Boutique Asia, Koh Samui - the boutique where we fell in love with scarves

01Boutique Asia by Maple - a boutique with pieces you do not see everywhere

We love fashion, and we especially love finding pieces with something out of the ordinary. Not necessarily well-known brands or expensive items, but a design, a fabric, a colour or a cut that makes us stop and look again.

That is exactly what happened to us at Boutique Asia by Maple on Koh Samui.

The shop is inside Central Samui, the big shopping centre in Chaweng, and offers fashion and accessories with a colourful, distinctive character.

But for us, the highlight was the scarves.

These are not the simple scarves you see at almost every market in Thailand. They are pieces with real design presence, rich textures, embroidery and colour combinations we simply fell in love with.

We remember looking at the fabrics and thinking how rare it is to find combinations like these back home.

02The scarves - the reason we fell in love with the shop

Some scarves you buy to add a little colour to an outfit. And some scarves are the centrepiece of the look.

For us, the scarves we found at Boutique Asia belong to the second group.

What particularly caught our eye was the combination of fabrics, embroidery, patterns and colours.

Some are made from light, semi-sheer fabrics that drape softly and move beautifully. Others combine richer textures, embellishments and embroidery that give them depth.

One scarf we especially loved combines shades of pink and grey, with floral patterns and rich embroidery. The mix of delicate fabric and embellishment creates a romantic, sophisticated look without being heavy.

And that is exactly what we loved about the collection: the scarves do not look like just another item made in countless identical copies.

Each one has a different character.

Colour combinations we had not found back home

The colours were one of the things that impressed us most.

Not only the colours themselves, but the way they blend into each other.

Soft shades next to deeper colours, embroidery that adds another colour and textures that create an interesting play of light and movement.

These are pieces that let you lift a very simple outfit.

You can wear jeans and a plain top, add one scarf, and get a much more interesting, polished look.

We especially love accessories that give a basic piece of clothing a different character, without having to replace your whole wardrobe.

In that sense, the scarves we bought on Koh Samui are much more than a souvenir of the trip.

They are pieces we can keep working into our outfits back home.

03The quality of the fabrics - not just a question of looks

One of the most important things for us when buying a scarf is how the fabric feels and how it falls.

Even a scarf with a beautiful print can look cheap if the fabric is stiff, too shiny or has no movement.

At Boutique Asia we found fabrics that felt good quality, pleasant to the touch and with a lovely drape.

Some have a silk-like look - if natural silk matters to you, check the composition label.

For us, the quality shows in the combination of the feel of the fabric, the embroidery, the colours and the way the scarf sits on the body.

That is exactly why we liked these scarves so much.

They manage to add something special to an outfit without looking over the top.

04How much do the scarves at Boutique Asia cost?

We bought about five scarves in the shop, at an average price of about 1,100 THB (about $33 / €29) per scarf.

By Thai shopping standards, they were not particularly cheap.

You can find simple scarves at markets for much less.

But in our eyes the right comparison is not with a basic scarf from a market stall, but with a well-designed, good-quality scarf from a fashion shop.

Back home, scarves with a similar finish and design can cost about 3,800 THB (about $113 / €100) or more.

So for us it was a very successful buy.

We did not buy them because they were cheap, but because we loved their design and quality. The fact that the price was good value compared with what we are used to paying for similar scarves at home made the purchase even better.

Remember that these were the prices we paid at the time of our visit, not a current, binding price list from the shop.

05Not just scarves - feminine, flattering beachwear too

Alongside the scarves, Boutique Asia also offers fashion pieces that really suit the atmosphere of a holiday on a tropical island.

We especially loved the beach dresses.

Not basic, shapeless beach dresses, but feminine, flattering and sexy pieces, with beautiful cuts that show off the figure well.

In our view, this is one of the important differences between ordinary beachwear and a fashion piece you really want to wear.

A good beach dress should be light and comfortable, but it can also be flattering, interesting and full of style.

On Koh Samui, where you spend much of the day in light clothes, dresses like these have a natural place in your wardrobe.

