This is a report about my vacation in Thailand from Nov 15th until Dec 9th .
I just found the time to write it up.
Thanks to our board member ssalxpanerai and to my friend Taka. Somsak provided me with a dealer in BKK and I bought a nice Breitling Blackbird from this dealer. Taka relumed my Steelfish which I had on my wrist almost 24h / day.
A year ago I went to Thailand the first time and it was one of my best vacations I ever had. Warm weather, warm ocean water, ice cold beer, very good food and a lot of fake watches. And, this is very important, nice and friendly Thai people, always smiling. Anyhow, that year I brought 10 watches back home. Not this time.
The watches I brought home a year ago were all crap. I only have 1 left, a GMT Master with ETA. All other watches had a Chinese movement. At that time I did not have the knowledge about watches which I have now.
OK…let’s start with the report.
99 % of the watches you will find in the shops are all crap. You need to ask for the better ones. If the dealer has them, it will take 2 min, a quick phone call and here it is. But most of the dealers do not have ETA quality. So you need to find the right dealer. Thanks again to ssalxpanerai, I was in contact with him before I went to BKK and he provided to me a dealer which had only the good stuff. The dealer was located in the famous MBK center in BKK, you also find MBW in that shopping center.
Inside of MBK
Whatever you would like to buy, you will find it here. I bought 2 iPhones and I am very happy with them.
A lot of junk
After I visited some of the junk watch stalls on the third floor in MBK, I meet with the dealer which was recommended by Somsak and I bought the Breitling Blackbird. I am not such a big Breitling fan, but this watch is nice. I talked to the dealer on the phone before my visit, so he knew what I was looking for and he had the watch available. The price was the same which our dealers offer, so no big deal but I was able to check on the qual of this watch which I believe , is very important. Here are the pics….
If you are in BKK and you want to buy one of the cheap watches, you always need to negotiate the price. You probably will get it for half of what the dealer is asking. If you need any price information, send me a PM.
So here we are, I got my first nice Rep and now down to the first floor to visit MBW, the famous store. Yes, this dealer is located in BKK in the MBK center, but I was not so impressed from his watches. I looked at the nautilus jumbo and royal oak jumbo but these couldn’t twist my arm. He was not able to show me the vintage models. I asked for a white Explorer and when he opened it, the watch had a Chinese movement in it. No ETA….!!! He asked 8500 baht for it. At the end I ended up buying a Patek Philippe Aquanaut for my wife. The watch has Swiss ETA 2824-2, which is hard to find.
My wifes likes the rubber strap, which is very comfortable.
After we got our iphones, watches and sunglasses ( you always buy sunglasses in Thailand, all brands 2 USD ) we decided to visit the night market, this is always fun, and you will see a lot of watches.
The market opens when it is getting dark, around 4 O’clock the people start to build it up.
More watches…………..
I know we have some knife freaks in our forum as well…….
And how about lighter freaks?
You can almost buy everything on the night market…
All these watches are in the 50 to 100 USD price range. I didn’t buy anything, in my opinion only junk.
I almost forgot to tell you, all these dealers have a catalog on the table and you can pick out the watch you want and they will get it for you. Sometimes they are gone for a minute and come back with the watch. I tried to get one of these catalogs and after I asked the fifths dealer, he sold me one for 5 USD. I believe it was his first sale of the day and he needed some money.
When we left the market, we found a nice leather store. PatPong Leather, the best rep store for bags. I ended up buying 3 nice bags for my wife, the quality is outstanding, nice leather and the look so real that we believe, they come out of the gen production.
Nice Mulberry Travel Bag
Mulberry bag for the every day bag
And the latest Gucchi bag, a must have for the ladies in 2008
That was my watch shopping in Bangkok, we found a lot of other places in Thailand, but all had the cheap stuff. You really need to ask for the good qual watches or have a friend in Thailand.
During my vacation I had my Steelfish on my wrist almost for 24 hours. I bought the Breitling rubber strap for it and I used the watch for diving and swimming. The watch was growing on me and it still is.
Enjoy some of the pics…………….
Lume done by my friend Taka
Don’t forget to visit a Tailor shop. I bought 6 dress shirts, each for 10 USD. The tailor will measure you and 24h later you pick up your shirts. And of course, a foot massage is mandatory.
And for sure, you will buy sunglasses….I meet this nice friend during my first vacation, and when we came back during our second trip, he was still selling sunglasses. I had already 5 but I bought 2 more from him.
We had a lot of fun in Thailand and for sure, we will be back in Thailand in 2008. You can take a cheap vacation in Thailand, you find Bungalows at the beach for 5 USD per day, but you also could spend 2000 USD for a day. The food is very cheap, at a beach restaurant fresh seafood and 5 beers for 2 people is 12 USD.
Enjoy another 3 pics and I hope we could meet in Thailand soon.
Dreaming about watches and next years vacation :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
just a suggestion.. 
