MBK: shopping for designer fakes in Bangkok mega emporium

For more than 30 years, this Bangkok mall has been known as a temple of shopping for designer fakes. We go shopping for shoes, bags, make-up and more, and see just what this counterfeit haven has to offer.

Shopping in Bangkok

Shopping in Bangkok is a limitless activity. From the glamorous, maze-like malls that congregate around Siam Station to the sprawling 15,000-stall Chatuchak Weekend Market, the largest in Asia, there is nothing you can’t buy in this city. But it’s the MBK Center that attracts the most spendthrift travellers; a mall where you can’t tell the difference between your Guccis and your Goccis – the shopping haven known as the temple of fakes.

clothes designer fashion accessories fakes shopping bangkok thailand — MBK shopping centre in Bangkok houses just about everything you could think of.

The MBK Center

I was here for a few reasons: my visiting brother-in-law was desperate for a pair of Kanye West’s Adidas Yeezy sneakers (desperate in an I’ll-only-pay-next-to-nothing-and-I-don’t-care-if-they’re-not-real kind of way), my partner was in the market for a new bluetooth speaker and I was keen to investigate the fake make-up I’d heard you could score from MBK at bargain prices. Opened in 1985 and once the largest mall in Asia, today, the recently renovated eight-level mall draws more than 150,000 shoppers a day for its plentiful supply of souvenirs, cheap clothes and high-end knock-offs.

What to expect

On the fashion floors – ground to third floor – shoes, bags and gold jewellery are the top sellers; convoys of tourists armed with empty suitcases roll from shop to shop, ready to pack their bags to their limits. Here, the Yeezys are at every shoe store (2600 baht, about AUD$104, not cheap enough for my thrifty bro), as are a rainbow of fake Nike, Stan Smith and Converse sneakers. But next door, at the bag store, I’m a little perplexed.

The labels

I’d read that the counterfeits in MBK are high-quality, but there were no big brands on show, just random labels I’d never heard of before. Searching through the likes of Coco London (curiously made in Bangkok) and Swiss Gear backpacks, the best brand I could find on the shelf was a black Michael Kors backpack, which the vendor dramatically proved was real leather by lighting a flame right on the fabric, and leaving no marks. As I walked around trying to find any more coveted labels, I noticed a European woman talking to a vendor in a shop with, again, only no-name brands.

“Show me your Prada," she asked the saleswoman, who unlocked a padlocked cupboard at the back of her store and pulled out what looked like a real-deal baby blue Prada Saffiano replica. The woman inspected it, and, seemingly pleased, paid the vendor 4,600 baht, about AUD$180 for a normally AUD$2,500 bag.

Finding quality fakes

It seems the decent fakes are harder to find these days, and you have to dig around to find the good stuff. Local online magazine BK magazine reported recently that Thai police seem to have a more frequent presence here, on the prowl every day checking shops and vendors. With the risk of four years jail time and fines of up to 400,000 baht (AUD$16,000) for selling inauthentic products, vendors have had to find less obvious ways to tout their counterfeit goods.

But despite the high-ends becoming rarer, MBK is still a mecca for cheap, faux products. The beauty counters on level two, are stocked with lookalike MAC, Urban Decay and Nars eyeshadows, concealers and powders. I picked up one of Kylie Jenner’s famous lip kits, supposedly meant to give you a pillowy pout like hers. I asked the vendor if it was real, she smiled and shook her head. For 100 baht (AUD$4) for a lip gloss and liner worth 14 times that price, I was cool with that. I’d read beauty blogger warnings about grotesque allergic reactions to these fake glosses, but this guinea pig can report there were no elephant woman results; no plump Kylie lips either, unfortunately.

More than designer handbags

Sick of buying into the Kardashian-West-Jenner empire, my partner drags us up to the fourth floor, the electronics floor. Here, lights flash, music blares, and refurbished phones, laptops, and all sorts of cables, cases and electronic thingamajigs are on offer. My partner, the gadget nerd, was in heaven. Me? Not so much. It’s here that the annoying hawker stereotypes come out. “Brother, take a look" and “hello madam, hello miss" stream like a non-stop chorus as we shuffle from stall to stall testing JBL portable bluetooth speakers, something my partner seemed to think we needed.

