The TukKom Electronics Store in Pattaya is a haven for lovers of modern technology. Moreover, it is popular not only with tourists, but also with local residents who appreciate it for the opportunity to buy high-quality electronic gadgets at an affordable price. You can wander around TukKom for hours in search of a bargain, or you can just walk around, plunging into a peculiar mixed atmosphere of the world of high technology and the Asian market.
What is famous for TukKom?
In a relatively small building, more than two hundred stores selling computers, tablets, cameras, and related accessories are concentrated. In Tukkom (Pattaya), official sellers of such flagships of world electronics as Apple, Toshiba, Lenovo, Panasonic and small shops are adjacent. They sell not advertised advertising, but very solid equipment of Indonesian and Chinese manufacturers.
In addition, they not only sell here, but also repair electronics. Several repair shops will help the tourist if his phone, earphones or camera is broken on vacation. In addition to technology, in Tukkom in Pattaya there are clothes, shoes, souvenirs. Most sellers are fluent in English, so it’s easy to bargain with them and negotiate warranty conditions for the purchase. For people who are tired of shopping, the store has a whole network of food outlets, ranging from the usual McDonald's and Starbucks to Europeans to inexpensive cafes with Asian dishes.
How to get to TukKoma in Pattaya?
The store is located on South Street, 800 meters from Central Beach and the famous Walking Street. You can get to it by taxi from any part of the city. The best option is tuk-tuks, which are the main transport in Central Pattaya, they will quickly deliver a tourist to the store. But in fact, from Central Beach to TukKom you can easily walk on foot, combining a walk with a tour of the city.
Mode of operation
On the official website of TukCom in Pattaya, opening hours are clearly indicated: all stores open at 10 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. daily and seven days a week. However, this mode of operation is guaranteed to be observed by large supermarkets, company stores and fast food restaurants. According to tourists, some small shops and trading stalls are sometimes closed at 7 o’clock in the evening.
Buyer Tips
Before going to TukKom, it’s useful to arm yourself with some knowledge. First of all, you should not buy something right away. As the experience of tourists visiting the store shows, you can almost always find a phone, headphones or a camera cheaper if you first examine all the offers. Shops on the ground floors often use their advantageous location and inflate prices, hoping that the buyer will not reach their competitors.
And also at TukKom (Pattaya) you can and should bargain. Of course, this does not apply to official Apple product stores or electronics supermarkets, but private sellers can easily contact and negotiate prices. Do not be shy to set your own price, it will not offend anyone, but rather will help to conclude a mutually beneficial deal.
You need to be careful when buying. Indeed, next to the official sellers of well-known brands are stores with frank replicas of these brands. The low price sometimes drowns the voice of reason, a person acquires a phone or tablet with the conviction that he bought the original equipment, and then experiences bitter disappointment, realizing that a skillful fake fell into his hands.
Special benefit
Many sellers in the TukCom store in Pattaya can apply for a VAT refund, usually 7% of the purchase price. For example, if a laptop costs 70,000 rubles, then the return will be 4,900 rubles, which makes an already successful purchase especially profitable. For registration, you need to have the original passport with you, although in some stores a copy of the passport is enough, but it’s better not to risk it so you don’t have to return later. A special form is filled out in English, it contains the passport data of the buyer, the date of entry into Thailand and the estimated departure, flight number.
VAT is refunded only at international airports. In addition, a number of conditions must be met: no more than two months have passed since the purchase; the buyer has a tourist visa, he lived in Thailand for no more than six months; the total purchase value is more than 5,000 baht, and a separate purchase is not cheaper than 2,000 baht; items are in the original packaging, not worn or used.
Floor layout
The Russian layout and numbering of floors in TukKom (Pattaya) may be puzzling. In total, the store has one basement, underground floor and six aboveground. However, the basement and first ground floor are assigned the Latin letters B and G, respectively, the remaining floors have the usual digital numbering:
Basement V. It has a large Tops grocery supermarket, as well as an impressive home appliance store from Asian manufacturers at very affordable prices.
Floor G. Here are the Apple brand store, several restaurants and cafes, a pharmacy, gift shops, clothes and shoes.
Ground floor. Dedicated to mobile phones. There are quite large shops, as well as small trays selling new and used phones. On this floor, it seems that he got into the real electronics market.
Second floor. Repair shops where local craftsmen are ready to fix any gadget. Shops selling cameras, headphones, hard drives, flash drives. A large Power Buy appliance store stands out.
Third floor. Here are located sellers of power banks, telephones, laptops and related accessories, computers and their components.
Third floor. A place dedicated to games and discs. On the floor you can buy game discs, as well as discs with films, programs and music. Of particular note is the Game Boy store. In addition, there is a Mr DIY department store on the floor where you can buy souvenirs, household utensils, dishes, toys, building materials, car accessories, sports equipment at very good prices.
Fifth floor. It houses a large hypermarket of electronics and related products IT CITY. The quality of the products is high, but the prices are very high.
Reviews
TukKom in Pattaya usually deserves positive feedback from Russian tourists. After all, here you can buy electronics and souvenirs for every taste and, as a rule, cheaper than in Russia. The very atmosphere of the store, the abundance of assortment and the behavior of sellers turn TukKom into a city attraction that should be visited to broaden your horizons and get joyful emotions.
However, you need to be careful. Some Russians have come across obvious deception or rudeness when they try to return an unwanted or broken product. Thai sellers are very friendly with a potential buyer, but extremely reluctant to return money for an unsuccessful purchase.