Bangkok shopping question
Dec 7th, 2022, 07:59 PM
#2
The first place that comes to mind is River City. I've found some lovely things there in visits past & plan to go again in January. When I looked on their website & scrolled down to photos of some of the galleries I see Buddhas.
https://rivercitybangkok.com/
https://rivercitybangkok.com/
Dec 8th, 2022, 03:58 AM
#3
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Depending upon where you are staying, I would ask for a recommendation from your hotel concierge. If staying at any of the hotels long the river , Oriental, Shangri la they may send you to River City. Be aware that the is possibly the most expensive place to shop in the.city. Also, technically speaking, to export any buddha image you need an export certificate which will take time. In reality this is only usually enforced for genuine antiques. In the past we have got the shop to pack it for shipping and it hasn't been a problem,If you happen to still be in the north, Chiang Mai is a better bet for such shopping.
Dec 8th, 2022, 09:01 AM
#5
One more thought, I bought a set of porcelain dinnerwear at a shop in River City, it was packed & shipped by the shop. So rather than carrying your purchase home, if it’s heavy consider having it shipped from wherever you buy.
Dec 13th, 2022, 05:45 PM
#6
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*I bought my Buddha and monk statues at River City Mall in 2007, I think it was. I was last in Bangkok in 2019/2020 and the years leading up to 2020. There are (were-pre-Covid) a lot of shops inside of RiverCity with Buddha statues as I've been checking out the shops in there for 20 years. The dealer where I got my statues took care of everything and they arrived in tact when they got here to Los Angeles. I had been going to that mall and also that specific shop continuously for years, looking for the right Buddha and monk statues. My best friend was even on one trip with me, looking as she used to also go to Bangkok regularly. She finally found her perfect set some years later and had them shipped here to Los Angeles. But, she got the short Buddha and monks in red robes. Mine are the tall, slender ones in orange robes. My friend went to a different shop in RiverCity Mall. She couldn't find ones like mine.
https://rivercitybangkok.com/galleri...=Buddha&floor=.
*For some reason, I can't remember the name of the shop where I got mine. It's in my journal, but I can't get to it right now. It's probably in one of my trip reports. I noticed that it's not listed on the RiverCity online directory now. But, it was there for many years. My best Thai friend and I used to look there every year and then one day we walked by and in the window were the perfect ones. Finally. Stunning. They were tall ones at maybe around 3 feet tall and in the window with a black background, museum-piece stunning, But, the price was high and I didn't have the entire set of 5 pieces in my budget. However, it was when the dollar was extremely strong, thank goodness.
*I tried to persuade the owner to split the set (Buddha and two monks), but he didn't want to. I went back again and he finally agreed and split the set and sold me three. We bargained the price.
*About 8 months later, I was back in Bangkok and went into the shop quickly to see if they other two were still there, but he said that just two weeks prior, a couple and their two kids from London, came in and saw the other two and had to have them. They asked where the other three were and the owner replied, "Living somewhere in Los Angeles." He said that the couple and their two kids took the remaining two and mentioned that they would be carrying them on the plane home to London. The shop owner and partner asked why I hadn't just contacted them to hold the extra two. I mentioned that I didn't know that the remaining two would be in my budget until the 11th hour. The owner of the shop was great and said that if I wanted him to, he would find me a complete set even more beautiful than the ones I had bought. But, I wanted to keep the ones that I had and not sell them for a new set.
*When my statues arrived, I had to get a company and pay them to deal with clearing them out of customs. Then they were transported to a large holding place in Compton where there were only truckers collecting various shipments. I arrived to that place to pay for the release of the statues. There was a long line of truckers waiting to pay their fees and pick up released items, but they let me go in line ahead of all of them.
*The statues arrived in a huge wooden box. If I wanted to use a crowbar to get them out, I would have needed to rent one from the company. But, the truckers were really nice and saw my dilemma and a big guy came over to me, took out a machete-looking knife and in one stroke, popped the metal ties off of the wooden box and then used his machete to open the lid of the wooden container and take the 3 statues out (one Buddha and two monks). He then lifted each one out of the box as carefully as if he were carrying a baby and placed them into the back of my hatchback car. He said to always look for a trucker to help out.
