Buying Clothes
July 20th, 2008I thought it might be helpful if I started jotting down little tidbits of information about buying clothes in Thailand. As I discover more, I’ll add to the page. I am by no means a fashion hound, so anyone with more experience, please feel free to contribute.
SIZES
In terms of small, medium and large, everything in Thailand seems to be shifted by one. So, if you wear an XL in America an XXL is more likely to fit when purchased in Thailand.
One size fits all, for pants, shirts, sox, and underwear is called “free size” and is labeled with an F. Free sizes can vary and often fit best on those with a smaller build.
A trick the Thai boys use to determine if pants will fit is to wrap the waste band around their neck, connecting the two sides in back. If it fits comfortably there, it will fit properly when worn. I’ve tested this numerous times and it does work. This is important, because most small shops do not have a changing room.
SHOES
Thai shoes are very cheap. You will find them for sale everywhere, at ridiculously low prices. The problem is they’re usually poorly made and have little or no arch support. To get a good quality pair of shoes, you have to go to one of the shopping malls and buy a western made brand at prices starting around 3 or 4 thousand baht.
TAILOR MADE
Tailor made clothing is incredibly inexpensive in Thailand, but the quality of craftsmanship may vary. Some of the best tailors in Bangkok are the Indian shops on Khao San Road.
Interesting Side Bar
The Thais apparently prefer to buy their cloths off the rack and then have them tailored to fit. This ends up being much more expensive than tailor made, but it seems that a brand name label is important and worth the added cost.
LEATHER BELTS
Any place that sells leather belts should have a cutting tool to shorten its length to your satisfaction. If you purchase the belt from that shop, this service should be free,  otherwise expect to pay about 20 baht.
THAI CLOTHES
You can get decent quality Thai clothing from the thousands of independent shops in Thailand. I’ve purchased several items, pants and shirts, in the 250 baht range that have held up very well. I’ve seen pants purchased for 150 baht that did not. Before purchasing, make sure to check the quality of the stitching. I’ve watched the boys buy clothes and they all carefully inspect every stitch before agreeing to purchase. Zippers should be checked, as well.
July 20th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
When I visited Thailand a long time ago my Thai friend took me to a (supposedly excellent) tailor that his hi-society family used. I had a pair of button-down dress shirts made that I intended to wear in the US. I chose what I thought was a high-quality rather heavy cotton material in white. They fit quite well, until I washed them. On the first washing they shrunk a ton and I had to give them away because they were too small in every dimension. I suppose I was dumb for washing them in hot water, but who doesn’t wash their whites in hot water?
August 23rd, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I recently visited a very reputable tailors in pattaya only to find the shop had been sold to indian’s but they had kept the same name that is very well known in pattaya.The service i recieved was terrible i had to pay 50% up front(if i had not paid up front i would have cancelled the order) and had to return to the tailors 5 times to get fittings .I was not impressed after 3 visits and the trousers still did not fit properly really loose on the waist but skin tight around the thigh.The only part of the garments that i was impressed with was the embroidery i had put on the shirts with my salon logo.
Next time i will buy off the peg and then take them to a thai person to have the embroidery done at a fraction of the cost and not so time consuming.
It was an experience i would not want to feel again.
September 20th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Firstly, thank you for writing your blog, it is greatly entertaining and full of information. I love it.
Regarding the size may I suggest a different perspective? The anomaly might be in the US not in Thailand. I wear medium in Asia and Europe but I have to switch to small in the States!
I would like to recommend a visit to the Thai designers located on the third floor of Siam Center. Search for brands like People (formerly people’s wardrobe), Ken Nakamura (actually not Thai but interesting), Tipayaphongpoosanaphong (ladies), Headquarter and more. Oh.. I was forgetting my favorite: Issue at Siam Paragon, great design on the Kawakubo side. And of course on weekends Chatuchak (check the floor plan distributed freely at the market) is great for neat t-shirts of any style.
Just for the record, Yours Truly is an Italian and American who has been traveling to Thailand for over 20 years, for (amazing) pleasure and most recently for work.
All the best!