CAMERA SHOPS IN BANGKOK

Camera Shops in Bangkok

Introduction

This list is based on a couple of years of wondering through sois and shopping centers searching for camera kit. It isn’t intended to be an exhaustive list of every camera shop in Bangkok. It’s just a list of places which I have found useful.

Just to put some perspective on this blog - I'm a professional cameraman who travels to many remote locations around the World. This means I'm usually looking for very specific high-end camera (mainly video and dslr) gear. If I was in the UK I'd probably be mail-ordering a lot of it from professional suppliers. The fact that even some of this kit is available in high-street stores speaks well of Bangkok's camera shops.
 
If you have less discerning taste in equipment there are hundreds of camera shops all over Bangkok that cater for consumer level cameras.

Feel free to add a comment if you know a place I might like!


Overview: Buying cameras

If you want to buy high-end DSLR cameras and lenses then Bangkok is a actually a pretty good place. Within the confines of the main brands (Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Lumix etc) there is a lot of choice and prices are good. Don’t forget, as with everything, you can claim 7% sales tax back at the airport when you leave. Most camera shops will do the paperwork for you to get this - you’ll need your passport when you buy.

If you’re wanting to buy photography peripherals though - tripods, flashes/strobes etc the choice isn’t great and they’re expensive.

Cameras Shops
Photo File
This is generally seen as the biggest and most reliable chain of camera shops in Bangkok. There are loads of them all over the city - their website has all their incarnations. The main central branches are in the MBK shopping center (by National Stadium BTS station). The three shops are just known by the floor they're on.

Ground/1st floor branch. Near the Information counter at the bottom of the central escalators. It can be hard to notice because it's small and the sign is written in Thai (one of the few) - it's next door to Auntie Annes pretzels.

Blink and you’ll miss it but this is where to buy a DSLR camera or lens in Bangkok. At first I was unsure of whether to trust this place or not as MBK doesn’t have a great reputation but after a few years I can vouch that their gear is real and the prices are good.

You won’t be able to haggle much of a discount here (or anywhere really) but the prices for cameras and lenses are pretty good to start with. When I bought a Canon 5D MkII and L series lens it was cheaper here than in Singapore and significantly less than in the UK.


You can sometimes haggle a 5% discount but then when you try to pay by credit card they’ll add it straight back on! So paying cash will get you a small discount.

3rd Floor Branch
This is the branch for bits and pieces. It has lots of bags and other peripherals. Has a good range of Lowepro and Think Tank bags (which you won’t find anywhere else). Photo File also make some of their own branded gear, it's cheap and OK. My favorite thing are the padded wraps with Velco corners for wrapping lenses in. They're like the 30 USD Domke ones except they cost 5 dollars.

They have some mega-cheap LED lighting (like fake Litepanels) and some equally cheap fluscent lamps. Both feel a bit cheap but they are very very cheap, probably worth a try out for the money.

5th Floor Branch
This is the ‘Canon’ specialist branch so it stocks a lot of Canon lenses and DSLRS including the C300. It’s also the best place for video accessories for these sorts of cameras. It has a remarkably good selection of shoulder mounts, follow focus units, slider dollies etc. Many of these are quality international brands such as Genus and Chrosziel as well as some cheaper Chinese copies. It also sells GoPros, Zoom audio recorders and lots of Think Tank bags.

I’d also go to this branch for a stills tripod or ball head. They have a good selection of Manfrotto and Gitzo heads and legs and some small Sachtler fluid heads and legs too. This shop also has a rack of useful bits like spigots for light stands, lens cloths, LED and fluorescent lighting, reflectors and GoPro accessories.

Don’t expect much of a haggle here either - I once spent over 6500bt (230 USD) on a bag, asked for a deal for cash and they gave me 30bt (1 USD) off. Thanks guys.

Canon Service Center
This is behind PhotoFile on the MBK 5th floor. It will honor international warranties and service your Canon gear. I had an L series lens serviced and it was away for three weeks.

Sony Alpha Cameras
The 5th floor of MBK also has a Sony camera shop.

Other Camera shops on MBK 5th floor
This is one of the main congregations of camera shops in Bangkok. There are 5 or 6 next to each other. There is some choice of cameras and peripheral gear here - between them you will find some Kata bags, Lowe Pro, National Geographic bags and others. There’s various bits and pieces I’ve found useful available here - like a little spirit level you can slide into the flash seat of a 5D. Just shop around, you’ve got more chance of finding bits and bobs here than most places.

