Pantip Plaza
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| Pantip Plaza | |
 Pantip Plaza taken from Baiyoke Tower 2 |
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| Facts and statistics | |
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| Location | New Phetchaburi Road in Ratchathewi district, Bangkok, Thailand |
| No. of anchor tenants | 2 |
| No. of floors | 5, including the mezzanine |
Pantip Plaza is an indoor IT shopping mall located on New Phetchaburi Road in Ratchathewi district, Bangkok, Thailand. The sale of counterfeit software and DVDs are some reasons behind this mall's success and notoriety.
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[edit] Trading hours
Pantip Plaza is open daily from 10 AM to 9 PM. The stores within the plaza are free to operate their own hours. However, by 7:30 PM to 8 PM, many of the stores are already closing down.
[edit] Stores
The mall has two anchors, IT City, which occupies the top floor, and Data IT on the mezzanine level. There are hundreds of small shops specializing in computer hardware, software and accessories, including parts, repair, modifications, networking, second hand, laptops, Macintosh and peripherals.
[edit] Software
Legitimate licensed software remains unpopular for the majority of Pantip shoppers due to high prices and the availability of counterfeit versions of the same software. Prices of counterfeit software, DVDs and games range from about 100 (on CD-Rom) to 300 (on DVD-Rom) baht.
A few publishers, such as Blizzard Entertainment, offer licensed "for sale in Thailand only" software with localized Thai packaging and manuals.
The sale of pirated software remains an easy and open practice, mostly on the ground floor of the plaza, despite the occasional shuttering of all shops selling illegal computer software and entertainment CDs, DVDs, and VCDs during police checks. The shop will take your selection from binders full of titles and cash payment, then deliver the goods in 10-20 min, as the contraband is stored off site. (However many shops now store their goods on-site so customers do not have to wait, increasing sales volume.) If they cannot come up with all the titles requested, money will be refunded.
[edit] Hardware
Of note is a wide selection of second-hand business machines from IBM, Gateway, and Dell. Most of these machines come via cargo ship from Western countries.[citation needed] Recently hardware manufacturers such as Asus have reported the stolen hardware and are able to 'lock them down' when a specific peripheral is connected to the Asus website.[citation needed]
Prices on new hardware such as digital cameras, printers, computers, and other electronics can be significantly lower than in Western countries, but products are often factory seconds or refurbished goods. Stores are supposed to add VAT of 7%, which foreign purchasers can get refunded when leaving Thailand at the Bangkok airport. However, stores commonly offer to give purchasers a discount if the purchaser does not take a receipt, thereby allowing the stores to falsify their VAT tax reports. Note that this is often a bad deal for the traveling foreign purchaser, since the purchaser would have been refunded the full amount of the VAT at the airport, and the "discount" is invariably smaller than the VAT tax would have been. Also, for warranty service, manufacturers usually require a receipt to show proof of purchase.
[edit] Food
Pantip has restaurants on the ground floors. Food courts on the mezzanine level and second floor offer a wide selection of Thai cuisine, desserts and drinks. General price range for foods is between 30 baht to 40 baht, desserts 15 baht.
[edit] Other branches
[edit] Pantip Plaza 2
Pantip Plaza 2 is on Ngamwongwan Road in Nonthaburi.
[edit] Chiang Mai
In Chiang Mai, there is a Pantip Plaza on the corner of Chang Klan Road (Night Bazar) and Sri Donchai Road.
[edit] In popular culture
Pantip Plaza is featured in a hit song by Loso, "Pantip", which has a hook chorus, "ja mai pai Pantip" ("จะไม่ไปพันธุ์ทิพย์" - "no go Pantip" or "(I) won't go to Pantip") and is about a man dating a woman and taking her shopping at World Trade Center, MBK Center and Siam Square, but he refuses to take her to Pantip Plaza because of an ex-girlfriend he had that works there that he don't want to meet her.
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