Bangkok: Where to buy Thai furniture in the Bangkok area?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 194
Bangkok: Where to buy Thai furniture in the Bangkok area?
Hi,
We are planning our first visit to Thailand in April/May.
We are hoping to "bring" back to Europe a few Thai furniture. Where (which area) can we find nice Thai furnitures?
Would it be cheaper to go directly to a factory or can the price be equally favorable? fyi: we will only be in the Bangkok area.
Kindly advise.
We are planning our first visit to Thailand in April/May.
We are hoping to "bring" back to Europe a few Thai furniture. Where (which area) can we find nice Thai furnitures?
Would it be cheaper to go directly to a factory or can the price be equally favorable? fyi: we will only be in the Bangkok area.
Kindly advise.
#2
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,925
one area is along sukhumvit road...there are a number of shops between some sois....i forget which ones, but maybe in the 30's to 50's...someone else can help....as i remember most of them were on the odd numbered side of the street....you might consult the nancy chandler shopping map for assistance as well...
#5
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 7,689
The Nancy Chandler map is really useful. You might send Nancy Chandler an e-mail with your question on factory outlets or check her website to see if she gives any info. Another good place for furniture (antique and reproduction) is the River City Shopping Center on the river next to the Sheraton.
One note of caution, I see you live in Norway. I live in Switzerland and brought a lot of wooden furniture with me when I moved here from Asia. I hate to say that several of my pieces have cracked rather badly as they dry out in the much less humid atmosphere here. The new furniture, mostly teak, is doing fine, but the antique non-teak pieces have not fared so well. Teak is a very dense wood and so does not absorb as much water in the humid Asian climate so will probably transfer well to a dry climate like Norway. Other than that, be very wary of this problem. Some shops will tell you they can “treat” the wood in a special drying room for several weeks; in my experience this does not work so I would not pay extra for it if it is offered. It is also quite expensive to ship furniture from Asia. Do a lot of comparison shopping at home before you go so you know when you are getting a bargain after you add in shipping and potentially customs duties (don’t know what they are in Norway, in Switzerland they are about 17% of the value of the piece shipped.) Bargain hard and pay by credit card so you can work with the credit card company if the item does not arrive.
One note of caution, I see you live in Norway. I live in Switzerland and brought a lot of wooden furniture with me when I moved here from Asia. I hate to say that several of my pieces have cracked rather badly as they dry out in the much less humid atmosphere here. The new furniture, mostly teak, is doing fine, but the antique non-teak pieces have not fared so well. Teak is a very dense wood and so does not absorb as much water in the humid Asian climate so will probably transfer well to a dry climate like Norway. Other than that, be very wary of this problem. Some shops will tell you they can “treat” the wood in a special drying room for several weeks; in my experience this does not work so I would not pay extra for it if it is offered. It is also quite expensive to ship furniture from Asia. Do a lot of comparison shopping at home before you go so you know when you are getting a bargain after you add in shipping and potentially customs duties (don’t know what they are in Norway, in Switzerland they are about 17% of the value of the piece shipped.) Bargain hard and pay by credit card so you can work with the credit card company if the item does not arrive.
#6
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,602
Oh, I can definitely second what Cicerone says about the furniture cracking-it's a painful thing to see, but I have several antique Chinese late Qing dynasty (early 20th cent.) furniture pieces, and 3 or 4 of them have got large splits or are cracked at the joints. The only piece untouched at this point is my lovely Tibetan cabinet-that dry central heating does not help one bit!
