I currently live overseas in South Asia and just recently took up pipe smoking. About a month ago I spend some time in Bangkok, and while I was there I tried to hunt down the various tobacco retailers to have a look at their supplies. Also, I have only a limited selection of pipe tobacco in my current post, so I was hoping I might find some new blends as well. I found most of these places via a Google search, but I thought it might be helpful to have them all in one place. Here's what I found:
Pipes and pipe tobacco are not the easiest items to find in a large city like Bangkok. I got the sense it is not very popular there, and the shops that did have supplies typically sold them at "Farang prices" which is not good news if you're hoping to find a bargain! Also, aside from the woman at Siam Havana Cigars, most sellers knew very little about the pipes or the tobacco they were selling. That said, there are places you can obtain pipes and tobacco.
Siam Paragon Mall--BTS Station Siam
The Siam Paragon Mall is huge and most shops cater to the elite. In addition to the name brand fashion shops (Armani, Gucci, etc) it also has a Lamborghini and Maserati dealerships. Pipes and pipe tobacco can be found on the ground floor inside the Gourmet Market where the fine liquor is sold. You will need to ask to see the pipe tobacco as it is kept in a large cupboard. This location had the largest selection of Peterson tobacco of all the shops--about 10 blends in all. Prices for Peterson sold for around $21.00 for a 50 gram tin. The shop also had a large variety of the typical OTC blends (Captain Black, Borkum Riff, etc) for about $10.00 a pouch. The shop also sold pipes, but the cheapest quality name brand I could find was a Designer Berlin Diana model priced at about $80. The Petes and Savs were all $150.00 and up. Also had some cheap Chinese (briars?) for about $30.00 (these were the cheapest pipes I could find out of all the shops--even the Medicos were about $35.00).
Emporium Mall--BTS Station Phrom Phong
Like the Siam Paragon, the Emporium Mall is huge yet there is only one place I found that sold pipes/pipe tobacco. Go to the Fourth Floor of the Emporium Department Store and look for the alcohol area. Again, you'll need to ask to see the tobacco, and they keep in a large plastic container. I found a smaller supply of Peterson blends along CB and BR. Same prices as the Siam Paragon. Also had a smaller pipe selection, but the prices were still very high as what you would pay in the US.
Siam Havana Cigars at the Dusit Thani Hotel--BTS Station Sala Daeng
I actually liked this shop the most even though they had a limited supply of tobacco and very pricey Savinelli pipes. Why? Because the customer service was great--the woman working there was very nice and knew a bit about the tobacco and the pipes in the shop. The cheapest pipe I found was well over $200, but man, they were some pretty nice pipes! Most of the tobacco was the Exclusiv and Golden Blends brands (which I'd never heard of), but I did take a chance on a tin of Thomas Radford Sunday Fantasy. I'd never heard of this either, but the sample certainly smelled good and it's received four positive reviews on tobaccoreviews.com, so I think I did pretty well. Only cost about $14 for a 50 gram tin and apparently it is rather hard blend to find. However, they had row upon row of Sunday Fantasy tins, so if you like this blend and are ever in Bangkok, Siam Havana Cigars is your place!
Davidoff Cigar Shop--Gaysorn Plaza--BTS Station Chit Lom
Beware--sticker shock!! Not one pipe under $200--some well over $1000. Ridiculous tobacco prices. Approximately $47.00 for a tin of Danish Mixture, and $28.00 for a tin of Red, Blue, etc. No other tobaccos other than Davidoff. Unless you have money to burn along with your pipe tobacco and you are close by, I'd give this place a pass.
Duty Free-Suvarnabhumi Airport
Overall, the duty free at the airport had the best prices of all the tobacco shops I visited in Bangkok. No pipes for sale. Only Davidoff and Dunhill blends. Purchased a tin of Nightcap and EMP for about $17.00 each. Also had My Mixture 965 and London Mixture in stock as well. A bit more than the States, but not by a whole lot. The Davidoff prices were a bit tamer, too--something like $21 for a tin of Danish and Scottish Mixture, so if you must have Davidoff, purchase it duty free. There are shops all over the International departures area, but the shop with the largest selection of pipe tobacco was along Concourse D.
Finally, there is a place called Vapour House that sells all kinds of pipes and tobacco. The location is not along any mass transit line so I never got the time to visit the shop. Here is their website--have some really nice pipes for sale! http://www.vapourhouse.com/ Perhaps someone who has been there can add to this thread.
