Please help! My wonderful husband is insisting on packing "lightly" and buying clothes, like linen slacks and long sleeve shirts off the racks in BKK for any outings we may do in the evenings. Will they have clothes to fit him without hving to be tailored for him? We are leaving TOMORROW! And I'm worried he's not bringing enough.
Side note question: Are we allowed to bring a buddha souvenier out of Thailand? I heard it's illegal. Thanks guys!

Unless your choice of a souvenier is an antique or a signifigant piece of religious artwork, there will be no problem.

It will likely be difficult to find clothing for your husband off the rack, but perhaps some of the larger men on the forum have some suggestions.

As for the clothing, I wouldn't take a chance on buying off the rack. Although I'm female, the proportions are 95% of the time off for me when buying clothes which is why I have most of them made when in Bangkok. As for Buddha (and monks), I just had them shipped from BK to L.A. and picked the shipment up two weeks ago. I had the antique store take care of the shipping. Then I hired a custom's broker to clear the shipment from customs.If the Buddha is 100 years or more old, then there's a problem and permits have to be had...is what the antique dealer told me... If you click on my name and scroll, I've written a whole thread on shipping. Happy Travels!

Where's the Buddah of Needham when you need 'em?

Hi, BWM.

You were asking about your husband's packing lightly and buying clothes while overseas in Bangkok.

DO NOT have him do it! Most menswear in Asia is sized one or two sizes smaller than in North America. If your husband ordinarily wears an extra-small or a small, he might find something there that fits. Otherwise, it'll be a no go for him.

I myself am an extra-large in shirts, and found one or two XXL shirts in Asia. They barely fit me. Now I bring EVERYTHING with me, and count on buying nothing in the clothing department, not even socks.

Enjoy your travels.

In Bangkok the largest, you can normally find in a store, waist size for men will be around 34 and for shirt the neck size will be around 16.5. I'm 6 foot and 200 lbs and I find it very difficult to buy clothes here in Bangkok.

he will not find anything that he likes that is acceptable in his size or price range...

everything is basically small and i mean small like size small or their XL is equal to our M...

i am big...i have bought a few knock off shirts, wear them once and throw them away...they are very bad quality...

he will find tons of T shirts if he is lucky but try everything on...

pants forget it...undies no!!!

their long sleve shirts will be like camp shirts on him....the cuff will be just below his elbow...

GET PACKING...

laundry is very cheap there so you do not need to take tons but he needs stuff...

bob, aka buddah of needham (red now i have to hear it from you as well as the ugly panda)

NO, NO, NO-he will not find clothing to fit in Asia-even in Hong Kong. The only chance would be to go to a tailor, and that takes days at least to get it right! Do NOT take the chance. Even an average sized Western man (i.e. 5'11, 180 lbs) cannot easily find well-fitting clothing in Asia. Same goes for women, I'm afraid, but at least skirts are more forgiving than trousers! Good luck and happy packing.

ON the plus side-laudry services are usually fairly inexpensive, even in hotels! Also, women must wear long sleeves/ covered legs for visiting temples.

Actually, you can find large sizes in Bangkok, but it is either very casual (as mentioned above) or dress. Nothing in between. For casual stuff, there are several shops on the 6th floor of MBK center. Much of it is too big for me and I'm the same size as hubby.

For dress stuff, there are several Arrow Big & Tall shops at major department stores such as Emporium and Central.

It's actually easier to find clothes my size in Bangkok than it was when I moved here 14 years ago, but to tell the truth, I still buy most of my clothes in Dubai or Singapore, other than suits.

Thanks so much...HE'S A PACKIN' AND IT'S A 12:30 AM, HA HA HA HA, Good night all!

In a word, "No". I'm 6'1", 210 and nothing in BKK fits. Tailor or nothing. Just take light stuff and use the laundry.

H-the thought of Buddha ever going to Needham is revolting. This is why he repels Mara.