Who needs an excuse to go crate-digging? Here are the city’s best brick-and-mortar record stores. 

Around Sukhumvit

Sex Record Shop NEW!

Nestled on the second floor of Thonglor’s Seen Space community mall, this humble but hip record store offers an impressive range of new and used LPs, from classic names including Bob Dylan and David Bowie to '90s and '00s gems such as Radiohead’s OK Computer and The Strokes' This Is It and contemporary acts like Fleet Foxes and Kendrick Lamar. There’s also a corner dedicated exclusively to movie soundtracks for cinephiles to drool over—think West Side Story and Saturday Night Fever.
Good for: ‘70s and ‘80s heavy weights to ‘90s and early noughties alternative rock.
Prices: Second-hand records start from around B550, while new LPs can cost almost up to B1,500.
2/F, Seenspace, Thonglor Soi 13, 02-185-2728. Open daily 11am-8pm. BTS Thonglor. www.fb.com/sexrecordshop

Track Addict Records NEW!

Despite its relatively small space, this hidden gem is packed with impressive rare old finds like Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Cream’s Disraeli Gears and up-to-the-minute movie soundtracks.
Good for: Classic favorites like Al-Green, Simon and Garfunkel, The Doors and Chet Baker. Lots of Chet Baker.
Prices: As low at B300-400.
MT&T Building, Sukhumvit Soi 69, 02-054-9669. Open Mon-Fri 9am-8pm; Sat-Sun noon-8pm. BTS Phra Khanong. www.fb.com/plloyh1984 

Bungkumhouse Records

Perched atop Thonglor’s Black Amber building, this hidden gem is frequented by local indie musicians and music nerds who could well be extras from the set of High Fidelity. The selection spans ‘90s Britpop through to soul, funk and dance music. The tiny balcony occasionally heaves with gigs from up-and-coming rockers, too.
Good for: Psychedelic rock sounds, from Hendrix through to Spiritualized.
Prices: For the good stuff you’re looking at B600 and up for 7-inches, B800-plus for LPs.
4/F, Black Amber Building, Sukhumvit Soi 55, between Thonglor Soi 5-7, 086-606-2230. Open Wed-Sun 1pm-9pm. BTS Thonglor. www.fb.com/bungkumhouserecords

Zudrangma Records

Owned by globe-trotting DJ Maft Sai, Zudrangma has been credited with making molam (Thai country grooves) cool again. Aside from their reissues of forgotten molam and luk thung artists, they also offer up world music gems, spanning Ethiopian pop to Philly soul, as well as special compilations from their own label.
Good for: Wonderful represses from the likes of Soundway Records and Awesome Tapes from Africa.
Prices: Zudrangma Records compilations start at under B1,000.
7/1 Sukhumvit Soi 51, 083-063-1335. Open Wed-Sun noon-8pm. BTS Thonglor. www.fb.com/zudrangmarecordsthailand

8 Musique

Around Silom/Charoenkrung

Audio Minute

Tucked in the eaves of golf-centric Thaniya Plaza, this store is a haven of Coltrane, Davis and Rollins, to name just three jazz kingpins they stock in all their Japanese-pressing glory. Call ahead to ensure it’s open. 
Good for: Hidden in the mountains of MOR in the pop-rock section you’ll also dig out some esoteric gold.
Prices: From B100 all the way up to B10,000.
4/F, Thaniya Plaza, Silom Rd., 093-328-5998. Open Mon-Sat noon-7pm. BTS Sala Daeng. www.fb.com/audiominute

Vinyl Feeling 

In 2013, a collector and DJ decided to start an online shop. That’s since led to two brick-and-mortar stores: the biggest at Warehouse 30 and a corner at EmQuartier’s Another Story. Unlike other guitar-oriented record stores, this one’s big on hip-hop, R ’n’ B and drum ‘n’ bass.
Good for: Dusty old Sade LPs and up-to-the-minute hip-hop bangers. 
Prices: Count B100-B1,000 for most vinyl.
Warehouse 30, Charoenkrung Soi 30. Open daily 11am-8:30pm
Another Story, 4/F, EmQuartier, Sukhumvit Rd. Open daily 10am-10pm. BTS Phrom Phong. www.fb.com/45sWARS

Around the Old Town/Bangkok Noi

Tonchabab Record Shop

This family-run affair has two branches which are goldmines for serious crate-diggers, spanning a wide array of genres from all over the world. Expect rare world music finds, from luk thung to Diana Ross and The Carpenters, both new and old. Call ahead for opening hours.
Good for: ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s hits, plus old-school luk thung. 
Prices: Starting at a mere B200.
10 Boonsiri Rd., Phra Nakhon, 081-695-2785. 
Pattanakarn Rd., 081-486-7528. www.fb.com/Tonchabab-record-shop-166035403419929/

Bryter Layter

Fatblack Records

Head here for new releases from indie/pop bands like Arctic Monkeys and The 1975 as well as classic reissues from The Velvet Underground and The Flaming Lips, and Thai '90s artists like Proud and See-Tao-Ter.
Good for: Mainstream rock and pop.
Prices: B1,000 and up for new releases. 
Crystal Design Center, Pradit Manutham Rd., 02-102-2444. Open daily noon-8:30pm. www.fb.com/Fatblackrecordbkk

Garage Records

Records Shop

Tucked in a quiet soi in Pradipat, this quaint little house is a treasure trove of new and secondhand vinyl, from ‘90s Thai alternative rock and Britpop to jazz and movie soundtracks.
Good for: Limited edition box sets—think Led Zeppelin’s Mothership super deluxe box set, Japanese edition.
Prices: Secondhand from around B600 and new from B1,000.
Pradipat Soi 19, 081-875-5888. Open daily 11am-8pm. BTS Saphan Kwai. www.fb.com/RecordsShop 

Heaven & Hell Record Shop

Good Space

Bigtiger Record Studio

In a three-story townhouse originally meant to be the record-collecting owner’s home, this store specializes in old-school molam and luk thung along with beer and bites.
Good for: Classic names like Waipoj Petchsupan and Suraphol Sombatcharoen through to the current Zudrangma’s Paradise Bangkok.
Prices: Start from B150, but hard-to-find albums can fetch up to B3,500.
Ladprao Wanghin Soi 48, 090-984-8756. Open daily 2pm-midnight. www.fb.com/bigtigerrecordhomestudio

Around Ratchada

Hall of Fame Records

The best of the batch of record stores at Fortune Town mall has it all: new and secondhand vinyl from classic rock to country to weird (for some) European synthy ambience. Their website is one of the better organized, too. 
Good for: Prog-rock and more obscure Krautrock, if you dig deep enough. 
Prices: The best stuff starts at B600.
3/F, Room 3058, Fortune Town, Ratchadaphisek Rd., 081-844-9709. Open 1pm-8pm. www.hof-records.com

Vinyl Die Hards

One of the city’s biggest record stores, the owners claim you need more than a day to sift through the place. This is run by the kid of the owner of Bangkok's now-closed vinyl institution PS Audio, which ran for over 40 years. 
Good for: Classic names like Nat King Cole, The Beatles and David Bowie, plus plenty of newer artists.
Prices: Records start from B100 for used titles an run well into the thousands for new and reissued LPs.
Opposite Paradise Park, Sri Nakarin Soi 44, 02-346-4547. Open daily 11am-7:30pm. www.vinyldiehards.com