Pantip Plaza

[deepthroat]

That's no joke. Last year I watched an episode of "Locked Up Abroad" on NatGeo and they had the story of a Brit that is locked up in a Thai prison. She came over as a tourist, decided to stay longtime, then on the canal boat she got splashed with water near her mouth and ended up in hospital with something gawdawful for a month or two - think it was related to E. coli from the shit in the water.

Repeat - SHIT (literal) in the water.

Don't swallow!

To finish the story, she was so broke after her extended hospital stay and lengthy recuperation that she agreed to smuggle drugs out of the country in order to earn much-needed cash, and of course she was caught.

[kahuna]

I lived on Soi 1/1 behind Bumrungrad for a couple months one trip...From the 15 floor (as I recall) of the condo I was in I looked out over the canal...
That's as close as I ever got...I'd rather walk to Pantip thanks...

[Snick]

I always wear sunglasses on the boat , don't want that crap in my eyes. And try not to sit at the edge.
But the canal boat is very fast and convenient to get to panthip. Depending on the time of day it's 15 minutes vs 1 hour.

[Torurot]

I went on a non aircon bus around rush hour with "only" 116 people on board including the driver and the tiny ticket collector girl was still catching everyone on board. Being a bit taller than many Thais and being up the front by the driver it was easy to count. Leaning out the window looking back we were in a que with over 25 buses behind running back into the distance, and around 10 to twelve in front. No problems.

[Rockheart]

I think Panthip is not as good as once was. I will keep in mind the repair place if still open.
Computers there are terribly expensive compared to Canada. I bought a laptop for my GF but it was not a great deal.
They don't seem to have too much or any good software there any more.
I bought a bunch of movies and they were all shit and didn't play right.
I did get a fairly cheap PS3 controller that worked great.

[rxpharm]

Having recently returned from a short trip, I would agree with Crag that Pantip is not as good as it used to be. My friend's shop is now closed, he decided to shut down as the rent was going up and margins were going down. The good news is I've found another great laptop repair shop.

The shop is called Platong Computer (golden fish). He was on the 4th floor but moved directly across the street to Boontong Plaza 2 (just across the pedestrian bridge. His shop is located on the 2nd floor (same level as the entrance from the pedestrian bridge). They have a facebook page. Phone numbers: 085-9684-227 or 086-0985-598 and e-mail: [email protected]

I have also found a very reliable shop for movies and software. If I have any problems there is no issue with exchanging the discs for good ones.
This shop is called Music Software Movies and is located on the same level as the food court (1st floor).

Pantip Plaza is currently in the midst of renovation. There are fewer computer/software shops, and tons more mobile shops and camera/photo shops.

The first 6 photos are of the location of Platong Computer the special machine they use to remove and resolder chips, and the last 2 photos are of the main floor of Pantip Plaza and the Music/Software/Movies Shop on the 1st floor.

[Rockheart]

I was not impressed with the prices there when we went to buy a laptop for my GF in Pantip.
I think i paid 28,000 baht in 2010 for a laptop at the Sony Vaio store that was not great compared to Canadian specs.
We bought a Sony because all the other places just had junk, so it was a little more just for that reason.
Sony had pretty good support also.
DSC00502.jpg

When I went to Panthip with my new date to buy a laptop last week the prices are much better.
We got this HP I5 with 4GB ram for about 14000 baht.
The prices and specs there are much better than 2010.
They took it down to the main floor where they loaded windows 8 and every other application known to man.
I guess that is the one advantage of Panthip is you can get lots of free software on PCS.
However you may have trouble taking these PCs to your home country, it is great if you live there.
This think has photoshop and all the expensive apps on it.

10665176_764542653618291_8383998048626765258_n.jpg

[rxpharm]

Prices for electronics in Thailand aren't as good as Canada and US (unless your province/state has a high PST or sales tax). That said though, other things can balance out - like the software and being able to repair something for excellent rates, when it might be a write off back home.

