I read about the jems and Cashmere but what else do you bring back..Also can you buy red coral (fake or real) can one tell the difference??

I've never purchased cashmere in Thailand. It can be a good deal in China, but it is not a Thai product. Thai silks, of course, are a very good deal.

Local crafts of all sorts are good buys.

In terms of jewelry, sapphires and rubies are the best buys. Buy only from a reputable jeweler of course (no place a tuk tuk or taxi driver recommends!). I don't know about coral.

I love Jim Thomson stiff esp homeware...in general I buy home ware in Bangkok...like to make a trip to Tango to buy shoes...one of my fav spa brnads Harnn

we buy crafts of all kinds....jewelry especially gold and saphires and some rubies....other semi precious stones are very reasonable as well....kathie is correct, go to a good shop, not any street or market vendor...

silks of all kinds and textures...

home goods, baskets, cottons: table runners, mats...

custom made clothing for both men and women: silk, cotton, wool, blends...

stainless steel and bronzeware: table setting pieces and serving pieces, flatware...

yard goods: silks and cottons, especially good bargains at the jim thompson outlet on soi 93, sukhumvit rd....

i have not seen any coral, but not to say they do not have it....my wife chimes in that she has seen some, but not much...

they have pashminas but i do not think they are cashmere....hong kong or china for that i am afraid...

I love the teak carvings of Bodhisattvas. I bought one at L'Arcadia antique store...so not especially cheap but definitely the genuine article. I posted the info on this store before but here it is again for you anyway.

http://www.mcdougalladventures.com/t...cadia-antiques

I bought a beautiful large mangowood vase for nothing there. I also like to bring back Thai bottled water like Singha or Chang so I can savour the essence of the Chao Phraya while kicking back.

Apart from the obvious I usually also refill my medical kit in Thailand as a lot of medicines, which are only available on prescription here in Belgium, are available over the counter in the land of smiles and turn out to be much cheaper too.
Another thing I usually stock are toiletries like shaving-cream etc. as they are cheaper and are available in small sizes that are ideal to pack on other shorter trips closer from home.
And yes, since I still have the bad habit of being a smoker I usually bring back a handful of lighters as they are usually about 10 times cheaper then at home

I brought back custom made shirts for my husband, custom made silk jacket for me, silk throw pillow covers (very inexpensive relative to US prices), Thai china (from factory store near floating market), shadow puppets for the neices & nephews and tribal crafts as gift items, also beautiful lacquerware

As a Scuba-diver with about 50 dives in Thai waters under my belt, I can’t remember I’ve ever seen Red corals but most importantly would never consider buying them as they are not the right souvenir imho (Coral reefs take years and years to grow and only seconds to destroy)… but I am not here on this board to judge on others either… ;-)

rhkkmk:
on the flatware...how did you ship it back...was it too heavy for your luggage? Last time we were there we saw some beautiful settings but I wondered how much it would be to send it back. I now know that sending big furniture back to Hawaii is not that expensive. Have you ever sent smaller items, ie dishes, silverware, etc. via a slower carrier and who did you use (if you used anyone)?
Aloha!

No i wouldn't buy new coral..they say only antiques (expensive)and new fakes are legal...

we have only bought pieces...never full sets...we did however buy a huge quantity of stainless steel last time and had it shipped....it came in five days air from bkk to boston...it was 10 kilo so just over 20 pounds and cost about $95....we will do it again...i think it was ups....we had a table shipped from laos ---a small sort of tv tray type thing and it was $80 to ship and too 2 1/2 months....

both arrived in excellent condition...

in the past we have never had to pay any attention to weight on northwest....that may be different this year....karen buys medium size tupperware type square or rectangular boxes and we pack breakables in them with dirty clothes around them and then put them in a large rice bag (stripped nylong zip bags)...we check this as a piece of luggage....the one in june was so heavy that the two of us could hardly lift it....no questions asked....so we had a total of four checked bags including the monster...

we try to carry anything we buy... in the past this has included a russian samovar bought in turkey and other odd shapped things....two huge kites from bali...with some thought you can pack things and protect them....nothing has ever broken...

I bought an entire set of flatware (18 place setting with custom made wooden box to keep it) at Alemta for a freind and it was shipped from Bangkok to Singapore. The charge was just 3000 baht. The box itself weighed 5 kgs. Most places you buy from will arrange cost effective shipping - esp the shops (as opposed to the Night Bazaar or Jatujak stalls)

ThierryD: concerning meds, are they labeled in such a way that you can easily tell what they are? I'd love to pick up a face cream that is prescription here in US and lots of $$.

hobbes: what is "Alemta" - I'd like to check out the flatware.

Thanks all