Buying jewelery in Thailand.

August 28, 2008 2:08 AM

Buying jewellery in Thailand/Bangkok. Need good advice/website/stores to go to so that I don't get ripped off.

I am off to Thailand for a month on Saturday, and would like to bring some nice jewelery back for my girlfriend. However, I know next to nothing about jewelery, and want to avoid getting scammed. Has anyone here done this successfully? If so any advice on which websites to read before I go, or which stores in Thailand/Bangkok are reputable.

Google comes up with lots of general "talk to them a lot to make sure they seem reputable" type tips, but personal experience would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

posted by latentflip to Travel & Transportation (3 answers total)

Do not under any circumstances allow a tuk-tuk driver (or anyone on the street) talk you in to a specific destination, have one in mind and before you leave the hotel and know how to get there. When we went we preferred the night market in Chiang Mai to Bangkok for shopping in general. Gems and jewelery are a big business in Thailand, there are a lot of places where you can shop with varying price ranges but if anyone gets a hint that you're after a store you won't end up at any other one except that which they have a relationship with or can get a percentage or fee off of what you spend.

The Thai people are wonderfully friendly, however tourism is a giant industry in Thailand and they make the most of it. Stay on your toes and do not mention you're looking for a store unless your hotel is reputable and the concierge at the hotel can recommend one that you can check out online at one of the many internet cafe's. Hopefully one of the other mefites will chime in here, I can't remember the jewelery emporium we shopped at.
posted by iamabot at 3:36 AM on August 28, 2008

overall i rekon the chance of getting ripped off, no matter how well informed you are, outweighs any theoretical savings you might get buying jewelry in thailand. i'm no expert, but i believe you really need to have years of experience buying and selling jewels/gold/etc. on top of years of experience doing business in southeast asia, to really make any worthwhile savings buying this sort of thing in thailand. whereas there's a HUGE chance you'll get blatantly ripped off, lose a lot of money, and look like a sucker to the gf if you come into this inexperienced.
posted by messiahwannabe at 7:27 AM on August 28, 2008

There's a jewelry store in the shops section at the Rembrandt Hotel. My buddy took his girlfriend there to buy her something and she was really pleased. I suspect you'd be less prone to getting ripped off at a place that's within the hotel, as it would sully the name of the hotel, although you might not get as good a deal also. I can't remember the specific name of the place, sorry, but it should be the only one there.

As others have said, every taxi driver is in on the game of getting kickbacks for taking people to specific jewelry shops, tailors, etc.
posted by sharkfu at 2:57 PM on August 28, 2008