Electronics in Thailand

While working on a Television Commercial in Bangkok Thailand recently, I was able to go and visit an area called Baan Moh. This area is a highly dense, retail electronics component resale and distribution zone. Thousands of small operators sell millions of electronic components from Microchips, Passive types like resistors, capacitors, diodes etc, to expendable’s and tools! This Map link shows where: View Larger Map

When you first arrive, you are confronted with a small, dense lane way that looks like any other lane way in Thailand. Lots of food stalls, street hawkers and shops spilling out into the street. As you get closer, the stalls are quite different. Yes you can still buy pirated movies and software, however the buckets of small colourful components ranging from the old to the very latest in high powered LED’s became my keen interest. Actually I was amazed how up to date some of the components were. The latest Buck configured high power LED Drivers, Touch Screens, GPS modules, sensors of all sorts and motors to mention a few. In amongst it all, there are some pretty ancient technologies available as well. Of one particular note was a group making their own motors for fans! They sit in the street at tables protected from Bangkok’s inevitable downpour by an awning. The photos below show how they hand spin the motors coil windings and terminate the wires. It’s unbelievable to me that they do this, given that China produces millions of these cheaply. However, this is how they do it in Thailand and it’s all in the street for people to witness as they pass by!

Once off the streets, you enter very narrow corridors lined with small shops. Many of these shop owners do not speak much english, however electronics has it’s own language and it wasn’t hard to ask for a particular component and get the correct response. My only language difficulty was asking for an Anti Static mylar bag! I finally gave up on that which meant risking my ATMEGA168V-10AU, a small 32TQFP packaged item. These were bought individually for a stand alone Arduino based project I have in mind. I payed about $2.20 AU for them which is very cheap in my books!

Other items I bought were some high powered LED’s (10W and a 20W) with drivers for them. These units are so bright they hurt to look at them. While not as cheap ($20.00AU from memory) they are the latest High powered LED’s available today! Baan Moh was an eye opener for me on many accounts. I have often bought bits and pieces from Singapore’s Sim Lim Tower and in Hong Kong, however Baan Moh had a better selection of older components and the very latest Robotics Supplies, Microcontrollers and LED’s etc. For any interested geek this area will definitely excite you! Chances are if you can’t find the electronic component you are looking for here then you can’t find it in Thailand!

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Tags: baan moh, Bangkok, electronic components, Thailand