Sony Video Cameras
3rd Floor MBK - by the Sky Walk entrance.
As soon as you come into MBK from the Skywalk there is a Sony electronics shop on your right. This is one of the few shops in the center of town where they sell pro-sumer video cameras. Things like the Sony EX and NX ranges. They also have some Manfrotto fluid heads and tripods. They have Sony radio mics and also other Sony stuff like TVs, laptops and headphones.

Dunk HD Solution www.wedunk.com
This place is amazing - as near to B&H as you're going to get in Thailand! It's aimed squarely at the broadcast professional. It's only a small place but they have a large stock of high-end gear.

It's a little bit out of the centre of Bangkok - it's in The Crystal Park shopping centre on Ram Intra Road in Lad Phrao. I think the best way to get there is take the MRT to Lad Phrao and then it's 15 mins in a taxi from there.

For cameras they stock some of the Sony EX range and the Sony F3. There is a lot of the Panasonic P2 HD and AVC codec range including the AF101. Their website is in Thai with some English so you might be able to find what you want before you go.

They have a lot of genuine Zacuto DSLR shoulder mounts and Manfrotto tripods and fluid heads. They have loads of mattebox, monitor, viewfinder and follow focus set-ups for DSLRS. There are some lights - tungsten, fluorescent and LED Litepanels copies. These LED panels are a 5th of the price of real Litepanels and are good quality.

There is also edit hardware, HD/SD up/down converters and SDI to HDMI converters - generally a lot of stuff that is very hard to get around here so this shop was quite a find! The staff are friendly, knowledgeable and speak English too.

PanTip Plaza
There are a few camera shops in PanTip Plaza (Petchaburi rd, near Pratunam). There’s nothing really camerawise that you can’t get else where. I've found one shop on the 4th floor (opposite the Apple service center, near the up escalator) which has a better than average selection of camera bags, silica gel, filters, reflectors and tripod heads.

Also on the 4th floor is a shop which will make-up cables for you. It’s almost impossible to describe where this place is but it’s on the ‘front’ side of the building in a fairly tatty area of shops, one row back from the balcony. The guy speaks english and has loads of plugs and sockets so you can find even quite unusual stuff. Then they’ll make up the cables for you for 150bt. You can also take your own cables for mending. He sells cable making tools like soldering irons and crimpers.

Again on the 4th floor there is a shop at the back of Pan Tip which sells GoPros and is the best place I’ve found for GoPro accessories, probably because no one know's it's there so they never sell anything.

Pantip is probably the best place for hard drives and USB memory sticks. Almost every shop sells them. I like the Speed Computer shop - explaining where it is is probably futile so I'll just say it’s on the 3rd floor down the right hand side - good luck with that.

Pantip is also useful for things like mains to USB plugs (for charging phones, cameras and GoPro etc), mains extensions/surge protectors, audio cables, audio plugs, LAN cables and ANYTHING computer related.

Film Processing and Printing
IQ Lab is a great facility. There are two branches - one in Silom and one near the Sukhumvit end of Ekamai (Ekamai BTS - walk up Ekamai on the left hand side for a few hundred meters, past the big Chinese restaurant and it’s down a little soi that looks like nothing is down there). Their processing and digital scan service is fully pro quality and is about the same price as I pay at a pro lab in the UK. Their printing is very good but pricy - as you’d expect at a pro place.

Cheap Photo Printing
Under BTS Ratchathewi near Asia Hotel there is a small print shop. Their printing isn’t pro quality - sometimes they screw it up - but sometimes it’s very good and it’s always insanely cheap. This place also sells and good range of Fujifilm and Ilford 35mm and medium format film very cheaply.

CAMPING AND OUTDOOR SHOPS IN BANGKOK

Overview: Buying camping and outdoor equipment

As a foreigner buying specialized equipment of any kind in this city can be pretty frustrating, especially if you don’t speak much Thai. It can be hard to find, very expensive, of limited choice and comes with a no returns policy. It’s often all these things and not even the item or brand that you really wanted.

