mall in Phuket and also has the advantage of being air conditioned! Huge selection of shops and restaurants here, so maybe next time I return to Phuket I shall just have to spend a day shopping here! Also, many people will tell you that things are much cheaper in Phuket Town as opposed to Patong. Phuket Town is about a 30 minute drive from Patong I think, so not very far at all. You can hire a tuk tuk, a driver or even catch a bus there.