Shopping in Bangkok with LoukGolf | Learn English with Cambridge

Hi, everyone.

Welcome back to Learn English with Cambridge.

It’s me, LoukGolf, again.

We are going to go shopping today.

All right.

We are in Bangkok’s busiest and most popular district, Siam.

In fact, Siam was the old name of our country

before it was changed to Thailand in 1939.

So this is Siam Square where we are right now.

Siam is known as the central business district of Bangkok.

It is home to hundreds of cafés and restaurants.

It is also renowned for shopping

because there are plenty of shops as well as

posh department stores.

The word posh means expensive and of high quality.

I don’t look posh today.

Right, let’s go shopping.

So here we are in the heart of Siam Square.

Siam Square also consists of many alleyways,

and along each alley you can find a wide range of things,

everything you could think of.

So if you are fashion-conscious, this is the place to go.

Listen to me carefully.

If you are fashion-conscious, Siam Square is the place to go.

The word fashion-conscious means

interested in the latest fashions and in wearing

fashionable clothes.

I don’t think I’m fashion-conscious at all.

Sorry about that.

I have to warn you, though,

if you’re not careful, you will end up spending

a lot of money.

If you don’t want to spend any money,

you can just come here to browse for new inspiration, though.

The word browse, here, means to walk around a shop,

looking at several things

without intending to buy any of them.

I’m not going to spend any money today,

but what do you think?

Just so you know,

these are my sunglasses, I didn’t buy anything today,

I didn’t spend any money today.

As I have mentioned before, Siam is a really busy area,

so you can see many people walking around

and shopping around.

If you shop around,

it means you compare the price and quality of the same

or a similar object in different shops

before you decide which one to buy.

Siam is a place

where people come to hang out after work or on the weekend.

This makes Siam very vibrant.

But let’s get away from the crowds.

I’m thirsty now, I need something to drink.

Come on.

So now, we’ve just arrived in my favourite place in Siam.

It’s called WWA Café.

I need to change my glasses, I can’t see properly.

Right, this place is like an oasis.

Usually, the word oasis refers to a place in a desert

where there’s water,

but here it means a calm and pleasant place

in the middle of somewhere busy and unpleasant.

So this place is like an oasis.

The reason why I like it here is

because not only can I have a break from the hustle

and bustle outside,

but I can also shop for my new outfits.

Ooh, this shirt looks amazing.

I think it suits me well.

If something suits you,

it is right for you and it makes you look more attractive.

I have to try this on.

Okay, you’re not allowed to see me in the fitting room.

Please, stay there.

Stay there, okay?

I’ll be back.

I’ll be back.

Once you’re in this place it’s

like you’re not in Siam Square anymore,

it’s so calm and serene.

Oh, there is a drawback though.

You know what that is?

You can’t really find a bargain in this shop.

A bargain means something

that is on sale at a lower price than its true value.

All right, in the next episode we will be talking about food,

because if we talk about Bangkok,

we have to talk about its cuisine too, okay?

Before I let you go,

I would like you to check out our shopping word list

on Cambridge Dictionary +Plus,

so you can practise the vocabulary and test

yourselves with the quiz, okay?

Well, I guess it’s time for lunch, now.

I will see you in the next episode.

Bye.