I guess there isn’t that much demand for serious outdoor kit - the climate is so pleasant that people survive in the remotest locations in a pair of flip flops and a t-shirt. Some international brands are available but you tend to find the same things popping up in every shop so choice is limited.

If you’re serious about camping and outdoor kit I’d look at buying when you’re on trips to the US or Europe (with Asia Japan and Taiwan are probably your best bets) or get visiting friends to bring it over for you. It’ll be a lot cheaper and you might get what you actually want. Cold weather gear is especially hard to find in Thailand for obvious reasons.

Thailand has huge import taxes so niche international brands get hammered hard. If you’re used to US prices you might want to sit down before you ask the prices in these shops. You will almost never find a sale as most of these places don’t buy enough stock to have sales. This also means they will very frequently have limited size or colour choices.



This list is based on a couple of years of wondering through sois and shopping centers searching for kit. It isn’t intended to be an exhaustive list of every outdoor shop in Bangkok. It’s just a list of places which I have found which might save you from being stuck up the klong without a Gortex hat.

Outdoor and camping gear shops

The first place to try in Bangkok is probably the 2nd floor of the Amarin Plaza shopping center. It’s right next to Chit Lom BTS station, next door to Erawan shopping center - there is a Sky Walk entrance straight into the 2nd floor. At the back you will find ‘Outdoor Unlimited Zone’, which is slightly misleading as it’s quite limited.

Bike Zone seems very well kitted out - I don’t ride though so I don’t use it. They stock Source water bladders and backpacks.

K-trade is an interesting shop that mainly sells dry bags. They stock Ortleib bags which are designed for use on bikes and are very solid.

They also have a lot of stuff by a Swiss brand called Exped. I’ve never seen this in the UK but it’s good stuff (it used to be distributed in the States by Outdoor Research - which is a sure sign of quality). I’ve got a few of their Dry bags including a completely dry backpack which has proved to be very waterproof and very tough - in rainy season it will save your life, or at least the life of your camera.
They also sell other Exped stuff including sleeping bags, ‘thermarest’ style airbeds and a tent. This is the only serious quality mountain tent I’ve ever seen for sale in Bangkok.
They also have some Manhattan Portage bags for looking cool with.

There’s a small shop called UnaGun which sells various outdoor gear but with a weapons related theme. Despite the fact they have videos on loop of people shooting massive guns they don’t actually appear to sell guns.

However they do have a good stock of things that might be hard to get elsewhere.
Pelican cases (a limited selection but ranging from very small ones up to the 1720 machine gun/riffle case),
Leatherman multitools - some cool looking ones I haven’t seen in other places.
Military style backpacks (5.11 Tactical)
Spiderco knives (US and Asian made models),
Gerber knives and survival stuff
Some 5.11 Tactical clothing.
first aid kits, flints, paracord, light sticks and other survival bits and bobs.

There’s a dive shop which I’ve never bought from but looks to have most common things.

There’s a Pro Cam-Fis shop which stocks 5.11 Tactical gear as well as a range of torches/flashlights, clothing and some Sea to Summit camping bits and pieces like collapsible washing bowls and eco friendly soap. Just recently I've seen Watershed drybags there. In my humble opinion these are the best drybags money can buy so it's awesome that you can now get them in Bangkok.

Equinox shop sells boats! Rigid inflatables to be precise. And buoyancy aids and a large selction of first aid kits.

Vaude sells Vaude packpacks and bags. And that's about it for Amarin Plaza.

Northface
I hate to admit it but if you really want some technical clothing in Bangkok the best place to go is one of the many Northface shops (branches in Siam Discovery, Paragon dept store, Central World and in Sports World stores). They have all the stuff any Northface shop in the World would have, and probably more sizes and choice than anywhere else in Bangkok. They also have more cold weather gear than anywhere else.

Tank Store
This is a chain of military style stores which sells a range of outdoor gear. However every branch sells exactly the same thing, so even though there are 3 or 4 branches the stock is the same everywhere. There are branches in Central World, Paragon Dept. Store and Emporium Dept. Store.

They mainly stock a military/gun-ware brand called 5.11 Tactical. It’s an American brand (I think) - I’ve never seen it in the UK. There’s lots of military style trousers/pants, jackets, torches/flashlights, boots and backpacks. All of it seems to be good, tough stuff - as long as you like dressing up as a Marine. If you want more colour choice and lightweight technical-wear then go to Northface instead.



