Bangkok Data

So you're visiting Bangkok for a while and want to bring your Android, iCrap and you obviously want a short-term data service in Bangkok. There's good news and there's bad news. The bad news first: The 3G coverage in Bangkok is appalling. Even if you DO manage to find a 3G service sim card you'll probably be disappointed (**According to forum posts. I haven't had the opportunity to try 3G myself). The good news? There's GPRS/EDGE, the coverage is decent, and the speeds are tolerable! Don't expect to be on all the time and tether to your group of 20 friends but whenever you'll need to look up a google map or some info on the browser, it will come through. The data plan I got when I was there recently (March/2011) was from this company called AIS. You buy a sim costing 50 Baht and then for 200 Baht they had a promotion that gives you 20 hours of data usage. At first I thought it was little but turns out that 20 hours lasted me for the entire week with hours to spare. You can't leave your phone data on all the time obviously. You have to manually switch data on and off whenever you need it but if you have the powerbar widget on Android that is literally a breeze. You can buy the SIM card at the ** shop in Emporium (Phrom Pong) or Central World (Siam). The only catch is that if you want another 20 hours a 100 Baht refill card from the convenience store will only give you 15 minutes of internet time so if you want another 20 hours you'll have to go back to their shop I think (unconfirmed). I am of course in no way affiliated with AIS and there might well be better alternatives out there so do your research before you buy. There is at least one more company DTAC that offers similar services. `

Enjoy Bangkok. By the way if it's your first time there check out BangkokScams.com.

Bangkok Bargaining/Haggling Tips

I have attempted some techniques for bargaining in Bangkok. They unfortunately work differently depending on the vendor. My need for bargaining is twofold. It's both a challenge to get a professional merchant to lower his price, and also I'm not that rich :)

The strategy which I found worked better than anyone else is to talk to the vendor for a long time. Ask them many questions, get them to show you lots of items (colors/designs if it's for clothes). Try to use up lots of their time by asking questions such as if the item was made in Thailand or China etc. In short try to make up ways to use up a lot of their time. A vendor who has invested time in a customer will be reluctant to just let them walk away since that would be a waste of time. I found that this strategy works better than most. i.e. if they don't agree to lower the price then I pretend to walk away.

The truth is that as a customer you'll definitely find the same item a few stalls/shops down the road where you can try again whereas the vendor will have wasted their time so you have nothing to lose by walking away.

Other things to watch out for:

• Don't show enthusiasm for the item
• Tell them that the other shop down the road was cheaper (even if it wasn't)
• Try to engage in witty conversation (i.e. The employee at a shop was playing with an iPad. So I went "You have an iPad? Damn I don't have enough money to buy an ipad!!... " etc.

Enjoy the fine art of bargaining and try to hone your skills.