Your date for this trip is very pretty Crag!

[Rockheart]

Prices for electronics in Thailand aren't as good as Canada and US (unless your province/state has a high PST or sales tax). That said though, other things can balance out - like the software and being able to repair something for excellent rates, when it might be a write off back home.

Your date for this trip is very pretty Crag!

That girl in the Sony Vaio store is from 2010 and she is my old GF/Fiance.
We went and bought her a laptop just before she went for her SRS surgery.
I haven't seen her since we went skiing in Italy in May.

This is my new date that I helped by the HP laptop.
IMG_3675aa.jpg

[rxpharm]

Crag you are a man of good taste, both your ex-fiancee and your latest girlfriend are lovelies!

Here is an opinion piece from The Nation July 4, 2015 about Pantip Plaza.

Farewell to the poor man's computer paradise
The Nation July 4, 2015 1:00 am
With phones, tablets so easily discarded, Pantip Plaza has opted for a new business concept, yet we lose much in the trade-off
Until last year, Pantip Plaza was a frequent destination for even the cleverest of computer geeks. It was the place to discover how your desktop computer could become a lot more powerful without spending a fortune, even as the prices of RAM utilities, hard drives, CD-ROMs, printers or scanners were falling all around.

But times have changed, and what was once a paradise for tech-savvy consumers has succumbed to the forces of retail gravity.

The curtain has all but come down on the "computer mall" for shoppers of limited income. Pantip is being refurbished with upmarket intentions and will re-emerge as an ultramodern "technology centre", offering the same type of gear and services as before but with much higher price tags.

The rationale for the revamp includes customers' evolving behaviour and the building's nightmarish parking facilities, which in recent years have combined to winnow consumer interest in the once-bustling mall, abetted by a slew of disruptive reconstruction and renovation efforts. There were indeed days when the place felt like a ghost town.

As well, computer owners no longer need to visit Pantip Plaza for upgrades, repairs or accessory purchases. It's often cheaper to simply discard your old unit and buy a new one. The boom in the tablet and smartphone markets has ensured that almost every department store and community mall stocks whatever we need. The newer IT gadgets don't need fixing, per se - now you just "upgrade" - and that's what really knocked the wind out of the Plaza.

The current big changes at Pantip affect more than the shoppers and shop owners. Countless young people found jobs there in its heyday and turned into tech experts, acquiring impressive knowledge in a short time that 10 years in school could not have taught them.

It's been said that a major exodus of vendors is on the cards. That might well fit into the grand new business concept, but management must be aware that it has to somehow restore Pantip's reputation as an unrivalled playground for technology enthusiasts. This is hardly a matter of nostalgia: If that reputation is lost forever, no amount of effort in rebranding will succeed, and the mall will face very tough times ahead.

There is a flaw in the argument that Pantip Plaza must be reborn because it's now so much cheaper and easier to buy a new device than "chop and change" or "plug and re-plug". There were in fact undeniable benefits to these more awkward approaches - they ensured that the market belonged mainly to the buyers. Their shopping habits guided the prices, they acquired considerable knowledge of their own, and they determined what they wanted or didn't want.

"Updating" a gadget by throwing it away and buying a new one might be the relatively cheap course these days, and it can certainly be done quickly. The downside, though, is that it leaves users with far less say in the market, and denies them the fun of learning as they go. The market seems to be moving further away from the buyers.

The "old Pantip" gave IT users a voice and a measure of influence that had to be respected.

The "new Pantip" might be shinier, with better parking, but it's also a place where the producers and sellers decide what's best. Perhaps there is a degree of nostalgia at play, as strange as that word sounds in the context of high technology, but surely it's outweighed by the hope that Pantip can regain its crown in the kingdom of gadgets.

I visited it again at the end of June, during my short visit to Bangkok. My favorite DVD/software vendor has moved to Latprao. There are fewer computer shops, DVD/Software shops, and many more mobile and mobile accessory shops. A number of the digital camera shops have moved out as well.

