holiday shopping in Hua Hin

Post by **richlfc** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 6:40 pm

Hello from Luxembourg,
I will be visiting Hua Hin in August for a short holiday, with my family & this is our first time in asia and in Hua Hin. Although a trivial question would someone be able to help with some shopping tips. Is there a good place to buy clothes for children and adults without the european price tag. I have seen that there are markets from the map, are the prices fixed or do you need to haggle to get the best price & is the quality in the markets as good as the shops? Is there a certain place to go to get some good shirts & suits or is that not possible. Many thanks for your help, Richard.
PS this is a great web site & I have already found many sources of information.

Post by **Norseman** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 10:53 pm

Hi Richard and welcome to the board.
You will find clothes here very cheap, but be aware that the best prices will be obtained in Bangkok.
You will however find clothes in every shape and size also here in Hua Hin.
Go to the night market or in any clothier and start bargaining.
You will find a lot of stuff in Market Village or in the town it self.
Tailor-made clothes are in no way a problem to get, you will later find out that it's difficult to avoid the tailors down town.
Clothes are cheap, easy to buy, but you can do your best bargains in Bangkok.

Post by **Big Boy** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:12 pm

Rich,

As Norseman said, start bargaining.

The problem is that you will be overcharged with whatever you buy - however, by European standards, everything will seem like a bargain. All that you can do is try to limit the amount by which you are overcharged - experience has shown me that if I try to buy something, the starting price is usually at least double the starting price my Thai wife is asked for.

My advice is go out the first day or two with no intention to buy - just haggle for the same type of thing at a few stalls. Haggle very hard to see how much they will move - then walk away, the price will come down even further. As I said, try it at a couple of places - the price differences vary vastly from stall to stall. Only by trying it this way will you get an idea of where to shop, and what you should be paying.

Rest assured, you will think that you've got a bargain, and the seller will be thinking of you as another farang that he has overcharged - its a win, win situation.

Post by **STEVE G** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 11:50 pm

Richard, also the mainstream shops in and around Hua Hin are much cheaper than the equivalent in Europe, and everything is priced the same as home.
Incidentally you will find everything in Thailand cheaper than Luxembourg, I know, I travel between the two regularly, in fact Iâ€™m at Luxembourg airport right now, and heading back to Hua Hin on Friday. If you need any advice from either end send me a PM.

Post by **DawnHRD** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:09 am

Quite honestly, for children's clothes, at least, (and some of my own) I just go to Tesco in Market Village. The clothes are OK quality & much cheaper than you would get on the market stalls, even by haggling.

I know I shouldn't support huge conglomerates versus local stallholders, but the stallholders price themselves out of my market, by catering primarily to tourists. At Tescos you can get kid's t-shirts etc for 39 bt up. Big C in Petchaburi is also very good for cheap clothes. They're not European labels, but if you find European labels on market stall clothes, they'll be fakes, anyway.

Post by **BaaBaa.** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 3:59 pm

Big Boy wrote: Haggle very hard to see how much they will move - then walk away

If you haggle someone down and offer X amount of money, and the offer is accepted, DO NOT walkaway. Not a clever thing to do.

Post by **Winkie** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:35 pm

BaaBaa. wrote:
Big Boy wrote: Haggle very hard to see how much they will move - then walk away
If you haggle someone down and offer X amount of money, and the offer is accepted, DO NOT walkaway. Not a clever thing to do.

Maybe some wise words Baa Baa. I don't know soo much about HH, but I have (on at least one occassion) seen this siutation turn physically nasty in Patpong night Market in BKK. I've heard of many other situations.

Now, I'm sure that HH Night Market isn't quite the same as Patpong, but, none the less, I think its a point worht considering

Winkie

Post by **STEVE G** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 5:47 pm

Pretty much all over the region, if you offer an amount of money for something, that means you are going to buy it if they agree. In Hua Hin if you walk away they will think you are an impolite fool, in other parts you could get yourself into very serious trouble.

Post by **Big Boy** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:26 pm

Sorry Guys, obviously a misunderstanding. When I said haggle very hard, I meant offer an unrealistic price that they'd be daft to accept. Obviously, if they do accept you are going to be delighted with that price, and by all means buy.

Once you have achieved a price that you are happy with, there is little point haggling any further.

The point I was trying to make was that as a Farang, the average Thai stallholder will try to make a bigger profit - a lot more than they would dream of making from a Thai. If you think something (that you want of course) is worth 100 Baht, start at 50 Baht. If they wont drop below 150 Baht, just walk away.

Post by **The understudy** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:35 pm

HI there richi

A very warm welcome to the HHDA Forum.

In Hua Hin shopping for clothes is easy but try to haggle as hard as you can! The main night market in Downtown HuaHin is more famous for it's food and cheap DVD's and music CD's there are also some clothes stalls but not as many as in the market right next to San Paolo Hospital. evenn if there's a pricetag on the clothes try to hagggle the price down as far you can before you buy. Like Big Boy said before me those people try to overcharge because you are a Foreinger.
Hone your haggling skills to a sharp edge so you ca proudly proclaim that you got it for less than the locals. or something like that.

your's The understudy!

Post by **BaaBaa.** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:36 pm

Just thought we'd better make it clearer.

Didnt want richlfc getting chased around the market by an angry mob on his first visit.

Post by **richlfc** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 7:50 pm

many thanks to all those that have replied. I get the idea, bargain hard and when you're happy pay up

.
I am very much looking forward to coming to HH, I have read some great stuff and the website HHAD has given me some extra information as well.
Once again, many thanks to all, Richard.

Post by **Kraka's Dad** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 8:12 pm

You will have a great time there it is a great place.
We are looking forward to our next visit in July

Post by **DawnHRD** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 9:50 pm

Just a little post script to this. Tomorrow my little boy is supposed to wear traditional Thai costume to school for Songkran. I've already replied to the school to tell them he won't be, as he doesn't own anything & I don't have time to troll around the shops looking.

However, there was a costume on a stall opposite the Shopping Mall. Horrible, hot synthetic material, but traditional. I went to ask how much it was (in Thai). The guy has seen me many times before, so must realise I live here. 750bt. I laughed, said in Thai "too expensive" & walked off. He didn't come down in price at all.

In Tesco, I found those lightweight bright, batik type shirts that Thais wear a lot at this time of year. 59 bt each. No haggling - just buy it. So, not traditional, but at least littl'un has something to wear tomorrow that he's happy with.

Post by **BaaBaa.** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 10:24 pm

DawnHHDRC wrote:He didn't come down in price at all.

I've found HuaHin to be the worst place in Thailand to haggle, 8 DVDs and not a single baht off. walked away and no shouting me back.

Had to go back after a wander round the grand market because I really wanted this boxset.

And dont even get me started on the TukTuks.