Analyst

Yes, that's right, it was Manga not Zen.

When I went to Tanner... in MBK the prices quoted were about what Largo mentioned. Not the best service though. The young guy at the counter seemed pretty lukewarm about me dragging him away from his i-pod for a few questions.

Definitely not like Jatujak where a guy runs the entire length of the market and back just to get you a pair you'll like.

I've found the guy at Tanner to not be very friendly or helpful at times.

On the other hand, his wife Na is awesome. She's very personable and goes out of her way to find the right denim for you. Come to think of it, the only time I stayed for more than 3 minutes is when only Na was manning the shop. Hmm...

At the big lifestyle shop (Zen, I beleive) in Central World they also have Atelier La Durance, a rare find by most countries' standards, so a one up for Bangkok boutiques.

Also the Lee store in Central World were carrying up to 34 waist raw hair on hide.

Unfortunately the ADL were too small and the Lee's I didn't like.

Also saw the Atelier La Durance at Central World at Manga, on the first floor. Very surprising to see them there.

Real premium denim brands you will not find in Thailand at the moment:

(hopefully they will import in the future): Rock & Republic, Paige Premium, Paper Denim, Earnest Sewn, Earl, Acne, Joe, James, J Brand, Chip and Pepper, Frankie B, Goldsign, Habitual, Hudson, J&Company, Kasil, Nudie, Cheap Monday, Saltworks, Stitch and all hard-to-find Japanese denim like SugarCane, Samurai, etc.

I was strolling in Gaysorn plaza on Sunday, and I can confirm that Cloud 9 is carrying Paige and Earnest Sewn and non-selvedge Cheap Monday denim. These also also on sale right now for 40-60%. And they used to carry Paper Denim. As of this weekend, Blackjack, inside the Erawan Plaza at Chitlom, is also confirmed for carrying Acne Jeans and Chip and Pepper. Blackjack is part of the Singapore-based Club 21 chain, and I'm pretty sure that they would not be fronting counterfeit merchandise at a rather luxurious shopping center. Both of these places are not in the Siam area but are located one BTS stop away at Chitlom.

I'm not at all vaguely interested in any of these brands, but I wouldn't want anyone looking for these brands in Bangkok to be misled. Generalized, unexhaustive and unverified comments under the pretense of being a born and raised local just aren't that helpful.

In terms of Japanese denim, Tanner Lee & Na who operate a store on the first floor of MBK, have raw Studio D'Artisan including the limited D-1263, various Samurai, various Denime and Warehouse denim. I'm also pretty sure that these are the real deal and are not counterfeits. I commend Tanner, Lee & Na for importing Japanese denim into the Thai market and going beyond the mainstream demands for denim such as True Religion and Diesel. I don't claim to be an expert in verifying the authenticity of their denim but am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Some other folks have also mentioned finding new Japanese denim at Chatuchuk market. Can this be confirmed?

!! 100 baht is...peanuts. :eek:

i will be going back to bangkok later this month, it seems. would love to see you lot there--Largo and Analyst?

Hey! Just met up with Largo on Friday for lunch. Let me know when you're coming into town!

Looks good, Largo! Go SuFu Thailand!

Thanks for everyone who pitched in all the words of encouragement and discouragement. I ended up finding the perfect stone and design. The engagement went smoothly and everyone was happy cheers!

analyst you've got one heck of a collection. how'd you get your hands on all these while in bangkok?

Tweedles, sadly, I have yet to purchase any new denim in Bangkok. So far, each piece was purchased in the states, while I still lived there. Of course this was about two years ago! So, I'm still trying to wear out denim purchased that long ago......

I thought I would share some of my writing about Bangkok. Enjoy!!

Bright Lights, Sin City:

I love this photo. It was taken by a close friend a few years ago in Patpong, the infamous red light district on Silom Road in Bangkok popularized by American GIs during and after the Vietnam War.

My buddy, Nate S., took this picture around 2am when Patpong shuts down each night as mandated by the government. He followed a group of English or German tourists exiting one of many go-go bars on the main strip. Ahead of the pack are two "working girls" probably looking for another party or a farang's warm hotel bed for the evening. I've observed both parties' laughter, conversations, and quarrels a million times in Thailand. The Westerners are often loud and drunk and are obnoxiously shuttling between numerous go-go bars and sex shows. The Thai girls, most of them from one of the poorest regions in the Northeast area of Udom, speak in shrill tones that are heavily accented with an Isaan dialect. Both playing a cat and mouse game, but it's hard to tell who is the hunter and the hunted.

Here, you won't find any local Thais having a drink or pawing at young girls dancing on a pole with 20 other women clad in bathing suits and thigh-high boots. Thais often view this area and Westerners with disgust and distain. But at the same time, it is what it is. A normal part of life in this area. For the Isaan Thai girls working in these bars, this is how they support their families in the north.