I hope this is helpful to any pipe smokers who happen to be visiting or moving to Bangkok. I travel quite a bit, and will happily post about B&M locations from different cities in the future!
Pipes and pipe tobacco are not the easiest items to find in a large city like Bangkok. I got the sense it is not very popular there, and the shops that did have supplies typically sold them at "Farang prices" which is not good news if you're hoping to find a bargain! Also, aside from the woman at Siam Havana Cigars, most sellers knew very little about the pipes or the tobacco they were selling. That said, there are places you can obtain pipes and tobacco.
Siam Paragon Mall--BTS Station Siam
The Siam Paragon Mall is huge and most shops cater to the elite. In addition to the name brand fashion shops (Armani, Gucci, etc) it also has a Lamborghini and Maserati dealerships. Pipes and pipe tobacco can be found on the ground floor inside the Gourmet Market where the fine liquor is sold. You will need to ask to see the pipe tobacco as it is kept in a large cupboard. This location had the largest selection of Peterson tobacco of all the shops--about 10 blends in all. Prices for Peterson sold for around $21.00 for a 50 gram tin. The shop also had a large variety of the typical OTC blends (Captain Black, Borkum Riff, etc) for about $10.00 a pouch. The shop also sold pipes, but the cheapest quality name brand I could find was a Designer Berlin Diana model priced at about $80. The Petes and Savs were all $150.00 and up. Also had some cheap Chinese (briars?) for about $30.00 (these were the cheapest pipes I could find out of all the shops--even the Medicos were about $35.00).
Emporium Mall--BTS Station Phrom Phong
Like the Siam Paragon, the Emporium Mall is huge yet there is only one place I found that sold pipes/pipe tobacco. Go to the Fourth Floor of the Emporium Department Store and look for the alcohol area. Again, you'll need to ask to see the tobacco, and they keep in a large plastic container. I found a smaller supply of Peterson blends along CB and BR. Same prices as the Siam Paragon. Also had a smaller pipe selection, but the prices were still very high as what you would pay in the US.
Siam Havana Cigars at the Dusit Thani Hotel--BTS Station Sala Daeng
I actually liked this shop the most even though they had a limited supply of tobacco and very pricey Savinelli pipes. Why? Because the customer service was great--the woman working there was very nice and knew a bit about the tobacco and the pipes in the shop. The cheapest pipe I found was well over $200, but man, they were some pretty nice pipes! Most of the tobacco was the Exclusiv and Golden Blends brands (which I'd never heard of), but I did take a chance on a tin of Thomas Radford Sunday Fantasy. I'd never heard of this either, but the sample certainly smelled good and it's received four positive reviews on tobaccoreviews.com, so I think I did pretty well. Only cost about $14 for a 50 gram tin and apparently it is rather hard blend to find. However, they had row upon row of Sunday Fantasy tins, so if you like this blend and are ever in Bangkok, Siam Havana Cigars is your place!
Davidoff Cigar Shop--Gaysorn Plaza--BTS Station Chit Lom
Beware--sticker shock!! Not one pipe under $200--some well over $1000. Ridiculous tobacco prices. Approximately $47.00 for a tin of Danish Mixture, and $28.00 for a tin of Red, Blue, etc. No other tobaccos other than Davidoff. Unless you have money to burn along with your pipe tobacco and you are close by, I'd give this place a pass.
Duty Free-Suvarnabhumi Airport
Overall, the duty free at the airport had the best prices of all the tobacco shops I visited in Bangkok. No pipes for sale. Only Davidoff and Dunhill blends. Purchased a tin of Nightcap and EMP for about $17.00 each. Also had My Mixture 965 and London Mixture in stock as well. A bit more than the States, but not by a whole lot. The Davidoff prices were a bit tamer, too--something like $21 for a tin of Danish and Scottish Mixture, so if you must have Davidoff, purchase it duty free. There are shops all over the International departures area, but the shop with the largest selection of pipe tobacco was along Concourse D.
Finally, there is a place called Vapour House that sells all kinds of pipes and tobacco. The location is not along any mass transit line so I never got the time to visit the shop. Here is their website--have some really nice pipes for sale! http://www.vapourhouse.com/ Perhaps someone who has been there can add to this thread.
I hope this is helpful to any pipe smokers who happen to be visiting or moving to Bangkok. I travel quite a bit, and will happily post about B&M locations from different cities in the future!
