Stores
Elite Book House
If you don't have time to go to Khao San Road, Elite Book House is a worthy or better alternative for buying second hand English-language books. They have all the usual genres, including fiction, non-fiction and travel guides, and all for decent prices. They also have smaller quantities of books in Japanese, Thai, Chinese, French, German and Swedish.
Crown Tailor
Highly regarded as one of the best places to get a suit among Sukhumvit Road. It is definitely worth the visit for quality material at an affordable price.
Sombat Permpoon Gallery
This gallery at Soi 1 sells both paintings and sculptures by established artists and those of the new generation. There are more than 10,000 art works by Thai artists on sale.
If you know where to go, Sukhumvit offers some of the best stores in bespoke tailoring. Never go to custom tailor shops that get your suits and shirts ready in 24 hours or less. If you want quality, go to a reliable tailor which will ask for two to five sittings, and the whole process will take about a week. For more information on bespoke tailoring, see the Buy section of the main Bangkok article.
As Sukhumvit is one of Bangkok's main thoroughfares, the long road is lined with shops, boutiques and modern shopping plazas ranging from Soi 3 Soi Nana Nuea up to Soi 63 Soi Ekkamai. Most shops and restaurants are concentrated between Soi 3 and Soi 21 Asoke Rd and along shortcuts between Asoke and Ekkamai.
markets
Shopping in Sukhumvit starts on the street. The pavement is cramped with endless roadside stalls that offer many of the same items as the Patpong Night Market, such as souvenirs, accessories, knock-off clothes, pornographic DVDs, pirated films and other junk. Prices are somewhat better than in Patpong though. The stalls are open most of the day, and only seem to close late in the evening. The stores are at the main thoroughfare from Soi 1 till Soi 20. The part between Nana and Asok stations is particularly a hard walk, as many pedestrians queue up at the stalls to take a look. Haggling is generally expected, but it'll only save you a few more baht.
malls and department stores
If you're looking for more upscale shopping, there are plenty of malls and department stores throughout Sukhumvit Road. The best ones are Emporium and Terminal 21, but for the rest you're better off taking the Skytrain to Siam Square. At Thong Lo, all things are cool, be it clothes, gadgets or interior design. It could be called the "Siam Square of Sukhumvit" with its hip fashion boutiques, trendy designer stores and overall swanky appearance.