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Where To Buy " Golden Virginia" Tobacco In Bangkok ?


mickylonster

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Yes- paragon has a tobacco/wine shop which stocks it, so does emporium. Also the mall ramkamhaeng has a small wine shop next to the supermarket there on the ground floor which stocks it.
Thank you all for rapid response, have been to Emporium and "got sorted " 229 baht inc. skins !
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  • 9 months later...

I know this thread is close to 2 years old, but a few important notes for those still interested.

GV is widely available in Pattaya, at Best, Villa, Friendship and Foodmart supermarkets, many 711s and small supermarket/convenience stores in the tourist/farang areas. I have also often seen it in the same types of outlets in tourist/farang areas around Bangkok.

Only, although packaged and marketed as GV, the 50gm pack you buy in the store is unlikely to contain the same tobacco that is sold as GV in the UK. Some outlets sell GV which is clearly marked as duty free (likely from one of Thailand's international airports), while others sell the non-UK but European GV made with blends that come out as noticeably harsher than the 'real' GV as sold in the UK. Worst of all is the familiar green and gold package of GV, but Thai style...once you open the smart packaging, the tobacco neither looks, smells, tastes nor smokes like the real (UK) GV; it is much darker, far stronger both in smell and taste, and speaking for myself and everyone else I know that has smoked it, just one or two rollups is enough to kick off any combination but mostly all of an instant bitter residual taste in a dry mouth, terrible throat ache, and a tight chest. The packaging for this evil impostor, which is very similar to that of GV from home, has the government health warning in Thai, and just below the Imperial Tobacco logo (below the flap, which you will see only after buying it) is the address in English of the Thai distributor, or manufacturer. The sad part is that I have checked with Imperial Tobacco in the UK, and can confirm that this rubbish is indeed legitimate GV as licensed by the bods back in Blighty. Buyer beware!

The only good news I can add to the above, is that the cheeky counterfeit GV trade from 8-10 years ago lasted only a couple of years came to an end about 7 years ago, which is about when GV started appearing in retail outlets. Before then, Pattaya street vendors were selling perfect GV copies around town, often in sleeves of 10 x 50gm though they would happily sell singles, for as much as they could prise from their victims. Though their expected bounty was as much as a healthy 1000-3000 bt per 10 x 50gm sleeve, they could be easily persuaded to drop to as low as 100-200 bt for the same pack of 10 (yep, true), which still translated into a profit. Was there a catch? Sure there was, since the perfect GV replica packaging contained no tobacco at all, but 50gm of finely shredded coconut husk.

Best advice is to stock up at duty free outbound from the UK, and make sure you have enough for the duration of your stay away from home shores.

PS: I'm not fussy about keeping up to a dozen 250gm cartons in storage for use at the rate of 1 monthly, but right now am down to my last, so if anyone's coming to Pattaya from UK with spare capacity and a soft spot for a fellow specialist smoker...;)

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I know this thread is close to 2 years old, but a few important notes for those still interested.

GV is widely available in Pattaya, at Best, Villa, Friendship and Foodmart supermarkets, many 711s and small supermarket/convenience stores in the tourist/farang areas. I have also often seen it in the same types of outlets in tourist/farang areas around Bangkok.

Only, although packaged and marketed as GV, the 50gm pack you buy in the store is unlikely to contain the same tobacco that is sold as GV in the UK. Some outlets sell GV which is clearly marked as duty free (likely from one of Thailand's international airports), while others sell the non-UK but European GV made with blends that come out as noticeably harsher than the 'real' GV as sold in the UK. Worst of all is the familiar green and gold package of GV, but Thai style...once you open the smart packaging, the tobacco neither looks, smells, tastes nor smokes like the real (UK) GV; it is much darker, far stronger both in smell and taste, and speaking for myself and everyone else I know that has smoked it, just one or two rollups is enough to kick off any combination but mostly all of an instant bitter residual taste in a dry mouth, terrible throat ache, and a tight chest. The packaging for this evil impostor, which is very similar to that of GV from home, has the government health warning in Thai, and just below the Imperial Tobacco logo (below the flap, which you will see only after buying it) is the address in English of the Thai distributor, or manufacturer. The sad part is that I have checked with Imperial Tobacco in the UK, and can confirm that this rubbish is indeed legitimate GV as licensed by the bods back in Blighty. Buyer beware!