Amid the pulsating techno beats sped up to about 170 bpm in the go-go bars, the scene is choatic. Bright casades of multicolored lights disoriented you as soon as the curtain from the street is drawn. As soon as you sit down at the bar, you become a gazelle stalked by scantily-dressed predators in too much makeup. Every girl in the room sees you as one thing. A mark. Payment for tuition. ATM machine for food. A house for their parents. They descend upon you immediately (three or four at a time) by sitting on your lap or stroking your leg. In broken English, they ask if you will buy them a drink priced at about 190 baht or about $4.50 dollars. For each drink they "sell" they pocket a small sum that feeds into their nightly quota. All respond similiarly: I've only been here for about three weeks. I'm 21. My name is Nok, Dao, Krung, or Jiap. One young girl, no more than 20 years old, seizes your attention and asks if your want to "go" out. To be able to take a girl out of the establishment, you have to pay a "bar fine" of 500 baht or about 10$. Once you pay the fine, the girl changes into normal street clothes you'd find on any girl in the mall: jeans, a hoodie, sneakers. Now, anything else is completely negotiable. 2000 baht or about 50$ for a quick romp in a nearby short time hotel. More time costs more.

These girls have perfected the art of seduction. They play their roles perfectly with the right amount of eye-batting peppered with cute laughs and limited English. Behind their smiles lies a girl who has lived far past her current age. And they are driven completely by one thing: survival. In Thailand, where are no government subsidies. No government-provided housing, health care, jobs, or education. Here, it really is survival of the fittest. Natural selection. There's more and more younger competition arriving each day in BKK from the mountains, the northeast, and the northwest. The only thing that doesn't change is the movement of time. And time is cruelest to those trying to run against it.

When you speak with the girls in Thai, honesty prevails. They speak in matter of fact tones. Many are tired of this life. They hate the chaos of Bangkok and long for the rural simplicity back in the North. But for the time being, they are doing the very best that they can.

I thought I would venture on over to Superdenim from where I usually reside on Superjetset.

Left to right: Rag & Bone RB8 (unworn), Rag & Bone RB8 (worn), 45rpm Sorohikos, Jean Shop classic raw

Oh, I didn't know that it had moved. I remembered it being in next to Mercury Grill and the Soviet Safeway on 17th.

It's been a few years since I've lived in DC, so take everything I say with a few grains of salt.

Circle Boutique definitely had Rag and Bone, but I'm not 100% on Undercover. Oh, they had some Band of Outsiders oxfords and ties there, too, and some Yoko Devereaux, or was it Junya Watanabe?

About two years ago, Denim Bar opened up around Pentagon City and was supposed to start stocking Japanese denim like Sugarcanes. I never knew if it happened or not. But, they did have APC, Nudies, Prps, etc. I would be impressed if Mauricio starting getting some SDA or Eternal denim in there, but I don't think DCers would be ready for that yet.

I miss my old neighborhood around Mt. Pleasant/Adam's Morgan and the weekend drumlines in Meridian Hill Park. But who knows, it could all be all PN Hoffman condominiums by now!

Thanks a lot for that, Novotel looks ideal. Never tried som tum, sounds nice

Som tum is a Northeastern Thai dish from the Isaan region. Basically, it's a spicy green papaya salad with various ingredients that can be added: peanuts, dried shrimp, etc. I'm actually not to fond of it and usually order something boring like sticky rice with some marinated pork or fried chicken wings.

But, in terms of local atmosphere, Tum Noa is excellent. The crowd will be completely local consisting of lots of students (Chulalongkorn University is situated behind Siam Square), flight attendants and young professionals from all over the city.

It's been a few years but Comme des Garcons was available at Relish in Georgetown. Basically go past the Georgetown Park Mall on M Street and turn into Cady's Alley. They also carried Dries along with brands like Paul Smith, Nudies, Neil Barrett, John Lobb and Yohji.

Circle Boutique on 17th Street off of Dupont Circle had Rag and Bone and Undercover, I think. It's a small basement shop but definitely a small wonder. Plus, the two girls that run the shop are cool as hell. One is Thai and is extremely cute.

There's the Novotel directly in Siam Square with rates around what you are looking for.

http://www.novotelbkk.com/

Make sure you check one of the best som tum joints in Thailand on the other side of the street called Tum Noa.

Oh, another place would be the Princess Pathumwan also in Siam Square but closer to the MBK side. But, rates start around 3500 THB.

http://www.pprincess.com/home.htm

Hi guys

I know there are many threads about AMS but what I'm looking for is recommandations for THIS weekend... and also the brand new places, restaurants, shops...

The only thing I know for sure is that I'll go to the M.U.L.T.I.S.E.X.I. party

Check out Yab Yum for a pretty good time.

Tisswat is the king of AMS knowledge.

Second that. Tisswat is completely dialed into the AMS scene....

Would be interested to see some pics and hear some good stories. I can provide some good tales about the underside of Macao, but alas, nothing about mainland China...

i always loved jims better for some reason

Second that.

CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN by John Perkins

I felt this book was highly unsupported with very little facts to back up Perkins widely speculative claims. The best part of the book is some interesting background on Indonesia and the Middle East. This should have been an insider's account of the behind-the-scene interworkings of the World Bank and IMF and "greedy" corporations. Instead, it read kinda like a bad spy novel about the "evil empire" of this or that. More Mark Bowden or Seymour Hersh and less grocery store paperback authors, please...

Out of the ones you selected, I'd go with the Lange One on the very bottom. Very nice choices though.

Sounds like a great trip. Everyone I know who has visited Laos and Vientiane absolutely loved it. I really wish I knew more about this place.

Another place of interest would be Burma/Myanmar. Any intel would be much appreciated! Cheers!

Sometimes, it's okay to go A2M?

Pretty basic. I want to pick up some Eternal 811s. Fell in love with them in HK but didn't pull the trigger

These days mostly Damodaran and Benninga...

Vitamin C and E pills.

Hehe. Ecstacy Pills helps clear acne???