After we found the one that looked the best (which, to me, looked like all the others), the vendor wanted 2000 baht, but it was an easy bargain down to 1500 baht (AUD$60 for a normally $229 speaker). More than 30 years since its opening, the MBK still provides a dizzying array of things to buy. Despite the higher-quality goods going more underground — if you want something, you’ll most likely find it here. So far our speaker has been working fine and projecting clearly. How long will it last? I’ll get back to you on that.

How to Shop Like a Pro at MBK

Know before you go: What you see might not be all you can get. Bring a picture of what you’re after, and don’t be afraid to ask vendors if they know where to find it. The shop owners I encountered at MBK are friendly and honest, and will let you know what’s real and what’s fake, as well as the quality of the product.

Bargain hard and buy in bulk: Never settle on the first price. Some of the trendier items like the Yeezy shoes have a set price and vendors will refuse to go lower, but they’ll often be likely to knock a few baht off if you buy in bulk. Stock up on souvenirs for family and friends here, the more you buy, the bigger the discount.

Talk like a native: If you speak a few words of Thai and wai (a Thai greeting where you press your palms together and bow slightly) to your vendor, they’ll instantly warm to you. This is the land of smiles, remember, and being congenial and respectful can go a long way. Sawadee (hello), paeng pai (too expensive) and khop khun (thank you), with ka (female) or krub (male) at the end of the word, are good phrases to remember.

Address: 444 Phayathai Rd, Khwaeng Wang Mai, Khet Pathum Wan, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10330, Thailand

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After youth-led protests in 2025, this year Nepal elected a 35-year-old former rapper as Prime Minister. In a country where tourism is its biggest industry, what’s next for travellers?

In 1986, Nepal changed its clock. It had used India Standard Time since 1920 so, to differentiate, it wound its clock 15 minutes ahead of, not behind, its big-brother neighbour. Boss move. “Nepal is strongly opposed to the idea that our identity is connected to India,” says Community Homestay Network (CHN) guide Bikal Khanal.

Tharu dance is traditionally set to hand drums. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

Today, Nepal is the only independent country with a 45-minute deviation to universal time; an oddity that’s become a symbol of national pride. The quirk is nearly as endearing as Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport where carved varnished wood and shiny red bricks rule. One sign points to a ‘Travelator’ and another to a ‘Grievance Handling Desk’ while visas are noisily stamped at customs for US dollars, cash only. When am I?

Spot the endemic Nepal gray langur. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The 15 or 45 minute anomaly sees me tap out completely on timezone calculations. Why bend my brain calculating if it’s quarter to or quarter past elsewhere when I’m in the honking here and now of Kathmandu where the air is high-altitude crisp, the prayer flags flutter and the street dogs howl?

How tourism is changing in Nepal

Bardiya National Park is rich with wildlife. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

India is not the only association many Nepalis would like to shake. With eight of the world’s 10 tallest mountains, including Mount Everest and Annapurna, Nepal has long attracted mountaineers and trekkers, and expedition numbers are continuing to rise.

Tourism is one of the country’s biggest sources of foreign currency, so this growth is not negative, per se. But according to Ang Tshering Lama, who co-founded Phaplu Mountain Bike Club, being reduced to a mere trekking destination is limiting.

“Trekking is just one layer of our identity,” says Ang. “When it becomes the dominant narrative, it limits how we’re seen and how we see ourselves.” Nepal’s recent success, however, in diverting trekkers to less-trafficked areas such as Manaslu mofuntain, where visitor numbers rose by 117 per cent last year, offers hope that tourism can diversify even more radically.

Local men in Bhada village. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The founder of CHN, Shiva Dhakal, wants that change. “The whole idea of the Community Homestay Network is to promote experiences outside of trekking,” he says. “Community tourism changes lives and helps kids stay home instead of coming to the city or migrating to the Middle East.”