The only good news I can add to the above, is that the cheeky counterfeit GV trade from 8-10 years ago lasted only a couple of years came to an end about 7 years ago, which is about when GV started appearing in retail outlets. Before then, Pattaya street vendors were selling perfect GV copies around town, often in sleeves of 10 x 50gm though they would happily sell singles, for as much as they could prise from their victims. Though their expected bounty was as much as a healthy 1000-3000 bt per 10 x 50gm sleeve, they could be easily persuaded to drop to as low as 100-200 bt for the same pack of 10 (yep, true), which still translated into a profit. Was there a catch? Sure there was, since the perfect GV replica packaging contained no tobacco at all, but 50gm of finely shredded coconut husk.

Best advice is to stock up at duty free outbound from the UK, and make sure you have enough for the duration of your stay away from home shores.

PS: I'm not fussy about keeping up to a dozen 250gm cartons in storage for use at the rate of 1 monthly, but right now am down to my last, so if anyone's coming to Pattaya from UK with spare capacity and a soft spot for a fellow specialist smoker...;)

Hi Leemo,

You could be in luck, I am heading to the UK next week, and after return to Bangkok I am planning a weekend in Pattaya to recover from the journey.

If you want some GV send me a PM and I will be happy to get it for you and then meet you in Pattaya. I think I will be in Pattaya about the 19th/20th July all going well.

FD

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I know this thread is close to 2 years old, but a few important notes for those still interested.

GV is widely available in Pattaya, at Best, Villa, Friendship and Foodmart supermarkets, many 711s and small supermarket/convenience stores in the tourist/farang areas. I have also often seen it in the same types of outlets in tourist/farang areas around Bangkok.

Only, although packaged and marketed as GV, the 50gm pack you buy in the store is unlikely to contain the same tobacco that is sold as GV in the UK. Some outlets sell GV which is clearly marked as duty free (likely from one of Thailand's international airports), while others sell the non-UK but European GV made with blends that come out as noticeably harsher than the 'real' GV as sold in the UK. Worst of all is the familiar green and gold package of GV, but Thai style...once you open the smart packaging, the tobacco neither looks, smells, tastes nor smokes like the real (UK) GV; it is much darker, far stronger both in smell and taste, and speaking for myself and everyone else I know that has smoked it, just one or two rollups is enough to kick off any combination but mostly all of an instant bitter residual taste in a dry mouth, terrible throat ache, and a tight chest. The packaging for this evil impostor, which is very similar to that of GV from home, has the government health warning in Thai, and just below the Imperial Tobacco logo (below the flap, which you will see only after buying it) is the address in English of the Thai distributor, or manufacturer. The sad part is that I have checked with Imperial Tobacco in the UK, and can confirm that this rubbish is indeed legitimate GV as licensed by the bods back in Blighty. Buyer beware!

The only good news I can add to the above, is that the cheeky counterfeit GV trade from 8-10 years ago lasted only a couple of years came to an end about 7 years ago, which is about when GV started appearing in retail outlets. Before then, Pattaya street vendors were selling perfect GV copies around town, often in sleeves of 10 x 50gm though they would happily sell singles, for as much as they could prise from their victims. Though their expected bounty was as much as a healthy 1000-3000 bt per 10 x 50gm sleeve, they could be easily persuaded to drop to as low as 100-200 bt for the same pack of 10 (yep, true), which still translated into a profit. Was there a catch? Sure there was, since the perfect GV replica packaging contained no tobacco at all, but 50gm of finely shredded coconut husk.

Best advice is to stock up at duty free outbound from the UK, and make sure you have enough for the duration of your stay away from home shores.

PS: I'm not fussy about keeping up to a dozen 250gm cartons in storage for use at the rate of 1 monthly, but right now am down to my last, so if anyone's coming to Pattaya from UK with spare capacity and a soft spot for a fellow specialist smoker...;)

Hi Leemo,

You could be in luck, I am heading to the UK next week, and after return to Bangkok I am planning a weekend in Pattaya to recover from the journey.

