shopping

Vintage is the rage in Bangkok, sounds included. My own newfound obsession with old school music started a few months ago, when I asked a relative to bring over a faux-vintage record player from the United States. The hardest part wasn’t carrying of a kilo of fragile equipment over the ocean. It was finding those large black disks to play on it. If you're up for some digging, check out the vintage Ratchada and Rodfai weekend night markets, or head out bright and early Sunday morning to Klong Thom and Charoen Krung for cheap, but sometimes badly kept, records. Otherwise, if you prefer to do your digging in air-conditioned surrounds, here are some of the best shops in Bangkok to hunt for vinyl records and players.

Bangkok will lead other Asia Pacific countries in terms of international tourist arrivals and spending. The city will also be in the 3rd global position regarding the highest numbers of visitors in 2011, according to recent research by MasterCard.

The annual Amazing Thailand Grand Sale kicks off across the south-east Asian nation next month, offering thousands of bargains to eager shopaholics. Special discounts of between ten and 80 per cent will be available throughout the festival at retailers in some of the country’s most popular tourist hotspots, including Koh Samui, Hua Hin, Phuket and Bangkok.

In Bangkok, Thailand a new store just opened catering to the "tomboy chic." The Tom Chic shop at The One shopping centre, Lat Phrao caters to women who want to wear boxers and button-ups.

Something quite extraordinary is happening across Asia. In the big cities all across the continent, people are shopping as though their lives depended on it, day after day. In Singapore and Hong Kong, it's been the main leisure pursuit for years. But now, rather suddenly, the cult of luxury shopping is spreading - and China is emerging as what will soon be the biggest luxury market in the whole world.