Koh Samui shopping
Shopping opportunities abound on the island of Koh Samui, with a wide range of stalls and shops dotted around the island’s main beach areas. To find the most choice, visitors are inevitably drawn to Chaweng, Koh Samui’s main tourist hub. The entire length of the main beach road is lined with everything from local stalls selling souvenirs or electronics all the way up to designer retailers who stock internationally renowned brands of clothing and goods.
Thai artisans use a range of materials to create their handicrafts. On Samui you will find everything from kitchenware to sculptures and Buddhist icons carved from various types of wood, including durable coconut wood, mango wood and water hyacinth to name but a few. Although prices are somewhat inflated on the island and the range doesn’t compete with Bangkok, shopping all across Thailand presents great value and is popular with visitors.
Beautifully embellished fabrics are also popular and commonly created using cotton, silk or a mixture of both. The cotton is usually elaborately woven, patterned and coloured with a myriad of natural dyes. Cotton placemats and tablecloths are just a few of the home wares made using this process, the material is also comes as lightweight, durable local style clothing and bags.
Then, of course there’s silk, one of Thailand’s most famous exports, traditionally woven by hand, giving a rough and natural texture that is difficult to replicate with machine woven silk. The beautiful designs and styles available are matched only by the creative use of colour found in Thai silk products, which can include anything from place settings to scarves and shawls.
Many of these products, especially the light clothing such as Thai fisherman’s trousers or thin cotton shirts are also ideal to wear during your stay. There are also other bargains to be found that will be useful for your holiday, such as sunglasses, low price bags or backpacks, money pouches, sarongs and the invaluable pair of sandals. In fact, such is the range and value of clothing and accessories available, seasoned visitors to Thailand often arrive with nothing at all and simply buy their bits and pieces on arrival.
It isn’t just local style clothing that is available there are also huge selections of jeans, tops, footwear and even suits to be found. All of the major labels are represented in stalls and boutiques, whilst other popular purchases include replica football shirts, caps and souvenir t-shirts. You might find it hard to ascertain whether the designer clothing you’re buying is the real thing or another copy. The price should certainly give you an idea. A genuine pair of jeans might be considerably cheaper than back home, but they won’t be giving them away. Footwear and clothing is particularly cheap, including high quality brands manufactured in Thailand.
It is likely during your trip to the island’s shopping spots that you will be enticed by the bargains to be had at the numerous stalls selling DVDs, CDs and Computer games, which can be bought for almost criminal prices. Do bear in mind that most of these are pirated copies, so it is not merely the prices that are criminal. Any such product found upon return to your home country will without doubt be confiscated. Still, that doesn’t stop thousands of visitors stocking up on the latest movies and music for a tenth of the prices they would pay back home.
If you’re looking for something really special to remind you of your time on Koh Samui, you might want to consider a trip to one of numerous local art houses that line the island’s beach roads, where gifted artists display their talent. Many of these outlets concentrate on replica work and often keep extensive files of famous images from which you can choose your piece. Others do create their own pieces though and are often happy to create portraits for you or replicate your favourite photographic images, thus creating a unique keepsake of your stay. Handicrafts are another good bet, and although almost all come from Chiang Mai there are plenty of vendors and night markets displaying a charming array of products that make fine gifts.
Wherever you spend your shopping money, you will no doubt get very good value, especially if you’ve been honing your bargaining tools. Thai people love to haggle and will expect you to participate with gusto. Try your luck, but remember in Thailand you’re often bargaining over the value of just a few dollars, so take it all with a sense of fun. Thailand is of course ‘The Land of Smiles’ and often a big cheesy grin will be your best bargaining tool.
