My First Shopping Experience in Bangkok

Mission for the day: get a Rabbit Card, take my first BTS Skytrain ride, and find a second pair of Keen shoes in size 13 in Bangkok. My friend Shane came along as navigator, with mixed results.

The Rabbit Card. The Rabbit Card is Bangkok’s stored-value card for the BTS. It cost 200 baht: 100 as an issuing fee and 100 in credit. Tip: bring your passport or at least a photo of it. I didn’t have mine, but a picture of it worked. Also, tell the clerk up front how much you want to load; I had to go back and ask to add the rest.

My first BTS ride. I’d watched people ride the Skytrain in videos for years. On my first 16-day stay in Bangkok I barely got out, between being sick and the earthquake, so this felt like a real milestone. It’s so much nicer up there than in the traffic below. And walking in Bangkok cuts down on how much exercise you need, because every trip is basically an obstacle course. And stairs. Everywhere there are stairs.

The hunt. Our first stop was True Digital Park, where the map made it look like the outdoor store might be. It wasn’t, and the outfitter we found was closed anyway. One kind guy at another shop tried to help us out, which is more than you’d get in a lot of countries. Along the way we passed about four dentists, if you need one. Shane’s navigation earned him the nickname “Google Maps.” It always gets you there, eventually.

Success at CentralWorld. We finally found a Keen-only store at CentralWorld, on the third floor, unit 314, near the Siam BTS stop. The staff was very nice, had my size in the back, and I was in and out in five minutes. If you’re a big guy looking for a larger pair of Keens in Bangkok, that’s your spot.

Why a second pair? I’d had a pair where the strap partially broke, and I realized how easily I could end up without a reliable pair of shoes. It’s also nice to be able to wash one pair and still have another to wear.

My advice for big guys: don’t overthink it. I was worried about finding shoes in Southeast Asia, but I’ve since bought new pairs in both Bangkok and KL without much trouble. There’s less selection, sure, but you can still find something. For Keens, CentralWorld is still my go-to. They actually had multiple styles I liked, which can be rare.