If you want some GV send me a PM and I will be happy to get it for you and then meet you in Pattaya. I think I will be in Pattaya about the 19th/20th July all going well.

FD

THe only trouble with buying `duty free G/v in Dubai ( £37.00 = 1 kilo ) on your return to Thailand is your only allowed 250 grammes ie 5 pouches, any more and if stopped , I would asume there would be a hefty fine and confiscation

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know this thread is close to 2 years old, but a few important notes for those still interested.

GV is widely available in Pattaya, at Best, Villa, Friendship and Foodmart supermarkets, many 711s and small supermarket/convenience stores in the tourist/farang areas. I have also often seen it in the same types of outlets in tourist/farang areas around Bangkok.

Only, although packaged and marketed as GV, the 50gm pack you buy in the store is unlikely to contain the same tobacco that is sold as GV in the UK. Some outlets sell GV which is clearly marked as duty free (likely from one of Thailand's international airports), while others sell the non-UK but European GV made with blends that come out as noticeably harsher than the 'real' GV as sold in the UK. Worst of all is the familiar green and gold package of GV, but Thai style...once you open the smart packaging, the tobacco neither looks, smells, tastes nor smokes like the real (UK) GV; it is much darker, far stronger both in smell and taste, and speaking for myself and everyone else I know that has smoked it, just one or two rollups is enough to kick off any combination but mostly all of an instant bitter residual taste in a dry mouth, terrible throat ache, and a tight chest. The packaging for this evil impostor, which is very similar to that of GV from home, has the government health warning in Thai, and just below the Imperial Tobacco logo (below the flap, which you will see only after buying it) is the address in English of the Thai distributor, or manufacturer. The sad part is that I have checked with Imperial Tobacco in the UK, and can confirm that this rubbish is indeed legitimate GV as licensed by the bods back in Blighty. Buyer beware!

The only good news I can add to the above, is that the cheeky counterfeit GV trade from 8-10 years ago lasted only a couple of years came to an end about 7 years ago, which is about when GV started appearing in retail outlets. Before then, Pattaya street vendors were selling perfect GV copies around town, often in sleeves of 10 x 50gm though they would happily sell singles, for as much as they could prise from their victims. Though their expected bounty was as much as a healthy 1000-3000 bt per 10 x 50gm sleeve, they could be easily persuaded to drop to as low as 100-200 bt for the same pack of 10 (yep, true), which still translated into a profit. Was there a catch? Sure there was, since the perfect GV replica packaging contained no tobacco at all, but 50gm of finely shredded coconut husk.

Best advice is to stock up at duty free outbound from the UK, and make sure you have enough for the duration of your stay away from home shores.

PS: I'm not fussy about keeping up to a dozen 250gm cartons in storage for use at the rate of 1 monthly, but right now am down to my last, so if anyone's coming to Pattaya from UK with spare capacity and a soft spot for a fellow specialist smoker...;)

Hi Leemo,

You could be in luck, I am heading to the UK next week, and after return to Bangkok I am planning a weekend in Pattaya to recover from the journey.

If you want some GV send me a PM and I will be happy to get it for you and then meet you in Pattaya. I think I will be in Pattaya about the 19th/20th July all going well.

FD

THe only trouble with buying `duty free G/v in Dubai ( £37.00 = 1 kilo ) on your return to Thailand is your only allowed 250 grammes ie 5 pouches, any more and if stopped , I would asume there would be a hefty fine and confiscation

Fatdog: Thanks, PM sent.

Micky: Crikey, didn't realise Dubai is so cheap. If you're a GV smoker, do you happen to know if it's the genuine UK backy, the Euro stuff, or some other harsh blend? I normally bring in a kg and 2 if travelling with friends; the only time I was stopped the customs guy was either bored or looking for dope, either way he didn't give my DF a second glance but I did get a smile out of him. Still, thanks for the heads up on allowances, and the clue on Dubai vs UK value.

Lee

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