Like any good contemporary city, Chiang Mai is a place where you can satiate your gadget lust and need for technology literally and quickly, and you will find fewer places where you can buy an whole desktop Pc, custom-built, for less: cheap computers, cheap unlocked cellphones, peripherals and accessories like Bluetooth headsets, speakers, keyboards, Hdmi or Usb cables, and mice are readily available nearly everywhere-in fact 7-11's have started selling headsets and mini-speakers to go with your netbooks, smartphones, or iPods. If you are just here to visit, it's also extra helpful to buy expensive gadgets in Thailand and claim tax refunds when you depart which can net you back quite a bit of cash. In particular, you can find them gathered into It sections or digital malls at the following locations:
Panthip Plaza
Located on Chang Klan Road in the Night Bazaar (also known as the Night Market), the Panthip Plaza is a wee version of the celebrated digital shopping mall in Bangkok of the same name. Though considerably smaller in scale than its older counterpart, it also has the advantage of being much less cramped, less noisy, and having a wee more class: the building includes a dental clinic, a Shabushi restaurant, and the Fuji Japanese bistro as well as a food court on the top floor, plus a Se-Ed bookstore and several coffee outlets. You can find software, games (Pc, Xbox 360 and Ps3 alike; if you are a wee retro, you can also buy very cheap Ps2s), digital cameras, and hardware components fluctuating from Ram sticks, external Usb drives, visible cards, power furnish units to Lcd monitors large and small. There are also several shops in the building that will let you pick these component parts and assemble them for you at no extra charge: the alternative, if you will, to Newegg if you are living in Thailand. This way, you can get yourself a very grand gaming desktop for nearly half the price you would have paid in the States, United Kingdom or Australia. At the time of writing, there is roughly nothing on offer for those looking for a new shiny smartphone. However, there will be an Htc shop chance soon at the Panthip Plaza if you're looking for some Windows Phone 7 or Android goodness in your life.
Siam Tv
A glitzy electronics shop that sells everything from washing machines and ovens to the newest and greatest Hdtvs and 3D televisions from Samsung, Sony, and Lg. Naturally their catalogue includes laptops and netbooks from important brands together with but not wee to Toshiba, Acer, Asus, Dell and Hp as well as smartphones, highlight phones, and all the peripherals they entail. They also stock Android tablets and iPads. The second floor is home to a True foresight office (if you need to get your cable subscription dealt with) and a small café gift cold and blended beverages.
Computer Plaza
Situated in the Old City area by the canal on Manee Nopparat road, this digital mall is very similar to the Panthip Plaza but has the disadvantage of being rather older and a wee grubby around the edges. It offers a range of goods very much like Panthip Plaza's, however, but is much farther from the Night Bazaar and somewhat more inconvenient to reach if your room isn't in its immediate vicinity.
Computer Square
Adjacent to the Computer Plaza; offers similar convention computers shops, software, and hardware components.
Central Airport Plaza
The third floor of the Central Airport Plaza is devoted roughly entirely to technology: anything section you are in you will be looking many, many brands of computers and literally the most celebrated names have their own shops here, together with Dell, Lenovo, Hp, Sony, and Acer for computer makers. For smartphones Oems, you can expect to find a nice, classy shop displaying Htc's newest and greatest (Desire Hd, unbelievable S, Hd7, and Mozart) showing off their vibrant Amoled or Super Amoled displays and the newest version of Android. If you are after a Tv or two, there are Sony and Lg shops dedicated just to those too, with the latter also gift smartphones such as the surprisingly affordable dual-core Lg 2X running on the Nvidia Tegra 2 theory on a chip. Nokia is also represented in a fairly large store and you can find a Nokia aid center just opposite the shopping mall itself. Off to the side, next to the It City shop, you will find many smaller cellphone counters that buy and sell secondhand devices (today not wee to just phones but also iPads, the Blackberry Playbook and the Samsung Galaxy Tab as well as an Acer Iconia Tab or two), which is quite ideal if you are the type of gadget lover who needs to switch handsets or tablets every few months-sell yours, gather the money and off to get a shiny new one.
Buying iPads, Cellphones and Gadgets in Chiang Mai