Article: Travel Etc: I buy with a little help from my friend Looking for bargains in Bangkok? Rose George can recommend a personal shopper

Pong is all-powerful. He knows nearly everything, and even when he doesn't, he knows a man who does. This is what makes him such a treasured employee at the Banyan Tree Hotel in Bangkok. Because Pong - a concierge by day - is the hotel's star "shopping companion" and a priceless weapon in the eternal battle for business.

The luxurious hotel's shopping-companion service was the first in Thailand, invented to soothe the gift-buying obligations of its business-traveller clientele, who have little time to browse. But it also fits nicely with the recent efforts of the Tourist Authority of Thailand, which has embarked upon a campaign to entice women to the country.

"We get too many single male ...

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