It is no secret that Bangkok is a food and shopping paradise that is full of dirt-cheap deals, and we always make it a point to come here at least once a year to get our fill on affordable food, shopping and massages.

For those of you who are visiting Bangkok for the first time and you need some ideas for your itinerary, we recommend you pay the Pratunam area a visit. The place is chock full of endless shopping, food and even more shopping and once you’re done with all that, you can give your body a break by heading over to one of the many massage parlours that are scattered around the area.

If you want to visit Pratunam but you are absolutely clueless about what you should do there, here’s our guide to give you some ideas.

WAKE UP EARLY FOR CHEAP WHOLESALE DEALS AT PRATUNAM MORNING MARKET 

You can forget about scrolling through Taobao for the next few months after visiting this gargantuan wholesale paradise. The market is filled with hundreds of vendors selling trendy pieces for dirt cheap prices. We recommend coming here with a group of friends because you can get even cheaper prices when you bulk buy!

Ratchaprarop 1 Alley
Khwaeng Thanon Phaya Thai, Khet Ratchathewi
Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10400, Thailand
Daily: 5am – 6pm

HAVE BREAKFAST AT LUNG PRATHUNAM BOAT NOODLES 

There are multiple places in Bangkok that serve up decent bowls of boat noodles but one of our absolute favourites is Lung Prathunam Boat Noodle. Here, they have 6 different broths and 8 different types of noodles to choose from. Each bowl costs a mere 30 baht and an upsized version would be 40 baht. For those of you who are in a rush, you can also do a take away for 50 baht.

960/14 Phetchaburi Road
Khwaeng Makkasan, Khet Ratchathewi
Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10400, Thailand
Tel: +66 85 919 1994
Daily: 8am – 5pm

GO SHOPPING AT PLATINUM FASHION MALL OR PANDTIP IT MALL 

It is impossible to not have heard of Platinum Fashion Mall and this shopping paradise is home to a plethora of stalls that sell cheap and trendy clothes, accessories and shoes. With 6 floors housing over 2000 stalls, the place will keep you busy for hours! If you aren’t keen in fashion, you can also head on over to Pandtip IT Mall to check out some of the tech stuff that they have available.

GET A MASSAGE ALONG PETCHABURI SOI 15

While shopping may be fun, it can also be pretty exhausting. To ease those muscles and give yourself a break, we recommend heading over to the row of massage parlours at Petchaburi Soi 15 to treat yourself to a good session of kneading and back cracking. While all the parlours there are pretty decent, our favourite is Number One Massage!

Number One Massage 
1/7-8 Pratunam
Phetchaburi soi 15
Thanon Phaya Thai, Ratchathewei
Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Tel: +65 +66 2 653 9967
Daily: 9.30am – 12am

HAVE LUNCH AT GONG TONG CAFE 

Gong Tong is a charming and quirky cafe that dishes out themed homemade dishes revolving around different historical periods of Thailand. They serve up both sets and à la carte options and each and every dish here will take you to a completely different era. While the prices here are on the steeper end, we can assure you that it is well worth every cent.

Thanon Phaya Thai
Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Tel: +66 64 879 0149
Daily: 10am – 8.30pm

PAY A VISIT TO BRAND NEW MALL ‘THE MARKET’

The shopping scene in Bangkok just keeps getting better and joining the slew of malls is The Market. Located just across the road from Central World, The Market is home to plenty of stalls like boutiques, blogshops, cafes and massage parlours. The prices here are a little on the steeper end as compared to the markets but we feel like the things sold here are of better quality.

111 Ratchadamri Road
Khwaeng Lumphini, Khet Pathum Wan
Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10330, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 121 8888
Daily: 10am – 10pm

HAVE TEA AT BOYY AND SON CAFE 

Located conveniently at the recently renovated Gaysorn Village, BOYY & Son is a chic, stylish and incredibly Instagram-worthy cafe that sells coffee, tea and an interesting array of pastries. We absolutely love their croissants which are flaky, buttery and fragrant all at once!

BOYY 127 Unit L00-01 GAYSORN Tower2 Lumphini
Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 253 8300
Daily: 8am – 8pm

VISIT CENTRAL WORLD SHOPPING MALL

Like we said, the shopping never ends at Pratunam! Another mall to check out is the famous Central World Shopping Mall. While it is similar to many Singapore malls and the stuff here isn’t as cheap as the markets, it’s still a great place to do some window shopping and enjoy the air-con!

HAVE DINNER AT GO-ANG PRATUNAM CHICKEN RICE

If you want to try a different variation of chicken rice aside from Singapore’s Hainanese chicken rice, we recommend that you pop by Go-Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice. These plates of Michelin Bib Gourmand chicken rice certainly live up to its name and we can see why it’s so popular with both the locals and tourists. Brace yourself for some really long queues!

960 962 Phetchaburi Road
Khwaeng Makkasan, Khet Ratchathewi
Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10400, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 252 6325
Daily: 6am – 2pm, 5pm – 2am

CHECK OUT PALLADIUM NIGHT MARKET 

As the sun sets for the day, all the night markets come out to play. Pratunam has its own share of night markets that come alive when the sky turns dark and one of the more popular ones is Palladium Night Market. Here, you can find rows of stalls selling things like clothes, accessories and random knick-knacks.

487 Phetchaburi Road
Khwaeng Makkasan, Khet Ratchathewi
Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10400, Thailand
Daily: 6pm – 12am

END THE NIGHT WITH TALAD NEON NIGHT MARKET

If you still have time, you can also hop on over to Talad Neon Night Market for even more shopping and feasting. We prefer this place to Palladium Night Market as we feel that the things sold here are catered more to the youths. They also have a larger array of stalls that sell food so it’s a great supper spot!

1087, 167 Phetchaburi Road
Khwaeng Makkasan, Khet Ratchathewi
Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10400, Thailand
Daily: 5pm – 12am