Ang grew up seeing people leave, “not because they wanted to but because there weren’t enough opportunities to stay”, he states. Yet from remote villages to living traditions; food, art, music and emerging subcultures, “there’s so much that’s not being seen.”

CHN is opening some of those doors. It doesn’t own, or fund, any homes. Rather, it promotes homestays to travellers on a single, slick platform, while fostering entrepreneurship in places where women, marginalised castes, Indigenous people and the youth stand to benefit the most.

A new generation demanding more

Dalla Town Hall, where volunteers discuss anti-poaching tactics. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The future prospects of next-gen Nepalis can no longer be ignored. On a Kathmandu tour with 33-year-old guide Monica K.C, we pass buildings torched in the September 2025 ‘Gen Z protests’, including the Supreme Court and Parliament House. Seventy-two people died. “They were anti-corruption protests,” says Monica. “Politicians’ children are living a lavish life but the airports are crowded with youngsters leaving to find work.”

We stop in ‘little Tibet’ at the wondrous sixth-century Boudha Stupa. “The wheel of life is Buddhism in a nutshell,” says Monica. “Things such as hate, ignorance and anger keep you rotating around the wheel, so you must follow the principles of Buddhism to detach. If you can’t, there’s no nirvana for you.”

Boudha Stupa's prayer wheels — Boudha Stupa’s prayer wheels are used to recite Buddhist prayers. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

In a sun-drenched twist to the usual temple visit, we ascend the stupa’s sloping plinth and roam its whitewashed dome. Tendrils of diaphanous prayer flags stream from a steeple-like structure where the Buddha’s unblinking eyes stare out. No nirvana for you…

bouda stupa prayer flags — Tibetan-style prayer flags embellish the whitewashed dome of Bouda Stupa, a Buddhist temple. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

The dome is delightfully free of guard rails or chiding from security. There is, however, a stern ‘No TikTok’ sign, perhaps in response to the youth’s newly flexed power. The booted-out Prime Minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, was replaced in a resounding election victory in March by 35-year-old Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) – a former rapper and mayor of Kathmandu. The RSP’s manifesto indicates tourism is a priority, and that Nepal’s cultural identity in areas such as gastronomy will be strengthened.

Boudha Stupa vendors — Vibrant souvenir shops and cafes around Boudha Stupa. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

A more confronting stop awaits at Pashupatinath Temple. Today is Bala Chaturdashi, a Hindu festival where thousands of devotees gather to honour their dead ancestors. Vendors hauling foam mattresses do a lucrative trade as people set up for a night of vigil. This includes burning the bodies of recently deceased relatives on bamboo pyres in the Bagmati River, which flows into the sacred Ganges.

A woman at annual Hindu festival Bala Chaturdashi, in Kathmandu. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Wrapped in a shroud, the bodies are positioned with their heads facing north to the Himalayas where Lord Shiva resides. They’re covered with flowers and straw and set alight by male family members.

Hours later, the ashes are swept into the river where devotees will take a holy dip the next day. As much as Monica assures us it’s not voyeuristic to watch, I struggle to do so. “Here you see the reality of life because everyone ends up there,” she says, gesturing to the river.

Life unfiltered in the Terai region

tharu woman — Tharu woman and master weaver Parbati Chaudhary in Bhada Village. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The reality of life needs processing time, which the western Terai region delivers in spades. The Terai is largely separated from India by the Karnali River and Bardiya National Park, where elephants, rhinos and the elusive Bengal tiger roam.

Once a nomadic tribe, the Indigenous Tharu people are now the largest ethnic group here. “They didn’t know their daily life was interesting for international travellers but they’re starting to understand now,” says CHN founder Shiva.

Take a Jeep safari through Bardiya National Park. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

We fly Buddha Air to Dhangadhi airport and drive five hours to stay in Tharu homes. The journey to Bhada village is a blur of roadside fruit stalls, traffic-stopping sacred cows and fields sown with wheat, rice, mustard, spinach, cauliflower and potatoes. Nepal’s agriculture feeds only Nepal.

