Sampeng (near Soi Wanit 1) is a place in Bangkok where many small business owners get their merchandise supplies from. It is located not far from Bangkok Chinatown (Yaowarat). These suppliers are located inside the alley and lanes. The buzz and activities are not really visible from the main road.
You can purchase items such as fabric, arts, crafts, sewing supplies, toys, keychains, bags (handbags, schoolbags, luggage bags, tote bags), beauty care products, stationery, gift items, temple supplies (offering items and preceptor clothings), hair assessories, clothings, costume jewelry, towels, bedsheets, blankets, and many other host of items from Sampeng. Just that most of these products may be mass produced and a lot are imported from China.
I have done a separate post about Sampeng on sewing, arts and craft supplies in an earlier post. It consists of a main back lanes (known as Soi Wanet 1) with small little lanes in between with various shops located alongside. Below are some examples:
Above is a shop that supplies mainly ladies handbags. They have a lot of those small carry on bags which I really love to use.
The above sells carry on bags, totes and some costume jewelry.
This shop above sells a mixture of all sorts of items- ranging from locks, water containers, electronic gadgets, mobile accessories, kitchen items and toys. It is similar to the kind of items that you may find in stores like Daiso except most of these items looked as if they are imported from China.
Above sells clothings and shoes.
The shop above sells hair accessories and next to it is a fabric store.
The shop above sells fancy items….like umbrellas,decorative items, hats, small toys….similar to what you would find being sold in a kiosk near a tourist place or mall.
The store above carries fancy keychains and gold imitation jewelry.
Most of these stores open in the morning and would start to wrap up at about 4pm onwards. During weekends and public holidays, most of these shops would be closed for business. You can visit Sampeng first to take a look and if you do not end up with a bag full of items, you can then head on to Chinatown Yaowarat to have your dinner.