Bangkok International Household Fair April 2011

Dressing up one's property is equally as important as making the decision to invest in it. I particularly enjoy doing this and try to do it well (despite all the criticisms from my mother and friends). I think a nicely and tastefully furnished property attracts tenants and puts one in a better position to negotiate the rent, especially in a competitive situation.

Unfortunately, there really isn't many shops in Malaysia that sells affordable, good quality and unique pieces of furniture and household items. We have Ikea, of course but one can't go furnishing a luxury apartment with stuffs from there - at least not most items... and we have the furniture factories in Muar but I think they mainly cater to the lower end market, using low quality Melamine boards, rubber wood and Nyatoh. I see most of the quality stuffs made with expensive teak, Merbau or Cengal in Malaysia being exported or they are simply over-priced. We also have Indonesian teak shops that sells immature young teak wood which have not been properly dried so they tend to warp over time. The wood grains are also not fine because the trees were young when chopped. On top of that, the designs are out-dated - mainly for the older generation.
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So, I tend to have to turn to Thailand for a solution. For example, the apartment pictured above and below, (dubbed the Grocery Shop by my Mum) are furnished by pieces from Chiang Mai...

And what better place than the Bangkok International Household Fair to identify new suppliers and get fresh furnishing ideas. Only this year I get to write about it but unfortunately, this year's fair clashed with a similar event in Hong Kong. So, the size of the fair was almost halved with much fewer exhibitors.


The fair is arranged in 3 sections. The Design Hall carried most of the furnishing items although some furniture exhibits are also found in the other 2 sections, which are the Household Hall and the Gifts Hall.


There is no questions about the ingenuity and creativity of Thai designers. I have said it in their architecture and this holds true for their other designs as well. Many of their items are original and unique. This piece below made entirely with plastic is a Neo-Oriental design.


But I much prefer the wooden versions, here below made with solid Canadian Oak.


Oak, Oak, ...
and more Oak...


The chairs above costs only 4500 baht (RM450) each. I don't think we can get solid wood chairs at this price and design in Malaysia anymore.

Surprisingly, imported Canadian Oak seems to be common this year as Thai teak has begun to dwindle. In fact the prices have gone up quite tremendously from the last shipment I made in 2008.


The only teak I discovered at this show is from the exhibitor above. But the value of the Thai Golden Teak in it's beautiful gold grains are lost in the shiny black lacquer.




There are some really very good wood work and interesting refreshing designs. Like the piece above with a clever blend of solid wood, stainless steel and garnished with cushion clothed with natural fibers.

And there are also those who should go to jail for wasting Earth's natural resource...


There are also lots of bean bags and oversized cushions this year... but this one caught my eyes due to the peculiar shape...



Something for everyone... from the Flambo (flamboyant)...


...to the Retro, which is back in fashion...

These are some very nice pieces of bathroom sink carved entirely from a block of marble, with nice clean lines and shapes...




They cost no more than RM2000 each which makes me start thinking about gutting one of my bathrooms and remodeling it along this concept... and even have matching marble lamps to go...

Below are some nice furniture pieces wrapped with leather. They are really nothing new, but nevertheless looks very elegant although can be tough to maintain...



and a nice soft leather couch to go with them...


This year's household section is dominated by Plastics...


Plastics, plastics,...


plastics...


plastics...
...and plastics...
...and more plastics...

Some samples of new products and designs...













and more conventional and typical Thai designs that we see year on year...

Alas, in the Toys sections, this seems like a good investment for my niece to ensure that we get some good home cooking in the future...


I'm expecting to bring in more furniture shipments from Thailand later next year. I am writing this not because I am trying to sell Thai furniture but I would like to invite readers who are also interested to bring in furniture from Thailand to share a container to cut down the shipping costs. Hence, I am looking at organizing a shopping tour of factories in Bangkok and Chiang Mai in November or December 2011. Do drop me an email sinleongng@yahoo.com if you are interested to join.