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The two main stores in the complex are Robinson - a gleaming well-lit
upper end department store, and Carrefour - a French-based supermarket.
The almost 200 other stores in this new shopping heaven sell brand
name clothes, spectacles, sunglasses, colognes and perfumes, shoes,
DVD-CD-VCD's, computer games, electrical goods, pewter, gold and
silver, sportswear and goods amongst myriad other items.
Robinson
Robinson's downstairs majors in perfumes, cosmetics, watches and
timepieces. The brand names featured here are Lancôme,
Estée Lauder, Clinique, H20+, Ralph
Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Revlon and Paul Smith.
The watches are mostly Japanese and are of middle-range quality.
Upstairs, Robinson features women's shoes and accessories, and probably
the biggest selection of bras and women's underwear in Thailand
- certainly the largest in Phuket.
Further through, there is a very attractive child's clothing section
which, predictably enough leads to the toy department. To one side
here you will find an interesting collection of pewter goods; vases,
cups, cigarette lighter covers and souvenir plaques as well as salt
and pepper shakers, all at reasonable prices. There is also a household
appliance department as well as a sensibly priced men's shoe section
- this appears to be a bargain area in Thailand and Robinson features
shoes with labels such as Pierre Cardin, Lacoste,
Matino, and Polo.
Carrefour
There are security guards between Robinson and Carrefour upstairs
and they heat-seal your purchases in a new plastic bag as you enter
the French supermarket. The upstairs section of Carrefour is a neon-lit
affair featuring sports accessories, TV's, digital cameras and computer
accessories.
Downstairs features a large food supermarket, a stand of magazines
and DVD's (395 baht) and rows of household goods. The chic liquor
store has Johnny Walker Black Label for 1,119 baht and Chivas
Regal for 998 baht (down from 999 baht!). Local spirits, however,
cost a fraction of that.
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In Thailand the law states that alcohol can only be sold
in shops from 11:00 till 14:00 and from 17:00 until midnight.
This applies to all stores so do not expect to nip out to
the 7-Eleven or Tesco and buy a few beers mid-afternoon. Of
course, you may order alcohol in bars and restaurants anytime
and - strangely enough - you can buy in bulk (a case of wine
or whisky) at anytime of day but if you enjoy An afternoon
holiday tipple it's best to stock up first. |
Downstairs at Jungceylon you can buy everything from a Kashmir-made
rug to a facial massage. It's all cheerfully lit and open spaced
and is designed to handle an estimated 45,000 shoppers daily - though
this figure seems a little optimistic, given that Patong's official
population is 14,700 (and swells to up to 60,000 in high season).
Still, it's good to have enough elbow room while shopping.
There are some great bargains to be had here but you have to dig
a little. And big doesn't necessarily mean best: One large optician
outlet was offering Ray-Ban Aviators for 7,000 baht whereas a smaller
competitor was sold out of them - because they'd disregarded the
factory 'recommended' price of 5,400 baht and offered exactly the
same model of Aviators at 3,000 baht. One facial massage parlour
was asking 2,500 baht for an 80-minute treatment whereas across
the way, an hour's facial massage was 360 baht. Caveat emptor indeed…
Music
There is an interesting DVD/CD/VCD and cassette 'factory outlet'
opposite Carrefour's ground floor entrance featuring mostly B movies,
although Lord of the Rings # 3 was on sale for 149 baht which has
got to be unbeatable value. A word of warning though; the 'Best
of' CD's are imitations. The VCD's are in Thai - even though they
have English language covers and who buys cassettes nowadays? Still,
it's worth a look through the mountains of discs and DVD boxes for
that special B feature you've always wanted but were unwilling to
shell out for.
Sports Shops
Near the main entrance there are two large sports shops almost
next to each other: SuperSports and Sport World and
so you're going to come out a winner simply by comparing prices.
Both are on the left-hand side as you enter Jungceylon and
of course Carrefour has a sports section. Also present in
the complex is a Surfer's shop with all the necessary accessories.
Opticians
When it comes to opticians, it's a buyer's market, not only in
Jungceylon but in the whole of Phuket. Take your time and
go for quality - you can afford it with Thai prices.
Facts-wise, Jungceylon has:
- Seven banks
- Five eyewear outlets
- Forty clothing and accessory outlets
- Ten fast food and beverage outlets
- One food court
- Two furniture outlets
- Ten health and beauty outlets
- One pet store
- Two electronics and IT stores
- Seventeen restaurants
- One Thai arts and crafts centre consisting of 70 shops and 35
kiosks
- One tailor's shop
- Two travel and luggage outlets
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