My optical shop is located in Pantip Plaza. The shop owner says the renovations are about 50% complete, but what types of shops will occupy the new space remains to be seen. Unfortunately I think it marks the end of an era, with the changes they are making.

[Rockheart]

I don't think it has ever been the same since they stopped selling pirated applications.
That was the real good stuff when you could get photoshop for under $20.

Most of the computers there are over priced by western standards and then they load it with unsupported windows.
So then you cannot load other legal software in many cases.
You are almost always better to buy computers before going to Thailand if you know in advance.

I bought some movies on DVD there once, they were all garbage and didn't play all the way.

[George Pill]

Is this MAS?

Is this Mas from KC3 on Pattaya Soi 8 as of last November 2014? Might be so many girls look alike.

++++++++++++++

That girl in the Sony Vaio store is from 2010 and she is my old GF/Fiance.
We went and bought her a laptop just before she went for her SRS surgery.
I haven't seen her since we went skiing in Italy in May.

This is my new date that I helped by the HP laptop.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]75664[/ATTACH]

[Rockheart]

Is this Mas from KC3 on Pattaya Soi 8 as of last November 2014? Might be so many girls look alike.

++++++++++++++

Yes this is Massy from Kings Bar on Soi 8.
I went and helped her to buy a computer in Panthip when she cam to visit me in Bangkok.

http://www.ladyboysthai.com/ladyboy/massy/

You can also see more of her in my trip report from last October/November

https://ladyboy.reviews/showthread.php?20533-My-Thailand-Trip-November-2014-Bangkok-and-Pattaya

[joeaf]

I don't think it has ever been the same since they stopped selling pirated applications.
That was the real good stuff when you could get photoshop for under $20....

Pantip vendors still sells pirated software applications, software prices have come down, the vendors have moved, number of vendors has shrunk, and its not as open as before. No software vendors on the first floor, and only about 10 software vendors remaining. In Nov 2015, the software vendors were on the second floor, then they moved to the mezzanine level, and could move again.

In Dec 2015, I picked up Office 2016 Pro for 100 baht from a Pantip but I got error messages when I tried to install it. I thought it was a bad copy and I returned it, but another vendor said he could install it for 100 baht, and it did work. The install instructions on the DVD were not accurate, but for 200 baht or less than $6 US, this was a bargain.

[Rockheart]

Pantip vendors still sells pirated software applications, software prices have come down, the vendors have moved, number of vendors has shrunk, and its not as open as before. No software vendors on the first floor, and only about 10 software vendors remaining. In Nov 2015, the software vendors were on the second floor, then they moved to the mezzanine level, and could move again.

In Dec 2015, I picked up Office 2016 Pro for 100 baht from a Pantip but I got error messages when I tried to install it. I thought it was a bad copy and I returned it, but another vendor said he could install it for 100 baht, and it did work. The install instructions on the DVD were not accurate, but for 200 baht or less than $6 US, this was a bargain.

The biggest problem my GF found with her computer purchased at Pantip is that all the software on her machine was pirated.
When we bought the laptop then then sent us downstairs to the software guys in the ground floor that install all the stuff.
This happened both times i have bought a laptop there.

As her laptop got older she can't update any applications or windows and now would have to reload the computer with legal windows and not have any of the applications.
She now lives in Europe so her options are limited than if she still lived in Bangkok she could get them to fix it at Pantip with updated software.
Yet now many applications have an internet component or are served from the cloud so you can't do this anymore.
You cannot buy pirated Photoshop anymore because it is 100% cloud based now, but you could find some license keys that worked, I suppose.

Perhaps Microsoft stuff may work for now, but I expect they will go at least partly cloud based in the near future.
There probably won't be much good pirated stuff at all in the future except maybe games and such.
As you can get full Office functionality in the Office 365 cloud for a reasonable price, it is not advisable to risk your critical documents with pirated software.
Not to mention Google gives you free basic Office functionality online.