i just returned from a journey (january 2010) to bangkok, singapore and kuala lumpur and i found some cool places to shop for it and electronics!
bangkok:
i found a site listing some malls here, and checked out almost all of them. turned out, that mbk center is great for mobile/cell phones (but be aware of fake models and second hand stuff advertised as new…) and pantip plaza for computer parts, products and accessories as well as gadgets. pantip plaza has some camera shops as well and centralworld has a few selling cameras, lenses and bags. there was one outstanding camera shop in mbk floor 5 on which all the other shops sell office funitures. this shop was selling pretty cool stuff which i couldn’t find somewhere else like high speed compact flash cards (400x), lenses and filters. i was looking for the crumpler sinking barge (laptop and camera backbag), which i found surprisingly at pantip plaza (wrong color though) – this was the only crumpler bag i found in bangkok…for camera equipment, i suggest to go to hongkong first, then kuala lumpur.
comparision price for a nikon d300s body in bangkok: ~65.000,00 thai baht / ~1.400,00 euro.
kuala lumpur:
plaza low yat kuala lumpur
this is a good overview page for shopping opportunities in kl. for any electronic equipment, you need to head directly to low yat plaza, as you will find the lowest prices there due to the competition of shops. berjaya times square shopping mall at the opposite of the street is more fashion than it or electronics but is still worth a visit, as it is more serious and does host a couple of shops especially when it comes to cameras! the shops have stuff on stock and do not need to grab it from another shop like at low yat plaza, where it happened to me that i had more than once the same item in my hands after i asked in a hop for a price and the guys ran around to find somewhere an item. at berjaya times square, which is also kuala lumpur’s biggest mall, you will find a nikon flagship store, where you can even try out all the camera models and get a chance to talk to nikon stuff about recommendations and ask them questions – though, they do not sell any stuff by themselves.
sungei wang plaza kuala lumpur
suria klcc hosts a crumpler store btw, but is obviously a bit overpriced!
funan digitalife mall singapore
beside the already mentioned once, there are to malls next to each other: sungei wang plaza and bukit bintang plaza aka bb plaza which are both best compared to bangkok’s mbk cecnter. an unoverseeable labyrinth of shops of all kinds lower class or budget range with bargaining possibilites!
comparision price for a nikon d300s body in kuala lumpur: ~5.000,00 malaysia ringgits / ~1.000,00 euro.
singapore:
funan digitalife mall singapore
a dedicated it and electronics shopping mall can be found on north bridge road: funan digitalife mall. this mall hosts a broad variety of shops including a dedicated floor for laptops, one for camera equipment, etc. it is very well organized and does not bother you with low quality laser pointers and other crap selling shops. the camera shops are well known on the net and i was able to fins some reviews on them in advance, so they already exist for a couple of years and do their job well. they do not sell at dumping prices but they have a lot of stuff on stock (i was looking for a tokina lens 11-16, nikon mount, which i was able to find at this mall). they also offer a vat refund for tourists, but you need to leave singapore by plane – no chance if you plan to head further by train like i did. there are a couple of other malls round the corner, but they are not worth to be mentioned compared to funan mall. you should find here what you are looking for at a reasonable price.
comparision price for a nikon d300s body in singapore: ~2.200,00 singapore dollars / ~1.100,00 euro.
i could not find a single gps unit for nikon cameras (beside the nikon gp-1 in kuala lumpur’s nikon flagship store) in any of the cities!
some other prices for comparisons:
nikon battery grip mb-d10 for d300s, times square, kuala lumpur: ~800,00 malaysia ringgits / ~165,00 euro
iphone 3gs 32gb white, singapore: ~1.240,00 singapore dollars / ~635,00 euro
nokia e71 white, mbk, bangkok: ~11.500,00 thailand baht / ~ 250,00 euro
tokina lens 11-16mm, funan, singapore: forgot, but will update soon…
samsung st550 digial pocket camera, low yat plaza, kuala lumpur: forgot, but will update soon…
Hello. Excuse me just a question. I heard talking about Thailand here. I’m about going on holiday to Asia. I would like some info on Pattaya in Thailand. I would know if It’s a good place to go with family or should I choose another place? Thank You so much.