The top things to buy in Bangkok are the ones that are hard to find at home: Thai silk, Thai tea and cooking ingredients, dried fruit and snacks, home fragrance and spa products, fabric bags, and handmade homewares. Where you buy matters as much as what you buy: a brand's own shop for silk and scents, a supermarket or a fresh market for food, and Chatuchak Weekend Market for crafts and small homewares. Below is what to look for in each category, where to find it, and the practical points, from VAT refunds to packing food, that decide whether a purchase makes it home in good shape.
Thai silk
Silk is the classic Bangkok purchase, and Jim Thompson is the name most visitors know. The company, now marking its 75th anniversary, began with the revival of Thai silk and has grown into fashion, interiors and home furnishings. Its flagship store is on Surawong Road in Bang Rak, and the range runs from silk scarves and pocket squares to printed cushions, kaftans and canvas travel pouches, so there is something at most budgets.
Before you shop, it is worth an hour at the Jim Thompson House Museum, near BTS National Stadium. Thompson built the house facing the canal across from Ban Krua, the weaving village whose silk he sold abroad, and the guided tour explains the story behind the fabric.
Wherever you buy, look for a label that states the fiber content. Market scarves sold as silk are not always silk, and a brand shop or a clear label is the only reliable way to know what you are paying for.
Thai tea and cooking ingredients
Thai tea mix is light, inexpensive and easy to pack. ChaTraMue, which has made Thai tea for more than 80 years, sells its Original Thai Tea in 400-gram packs, along with a Thai green tea and a butterfly pea blend that brews blue and turns purple when you squeeze in lemon.
Curry pastes, dried chilies, palm sugar and dried herbs are easy to find in supermarkets, where they come sealed and labeled, which matters at customs. If you want to know what to do with them, a class at Baipai Thai Cooking School in Chatuchak, which has taught Thai cooking since 2002, is a good way to learn before you buy.
Dried fruit and snacks
Dried mango, dried longan, tamarind sweets and fruit chips make easy gifts. Supermarkets sell them in small branded packs; Tops, for example, stocks golden dried longan from the Goody brand. For more choice and bigger bags, Or Tor Kor Market, the large fresh market in the Chatuchak district, has stalls stacked with dried fruit and snacks. It is about 100 meters from MRT Kamphaeng Phet station, so it combines easily with Chatuchak on a weekend.
Sealed, labeled packs travel better than loose market goods, and they make customs declarations simpler when you get home.
Home fragrance and spa products
Bangkok has several homegrown fragrance and spa brands. Karmakamet, a Bangkok company based in Watthana, makes essential oils, candles, incense, dry perfume and body products, and its shops are a straightforward place to buy scented gifts. Liquids and oils count against carry-on limits on flights, so pack them in checked luggage.
Fabric bags
NaRaYa has made fabric bags in Thailand since 1989, and its totes, pouches and cosmetic cases are a common souvenir because they are light, inexpensive and useful. They fold flat, which also makes them a handy way to carry the rest of your shopping home.
Crafts and homewares at Chatuchak
For handmade and small-batch goods, Chatuchak Weekend Market is the main event. The Tourism Authority of Thailand counts it among Asia's largest and most diverse open-air markets, and its lanes cover everything from wooden kitchenware and ceramics to clothing and art. It trades on Saturdays and Sundays. Carry Thai baht, since many vendors prefer cash, and bargain politely where haggling is expected.
For smaller souvenirs in the Old City, the Muse Shop at Museum Siam sells books, museum journals and souvenirs.
Malls for Thai labels
If you prefer air-conditioned shopping, the Tourism Authority of Thailand points to ICONSIAM and Siam Paragon, along with the newer One Bangkok and Central Park, as places where Thai designer labels share floors with international brands. Our Bangkok shopping guide covers more.
Before you pay: the tourist VAT refund
Thailand charges 7% VAT, and non-resident visitors can claim it back on goods bought at shops that display the VAT Refund for Tourists sign. The rules are simple but strict: spend at least 2,000 baht including VAT at one store on one day, ask for the refund form (P.P.10) when you pay, take the goods out of Thailand within 60 days, and have them inspected by Customs at the international airport before you check in. Refunds apply to goods only, not services.
What to leave behind
Skip knock-off designer goods, which are illegal and can be seized by customs at home, and anything made from protected wildlife. Antiques and Buddha images can need official permission to leave Thailand, so ask the seller about export paperwork before you buy. And check your own country's rules on bringing in food, particularly anything containing meat, before you fill a bag with curry pastes.
Sources: Jim Thompson, Jim Thompson House Museum: visitor information, ChaTraMue, Tops: longan search, Karmakamet, NaRaYa, TAT Newsroom: Thailand by day, Revenue Department: VAT, Revenue Department: eligible tourists, Revenue Department: eligible goods. Checked September 26, 2026.
Thai silk, Thai tea, dried fruit and snacks, home fragrance and spa products, fabric bags and handmade homewares are among the most common purchases.
For variety, Chatuchak Weekend Market on a Saturday or Sunday. For brand-name Thai goods in air-conditioning, ICONSIAM or Siam Paragon.
At markets such as Chatuchak, polite bargaining is expected. Prices in malls and brand stores are fixed.
Non-Thai, non-resident visitors departing from an international airport can claim a refund on goods bought at stores showing the VAT Refund for Tourists sign. Each P.P.10 form must cover at least 2,000 baht including VAT from one store in one day, the goods must leave Thailand within 60 days, and Customs must inspect them before check-in. Luxury items such as jewelry, watches, phones, laptops and handbags worth 10,000 baht or more each face extra checks.
The Jim Thompson flagship store is at 9 Surawong Road in Bang Rak. The Jim Thompson House Museum, at 6 Soi Kasemsan 2 off Rama I Road, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and adult tickets cost 250 baht.
On September 26, 2026, Tops listed a 65-gram pack of Goody golden dried longan at 99 baht.
Sealed, labeled dry goods such as tea, dried fruit and snacks are the easiest. Rules on meat, fresh produce and some pastes vary by country, so check your home customs rules before you buy.