You can wear them over a swimsuit, for lunch on the beach or for wandering around the shops and cafes.

What we particularly loved was the combination of feminine cuts, light fabrics and colours that suit the tropical climate.

06Why Boutique Asia rather than one of Koh Samui's markets?

We really love wandering around Thailand's markets. You can find special clothes, summer dresses, accessories and surprising bargains.

But it is not always easy to find pieces of good quality and precise design.

At a market you can walk past dozens of stalls and see the same clothes again and again, with small differences in colour or price.

At Boutique Asia the experience was different.

What drew us in was not the quantity, but the pieces themselves.

The scarves felt special enough to stop, look at them closely and choose several different ones.

That is exactly the kind of shopping we love most when we travel: finding something we had not planned to buy, but knowing we would regret leaving it behind.

07Where is Boutique Asia on Koh Samui?

Boutique Asia by Maple is on the second floor of the Central Samui shopping centre, in Chaweng.

The shopping centre is also known by its former name, Central Festival Samui, and is one of the main shopping centres on the island.

It has international fashion stores, accessories and cosmetics shops, restaurants and cafes.

Unlike an open-air market, you can enjoy shopping here in orderly surroundings, with covered, air-conditioned areas.

It is a particularly convenient option on a hot or rainy day, or when you want a break from the beach.

How to get there

If you are staying in Chaweng, you may be able to walk to the shopping centre, depending on where your hotel is.

From other parts of the island, such as Lamai, Bophut or Maenam, you can get there by taxi or local transport.

Central Samui is in a central tourist area, so it is fairly easy to combine a visit with an outing in Chaweng.

Opening hours

The shopping centre is open every day, although exact opening hours may vary between shops.

Check Central Samui's opening hours on the day of your visit, especially on holidays and special occasions.

08Can you find the scarves elsewhere in Thailand?

Boutique Asia by Maple appears in Central Samui's list of shops.

There are other businesses in Thailand with similar names, but you should not assume they are the same chain.

So if you want to follow our recommendation for the scarves, look specifically for Boutique Asia by Maple inside Central Samui.

The stock of scarves and other pieces also changes, so there is no guarantee the designs we bought are still available.

09Is Boutique Asia worth a special trip?

If you love fashion, special fabrics, scarves and beach dresses - it is definitely worth adding the shop to your list of places to check out when you visit Chaweng.

It is not an attraction that necessarily justifies a long drive from the other end of the island just for its sake.

But if you are going to Central Samui anyway, it is a shop we would recommend not missing.

Especially if you love pieces that combine colour, texture and design you do not see everywhere.

We personally found some of our favourite buys in Thailand there.

10How to choose a good-quality scarf

If you go to the shop for the scarves, there are a few things worth paying attention to.

First, check the feel of the fabric. A scarf can look beautiful on a hanger, but what matters is how it feels on the body.

Second, look at how it drapes. A good-quality scarf can form soft folds and move naturally, while a stiff fabric may look less flattering.

Also look at the finishing and the embroidery. Check that there are no loose threads, that the edges are well finished and that the embroidery does not pull or distort the fabric.

And finally, do not just look at the scarf when it is folded. Open it out completely, look at the colour combinations and try to imagine it with clothes you already have at home.

That is how a holiday purchase becomes a piece you actually use for a long time.

11The bottom line - the boutique where we found our favourite scarves

Of all the things you can buy in Thailand, the scarves from Boutique Asia by Maple are among the pieces that have stayed with us most.

We fell in love with the fabrics, the embroidery, the colours and the feeling that each scarf has a character of its own.

We bought about five scarves, and although they were not particularly cheap by Thai standards, we felt we got excellent value.

The feminine, flattering beach dresses also added to the boutique's character.

If you love fashion and are looking for something a little different on Koh Samui from the usual market clothes and accessories, Boutique Asia by Maple is a shop worth knowing. For us, it was one of the best shopping discoveries of the trip.

12Boutique Asia Koh Samui FAQs