Standing downtown, diagonally opposite Bangla Road, the Jungceylon Shopping Complex has radically changed the face of shopping in Patong. The two main stores in the complex are Robinson – a gleaming well-lit upper end department store, and Big‚ C supermarket.

The 200-plus other stores in this shopping heaven sell brand-name clothes, spectacles, sunglasses, cosmetics and perfumes, shoes, DVDs, computer games, tons of mobile phones and accessories, electrical goods but it is also a great entertainment haven with a five-room SF Cinema and a 16-lane bowling alley, perfect for rainy days or to escape the heat of the day.

Downstairs at Jungceylon you can buy everything from a Kashmir-made rug to a facial massage. It’s all cheerfully lit and open spaced and is designed to handle an estimated 45,000 shoppers daily – though this figure seems a little optimistic, given that Patong’s official population is 14,700 (and swells to up to 60,000 in high season). Still, it’s good to have enough elbow room while shopping.