Being the world’s worst packer one of the first things I end up doing on any trip is opening my case at the other end and working out what I’ve forgotten. The answer for this trip is: shirts. What was I thinking? Then my one and only belt, a big brand one bought in San Francisco only eight weeks ago, decided to fall fatally apart. Time to enter the interesting world of Thai shopping…

The last time I was here shopping pretty much meant navigating street vendors and small stores. And, yuk, haggling. Today the mall has arrived in Thailand. Much of my time has been spent in the busy and impressive Asiabooks flagship store at the gigantic Siam Paragon mall, the biggest in Thailand and one of the largest I’ve ever seen. I’m not a great mall fan but you can’t help but be impressed by this one. It’s so vast you quickly get lost but the range of stores, restaurants, food shops and cinemas and stuff is quite amazing.

But every belt I found in the department store was too long. So what did the friendly assistant do? She pulled out a set of tools and, on the spot, cut one and adjusted it for me on the spot. I watched all this happening trying to remember what this kind of thing was called. Oh that’s right. Service…

Later I popped round the corner from the Dusit Thani to get a shirt, this time in the Central department tore of the Silom Complex. I’m no expert but I would have said the prices here were a bit lower than Siam Paragon, since the place seemed to cater more for locals than tourists. Lots of the shirts were ranged in sizes that were unfamiliar to me. What did the assistant say? She took one out of the packet and let me go and try it on. A shirt. Does that happen in Debenhams or Macys? I don’t think so.

I eventually settled on a decent range of Arrow cotton ones, got the right size and, since they seemed such good value, plumped on three. The only problem was they were in the packet and consequently needed ironing, which I didn’t have time for. She didn’t even blink. She just pulled out some commercial steam iron and did them perfectly on the spot for free. Price for the lot 2,200 baht or around $67 or £33. In Macys or Debenham I guess one of these shirts alone would cost $40 up and the chances of getting it ironed by the average floorwalker would be absolutely zero. And no haggling either, though the price I paid always seemed to be less than that on the label for some reason.

Still, I’m off to Hong Kong this evening after another full day in Bangkok, wishing I had more time to see a city that barely resembles the one I visited in 1978. I must admit I had misgivings about coming back but every one of them has disappeared. Thailand is on the destination list for a holiday when a slot becomes available.