just came back from bangkok today. here is my rating on a few of the places.

patpong ( dont go here, shopping is lousy lots of imitation goods, the sellers are rude and curse when u dont want to buy from them, price is very very expensive and jacked up because alot of farang go there for gogobar)

mbk mall ( can do some minor shopping here but try not to buy too much stuff because u can get more varieties at other places.)

chatuchak market ( a MUST GO, everything you need whether male or female is in chatuchak. cheap and trendy goods available here, only open on sat and sun though)

suan lum night bazaar (better than pat pong IMO, there are shoes,clothing,handicraft,food and live show)

siam square ( dont come here, lousy place, not trendy at all. mostly sellnig school uniform)

pratunam market ( this place is alright, although known as 'wholesale' it doesnt really give you a wholesale price so dont be dissapointed when they are unwilling to go lower than expected)

platinum mall ( caters more towards female clothing and bags. there is also a food court at the 6th floor if im not mistaken. you can skip this if you want to)

baiyoke ( same as platinum, boring!)

a few other places you can go are khao san road, chinatown and bangkappi.

overrall places i would recommend is chatuchak market, mbk mall and suan lum night bazaar. the rest is a waste of time. be careful of taxis as they will simply jack up prices especially when u just arrive at airport (they will tell you that they do not want to use meter to avoid service charge and they will pay for the toll but in the end, the price is much more expensive than meter. do not fall for this scam!) always push price when sitting taxi or tuk tuk. mainly is ask taxi to use meter so u dont get conned. try to avoid using tuk tuk. dangerous and easy to con. most people in bangkok are very friendly although they can get pretty aggresive if you push the price too low or do not want to buy their items. do not listen to them tell you that their items are genuine or imported goods. push and push. be smart when u haggle, look at the sellers attitude. if he or she is the type that is desperate to sell the goods, walk away and he shall call you back to the shop to give u a very very cheap bargain you cant refuse. on the other hand, if he doesnt really give two hoots if u buy it or not, you might want to consider just buying the item because it is much cheaper than m'sia anyhow.

anyways, all the best to anyone who plans on going to bangkok. hope u had as much fun as i did.

This post has been edited by dchm: Jul 7 2008, 02:42 AM

there is no centralized place for those places or maybe u would wanna try baiyoke tower. i recommend getting a hotel closeby the skytrain so that u can cut budget on transport. or else maybe use bus or underground train. other than that, transport isnt a problem. bangkok is roaming with taxis. just get a taxi and go shopping the whole day and come back during night time.

cheap goodies open on sat and sun is definately chatuchak market. everything is cheap and still can haggle somemore. thinking about it just makes me wanna go back hahaa.

have fun!

you still need to take a short taxi journey to reach skytrain from baiyoke. its easier if u just take a taxi especially if first time in bangkok.