Thailand has a booming electronics market and has been known to have cheaper electronics available. It is a popular shopping destination where tourists travel to. Genuine products are reliable and can safely be bought in Thailand for a cheaper price.
If you know how to identify genuine brands and where to shop then it is possible to safely buy electronics within Thailand. However, you may not have a valid international warranty should your electronic malfunction. Genuine products go through rigorous reliability testing and they are widely available throughout Thailand.
Knowing where to shop and how to identify genuine electronics is the first step to safely buying electronics within Thailand. There are a variety of recommended malls to visit where you could look for deals on good and reliable electronics.
Where Can You Find Electronics In Thailand?
There are a variety of shopping malls across Thailand that are well known and popular destinations for tourists to visit. MBK Centre in Bangkok offers a large variety of electronic stores that offers everything from phones to PC’s, to electronic accessories such as memory cards and charging cables. MBK is best known for its availability of cellphones.
Every sale is a bargain, and you can barter with the vendors to get a better price. They do have secondhand option available – but again this is a risk that may have little pay off. Buying firsthand products may only save you 10 – 15% on the product compared to the western prices.
Another popular shopping destination is Pantip Plaza. It has a large density of computer stores that offer a wide range of computers and their accessories such as keyboards, mouses, hard disks and main boards.
Pantip Plaza is known for its availability of cheaper computer products. You can barter with the vendors and can even custom make a computer to your preferences. It is safe to buy electronics here but you should always keep in mind to ensure that the parts are genuine.
Fortune Town IT Mall is a less popular tourist destination and may be a better place for you to find cheaper and more genuine products. The vendors are not as pushy here and are often more honest. They are known to be more patient and polite with shoppers.
You will be able to shop the widest range of electronics at Fortune Town IT Mall. It is also the most accessible mall as it is on Ratchadapisek Road which is next to Phra Ram 9 underground. This makes it easy to travel to from anywhere in the city.
There is no shortage of shopping destinations within Thailand and there are a variety of smaller shopping centers where you can purchase electronics. Busitek is a popular electronic store for gamers where customizable computers can be constructed.
Munkong Gadget is a loved store for music fanatics and has products ranging from high quality speakers, media players and other audio accessories.
MBK Center, Pantip Plaza and Fortune Town IT Mall offer the widest range of electronics and are easily accessible. Fortune Town IT Mall is the most popular among Thailand locals.
How To Tell If A Product Is Genuine?
Counterfeit products have become great at mimicking the real deal so it is often difficult to distinguish between a genuine product and a fake. When inspecting a product, look at the label to see if there are any misspellings or incorrect information.
You should also verify if the serial number on the box matches that of the product. Date codes on the product are a good indicator if they were manufactured at a registered center – if the date codes are too far in the future or the past then this is a sign that the electronic may be counterfeit.
Logo on a genuine brand will always be precise whereas it may look sloppy or be incorrect on a fake product. Thinner electronics could be a sign that the product is counterfeit as it is common practice to sand down the serial number on the product.
Inspecting a product before buying it is vital to ensure you do not get scammed. It is best if you know the product you are looking for well in order to know how to examine it and what signs to look for.
Are Electronics Cheaper In Thailand?
Electronics within Thailand are known to be cheaper but this may not always be the case. The prices for genuine electronics are only 10-15% cheaper than Western prices. If a deal sounds too good, it very well might be.
Secondhand products are widely available as well and will be cheaper but may not work as well. A secondhand product could be genuine but damaged. It is difficult to test the products for small malfunction that may become a bigger issue further down the line.
Counterfeit electronics are cheaper than the genuine brand, but they are unreliable and may not last long. They could malfunction quicker or not work as they are meant to. In some instances where a counterfeit part is connected onto a genuine product, it can cause severe damage to the whole unit and can result in an expensive repair.
Counterfeit parts may be cheaper as they haven’t undergone the same rigorous testing that genuine parts have – cutting down on manufacturing costs. The manufacturer bypasses the research, development and marketing aspect of these products. They overlook the quality and reliability checks and this results in an unsafe product.
A genuine product will cost almost the same in the United States in Thailand. The savings margin is relatively smaller, especially when you factor in the cost of import taxes and transport costs for larger electronics.
Thailand has a large electronic manufacturing industry and this leads people to believe that they may be able to get better deals on electronics. This is not always the case. As mentioned genuine products don’t offer a large amount of savings as this price is largely controlled by the brand itself.
It is still possible to find a good deal within Thailand so it is worth taking the time to shop for electronics while you are visiting.
Problems With Counterfeit Electronics:
If counterfeit parts are detected in a genuine product, it could void your warranty and insurance. These parts are unreliable and can cause damage to genuine products or can malfunction.
Cheaper products may not be cheap in the long run. As they are more prone to malfunctioning and breaking, they will have to be replaced more regularly. If they are placed into genuine products, they could damage the integrity of the product as a whole.
Buying a counterfeit product supports the exploitation of workers and undercuts the profits of genuine brands.
Initially counterfeit parts could work well but may break down quickly. In most cases you may not know that you have bought a counterfeit product as manufacturers go to great lengths to replicate the markings of the original product. They can sometimes only be detected through a system detection after a product failure has occurred.
Conclusion:
When shopping in Thailand, it is best to ensure you purchase genuine products. Counterfeit products tend to be cheaper and look convincing. The problem with buying counterfeit products is that they are not as reliable and can damage genuine products when paired with them.
If counterfeit parts are detected within a genuine product, it could void your insurance or warranty. Further supporting the counterfeit market is supporting criminal activity and the exploitation of factory workers.
Buying genuine electronics is safe in Thailand as they follow the same quality control and research that all products internationally are required to follow. However, buying genuine products costs the similarly in Thailand as they would internationally as this is controlled by the brand.
Vendors are open to bargaining with their prices and will offer secondhand products as well. Although secondhand products may be genuine, they are not always reliable. Firsthand genuine products might only save you 10-15% on what you would pay in western countries.
Pantip Plaza and MBK Center are known to have pushier vendors but both have a wide range of electronics. Pantip Plaza is a popular destination to purchase cellphones and MBK Center has an exceptional range of computers available.
Fortune Town IT Mall is easily accessible from any part of Bangkok and has the widest range of electronics available. It is a local shopping destination and therefore the vendors are more polite, patient and honest. The products are also often cheaper.
Buying electronics in Thailand is safe if you steer clear of counterfeit and secondhand goods, and buy from respectable vendors. Genuine products might not save you as much as you hoped while visiting Thailand, but you can save between 10-15%.
As a number of electronics are manufactured in Thailand, you may get lucky and get a good deal. It is worth exploring their electronic market and looking for bargains.