The arrival of my Buddha and monks was tedious and expensive to get the release of them when they got here to L.A., but well worth it as I still get such joy every time I pass them in my living room. Still stunning.
Happy Travels!
https://rivercitybangkok.com/galleri...=Buddha&floor=.
*For some reason, I can't remember the name of the shop where I got mine. It's in my journal, but I can't get to it right now. It's probably in one of my trip reports. I noticed that it's not listed on the RiverCity online directory now. But, it was there for many years. My best Thai friend and I used to look there every year and then one day we walked by and in the window were the perfect ones. Finally. Stunning. They were tall ones at maybe around 3 feet tall and in the window with a black background, museum-piece stunning, But, the price was high and I didn't have the entire set of 5 pieces in my budget. However, it was when the dollar was extremely strong, thank goodness.
*I tried to persuade the owner to split the set (Buddha and two monks), but he didn't want to. I went back again and he finally agreed and split the set and sold me three. We bargained the price.
*About 8 months later, I was back in Bangkok and went into the shop quickly to see if they other two were still there, but he said that just two weeks prior, a couple and their two kids from London, came in and saw the other two and had to have them. They asked where the other three were and the owner replied, "Living somewhere in Los Angeles." He said that the couple and their two kids took the remaining two and mentioned that they would be carrying them on the plane home to London. The shop owner and partner asked why I hadn't just contacted them to hold the extra two. I mentioned that I didn't know that the remaining two would be in my budget until the 11th hour. The owner of the shop was great and said that if I wanted him to, he would find me a complete set even more beautiful than the ones I had bought. But, I wanted to keep the ones that I had and not sell them for a new set.
*When my statues arrived, I had to get a company and pay them to deal with clearing them out of customs. Then they were transported to a large holding place in Compton where there were only truckers collecting various shipments. I arrived to that place to pay for the release of the statues. There was a long line of truckers waiting to pay their fees and pick up released items, but they let me go in line ahead of all of them.
*The statues arrived in a huge wooden box. If I wanted to use a crowbar to get them out, I would have needed to rent one from the company. But, the truckers were really nice and saw my dilemma and a big guy came over to me, took out a machete-looking knife and in one stroke, popped the metal ties off of the wooden box and then used his machete to open the lid of the wooden container and take the 3 statues out (one Buddha and two monks). He then lifted each one out of the box as carefully as if he were carrying a baby and placed them into the back of my hatchback car. He said to always look for a trucker to help out.
The arrival of my Buddha and monks was tedious and expensive to get the release of them when they got here to L.A., but well worth it as I still get such joy every time I pass them in my living room. Still stunning.
Happy Travels!
Dec 14th, 2022, 10:29 AM
#8
I'll be in Bangkok in early March and staying at the Hilton, which I think is right across the river from River City. I've been to River City many times in the past but never to look to buy any statuary. I may go this time to find a nice Buddha head. Thanks for the tip!
Jan 2nd, 2023, 08:25 PM
#9
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Originally Posted by tripplanner001
Thank you Guenmai. Appreciate your story too. We unfortunately never made it to RiverCity but will keep in mind for the next visit.
It just hit me that I was supposed to have been searching through my file boxes to find the name of where I got my Buddha and monk statues. But, I see you didn't get to River City Mall. However, I was just on Youtube and a recent video popped up in the feed and it was of River City Mall, so I clicked on it. I then googled and there was a link with a list of antique places in River City Mall in one of those links for travelers to Bangkok. I scrolled it and then Grand Antiques popped up and I'm 99% sure that that's where I got my Buddha and Monk statues. I mentioned the purchase in one of my Bangkok trip reports, but don't know if I mentioned the name of the place. I need to find the trip report. I've been going to Bangkok regularly since the late 1990s, so things get jumbled up in my memory. LOL!
Happy Travels!
