Bangkok’s newest Mecca for shoppers, Siam Paragon, is being touted as Southeast Asia’s largest upscale shopping mall. Standing on 500,000 sq m of prime land, it houses 300 high-fashion brand boutiques, an exotic-car gallery, fancy food outlets, a 1,800-seat opera house, a 15-screen cinema with seating capacity for 5,500. On its ground floor and basement are two levels of Siam Ocean World, Southeast Asia’s largest indoor oceanarium. Here are not only sharks, electric eels, giant groupers and manta rays but also penguins, otters, monstrous water rats. And imagine a school of piranhas passing just a little above your head.

Visitors to Thailand can now claim VAT refunds at Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai and Phuket international airports for a minimum purchase of 5,000 baht per day (this amount can be reached through many purchases in one day). Upon making a purchase, visitors should request the store to process a VAT refund form. If in a department store, tourists must collect their receipts and take them to the specified VAT counter to be processed. Receipts must be processed on the day of purchase.

When departing Thailand, visitors must have the form stamped at the customs VAT checkpoint prior to airline check-in. Please note that the goods bought and claimed under the VAT refund system must be shown to the customs representative before the form can be stamped.

When passing through passport control, visitors will have the form processed by the Revenue Department officials and receive a VAT refund.