Tank Store also sell Lowa boots from Germany. They have the Sea to Summit range of camping accessories. You can get Petzl headlamps and Eagle Creek bags too.

The small Tank Store in Emporium has a particularly good range of Sea to Summit stuff like eco-friendly soap, citronella body and clothes wash, collapsible washing bowls and sporks.


Super Sports

You’ll find a Super Sports in any ‘Central’ shopping center (big stores in Central World, and Central Chit Lom). They’re a large general sports retailer but they have quite a lot of outdoor gear.

It’s one of the few places you’ll find Solomon footwear. There's Northface and Columbia clothing too. They have a surprisingly good range of Osprey backpacks (awesome European packs) and Deuter stuff (which I’m not mad on). They also have a wide if slightly low-end range of diving/snorkling gear.

They also sell a Thai brand called Karana. This crops up in quite a lot of places. It has the advantage of being cheap (no import duty as it’s made in Thailand) but the disadvantage of being a bit crap. But it’s not awful considering the price and I’ve got a few of their dry bags - all apart from one has been OK.

Karana do a range of tents. I wouldn’t want to be in a Scottish rain storm in one but for camping in Thailand they’re more than adequate - which I guess is what they’ve been designed for. They have a neat feature with mesh sides and yet still with some rain protection from the over hanging roof - perfect for hot tropical nights. And they are very, very cheap - Like 2000bt or something.

I also have a Karana ‘thermarest’ style airbed - it’s OK but not as comfortable as my Exped one (bought from Amarin Plaza). It was half the price though.

Coleman Camping stoves
Paragon dept. store has some camping stoves - I think made by Coleman. They’re bloody expensive.

Leatherman
Paragon dept. store also have some Leatherman multitools and other brands of knives too.

Eagle Creek
Eagle Creek make little bags to keep the contents of your luggage tidy. If you do a lot of travelling they rule. Tank Stores sell some of them but the best range I’ve seen is in a little ProCam Fis at the East end of Siam Discovery center (the end nearest Paragon) on maybe the 3rd floor. This place has quite a lot of skateboard shoes and backpacks. Next door to this there is also an Equinox shop that sells Karana and Deuter stuff.

Columbia
Personally I’m not bothered about Columbia gear but there’s a stop in the Dept. Store in Paragon (on the same floor as menswear) if that’s what you’re after. The Columbia store also has the Karana tents.

Rama 9
In the ‘Nine’ shopping center on Rama 9 soi 41, between all the restaurants and cake shops you’ll find a little military shop at the end of the balcony on the 3rd floor. It sells a small range of local military surplus type clothes - which are cheap. It also sells some imported 5.11 Tactical type clothing, knives and other kit. It is the only place in Bangkok where I’ve ever found leach socks. And did I mention you can get 1000 types of cake in this shopping center?

Diving
Bangkok has a few good dive shops. You might also find more choice on the islands where you’re going to dive - especially on Koh Tao.

Dive Supply (nearest BTS is Phaya Thai)
This is a big shop and it has branches all over Thailand. I’ve bought from the branch on Koh Chang before and the guy was very knowledgeable. The Bangkok branch has good staff and as well as the usual diving gear it also has some camera housings and underwater lights.

Planet Scuba (near Phrom Pong BTS)
This shop is slightly easier to get to and has a very good stock of Mares gear. I got quite a heavy weight wetsuit here despite the fact even thinking about wearing a wetsuit in Thailand generally means it’s too cold to dive. However, even in these specialist stores when I tried to buy a wetsuit hood a couple of years ago they looked at me like I was mental.

Super Sports (in any ‘Central’ shopping center) also has a good range of basic dive gear.


Climbing

The only place I’ve found for real climbing gear is Rock Camp. It’s on Ratchathewi Soi 21, which is on the west side of the river. You can get there by boat or by taxi from Victory Monument. From Victory Monument it’s a straight taxi ride West on Thanon Ratchathewi, over the bridge on the river and then get out as soon as you’re off the bridge. Walk down the sois to the left (past a hotel and a Wat) until you find it. There are signs to follow, it's quite a windy route though.

 They only sell Petzl and Beal gear but they have a fairly good range. It’s expensive and they don’t speak english.