Marigolds are an important part of Hindu rituals. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

“The only thing we export is young people,” says our guide Bikal. As the light dims and we plunge evermore rural, mysterious mounds of compacted hay – some house-sized – loom like the creatures from Where The Wild Things Are. Even our trusty driver gets flummoxed by a dirt road that abruptly ends and we find ourselves hurtling across a paddock.

On arrival, some are ferried to mud-walled cottages greened by gourd creepers, with thatched roofs and rustic-chic mosquito nets. Myself and two others are ushered to the home of corner store owner, mechanic and mushroom farmer Man Kumar Chilaruwa and his wife Rajkumari.

community homestay entrance — A warm welcome at a community homestay. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

They escort us to a bunker-esque back building with steel doors and a folding security gate, behind which is gleaming linoleum, dolphin-printed tiles and a shower cavity that must be gingerly stepped through to reach the toilet.

The ceiling lights emit a rainbow of colours (the bathroom light gets stuck in, frankly, a quite frightening red). We’re nevertheless touched that our hosts invested in all this bling when the average salary is around $275 a month.

In the coming days, we participate in Tharu traditions such as making moonshine, dancing, weaving straw handicrafts and gold-panning. We’re fed well with staples of rice, mustard greens, lentil pancakes, daal, curried chicken and tomato chutney served on antibacterial saal leaves.

food at community homestay — Dig in. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Sonara community homestay president Indradevi Tharu tells us river snails are often served, and the boiled and pickled flesh of rats hunted in the rice fields. “Perhaps next time?” we say and all have a laugh.

The power of community homestays

community homestay owners in Nepal — Barda community homestay owners Parbati Chaudhary and Ram Krishni Devi Chaudhary. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Immersing Western visitors in foreign cultural practices is not new. But with the Tharu, I never get that uneasy sensation that I’m being performed for. Despite being the only tourists, there’s no ‘othering’; just warm, composed and ultra-dignified welcomes. Like we’ve always been here.

“I love to have travellers in my village so I can see the world,” says local woman Parbati Chaudhary. “Why would I travel the world when the world comes to me?”

The graceful acceptance the Tharu offer, as well as the slow pace, works miracles on my frazzled nervous system. One day I even take a nap on a vacant homestay bed.

Sonara community room — An authentic stay in the Sonara community. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Roosters strut and goats bray as we sit on the ground in al fresco kitchens, rolling rice flour into cylinders steamed to make dhikri (dumplings). When water is needed, we fetch it using a hand-operated pump as a family of ducks strolls by, side-eying us like curious neighbours.

Animal lovers will delight in Tharu villages. Kind and resourceful inventions are everywhere, such as snacking stations where two posts lean together, with leafy boughs dangling on rope for baby goats to forage from.

CHN’s CEO, Aayusha Prasain, nods knowingly when one in our group says she cried when she left her host, Shayam Chaudhary, in Bhada. Shayam’s 17-year-old son, Prashant, had translated, which deepened the connection.

“Community tourism turns travel into a relationship, not a transaction,” says Aayusha. “It places decision-making power in the hands of local communities, especially women and youth.” Since 2018, CHN has hosted more than 4000 travellers from 52 countries in 408 households, and estimates women’s participation has increased by 381 per cent.

In the Bardiya community, where vexing human-animal conflict has been a balancing act for decades due to elephants raiding crops, long-time homestay operator Salik Ram Chaudhary says young people keep the older ones on their toes.

“We can’t keep homestays stagnant,” he says. “We have to upgrade our service and redefine our product or young people won’t see it as an attractive business. If we can keep evolving with this travelling trend we’re confident the youths will stay and continue it.”

Back in Kathmandu, Monica explains that after the deaths of young protestors in September, a determination had spread to not let their sacrifice be in vain. “We want to keep holding the government accountable,” she says. “We don’t know what situation we’re facing, but we’re ready to face it.”

Interested in Nepal but prefer to experience it in total comfort? Read our guide to luxury travel in Nepal.

Shopping tips for designer fakes in Bangkok’s MBK mall